This was what I was waiting. Finally I was going to be getting some answers, but I just couldn't shake this nagging feeling in the back of mind. This feeling that the question was too much, too personal, even though he had said it didn't matter. I'm stuck for what to do, I don't act on impulse. I think things through, meticulously analysing every detail. But there's no time for that now. So I do the thing that seems the most logical at this moment.
"You ask me first." He looks slightly fazed for a second.
"Um, okay," he sighs thoughtfully, "why'd you move here?"
"Why did I move here?" he nods, "you know for someone who didn't want mundane questions that's awfully normal."
"Not to me. I mean you don't have the Clarks last name, and you don't look anything like them, so I doubt you're related. But even if you were, why would you move across the country to live with family? Unless something happened to your parents, which also seems highly unlikely because you don't seem like someone who's gone through something traumatic. So why'd you come here?"
"You know I think that's the most I've heard you talk." He rolls his eyes and replies, "Just answer the question."
"Okay," I sigh and set my coffee down on the table before turning in my seat to look at him. "You're right, I'm not related to the Clarks, Ella and Edward are my Godparents. And no, my parents aren't dead. I'm sure they're happily living it up in Boston right now."
"Then why the move?" I take a deep breath, carefully thinking about my answer.
"I couldn't deal with the pressure. So I left." He looks slightly appalled.
"What? So school got a bit much, you boyfriend issues or something and your immediate response is to just pack up and leave? To run?"
"No." I argue back defensively, "it wasn't stupid like that it was something big." He looks sceptical.
"How so?"
"I was born with a condition called hyperthymesia. It means I have an extremely detailed autobiographical memory, I'm basically a human camcorder. I can remember every personal event that has ever happened in my whole life." I hesitated for a moment. "Or at least I could."
"What do you mean 'could'?"
"It was during Christmas break. Right after New Year, a friend of mine was having a party at this hotel. I ended up outside, I had gotten separated from my friends, I don't know why. Anyway I was walking pass this alley when a guy grabbed me, there was a few of them, three I think. They attacked me and then they left me for dead." I looked at my hands and took a deep breath before continuing, "I woke up a month later in the hospital, with absolutely no memory whatsoever. Nothing at all. Completely blank. In the end I just decided to move. I mean I had to restart my life, I might as well do it where there's no expectations." I still refused to look at Nick, unsure of what I would find when I did. Through my thoughts I heard him take a deep breath in the background.
"Well I was wrong about one thing." I look at him in confusion, "I guess you have been through something traumatic." I simply shrug.
"You can't be traumatized by something you can't remember." There's a silence that lingers for a few moments. "You know it's funny. I haven't told anyone that yet. Not even Brennan and Logan know the whole story." He chuckles softly, turning and looking back down at the store.
"You're not what I expected." I join him at the railing.
"And whys that?"
"Girls our age, they're all the same. All looking for attention, all fighting to be the most important." He turns to face me. "But not you, you don't seem to want attention."
"Everybody wants attention off of somebody. Even if it's just one person."
"And whose attention do you want exactly?"
"Well, I guess you'll have to find out." I answer coyly, walking back to sit down at the coffee table.
"Okay, well I guess I'm up. Ask away." Taking a deep breath, I open my mouth to answer. However instead of the sound of words, an insistent buzzing resonated throughout the room. I looked around confused for the source of the noise. My eyes finally landed on the culprit, there on the coffee table, half-hidden under a napkin, was Nicks phone.
"Your phones ringing." I say handing him the device. For a moment, he just looks at it in confusion, before quickly answering it. After a few minutes of a hushed conversation, he turns to me with a sympathetic smile.
"Sorry, but I have to go pick up Amelia, I was supposed to be there already." I take a moment to register this, before nodding and gathering up my things.
"Okay." Nick looks at me pleadingly.
"Evie, I didn't plan this I swear, I promise I'll give you an answer."
"Nick, seriously its fine, I under-" he cuts me off hastily.
"Meet me Monday afterschool? We can get coffee or something, and I promise I will answer any questions you have." He looked at me with begging eyes, he had moved closer so he was standing right in front of me with his head ducked slightly in order to look me in the eyes.
"Okay."
#
The rest of the weekend past rather uneventfully, and soon it was Monday. Honours English passed pretty monotonously, and before I knew it I was walking out of pre-calc with spencer.
"Hey, so you have Spanish right?" I nod in response, "do you want to walk to physics together? I have a free next so I'll be able to meet you."
"Uh, yeah sure Spence, that'd be great. I need to grab some things from my locker though, so could you meet me there?" I suggest.
"Sure Eves, I'll see you later."
Due to the fact we ended up having substitute teacher, we had very little Spanish work to complete, so I spent the duration of the class trying to remember some memories. Before I left Boston, my doctor told me that it's the most recent memories that will be harder to remember, so he suggested I try to remember things that happened way before the incident, like my 6th birthday party or the family vacation we took to Venice when I was 10. Unfortunately, I still couldn't remember anything.
Before I knew it the bell was ringing and I was being swept out of the door by a sea of students. I hurried to the main building to gather my physics books from my locker. After a few minutes of tactical weaving around people, I reach the purple locker. I habitually enter the combination and open the metal door, ready to rummage through the organised mess of my locker, when something falls out. Slightly thrown, I pick it up from its place on the floor, averting my gaze as I unfold it, looking for someone who might put a note in my locker.
My first thought would be that it would be from Nick, maybe something about the plans later today. Maybe he wanted to cancel, I really hope he isn't cancelling on me in a note. But as I look at the note in my hands, I realise just how much I would love for it to be a note from Nick cancelling the outing. How much I would love for it to say how he was sorry and had some prior commitment he couldn't get out of, or that he had to take care of his sister this afternoon. Because anything, and I do mean anything, would be better than this.
I feel the world blur out around me, voices become muffled and my peripheral vision becomes on huge smudge or shapes and colours. I'm unable to focus on anything, except the note. I can see every last detail of the terrible thing. I can see the precision of the fold, running straight through the middle, I can see the slant of the letters and the exactitude of the lines. Every t crossed, every i dotted, I could see it all. The words sent me into a frenzied state of panic, the room was closing in on me, my chest was getting tighter, and all the oxygen seemed to disappear from the air, leaving me struggling for breath. It was all getting too much for me and then,
"Evie?" the word was so loud it shocked me out of my trance, I jump around to look for the source, and see spencer standing there with a confused look on his face.
"Evie? Are you alright?" still partially shocked the best I can do is nod. "Are you sure? You look really freaked out?"
"Umm, yeah yeah, I'm, uh, I'm great." I quickly stumble over my words and to my dismay Spencer doesn't looked convinced. "I just remembered that I've totally double booked myself tonight. I told my boss I'd work but I forgot I told my aunt I would help out with the riding lessons."
"Oh is that all?"
"Yeah, of course, I just zoned out for a little while. It's not a big deal."
"Okay, well, we better get going, Mr Haring has no problem with giving late detentions." He says turning in the direction of the physics building. Meanwhile all I can think is, thank god he bought it.
#
The rest of the day passed without any problem, unless you count the note I found, because that was a problem. A big problem. But other than that the day was quite mundane. So now its ten-to-three and I'm leaving gym class, and walking down the road that leads into town. Because I have gym last most of the school is alright wandering throughout the town or driving past in cars, but I eventually make it to the coffee shop Nick and I decided to meet at. I go in and see that it's a lot bigger than it looks, and is currently looking quite crowded. I weave my way to the counter, intending to get some coffee and find a table, however when I get there I see a group of guys from my school.
"Hey Evie."
"Hey Danny." I smile politely before turning and making my order.
"I haven't seen you in here before." He comments, leaning on the counter.
"You wouldn't have, I tend to go straight home after school." I then turn and over Danny's shoulder, I spot Nick sat in the back corner.
"Well how about you sit with us? You've kind of kept to yourself these past few weeks." My coffee comes and I try to make a fast escape.
"Sorry but I'm meeting someone." I reply stealing a glance at Nick, unfortunately Danny follows my line of vision and doesn't look happy with what he sees.
"What? Collins? You can't be serious Evie." My face must have conveyed my lack of amusement because he continued, "Seriously? Do you have a death wish or something? There are a lot better people to surround yourself with. Why would you want to hang around with a guy like that? I mean…" he trails off with a look of disbelief, "Wait a minute, you don't know do you? No one's told you about him-" but I cut him off.
"About what exactly?" I ask, feeling beyond frustrated at this point. "About the rumours? About the stupid little gossip story's that everyone tells but has no actual proof. Because no, nobody's told me about that, mainly because I don't care." I move to walk away but suddenly find myself trapped between the counter and Danny with his arms placed on the counter on either side of me, giving me no way out.
"Evie, just listen-" I cut him off again.
"Move." But he doesn't instead, he just keeps trying to talk so I open my mouth again.
"Move." Except this wasn't my voice, it was deeper and had a much more menacing tone to it that I could never achieve. It was only after a few seconds I realised it was because the word didn't come from my mouth. It came from Nick's, who was standing right behind Danny, and he didn't particularly look pleased. Danny immediately spun around, releasing me from the confinement and for moment he looked scared. Terrified in fact. I quickly moved to Nick's side, immediately able to feel the anger rolling off him. For a while I'm unsure what to do, I'm just stood there, watching Nick watch the still terrified Danny, then I slip my and into his and try to pull him away.
"Come on Nick, we'll just head someplace else." Eventually he stops resisting and lets me pull him out of the coffee shop.
When we make it out he takes a few deep breaths of the fresh air before turning to me, with his usual mischievous grin and holds up a set of keys.
"Fancy a drive?"
A.N. Hi guys, I just wanted to say that I'm kind of new at this so I don't really know what's good or bad. So any feedback you guys have is really helpful. Thanks everyone, hope you enjoy the story.