<p><span style="background-color: transparent;">The door opened slowly.</span></p><p><br/></p><p>I stood there, staring at the darkness inside Room 17.</p><p><br/></p><p>Every sensible part of me said to walk away.</p><p><br/></p><p>I didn't.</p><p><br/></p><p>I stepped inside.</p><p><br/></p><p>The room smelled old.</p><p><br/></p><p>Not dusty.</p><p><br/></p><p>Old.</p><p><br/></p><p>Like it had been closed for years.</p><p><br/></p><p>There was a bed against the wall, a small wooden table and a wardrobe with one broken door.</p><p><br/></p><p>On the wall hung several photographs.</p><p><br/></p><p>I moved closer.</p><p><br/></p><p>The first photograph showed the building.</p><p><br/></p><p>The second showed a group of students.</p><p><br/></p><p>The third made me stop.</p><p><br/></p><p>It was the same photograph I had found outside.</p><p><br/></p><p>Two girls.</p><p><br/></p><p>One smiling.</p><p><br/></p><p>One staring at the camera.</p><p><br/></p><p>I looked closer at the girl who wasn't smiling.</p><p><br/></p><p>Something about her face felt familiar.</p><p><br/></p><p>Then I heard the door close behind me.</p><p><br/></p><p>I spun around.</p><p><br/></p><p>Nobody was there.</p><p><br/></p><p>“Hello?”</p><p><br/></p><p>No answer.</p><p><br/></p><p>I reached for the handle.</p><p><br/></p><p>It wouldn't move.</p><p><br/></p><p>My stomach tightened.</p><p><br/></p><p>“Okay. Very funny.”</p><p><br/></p><p>I pulled again.</p><p><br/></p><p>Nothing.</p><p><br/></p><p>Then I heard footsteps behind me.</p><p><br/></p><p>Slow.</p><p><br/></p><p>Bare feet against the floor.</p><p><br/></p><p>I turned.</p><p><br/></p><p>A girl stood beside the window.</p><p><br/></p><p>She looked about my age.</p><p><br/></p><p>Long dark hair.</p><p><br/></p><p>Pale face.</p><p><br/></p><p>And eyes that looked strangely familiar.</p><p><br/></p><p>She stared at me.</p><p><br/></p><p>I couldn't speak.</p><p><br/></p><p>“You shouldn't be here,” she said.</p><p><br/></p><p>I swallowed.</p><p><br/></p><p>“You're the girl from the photograph.”</p><p><br/></p><p>She didn't answer.</p><p><br/></p><p>“Who are you?”</p><p><br/></p><p>Her eyes moved towards the locked door.</p><p><br/></p><p>“You need to leave.”</p><p><br/></p><p>“I can't. The door is locked.”</p><p><br/></p><p>She looked back at me.</p><p><br/></p><p>For the first time, fear crossed her face.</p><p><br/></p><p>“Then we're already too late.”</p><p><br/></p><p>My heart raced.</p><p><br/></p><p>“Too late for what?”</p><p><br/></p><p>She stepped closer.</p><p><br/></p><p>“She's awake.”</p><p><br/></p><p>“Who?”</p><p><br/></p><p>The girl looked directly into my eyes.</p><p><br/></p><p>“The woman who told you nobody lives here.”</p><p><br/></p><p>I froze.</p><p><br/></p><p>The landlady.</p><p><br/></p><p>Before I could say another word, the door suddenly unlocked.</p><p><br/></p><p>I pulled it open.</p><p><br/></p><p>The hallway was empty.</p><p><br/></p><p>I turned back.</p><p><br/></p><p>The girl was gone.</p><p><br/></p><p>Completely.</p><p><br/></p><p>I searched the room.</p><p><br/></p><p>Under the bed.</p><p><br/></p><p>Behind the wardrobe.</p><p><br/></p><p>Nothing.</p><p><br/></p><p>Then I noticed something on the table.</p><p><br/></p><p>A small diary.</p><p><br/></p><p>I picked it up.</p><p><br/></p><p>The first page was covered in handwriting.</p><p><br/></p><p>My name is Lena.</p><p><br/></p><p>I turned the page.</p><p><br/></p><p>The next sentence made my hands go cold.</p><p><br/></p><p>If Maya ever moves into Room 16, I need her to remember me.</p><p><br/></p><p>I dropped the diary.</p><p><br/></p><p>My name was Maya.</p><p><br/></p><p>And I had never told anyone in this house that.</p>
|
Your tip will strengthen my pen to do more. Thank you 🥰
At the end of the month, we give out prizes in 3 categories: Best Content, Top Engagers and
Most Engaged Content.
Best Content
Top Engagers
Most Engaged Content
Best Content
We give out cash prizes to between 7 and 20 community members with the best insights in the past month.
The winners are picked by an in-house selection process.
The winners are NOT picked from the leaderboards/rankings, we choose winners based on the quality, originality
and insightfulness of their content.
Here are a few other things to know for the Best Content track
1
Quality over Quantity — You stand a higher chance of winning by publishing a few really good insights across the entire month,
rather than a lot of low-quality, spammy posts.
2
Share original, authentic, and engaging content that clearly reflects your voice, thoughts, and opinions.
3
Avoid using AI to generate content—use it instead to correct grammar, improve flow, enhance structure, and boost clarity.
4
Explore audio content—high-quality audio insights can significantly boost your chances of standing out.
5
Use eye-catching cover images—if your content doesn't attract attention, it's less likely to be read or engaged with.
6
Share your content in your social circles to build engagement around it.
Top Engagers
For the Top Engagers Track, we award the top 3 people who engage the most with other user's content via
comments.
The winners are picked using the "Top Monthly Engagers" tab on the rankings page.
Most Engaged Content
The Most Engaged Content recognizes users whose content received the most engagement during the month.
We pick the top 3.
The winners are picked using the "Top Monthly Contributors" tab on the rankings page.
Contributor Rankings
The Rankings/Leaderboard shows the Top 20 contributors and engagers on TwoCents a monthly and all-time basis
— as well as the most active colleges (users attending/that attended those colleges)
The all-time contributors ranking is based on the Contributor Score, which is a measure of all the engagement and exposure a contributor's content receives.
The monthly contributors ranking tracks performance of a user's insights for the current month. The monthly and all-time scores are calcuated DIFFERENTLY.
This page also shows the top engagers on an all-time & monthly basis.
Below is a list of badges on TwoCents and their designations.
Content Contributor
Eligible to Earn
Most Viewed in a Space
Monthly Prize Winner
Mini-Competition/Flash Contest Winner
Essay Competition Winner
Spoken Word Competition Winner
Hundred Insight Club (HIC) (100+ Insights)
Contributor (500+ Score)
Top Contributor (2000+ Score)
Elite Contributor (5000+ Score)
Trusted Contributor
Follow & Subscribe
Comments
Five stances. Choose where you stand, then join the conversation.