Chapter Two: Reminding an Amnesiac of their Life? No Problem!

All right, guys! Enjoy!

The bus dropped us off in front of the National Museum of Nowhere. A frosty wind blue across the desert, and even though I mentally cursed myself for wearing my dead mother's dark blue, slightly large, comfortable, and apple-smelling jean jacket, I knew that I would wear it no matter what; it was one of the only things I had from my parents. I hadn't removed it for years (not counting those odd moments when I needed to wash or change), so why would I start then?

At least I had it better than Jason; his warmest thing was a thin black windbreaker.

"So, a crash course for the amnesiac," Leo spoke with a helpful tone, which—for some deranged reason—made me think it was just going to be very sarcastic. "We go to 'Wilderness School.'"—Leo made air quotes. "Which means we're 'bad kids.'" He gestured to me, and I took the stage.

"Your family, or the court, or whatever jacked-up idiot decided that you were too troublesome, and they shipped you off to this lovely prison—sorry, 'boarding school'—in Armpit, Nevada, where you learn valuable nature skills like running ten miles a day through the cacti—"

"Which, in Mira's case, means running into the cacti," Leo snickered.

I nodded and made my eyes wide and innocent. "Yeah. The cacti move to get in my way, ya know?" I nodded at Leo. "You can finish,"

"Right. Like Mira said, we run, but we also weave daisies into hats! And for a special treat, we go on 'educational' field trips with Coach Hedge, who keeps order with a baseball bat."

"You make Coach Hedge sound awful, Leo. He's not that bad!" I argued. "He's hilarious, and he gives Dylan what he deserves!"

Leo rolled his eyes and ignored me. "Is it all coming back to you now?"

"No." Jason stated, glancing apprehensively at the other delinquents. If I was reading his expression correctly, he was probably wondering what the others did to get here, because no one actually looked like a hardened criminal. And—if he really didn't remember anything— he was wondering what he did to belong with us.

Leo rolled his eyes, this time at Jason. "You're really going to play this out, huh? Okay, so the four of us started here together this semester. We're totally tight. You do everything I say and give me your dessert and do my chores—"

"Leo..." I said, dragging the O in his name out threateningly.

Leo nodded. "Right, sorry; you do everything Mira and I say and give us your dessert and do our chores—"

"Leo!" Piper snapped.

I sighed dramatically. "Fine, Mother. Ignore that last bit; you're not our slave. But we are friends."

"Mira's as annoying as hell, but we tolerate her." Leo corrected me. I glared at him, but he didn't see it and continued. "Well, Piper's a little more than your friend for these last few weeks—"

"Mira, stop it!" Piper and Jason were blushing like a set of fully red Christmas lights, and even though it was pretty funny to watch, I felt a stab of guilt; Piper had been crushing on Jason for almost ever since we met him, and now he "forgot" about her... anyone would've been embarrassed. I should've held my tongue.

I thought about something my father said: "Silence is golden." Even dead, you're right, I thought.

Jason, Leo, and Piper were all staring at me as if I said something scandalous. I gave an awkward chuckle: "Was I thinking aloud?"

Leo nodded. "Yeah." He gave me a, If you want to talk about it, we can, look.

"Sorry," I mumbled, but shook my head at Leo.

Piper sent me a small smile, but I could see the worry for Jason tucked into the corners. I felt a stab of jealousy; the only two people who loved me like that were dead. Then, I hated myself for thinking that. But I listened to Piper: "He's got amnesia or something; we've got to tell somebody."

I scoffed. "Who, Coach Hedge? He'd try to fix Jason by whacking him upside the head."

Leo gave me a triumphant look. "Ha! What happened to loving Coach Hedge?"

I rolled my eyes. "Hedge's like that one plant—sorry, uncle—who you can't help but love despite their violence."

"Leo, Mira, stop it; Jason needs help," Piper insisted. "He's got a concussion or—"

"Yo, Piper," Dylan suddenly—and unfortunately—dropped back to join us as everyone was heading to the museum, carrying his smile that suggested that he was God's gift to juvenile delinquent girls everywhere. I groaned loudly, and when he knocked Leo down in the process of wedging himself between Jason and Piper, I went from hating him with every fiber in my body to wanting to kill him. As I helped Leo up, he said, "Don't talk to these bottom-feeders. You're my partner, remember?" I made a sound that resembled a murderous grunt when he called me a 'bottom-feeder', and he turned around to face me. "Well, not you, Mira. You could never be a bottom-feeder to me," He winked at me and leaned in to whisper something, but I stepped back aggressively. He threw his hands up in the air, like, I'm innocent! "I just have an offer," he said, smirking.

"Take your offer and give it to someone who wants it." I growled. Growing up in a desi household, normally, whenever someone flirted with me, I had a complete nuclear explosion in my brain. But when Dylan—or any other boy like him—did, I detested him so much, I was filled with a murderous rage. A cruel smile curled my lips as I thought about running Dylan through with a javelin. But Leo snorting in the background at my anger made Dylan back away.

Piper added to that by grumbling, "Go away, Dylan. I didn't ask to be your partner."

"Ah, that's no way to be. This is your lucky day!" Dylan hooked an arm through Piper's and dragged her through the museum entrance. Piper shot one last look over her shoulder like, 911.

Leo brushed himself off, saying, "I hate that guy."

"Don't we all," I muttered. "Where's the nearest bathroom? I need to throw up."

But Jason the Ignorant didn't hear that and noted, "But Mira doesn't,"

I gagged. "Jason, wash your mouth with soap! How dare you say such a thing! He's even worse than Ethan." I scowled at the memory.

Jason must've gave a questioning glace at Leo, because Leo shrugged and said, "I don't know, man. She's lived a long life,"

"You make me sound so old," I commented.

Leo suddenly snickered. "He seems to want you, though. You're going to pass up an opportunity like that? He's smoking!" he joked.

I wrinkled my nose. "I'd rather date you than him, and that's saying a lot. He's so stuck up, too."

Leo nodded, and offered Jason his arm as if he wanted them to go skipping inside together. The thought made me smirk; they'd probably end up falling on their faces. Anyway, he said, "I'm Dylan. I'm so cool, I want to date myself, but I can't figure out how! You want to date me instead? You're so lucky!"

I scowled. "He said that to me, once."

Leo gape at me. "What did you say?"

"I told him to find someone who likes arrogant—well, I cursed at him in Telegu." Telegu is the language I grew up learning (which practically no one knows), and half the time I was feeling extreme negative emotions, I defaulted back to it. I guess you don't call it your mother-tongue for nothing.

Leo smirked, knowing fully well how harsh Telegu curses could be, but Jason asked curiously, "Telegu?"

"Mother-tongue," I answered with a shrug.

"Yeah," Leo nodded wisely. "She cut out her mother's tongue and named it."

Jason and I grimaced at the gruesome thought, him saying, "Leo, you weird."

"Yeah, you tell me that a lot."

"For good reason," I retorted, even though it wasn't really an insult.

"Hypocrite," he shot back.

"He's right," Jason admitted.

"You tell me that a lot, too," I told him.

Leo grinned. "But if you don't remember me, that means I can reuse all my old jokes. Come on!"

"Psychopath," I muttered under my breath.

Jason turned back to me, raising an eyebrow like, he's my best friend?

I reached up to pat him on the back, but I mentally cursed myself for being so short. Anyway, I sympathized, "Trust me, we all pity you."

And that's the chapter! Please review for any corrections of any sort! Thank you!

~Sarcasticsnark13

P.S. this isn't even the whole first chapter!