As I begrudgingly broke my Panini sandwich apart into pieces and slowly ate it bit by bit, Henrietta had been continuously talking without even stopping once. I tried to keep up with the conversation at first, but then I decided to just give up and let her babble on while I give short answers and small nods.

But as I pretended to be attentive to her, my mind was flashing back to my confrontation with Aiden. I will admit that nothing like that had ever happened to me before, so I was still quite stunned by it. I was even more shocked with myself for slapping him. Never in my life had I ever slapped anyone before, especially doing it so hard that the palm of my hand throbbed after I did it.

I was sure that there was only one thing that had convinced me to slap him with all my might, and that was the fact that he kept on trying to insist that I was his long-lost love who had no memory of him whatsoever and that I am not really Spring Korey.

That's just plain nuts. I am absolutely positive that I have never met him even once in the past and that I am no one else other than Spring Korey.

It made me feel kind of glad that I got mad at him and started ditching him as soon as I could. Who knows? One more moment with him and I would have contracted his psycho.

I broke out of my long train of thoughts once again, just in time to hear Henrietta ask mischievously, "So, dear Spring. How are you and the guy lately? You two still talking to each other like buddies or have you reached first base with him?"

I didn't even need to ask who 'the guy' was, and I wanted to immediately gag when I had heard her question.

"No. Me and that guy are not talking to each other anymore. And no, I did not go to first base or anything with him," I spat. And then, I added with a grumble, "I ditched him already."

She literally started choking on the lemonade she was sipping. I waited patiently as she recollected herself, her wide and disbelieving blue-grey eyes still fixed on me.

"Are you serious, Spring?" she exclaimed with pure outrage and disbelief in her tone. "Why did you do that? He looked like a million bucks! He's probably worth it too! I can't believe that you would turn down a guy like him! I mean, he's-"

"A psycho," I cut her off. "A maniac. A lunatic. Any name that defines crazy. Because that's what he is. He's crazy."

Henrietta's mouth gapped open immediately, her lips forming a perfect 'O' shape, as her eyes. which were now as wide as saucers, continued to stare at me.

"Why would you say that?" she questioned me as though she thought I was the one going crazy.

I heaved a heavy sigh in frustration. I really did not want to talk about this at all, but I knew I had to get it off my chest someday. And if Henrietta was the one I was telling it to, then so be it.

"Last week, he told me that he only came to Heatherton because he was looking for his long-lost girlfriend who has amnesia. So I got pissed because I thought that he was only playing with me until this girlfriend of his got her memory back. Then today, he caught up with me and wanted to talk things over with me. Seeing that there was absolutely no escape from him, I agreed. And then he began to tell me that I was actually his lost girlfriend who had forgotten all about him and that I'm not really Spring Korey. And then he tried to hold me and I slapped him."

She sputtered out her lemonade once again, and this time, I had to shield myself with my hand to avoid any from spilling onto my face.

"YOU SLAPPED HIM?" she cried out loud, causing other people to hear and stare at us.

"SSHH!" I snapped instantaneously. "Not so loud!"

Henrietta then plopped herself back down on her seat, her eyes still glued on me. "Why the hell did you that, Spring?"

"He was scaring me!" I answered very defensively. "Besides, he grabbed hold of me like some sort of pervert and I panicked! You would punch someone you don't know so well too if he just randomly grabbed you all of a sudden and without warning."

Remembering and talking about him made a new fire of anger cackle to life inside me, and I was really tempted to stand up from my seat and break stuff. But I maintained my cool, though I couldn't help but tighten my already-tight firsts until they were trembling.

She must have seen how angry I was right now, because her tone suddenly changed and she whispered, "Wow…. Now that I think about it, maybe he is a bit crazy…."

Yes! Finally, someone to agree with my case! Thank you, high heavens!

"But…."

Oh no. I could easily tell by the way the tone of her voice dropped that what she say was nt going to please me so much.

"But?"

Henrietta bit the corner of her bottom lip, looking very hesitant of what she was going to say next. I remained impassive, silently and patiently waiting for her to make the first move.

She suddenly breathed out air that I hadn't realized she had been keeping in. And then, she asked, "What if all that he is saying is true? What if you really do have amnesia and really did forget about him and your true identity?"

I really couldn't help myself from retaliating. I really couldn't.

That was completely absurd, ridiculous and stupid.

"Oh my God, are you serious!" I cried, but still maintaining a volume that was only slighter than a whisper so as to not disturb the other patrons at the cafe. Henrietta jumped at my sudden outburst, her chair scraping only a few inches away from the original position. I didn't understand why she had jumped like that. It's not like was popped up from behind me.

With hard eyes and voice laced with steel, I snapped, "Henrietta. I can pretty damn well confirm with you whether or not I have had amnesia or not. And trust me, I positively did not have any amnesia. I remember all the things I did from since when I was a child absolutely clearly. Besides, even if I did suffer from memory loss, my mom would have told me from the beginning or he would have been there with me if I had 'woken up'. You get what I'm saying?"

I hadn't realize how harsh and snappy I've been saying those sentences until I had finally leaned back in my chair and took a deep breath before reaching for my cup of iced cappuccino once again and drinking several big gulps of it.

Henrietta seemed shocked, and somewhat afraid, of my minor meltdown. I felt bad immediately. Usually, I was calm and have never raised my voice. But any subject regarding Aiden really seemed to affect it a lot.

Running my fingers through my hair, I said, "Look. Can we not talk about him?"

She only nodded in silence and then proceeded to eat her turkey and artichoke sandwich. I ate my Panini alongside here and we remained quiet for a few minutes. I didn't really want to have this awkward silence loom between us, but at least it managed to give me some peace of mind.

After what must be seven minutes of not talking to each other, she finally said meekly, "I might have something that might cheer you up."

I looked up from my plate of remaining Panini bits to her. She was still chewing on her sandwich with her eyes fixed on me.

"And what's that?" I asked her.

She started to drum her fingers on the table top, continuing to do that for a few minutes or so. And then, she said, "Tomorrow night, there's this party on the outskirts of town. In one of the houses in the forests. I've been invited by someone I know, but I don't really have anyone close to me to go with. So I was wondering… if you would like to come with me."

I began to immediately think about a decision. Normally, I would have just preferred to stay in the safety of my home, curled up on my bed and doing my own thing. But lately, there weren't many distractions at home. And no distractions to occupy my mind would have allowed thoughts of Aiden to intrude. No. Silence would only make the unwanted thoughts bigger. I needed to be somewhere loud and fast-paced to at least have a few moments peace from him.

So, I simply shrugged and said, "Sure. Why not?"

And in a few seconds, Henrietta had jumped out of her chair and came to my side to give me a tight viper hug. I had to beg her to release me then.

In the dark abyss of shadows, the three white-robed sisters chuckled to themselves at the events that were to unravel.

"It is a good thing she has agreed to go to that party with her friend," the brunette cooed.

The redhead nodded in agreement. "Indeed. Though I worry of what she would face there."

"There is no need to worry, dear sister," the blonde one reassured soothingly. "Good things will come of this. It has already been weaved."