Chapter Fourteen: Cloud Nine…?

The sunshine hurt my eyes and the flower crown in my hair was itching my scalp, but I let out a gleeful laugh.  I couldn’t tell why, it just happened, as if something else was in control of me, and I was just following along with whatever it was saying.  Like a puppet.  I looked up and saw the birds singing, flying around, and playing tag.  It was a joyous day out.  I smiled and looked around.  Why was everything just so perfect today?

“Kaylie!” some girl called out my name.  I turned around and spotted a beautiful blonde running towards me.  I threw my arm out, waiting for her to catch up with me so that we could link arms, and skip about.  It just seemed like a skipping type of day. 

“I missed you,” the girl smiled.

“I missed you, too,” I laughed, not knowing why I had.  I felt as though I had never seen this girl before, that I had no connection to her, whatsoever.  It was like my brain was telling me one thing, but the rest of me was speaking and acting on its own accord, as if it weren’t connected to my brain.  Like it had a mind of its own.  The experience was strange.

“What have you been up to?” the girl asked with a gentle smile.

My mouth began rambling.  “The other day I was walking around and met this boy named Caleb.  What a cutie!  Well, he invited me to lunch, so we grabbed some, and it was fun.  Then, the next day, I went shopping with Alicia, and later on with Mariam.  It was such a shopping day, Kai!  If only you had been there.  And so yesterday, I went to the movies with Caleb around noon, and then after that, I met up Marcus, Jack, Billie, and Sara, and we all walked to the park, then to the café.”  I was speaking of events and people that my mind didn’t have the slightest memories of, yet my mouth did.

The girl smiled, “That sounds like fun, Kaylie.”

“It was,” I moaned, apparently wishing to go back to those memories.  This life seemed nothing like mine, since mine was far from perfect.  It had so many imperfections, and since I didn’t have any friends besides Langer, none of that would have happened.  I must be having some bizarre dream.  “How was Hawaii, Kairi?”

The girl let out a laugh.  Apparently her name was Kairi.  The name rang a bell, but I couldn’t recall which one.  “It was absolutely perfect, Kaylie.  I met such a sweet boy,” Kairi sighed happily.  “Now, how’s Bethany?”

“Bethany?” I scrunched my face up.  Finally, my mouth agreed with my brain.  Who was this Bethany that they- I mean, we- are talking about?  I shook my head, giving Kairi a curious look.

Kairi’s face seemed appalled.  “Wait, you don’t remember Bethany?”

I laughed.  “No.”

“African American with the curly hair?”

“Doesn’t a ring a bell,” I admitted, shrugging my shoulders.

“Good,” Kairi laughed in a mischievous way.  “But I do?  Ring a bell?”

“A vague one, but yeah,” I nodded.  “You’re, like, a best friend, or something, right?” I asked, trying to recall the correct memory.  How embarrassing would it be if I recalled the wrong memory!

Kairi clapped her hands together.  “Ooh, great!  Then, you do remember!”

I shrugged my shoulders, “I guess so.”  But in reality, I had no idea who she was.  She says that she is my best friend, but I can’t remember her at all or any of the memories we shared.

“I heard that you fell and had really bad amnesia,” Kairi said, her eyes widened.  “I can’t believe that when you needed me, I was away on vacation!  How horrible, so if you need anything, just know that I’m here for you.”  Ah, so I was suffering from amnesia.

“But Kaylie, remember, that if you don’t remember me or anyone, no one is going to be offended.  It’s the amnesia, after all, and is a shame, but none of us will get mad.  Like, you know, we’re all, like, here to help you out, honey,” Kairi smiled.

“Thanks, but who is this Bethany?” I asked, cocking my head to the side.

“No one of importance,” Kairi replied.

“Are you sure?”

“I’m positive.  Don’t you trust me?” she asked with a slightly mischievous smile that seemed sly and like I could trust it.

“Of course,” I nodded, laughing, and so we skipped away to the local café.  There stood a guy with milky brown hair and green eyes.

“Hi, honey,” he smiled down at me.

“Honey” must resemble some sort of significance, right?  So, I should remember him, right?  The only thing is that I couldn’t remember ever seeing him before in my life.

“She’s got amnesia,” Kairi spoke up.

“Oh, how did that happen?” the boy asked.

“Um… a pretty nasty fall, yeah?” Kairi asked, shaking her head at me. 

I nodded in reply.  “Uh, yeah?  I’m sorry, but I can’t remember who you are.”

“Caleb, your boyfriend,” he said, softly, grabbing my hands.  “Is there anything that I can do for you, honey?”  What sort of parallel universe was a living in?  I wasn’t supposed to be happy, have friends, nonetheless a boyfriend.  My mind was exploding with confusion, but Kairi seemed to know what she was doing, so I went along with whatever she was saying.

“I’m good, thanks,” I sighed.  “I just… wish I knew what was going on.”

Kairi looked at me with a stern voice, and said, “Well, start learning names, Kaylie.  You are going to be here for a long time.”  Part of me felt like that meant something completely different than the context.  I nodded, but kept that thought in the back of my mind.  What was going on around here?

“Well, friendship is a powerful thing, Kaylie.  Sooner or later, you’ll remember all of these relationships, and everything will be good again.  Friends always have a way of finding each other, again,” he smiled to me.  I nodded, but Kairi bit her lip, took my arm, and dragged me away.

“Everything okay?” I asked.

“I don’t like him, Kaylie.  You should drop him, and I’m saying this because I care about you,” she said, softly.  She saw the disappointment fall in my eyes, “I just… I mean, you can’t trust guys like that.”

“Huh?” I asked.

She sighed.  “Kaylie, tell me what you remember.”

“My life.  I was a loser with no friends, except for the classroom nerd, Langer.  Then, there was my family who I never associated with.  The last thing I remember was falling asleep,” I shrugged my shoulders.  Then, I allowed for my mind to connect with my mouth, heart, and soul, and I thought like my life depended on it.  “And then…”

“Yes?” Kairi asked, alarmingly.

I closed my eyes tight, and tried to remember.  There was something huge that I was missing, but I just couldn’t remember.  “Never mind.”

“Good, well, let me fill you in on your real life now, okay?  Everyone calls you Kaylie, and you are popular.  I’m your best friend, and our other friends are Alicia, Mariam, Billie- who is a girl, by the way- Devonne, Marcus, Jack, and Sara.  You’ll meet them at school tomorrow because you will be going, won’t you?” she asked.

“Why not?” I shrugged my shoulders.  “I just hope that teachers and everyone will understand my situation.”

“I’ve got this taken care of, Kaylie,” Kairi laughed.  “Don’t worry about a thing.”

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I walked outside and hopped onto the bus.  There was only one seat left, and so I took it.  My mind began to fill with worry; if I had amnesia, then what if the person next to me knew who I was, but I couldn’t tell her who she was?  Surely enough, the girl spoke.

“Hi,” she said, softly, looking down at her plaid skirt.

I studied her profile.  She had curly brown hair, big eyes, and a dark complexion.  In other words, she was quite beautiful.  She also looked somewhat familiar.

“Hi,” I replied in the same soft tone.

“You don’t remember me, do you?” she asked.

I nodded.  “So has everyone heard that I got amnesia?  Well, I’m just glad to be back home, and that everyone is helping me collect my memory from my life here.”

“But Kaylie, this isn’t your true life,” she pleaded.

“Who are you?” I shook my head.

The girl sighed.  “Meet me in the biology lab room after school so that we can figure this out.  Don’t tell anyone, and don’t bring anyone, either, got it?”  I nodded in compliment, not knowing if trusting her was a good thing or not.  I suppose that I would find out.

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The rest of the day took forever.  All I wanted to do was to find out who this girl was, and what she was talking about.  How was it that the person I slightly remembered seemed slightly insane?  As soon as the last bell rang, I blew a kiss to Kairi, and then waited for the hallway to clear so that I could walk to the lab.  Earlier I had asked someone to show me where it was, which was the only way that I knew where it was.  I took a deep breath and opened the lab door, walking through it.  Once I entered, I saw the girl sitting down at a bench.

“Hi Kaylie!” she smiled.

I strutted in my heels over to her and threw my Burberry handbag onto the table.  “Okay, but let’s make this quick.  Alicia is counting on me to take her to the mall at five, so she can find a dress for her date at six.”

“Amnesia and driving?” the girl laughed.

I laughed.  “Oh, you’re right.  What’s your name?”

The girl ignored the question and threw me a sketchbook with pencils.  “Draw for me, Kaylie.”

“Draw,” I laughed.  “I doubt that I’m a very good artist.  Although in my other life, I believe that I was one.  It was a really morbid thing, though.”

“You were a loser.  And Langer.  And you were rejected by your family?” the girl questioned.

I shook my head.  “How did you know?”

“Because that’s your real life.  This is just another realm that someone is putting us through.  Kaylie, you need to listen to me, Kairi is messing with your brain.  I know about your true life because you told me when we were in that enchanted forest together?  Remember Benny?” she asked.  “Close your eyes, Kaylie, and remember.”

I sighed and shut my eyes, finding this to be the silliest thing ever.  But then it struck me.  “Friends always have a way of finding each other, again,” I said, quoting Caleb.  I opened my eyes and looked at the girl’s face.  “Bethany?”

“Hi, Kaylie,” she smiled.

“Oh my.  Wait so there was the portals!  And the arena!  And… Wait, we killed Kairi!  Bethany, what is going on?”  Everything came flooding back to me, and I had no idea where to start with my questions.

“She died, but somehow, she’s here, Kaylie,” Bethany said, panic rushing through her.

“What do we do?” I asked.  Then suddenly, a glow came from the corner of the room.  Bethany and I exchanged the same satisfied look.  The answer to our prayers.

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Author's Note:

Hey guys, so only two chapters left!  What are you thoughts on the novel?  I'd love to hear from you (:

The novel, for me, was a lot of fun to write in November, and I know that it's sort of crazy that I'm only updating it now on Wattpad.  I wanted time to revise it but... it can wait.  You guys deserve to read it (:

- Ali