All Chapters of My Basketball Rival is my Roommate : Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

The face flashed through my mind for only a second, but it was enough to make me freeze. I couldn’t see it clearly, only pieces of it the sharp outline of a jaw, dark hair, and eyes staring directly at me. Then the memory disappeared, leaving me standing in the middle of the room with Jace’s hand still wrapped around my arm. Carter, what did you see? he asked, his voice low and careful. I swallowed and tried to force the image back, but all I could remember was the fear in Ethan’s voice and the sound of someone running behind us.I closed my eyes and concentrated. The hallway returned in fragments. I could see myself running, Ethan behind me, and a door ahead. Someone was shouting, but the voice was soft, as though I were hearing it underwater. Then I remembered Ethan grabbing my shoulder and turning me around. His face had been terrified. He said something to me, but I couldn’t hear the words. I opened my eyes suddenly, breathing hard. I remember Ethan was trying to save me. Jace loo

The key felt cold against my palm, but my skin was burning. Everything Blake had just told us kept replaying in my mind. Ethan had been alive three days after the championship. He had been locked inside room 217, and somehow, he had known my name, my missing memories, and the secret my mother had spent years hiding from me. I wanted answers, but every answer seemed to open another door to something worse. My hands were still trembling when Jace reached for them and gently closed his fingers around mine. Carter, look at me. I lifted my eyes to his, and the concern on his face made my chest tighten. I’m trying, I whispered. I just don’t understand any of this anymore.Jace stepped closer, lowering his voice. You don’t have to understand everything tonight. We’re going to figure it out together. I looked down at our joined hands and felt his thumb slowly move across my knuckles. It was such a simple touch, yet it made it harder to focus on anything else. I had spent months treating Jace

The words on the security screen refused to leave my mind. Carter entered the underground room at 11:12 p.m. I stared at the record, waiting for someone to tell me there had been a mistake, but nobody did. My hands were cold despite the warmth in the room, and the silver key felt strangely heavy in my palm. I had spent seven months believing that night had nothing to do with me, only to discover that I had been inside this university while Ethan was still alive. The worst part was knowing there was a version of me who remembered everything I had forgotten.Jace stepped closer and placed a hand against my back. Carter, breathe. I tried, but my thoughts were moving too quickly. How did I get inside? I asked. The security officer brought up another record and explained that I hadn’t used my student ID. The door had been opened manually from inside. My stomach tightened at the realization. Then someone let me in. Coach looked at Jace before answering that either someone had opened the doo

I couldn’t stop staring at the photograph Marcus had placed in front of me. Ethan and I were standing together, much younger than we were now, with basketballs tucked beneath our arms and easy smiles on our faces. The image should have brought back a flood of memories, but instead, my mind remained frustratingly blank. I knew the face beside me belonged to Ethan, yet my memories refused to tell me why he looked so familiar. The more I stared at the photograph, the more uncomfortable I became.How long did I know him? I finally asked, my voice quieter than I intended.Marcus didn’t answer immediately. His hesitation made my stomach tighten, and when he finally looked at me, there was something almost apologetic in his expression. He told me that Ethan had known me long before the championship and long before I came to the university. I shook my head, unable to accept it. If that was true, then why couldn’t I remember him? Marcus explained that someone had made sure I wouldn’t remember.

The photograph on my phone made it difficult to breathe. My mother stood beside the same person I had seen in the old photograph, and the message beneath the picture kept burning into my mind: ASK HER WHY SHE LIED. I stared at my mother’s face, searching for some explanation in her expression, but the photograph gave me nothing. She looked calm, almost as if she had no idea that years later, her image would become the center of a nightmare I couldn’t escape.Jace noticed my hands trembling and gently took the phone from me. He studied the photograph before looking at me with concern. Carter, don’t let whoever sent this control what you do next. I knew he was right, but hearing my mother’s name connected to another secret only made the anger inside me grow. I told him that I had spent my entire life trusting my mother, and now I didn’t even know which memories were real. According to Marcus, she had died seven months ago, yet someone had been using her number to contact me, sending mes