Down Memory Lane ✓

17- The Theory

》《》《

The Theory

》《》《

"THREE CHANCES?"

"Yeah, three doors. I just walked through one to get here and have to find the door that'll take me to the next."

"But what if there's a door to take you back?"

"Take me back? What do you mean?" I asked, and he shifted to get closer.

"Three doors. There was no particular order. No numbers on the door or anything like that?"

I shook my head, still not knowing where he was going with this.

"That means any door could be the first or the last," he said, and confusion forced my brows together.

"I don't understand?"

"Ok, how do I explain this?" His eyes flitted up to the ceiling and back to me. "This is your second chance, but then, it could have been the first. If you had entered this door first, you would have been here first, right?"

"Yeah?"

"That means this door could have also been the third."

"Okay and..."

"And if it was the last, it would have the door that would take you out, as in back to your real life. Meaning each chance would have two doors. In case that chance was the last, it would have, let's call it, the last door."

I paused before I reiterated my summary of his words.

"So, you're saying, every chance could have two doors? The first would take me to the next chance, that's if that chance was first or second, but it would have another... last door in case it was the last chance."

"Exactly! Now, instead of trying to find the next door, we have to find two doors and figure out which is the last door and which just leads you to the next chance."

In the next moment, my eyes widened as realization dawned on me.

"That's genius, Kai," I said, and he gave me a bright smile, one that I returned. Then I slumped back into my chair.

"Now I just have to find out what I was doing wrong that made me come to this memory. The first time, it was about Lilly. But now..." I paused. "I thought it was Jane, my step-mom, but I kinda made peace with her last night, and seeing that I don't know the door I'm supposed to go through, that might mean she's not the reason I'm here."

I sighed. "If only there was a way I could... know what to do."

"How did you know it was Lilly the last time?"

"I figured she was kinda jealous of me. Plus, we were friends when we were younger, but then my mom went to jail and that ruined everything before she moved away. It surprised me when I realized we were in the same high school, but I didn't treat her any better than she treated me," I said.

"So you're saying once upon a time, Lilly was... nice and your friend," he said like I just spun an unreal story.

I smiled. "Yeah, strange right? We were in the same neighborhood and elementary school. She was prim and proper then, and still is now. I don't even know what brought us together, but it's as they say. The best relationships are the ones you don't see coming. But she left, and I never tried or cared to reach out."

"Now I get why she was so bitter to you. I mean, I knew she didn't like the fact that I have feelings for you, but seeing how she and Noah are now dating, I was pretty sure there was more behind her hatred toward you," he said.