My Best Friend Stole My First Love

Ethan POV

I struggled a lot before I could send that text.

I couldn’t remember who Quiet Lily was, but somehow… I felt drawn to her. Like there was something important hidden behind that username. Something my mind couldn’t reach anymore.

Then I looked down at my phone and saw Quiet Lily is typing…

My heart started beating fast, and I didn’t even know why I was nervous. Maybe because this stranger somehow felt familiar. Or maybe because I was scared of what I had forgotten.

“Really? After all these months, this was the first text you sent? You don’t expect me to reply to that question,” she wrote.

“I’m sorry if that question seemed rude,” I typed back. “I just wanted to know who you were. Yours was the only chat still pinned on my account.”

“You can’t possibly have forgotten me, have you? Unless you have amnesia, which I doubt you have.”

I stared at the screen for a few seconds before typing again. “You’re right, actually. I got into an accident. I was in a coma for months, and when I woke up, I couldn’t remember some things. I don’t have any memory of you at all. It’s like a part of my memory was just wiped clean.”

There was no reply for almost a minute. Then the typing bubble appeared, disappeared, and appeared again, like she was struggling to find the right words.

“You’re joking, right? Because this can’t be real. It doesn’t even make sense.”

“It’s real,” I wrote back.

“Wait… seriously?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh my God…” A second message followed right behind it. “So you really don’t remember me at all?”

I stared at her message for a long moment before I answered. “I’m trying to. But no matter how hard I think, nothing comes back.”

“Wow.” Another pause, then: “I honestly don’t know what to say right now.”

“I’m sorry,” I typed, because there wasn’t much else I could say.

“I can’t believe you forgot about me. Everything we did… everything we shared together.”

That message made my chest tighten. The worst part was that I couldn’t even remember hurting her.

“Well, we can start all over again, can’t we?” I typed. “I heard from my nanny that I asked you out. But we’d have to get to know each other from scratch.”

“From scratch is such a crazy thing to say after everything.”

“I know,” I typed back. “And I know I probably sound like a terrible person right now.”

“You do a little.”

“Fair enough.”

That earned me a few seconds of silence before another text popped up.

“I’m heartbroken” she wrote. Then, before I could respond, another message followed. “I waited for months for your reply but nothing came. Every day I kept checking my phone hoping you’d text me back. I even started thinking maybe you got tired of me. Then suddenly you come back saying you lost your memory? This honestly feels unreal.”

I slowly rubbed my forehead. I didn’t know how to explain something I barely understood myself.

“I’m sorry I made you go through that,” I typed. “But it was out of my hands. I didn’t choose any of this. And that’s why I want to get to know you again properly. I promise I won’t disappear again, okay?”

Another pause, longer this time.

“You know… a part of me wants to stay angry at you,” she finally wrote. “But another part of me is just happy you’re alive.”

I smiled faintly at the screen.

“So… does that mean I still have a chance?” I typed.

“Maybe. Don’t waste it this time, Golden Boy.”

“I’ll try not to.”

“‘Try’?”

“Okay fine. I won’t waste it.”

“Better.”

I found myself laughing quietly. It felt strangely easy talking to her, comfortable in a way I couldn’t quite explain.

My fingers already knew how to text her before my brain could catch up.

“So… since we’re technically strangers again, tell me about yourself,” I typed.

“Wow. We really are starting from zero.”

“Unfortunately.”

“Fine then. My name stays a secret for now.”

“Seriously?”

“Yep.”

“That’s unfair.”

“Life is unfair.”

“At least give me a hint.”

“Nope.”

“Height?”

“Short enough to threaten people without looking scary.”

“That explains nothing.”

“Exactly.”

I shook my head with a smile. “Okay, mysterious girl. So what have you been up to after my disappearance?”

“School mostly. Stress. Assignments.” A beat later, another message came through. “Missing someone who forgot I existed, apparently.”

“Ouch.”

“You deserve that one.”

“I probably do.” I typed for a second before adding, “What about you, though?”

“Besides waking up with memory loss and emotionally attacking innocent girls online?”

“Hmm. Recovery, mostly,” I wrote back. “Physical therapy. Doctor appointments. My dad acting like I’m made of glass every five seconds.”

“That sounds exhausting.”

“It is.” I hesitated before typing the next part. “But there’s something new happening now.”

“What?”

“I’m moving.”

“Moving? To where?”

“Another town. My dad said changing environments will help me recover faster.” I paused, trying to remember the name. “I think he said we’re moving to Oakwoods.”

The reply came back almost instantly.

“NO WAY”

“…What?” I typed, confused.

“Oakwoods?!”

“Yes?”

“Shut up.”

“I’m confused.”

“I literally live in Oakwoods.”

I sat up straighter immediately. “Wait, seriously?”

“Yes!! Oh my God, this is actually insane.”

“So we’d finally get to meet each other after months of texting online?”

“Months of texting, arguing, joking, flirting…”

“We flirted?”

“A lot actually.”

“Wow. Old me had confidence.”

“Old you was annoying.”

“Was?”

“Okay… still annoying.”

I laughed again. It felt nice, natural, easier than I expected talking to a stranger to feel.

“Which school do you go to?” I typed.

“Eastview High School.”

I blinked. “No way.”

“What?”

“That’s the school I’m attending too.”

A few seconds passed before multiple texts flooded in at once.

“ARE YOU SERIOUS?! Oh my God. This is actually happening. You have no idea how excited I am right now.”

“Me too,” I wrote back. “Though I’m suddenly nervous.”

“Nervous about what?”

“What if you meet me and realize I’m disappointing in real life?”

“Impossible.”

“You sound very confident for someone hiding her identity.”

“Maybe because I already know you better than you know yourself.”

That message lingered in my mind for a moment.

“Guess I’ll have to learn myself again, then,” I typed.

“And I’ll help you.”

For some reason, that reply hit me harder than it should have. It was soft, gentle, comforting in a way I hadn’t expected.

“Getting to know each other this way will be fun and easier, won’t it?” I asked.

“Yesss. Oh my God, I’m seriously smiling so hard right now. You’re finally coming here.”

“Sounds like you missed me a lot.”

“Don’t let it get to your head, Golden Boy.”

“Too late.”

“Still dramatic, I see.”

“Apparently some things survived the accident.”

“I’m glad they did.”

I stared at that last message longer than necessary, and for the first time since waking up from the coma, something inside me felt warm again. Maybe this move really was the fresh start my dad kept talking about. Maybe meeting Quiet Lily again would help me remember pieces of myself I had lost, or maybe it would change everything entirely. Somewhere in Oakwood, a girl I couldn’t remember was already waiting for me, and neither of us knew that meeting again was about to become far more complicated than either of us expected.