When I wake up again it's past noon. I peer through the blinds and see the sun high in the sky.
I climb out of bed and throw some clothes on; a baggy Nirvana Tee and skinny jeans. I rush downstairs where Mom is knitting in the lounge. She looks up as I bound into the room.
'Do you remember?' she asks. I turn away, embarrassed.
'Yes, Mom,' I whine and go to the kitchen.
'I want an explanation,' she shouts out. 'That's not acceptable behaviour.'
'I don't know what happened,' I answer, pouring some Fruit Loops into a bowl with some milk. I take the bowl into the lounge and sit on the couch opposite her. She raises her eyebrows at me as I eat.
'Were you drinking?' she asks.
'No, I definitely wasn't,' I insist. I know I wasn't, but there's no way to explain it.
'Then why don't you know?'
'I just don't, Mom, will you quit it?'
She stares at me while I finish my bowl of cereal. Still waiting for an answer.
'I'm sorry. I woke up in the woods, came home, and that's that.' I rush back into the kitchen to wash up my bowl, and try and avoid any further questioning. But I hear her follow me and stand behind me.
'What do you remember before that?' she asks.
I think hard. I didn't actually think about this before.
'I remember... I was with Joy,' I say. Joy has been my best friend for 4 years now, we spend so much time together. Last night I was with her in the park. I hear her voice ringing in my head, and us laughing together. Then I remember screams, Joy's screams. 'I was in the park with Joy. I don't remember anything else. Now please, drop it. It won't happen again.'
Mom nods and goes back to sit and do her knitting. I decide to call Joy to find out for myself what happened in the park.
The phone rings, and rings. But there is no answer.
I ring her house phone.
'Joy?' I ask when I hear someone pick up the phone.
'No, this is her Mom,' comes the reply. 'Rowyn, is that you?'
'Yeah, where's Joy?'
'She didn't come home last night,' she answers. I hear a slight catch in her throat. 'The police are out searching for her now, we can't get hold of her, and no one has seen her.'
I nod, then realise she won't see it. 'I'm sure she's fine Mrs Harris.'
I put the phone down and grab my coat. Those screams ring in my head.
'Where are you going now?' Mom calls out.
'Park.'