Chapter 7
Black Dress
Airiana knocked on Andy's door five minutes later.
He swung th door open and greeted her with, "HOLLA!"
"Hi." Airiana said simply.
"Well aren't you just the picture of energy." He said.
Airiana smiled and nodded.
"Well, it's an improvement." Andy said. "Now, meet down at the car park A.S.A.P. Bring your girlfriends if you want."
"Where are we going?" Airiana asked, raising an eyebrow as she looked into his clear yellow eyes.
"Shopping!" He announced.
Airiana was walking back towards her dorm when she spotted Gary sitting patiently on a parkbench on the campus. She walked over and sat down next to him, not once looking at him. She didn't want people thinking she was any more crazy than they already thought.
"Update?" She said, looking at the flowers, the green grass, and the pathways. Anywhere but Gary.
"Do you want the good news or the bad news first?" Gary asked, not looking at her.
"Bad news."
"I know how to reverse the curse."
"How is that bad news?"
"I haven't told you how to reverse it yet." He said.
"Go on."
"You have to remember."
"Remember what."
"Everything."
"And..."
"Have you ever tried to look back to your past, but you can never quite grasp the memory?"
"Yes."
"That's because it's not there."
"What do you mean."
"After your mother was killed, Circle Daybreak removed your memories from up to that point and then they shipped you off to Seattle." Gary said. "They also removed the memories of the epople around you, so, Jeremy, Sam, Lexi, Wynter, Triston..."
"What! How am I supposed to remember memories that were removed?"
"Clues. There will be some things from your past you still own, some things you may do that will remind you of the memories. Anything."
Airiana took a deep breath.
She turned to Gary, "Can you help me?"
"I can only give you one clue. Do you want to hear it?"
"Yes."
"Ok. When you used to argue with Jeremy. You used to win it with one little phrase, do you remember what that phrase was..."
Airiana closed her eyes, clenching them tught, trying to remember every arguement she's ever had with her twin brother.
Her eyes softened and she opened them slowly.
"No."
Gary sighed.
"Wait." An image was appearing in Airiana's head.
Flashback
"Give me the TV remote!" Airiana stomped her foot.
"No. Your not the boss of me." Jeremy snorted.
"I'm older."
"We're twins, idiot!"
"I came out first!"
End of flashback
"I remember." She smiled.
Gary looked at her and leaned closer. "What was the phrase Airiana?"
"I came out first." She chuckled. She looked at him. "Am I right?"
He began to fade out, smiling before he disappeared.
Airiana heard a soft voice in her head. "One step closer."
Airiana ran back to her dorm, she was smiling and laughing at the same time as crying. As she reached her dorm she stood in front of the mirror, brushed her fingers through her brown hair, and shrugged.
She ran back down to the carpark and skidded to a holt in front of the cars her friends were accompanying. She will not get in a car. It seems like every time she does, disaster spills.
A vehicle, fine, but a car...never.
Jez roared up in front of Airiana with her motocycle, extending a hard-surfaced, black helmet.
Airiana smiled and took the helmet gratefully. She slid on behind Jez and adjusted the helmet.
"You ready?" Jez called back.
"I'm ready."
As the motocycle pushed forward, jolting Airiana and pulling her with it. She could feel her hair whipping around wildy as the scenery drifted by.
"WOO-HOO!" Airiana yelled as they sped down the road towards Thierry's house.
Jez ran up and shoved the keys in the door.
Ariana was so jittery and bubbly, she was jumping around and ecstactically poking Jez, making her twist the key faster.
The girls stumbled over the doormat and into the wide hallway. They jogged to Jez's room first. Jez swung her closet open and pulled out a dress. Yes, she owned a dress.
It was strapless, the top layer, a white silky fabric with a white and gold bow belt under the breasts. The second layer was the same fabric but gold. Then a white layer. Then the last, a gold layer.
"I can't believe I still own this thing." She puffed.
"Jez, it's amazing."
"Oh, this old thing."
"You try it on, and i'll go get mine."
Airiana walked into her room and slowly kneeled down in front of the chest at the end of her bed. She lifted the lid and her hair blew back like a puff of wind had exited the chest. She reached down and could feel the black, silky, slippery, polyester material under her fingers. She pulled the black dress out of the chest and raised it high in the air.
Flashback
Airiana's mother was raving through her closet. Airiana walked in and saw the beautiful black dress layed out across her mother's bed.
Airiana ran up to it and ran her small six year old fingers across the fabric. It was strapless with tiers of soft fabric, one after the other, layering in beauty.
"Mummy, mummy, can I try it on?"
"Ok, sweetie."
Airiana dropped the long black dress over her head and watched in disappointment as it slid the whole way and buched at her ankles. She stepped out of it and folded her arms tightly across her flat chest.
"Oh it's ok. It'll fit you some day. Maybe you could wear it to the prom. Would you like that?"
Airiana's eyes lit up as she dropped her arms, smiled and nodded.
End of flashback.
Airiana held the dress to her body as she danced around the room as the memories danced around her mind, the sunlight pooring over her skin as she waltzed across the floor. The skirt of the dress swirled around as she spun in cirles.
"I remember." She chimed.