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Richard: Can't believe you're 21 now. You're officially old enough to do all the things we probably shouldn't have done in high school.

Richard: Can't believe you're 21 now. You're officially old enough to do all the things we probably shouldn't have done in high school.

It's a joke, but there's something underneath it—a reference to their year together without being explicit about it. She feels the warmth in her chest that comes with being remembered, with someone honoring a specific time without making it weird.

Nisha: lol. High school feels like another lifetime ago.
Richard: For real. Remember I gave you a spanking on your 16th birthday? That's what best friends did back then, right?

Nisha: lol. High school feels like another lifetime ago.

Richard: For real. Remember I gave you a spanking on your 16th birthday? That's what best friends did back then, right?

There it is. Direct, light, not hiding behind innuendo but not overplaying it either. A reference to something that happened, something real, framed as high school ritual rather than romance or regret.

She laughs out loud.

Nisha: Oh my god, yes. That was so embarrassing. You had like 16 people singing to me.
Richard: And then I smacked your ass in front of like half the track team. Your face was SO red.
Nisha: You traumatized me!
Richard: Worth it. Best 16th birthday prank ever.

Nisha: Oh my god, yes. That was so embarrassing. You had like 16 people singing to me.

Richard: And then I smacked your ass in front of like half the track team. Your face was SO red.

Nisha: You traumatized me!

Richard: Worth it. Best 16th birthday prank ever.

They continue texting back and forth for a while—about who from high school is where now, about the track team winning districts that year, about mutual friends who've moved away or gone to different colleges. The conversation is light, undemanding, the kind of reminiscence that doesn't require anything of either of them except the willingness to remember together.

Richard: Did you hear? Tommy and Rose are getting married. Like actually getting married.
Nisha: What?! No way. They dated for like three months senior year.
Richard: I know. But they got engaged last month apparently.
Nisha: That's wild. I remember them breaking up because Tommy got into Cornell and Rose stayed in-state.
Richard: Yeah well, apparently they reconnected at some event and just… decided.
Nisha: Good for them, I guess. That's actually kind of beautiful.
Richard: How's our history class going for you?
Nisha: It's… intense. Dr. Brenner's smart but he hedges everything. Won't just say what he's obviously thinking.
Richard: Yeah, I notice that too. Like he knows exactly where this is all heading but keeps pumping the brakes.
Nisha: Right? About authoritarianism, patterns, what it all means. There's this guy Jake who defends everything Trump does and I want to lose my mind but he's actually articulate about it which makes it worse somehow.
Richard: He sits back right. I listen to him more than he realizes.
Nisha: How do you not lose it hearing him?
Richard: I do, internally. But he's not wrong that the system failed his town. That part's real. The conclusions he draws from it are different from yours but the grievance isn't invented.
Nisha: I know that intellectually. Doesn't help in the moment.
Richard: And then there's Billy who just says all the things Jake thinks but won't admit.
Nisha: Exactly. Billy's like Jake without the filter or the intelligence. Just pure aggression.
Richard: Marcus is the one I respect most. He's not performing. He's just thinking out loud and connecting dots.
Nisha: Yes. Marcus gets it. He's reading everything, doing the work.
Richard: He's studying how students respond to authoritarian history while living through it. Remember he told us he was a grad student working on his thesis.
Nisha: Oh my god. Are we his lab rats?
Richard: lol probably. Every time Jake and you debate he's taking notes. We're literally data points.
Nisha: That's… actually kind of brilliant? And also mildly horrifying. What if I'm just a case study in "performative campus activism"?
Richard: Or I'm "politically disengaged engineering student who occasionally has thoughts."
Nisha: I'm dying. But seriously though, that makes so much sense. The way he watches everything, asks those careful questions.
Richard: Yeah. He's not just learning history. He's documenting it happening in real time through us.
Nisha: Well, I hope we're at least interesting subjects.
Richard: So we're basically in a room with the entire ideological spectrum.
Nisha: It's like watching democracy collapse in real time while trying to take notes on why it happened in Weimar.
Richard: That's the job though—seeing the pattern so we don't repeat it.
Nisha: That's what I keep telling myself. But sometimes I just want Dr. Brenner to say it out loud. "This is what authoritarianism looks like." Done.
Richard: He's scared to. That's my read. He knows what he knows and it terrifies him.
Nisha: So what does that make us? The ones actually willing to say it?
Richard: I don't know yet. But at least we're looking.

Richard: Did you hear? Tommy and Rose are getting married. Like actually getting married.

Nisha: What?! No way. They dated for like three months senior year.

Richard: I know. But they got engaged last month apparently.

Nisha: That's wild. I remember them breaking up because Tommy got into Cornell and Rose stayed in-state.

Richard: Yeah well, apparently they reconnected at some event and just… decided.

Nisha: Good for them, I guess. That's actually kind of beautiful.

Richard: How's our history class going for you?

Nisha: It's… intense. Dr. Brenner's smart but he hedges everything. Won't just say what he's obviously thinking.

Richard: Yeah, I notice that too. Like he knows exactly where this is all heading but keeps pumping the brakes.

Nisha: Right? About authoritarianism, patterns, what it all means. There's this guy Jake who defends everything Trump does and I want to lose my mind but he's actually articulate about it which makes it worse somehow.

Richard: He sits back right. I listen to him more than he realizes.

Nisha: How do you not lose it hearing him?

Richard: I do, internally. But he's not wrong that the system failed his town. That part's real. The conclusions he draws from it are different from yours but the grievance isn't invented.

Nisha: I know that intellectually. Doesn't help in the moment.

Richard: And then there's Billy who just says all the things Jake thinks but won't admit.

Nisha: Exactly. Billy's like Jake without the filter or the intelligence. Just pure aggression.

Richard: Marcus is the one I respect most. He's not performing. He's just thinking out loud and connecting dots.

Nisha: Yes. Marcus gets it. He's reading everything, doing the work.

Richard: He's studying how students respond to authoritarian history while living through it. Remember he told us he was a grad student working on his thesis.

Nisha: Oh my god. Are we his lab rats?

Richard: lol probably. Every time Jake and you debate he's taking notes. We're literally data points.

Nisha: That's… actually kind of brilliant? And also mildly horrifying. What if I'm just a case study in "performative campus activism"?

Richard: Or I'm "politically disengaged engineering student who occasionally has thoughts."

Nisha: I'm dying. But seriously though, that makes so much sense. The way he watches everything, asks those careful questions.

Richard: Yeah. He's not just learning history. He's documenting it happening in real time through us.

Nisha: Well, I hope we're at least interesting subjects.

Richard: So we're basically in a room with the entire ideological spectrum.

Nisha: It's like watching democracy collapse in real time while trying to take notes on why it happened in Weimar.

Richard: That's the job though—seeing the pattern so we don't repeat it.

Nisha: That's what I keep telling myself. But sometimes I just want Dr. Brenner to say it out loud. "This is what authoritarianism looks like." Done.

Richard: He's scared to. That's my read. He knows what he knows and it terrifies him.

Nisha: So what does that make us? The ones actually willing to say it?

Richard: I don't know yet. But at least we're looking.

There's no heaviness in this exchange. No unresolved feelings demanding resolution. Just two people who'd been close once, in the way high school makes you close—intense and temporary and oddly meaningful despite its brevity. They'd moved on cleanly. They'd both found what they needed in other places.

And now they could look back at their classmates' lives with genuine warmth, sitting in the same room watching history unfold, thinking through its implications together even as they processed it from different angles.

But it was nice, she thinks, to be remembered. To have someone check in. To share a moment of hometown geography and inside jokes. Even nicer to have someone in the class itself—someone who was also watching, also thinking, also questioning what it all meant.

Richard: Enjoy your birthday. Really.
Nisha: Thanks for remembering. Seriously.

Richard: Enjoy your birthday. Really.

Nisha: Thanks for remembering. Seriously.

She sets the phone down, leans back. Her roommate still working. The day settles around her—dinner, gift, texts from people who'd been important. Small recognitions accumulating: you exist. You matter.