Ella Sandra Evince was lost in another dream, one that always seemed to follow her no matter how much time passed. She was nine again, standing outside her house, clutching the old stuffed bear that Ethan had given her. The moving truck was already loaded, and his family’s car was idling at the end of the driveway. He was sitting in the backseat, looking out the window with wide eyes full of sadness. The kind of sadness that stays with you.
She tried to move, tried to run after him, but she couldn’t. Her feet were stuck in place. The car started to roll down the street, and all she could do was stand there and watch as the boy she spent her whole childhood with slipped further and further away. She tried to scream his name, but her voice wouldn’t come out. It never did.
“Ella!”
She was jolted awake by her brother's voice, her heart pounding as the remnants of the dream faded. She blinked, the bright morning light filling her room. Khian, her older brother, stood at the door, arms crossed, looking as serious as ever.
“Ella, you were having that dream again, weren’t you?” he said, though he already knew the answer.
Ella rubbed her eyes, still a little disoriented. “Yeah... same one.”
Khian let out a quiet sigh, walking over to the edge of her bed and sitting down. He wasn’t big on emotional stuff, but Ella could always tell when he was worried about her. "You gotta let it go, you know," he said, looking at her with those piercing eyes of his. "It’s been six years."
"I know," Ella mumbled, staring down at her hands. "But I just can’t stop thinking about it."
Khian shook his head, his tone soft but firm. "You need to stop torturing yourself. People leave, but life goes on. You're in your last year of junior high now. Don’t let the past mess with your future, specially your heart."
Ella tried to smile, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. "I know, Khian. I just... I wonder if he remembers me."
Khian stood up, giving her one last look. "Maybe. Maybe not. But you’ve got a lot going on right here. Don’t lose sight of that." With that, he turned and walked out of the room, leaving Ella alone with her thoughts.
She stared at the ceiling for a moment, the dream still clinging to her like a shadow. Six years had passed since Ethan moved away, and yet it felt like no time had passed at all. Every time she closed her eyes, she was right back in that moment, watching him leave. She hadn’t even said goodbye. Not properly, anyway. One minute they were inseparable, and the next he was gone.
---
By the time she made it downstairs, Khian was already at the kitchen table, reading over some school board papers. He barely looked up as she grabbed her toast and sat down.
“Lily’s picking you up?” he asked, not really needing an answer.
“Yeah,” Ella said, taking a bite of her toast.
“You guys have that student council meeting today, right?” Khian asked, his eyes still on the paper in front of him. 
Ella shrugged. “Yeah. Lily’s been stressing about it all week.”
Khian glanced up, a slight smirk on his face. “She always stresses. You should remind her to breathe sometimes.”
Ella laughed a little. “Yeah, I should.”
The rest of breakfast was quiet, the usual routine. Khian wasn’t much of a talker, but Ella didn’t mind. He had been more like a parent to her since their real ones passed away years ago. It wasn’t always easy living with him, he was strict and took his responsibilities way too seriously, but she knew he cared. Even if he didn’t always show it.
The sound of a car honking outside pulled Ella out of her thoughts. 
“That’s Lily,” Khian said, standing up and grabbing his bag. “Don’t be late.”
Ella grabbed her backpack and headed out the door, finding Lily in her old beat-up car with the windows rolled down. She was leaning out, waving impatiently.
“Ella! Hurry up! We’re already late!” Lily shouted, her brown hair tied up in a messy bun that looked like she’d done it on the way over.
Ella smiled and hopped into the passenger seat. “You always say we’re late, and we’re never actually late.”
“Yeah, but today feels different,” Lily said, tapping the steering wheel nervously. “I have this weird feeling, you know?”
Ella gave her a sideways glance. "A weird feeling? About what?”
“I don’t know,” Lily said, biting her lip. “Something’s just off. You’ll see.”
Ella didn’t know how to respond to that, so she stayed quiet, staring out the window as they drove toward school. She had her own weird feeling, too, but it wasn’t something she could explain. Something about that dream stuck with her, like it was trying to tell her something. But what?
---
By the time they pulled into the school parking lot, Lily had moved on from her strange premonition and was now talking a mile a minute about the student council meeting they had after school. 
“I swear, if Mr. Green makes me stay after for even one more minute, I’m going to scream. I can’t stand that man,” Lily ranted as they got out of the car.
Ella laughed softly. "You always say that, and yet you keep signing up for stuff."
Lily huffed, rolling her eyes. "Only because I’m good at it! It’s a curse, honestly."
As they walked toward the school building, Ella's thoughts drifted back to Ethan. What if he came back? What if they bumped into each other one day, like nothing had ever happened? Would he even recognize her? She had changed a lot since then. Taller, a little more confident, at least she hoped. But deep down, she still felt like that little girl standing on the driveway, watching her best friend leave.
“Earth to Ella,” Lily said, waving a hand in front of her face. “You’re zoning out again. Thinking about him?”
Ella blushed, pulling her bag up higher on her shoulder. "No. I mean... maybe. I just wonder where he is, you know?"
Lily sighed. “Girl, you’ve got to let him go. He left. That’s what people do. They leave. You’ve got me, Sophie, Khian… You’ve got a lot of people who care about you.”
“I know,” Ella mumbled, though she didn’t feel any better. It was hard to explain how much she missed Ethan, even after all these years. She couldn’t just forget him. No matter how hard she tried.
As they walked through the school doors, Ella glanced around, half-expecting to see him there, waiting for her like he used to. But he wasn’t. He was gone, and maybe he wasn’t coming back. But a part of her still hoped, hoped that one day, he’d walk through those doors again and everything would feel right, like it used to.
Until then, all she had were memories and a dream that wouldn’t leave her alone.