Resurfacing

'Meet me in that same place tomorrow, 11 pm sharp.'

I repeated his exact words over and over again. 

That brief moment overwhelmed me so much that I pressed end before either of us could say anythng more.

Thus, I received that text right after. 

I wasn't able to sleep at all. 

I was jumpy the following day that I agreed to whatever my Aunt wanted me to do.

She probably regretted bringing me to the mall; we stayed indoors today and had people come over.

They were Allen's friends.

Her goal was to get me to meet a few peers and keep me busy. 

At 11 am, I rode along the jokes and games that Allen and his friends had thought of. 

There was Steve, Tristan and Rain for his mates, and there was Chenny, Jessica and Rachel for the girls who were their girlfriends. Allen just broke up with his' for reasons he won't share with me, so he was still moving on.

By 4 in the afternoon, I was forced to wear a two-piece swimsuit and chill with the crew by the pool in my Aunt's backyard. It was shaped like a U, and the middle was the deepest part.

We were leaning on one of the pool's edges where our feet met with the tiles. Or should I rather say, I was leaning on the edge since the three girls were tightly wrapped around their boyfriend's arms, standing only inches away while Allen was riding one of the floaters, busily eating his barbecue.

"So Kate, we heard from Allen that you're from California. There are a lot of hot guys in there. Are you in a relationship with one cutie?" Rachel eyed me, humor in her words. Tristan kissed her shoulder blades and stared at me too.

"Yeah, Kate, we want to hear your story." That move made me blink away a sudden raging headache as images crossed my head. I didn't see much, it being blurred, but one thing was for sure; someone was holding me the way Tristan was holding Rachel, and yes, it was in a pool setting too.

I sipped the lemonade I was holding and pretended I had to swallow hard before facing them.

"Nope. I don't, but my sister Kelsea does." I said, ignoring the fact that I just got a glimpse of something I couldn't remember.

I wasn't even entirely sure if it really happened or otherwise because, truth be told, my brain might be playing games with me.

"Aw. You're hot and very pretty. I can't believe you don't have a boyfriend." Chenny pouted in my direction. I laughed.

I'm not good with handling compliments, but I do manage to recognize them and thank the person obviously by laughing if it came from the same sex, but if it had come from the guys, I would have shut my mouth up and wished I could vanish.

I shrugged.

"I might have, I don't know. Some parts of my memory had been erased. Somehow there was this---" I stopped myself from going on. I didn't realize I was already spilling my secret to some people I had just met.

"Erased?" Rain asked curiously, his eyebrows furrowed.

"My cousin had an accident in LA, which resulted in her mild amnesia. But she's fine. She remembers her family. She remembers I called her---" I splashed a huge amount of water towards Allen, who had jumped down from the floater to stop him from embarrassing me in front of his friends.

"Alien!" I screamed, diving towards him while he laughed and swam far away from me.

I might be living with them, and we might have been close before they moved back here, but I wouldn't let my cousin have his way bullying me when I seemed vulnerable.

---

I paced back and forth in my room. It was quarter to ten, and I was waiting for the house to enter into a peaceful silence while bracing myself.

My heart was beating wildly fast.

Ever since I got out of the hospital, I had been puzzling about him. And now, I have the chance to find the answers I desperately need.

But instead of relief, I felt nervous.

I shook my hands in an effort to calm myself.

It was just Kyle.

Although I was wondering how he got here, how he knew I was here and how he figured out my number, I didn't mind. I had to find some things by myself. I had to gather my scattered pieces, and I knew Kyle would be the only person who could help me.

I heard the click of a door somewhere and knew my Aunt was finally done with her finishing touch in her kitchen.

I took three deep breaths and then made my way towards the door. I slowly opened it and poked my head, searching the hallways from left to right.

It was good to go.

I slipped out of the room, tucked my phone safely in the back pocket of my jeans and tiptoed in my sneakers down the stairs and eventually out the front door.

The house had no alarm system or CCTV cameras, but Phil, the bulldog, was sleeping near the gate. His eyes shot up upon hearing my approach. His tail wagged back and forth.

"Good doggy," I whispered, praying he wouldn't bark or attempt to climb over me.

I eyed him before slowly approaching the gate and finally got on with the escape plan. Phil eyed me back warily, probably thinking, 'What in your right mind are you doing, and where on earth are you going?' 

I gave him a shrug as I landed on the other side safely. He poked his head along the metal railing and made small whimpering sounds like he was trying to stop me from doing something crazy.

I kneeled in front of him and scratched his head.

"I know this is crazy, but I need my answers, and my family doesn't give me any. So I gotta risk this one."

I took a deep breath.

"It's my only hope."