Chapter 1
Thom Yorke – "Hearing Damage"
Alathea woke from a dreamless sleep, lying flat on her back and gazing at the wooden bunk above her. As was the usual regime, she had the intent to playfully kick the bunk before her best friend woke up grumpily and tried to kill her. However, Alexia…
Alexia…
She was gone now. Thea sighed, carefully sliding into a sitting position without hitting her head on the wood. Rubbing her eyes, she stood and walked to the window. Her right hand fastened around the pull to the blinds; she took a deep breath and gave a small jerk, then light poured over her form as she blinked into the sunshine. The football field was empty, naturally, save for little bits of litter from last night's game. The tiniest amount of anger swelled in her, knowing that smelly high school students had thoughtlessly trampled over what had been a monumental piece of history to her. It had been the same way every fall since then.
Three years.
It had been three years and just a few months since then. Her 18 year old self seemed to be swallowed by her now 21 year old one; the posters of actors on the wall had been taken down, the walls had been painted, the carpet changed, the layout rearranged. She'd gone through a couple new jobs, but remained in her home for the simplicity of things. At least, that's what she'd told people.
They could find me here if they wanted to.
Alexia had been a different story. Whereas Mark found that he couldn't cheer Alathea up on a daily basis and inevitably broke things off, Jason took Alexia in a few short months after they'd come home.
At first, it wasn't hard to go on with normal life – it was difficult in the sense for the girls to pick up where they'd left off, maybe. (Alexia had forgotten the names of some of her regulars at her job, and Alathea had to be practically retrained on the register at hers.) But both girls had accepted that this was home; this was normal. This is where they were supposed to be because it made sense to be…at least for now.
However, as time went on, it was difficult for either of them to pretend as if that chapter in their life hadn't happened, let alone mattered. It was beginning to catch up with them, and around the 3rd year of being home, the depression sunk in. Alathea and Alexia stopped speaking, simply because they never seemed capable of having a normal conversation without referencing their time spent in Gaia. Neither of them went out, really, besides their day jobs. People had since then learned to stop asking questions; they grew tired of hearing the same mechanical responses.
"Alexia?"
20 miles away from her hometown, Alexia snapped out of her trance and glanced up at Jason. He wore that same apologetic smile that had practically become his mask lately. She returned the smile, but it didn't meet her eyes.
"Mmm?"
"I was just asking you when you were working until tonight." He nervously laughed and poured more coffee into her mug. She thanked him, and mumbled,
"5:30, I think."
Jason stared at her for a few moments, and then quietly seated himself across from her. Alexia was once again staring vacantly into her coffee. Lately, it was incredibly difficult to catch her with a smile on her face, or her head out of the clouds. It was like she'd been walking through three years' worth of quicksand; the first couple that she'd confidently jogged through, but the more she went on, the more sluggish she became. It was bogging her down now.
Many moments passed before her boyfriend gently grabbed her hand, startling her a little. His hand was slightly clammy…he was nervous.
"A few years ago, you disappeared for a night. From how you describe it, it was much longer than that where you were," he spoke quietly, and paused for a moment. Her eyes were now locked on his, slight hesitation and fear behind them. They almost never spoke about what had happened, just because it seemed like such a painful thing to her. Jason let out a small breath, bit his bottom lip thoughtfully, and then continued.
"It's becoming glaringly obvious that the time gone by was different for the two of us. I had a night of wondering what had become of you. You had almost a year of—"he broke off in a sheepish chuckle. To this day, it still felt bizarre to say it. "Of attempting to save the world."
When Alexia had explained to him what had happened in her absense, she never mentioned him. It would have broken Jason.
Her boyfriend stood from the table and walked to the sink. Clutching the sides of the counter, he took a deep breath and hung his head as if preparing to do something important and arduous. Finally, he turned to face her again, and Alexia noticed the strain and tiredness in his blue eyes.
"You have to do something about this." He said, still gently, still quietly. "You're not the same. You're a shell of my girlfriend, the one who used to have fight in her."
The words hurt them both a little, but he went on.
"You need to talk about it. With….I don't know, a professional, maybe?"
For the first time in a long, long time, Alexia scoffed and threw her hands in the air. The gesture was enough to encourage Jason.
"Yes, Jas, I'm going to waltz into a therapist's office and tell them all about my escapades with fictional characters," she laughed bitterly, "But before I go, we should probably get my name taken off the lease, because I won't be coming home. I'll go to a new home, with padded walls, where everybody wears white and gives me happy pills with my dinner!"
She realized she was now on her feet, her heart hammering in her chest. Jason looked at her with his mask of a smile.
"That's the most you've said to me in weeks."
He checked his watch, grabbed his coat, kissed her on the cheek and walked towards the front door. Opening it, he glanced over his shoulder at her.
"You know, going to see Alathea couldn't hurt at this point."
Alexia heard the door shut, but she was still staring at Jason's former position at the kitchen sink.
Alathea.
