Late (Draft 1)

22 - Who Are You

I had been working with Cassie for about two months now. We weighed her once a week, though she didn't seem to be getting any better. I was actually shocked when I went back to look at her records. Her first weight was 323 pounds, which actually went up every week. Now, her weight was 346 pounds. I took the data to my boss, and we talked for a long time about her. Finally, we decided the best thing for me to do would be to work with her one-on-one. I was excused from everyone else, and I emailed Cassie, asking her if she could come in more often.

She acknowledged, saying she could, and consistently made an effort to come in as often as possible. The trouble was, I worked for her for over a year. It had been two years since I first saw her at my desk, and Cassie was now 318 pounds. This was not good. She really should have been less than 250 by now. Something was wrong. I decided I may as well try talking to her. Maybe I could figure out what was wrong.

"Cassie, can I talk to you for a few minutes?" She nodded, and led me to her car.

"I figured it might be easier at home. Is that okay with you?"

"Yeah, sure. That's okay." I tried to be as supportive as I could, even though I was kind of weirded out now. At least I was trying, maybe that was all that mattered. I hoped so.

We reached her house, and stepped inside. I froze in the doorway, and the strangest feeling came over me. I had a sudden, strong feeling of deja vu, which I couldn't place for some reason. Odd. Still confused, and a bit dazed now, I stepped inside the doorway.

I sat down at Cassie's table, and put my hands on hers. "Cassie, do you want to tell me what might be wrong? I can only help you if I know. We've been working together for almost two years now, and we really should have seen more results than this by now. I'm worried about you, and I just want to know if there's anything I can do."

She looked me straight in the eye, and her eyes filled with tears. I felt my eyes begin to sting as well. Why was I about to cry for this woman? I barely knew her! She never spoke during out sessions! What was I supposed to do with her?

"You really have no idea who I am, do you? You really don't remember."

"No, Cassie. I had never seen you before in my life before you showed up in the gym two years ago. Is there something I should be remembering? Is there something I forgot?"

"Yes. Oh, yes. You have forgotten so much, and we have grown so far apart. I felt so bad when you left that day. I cried for hours. I hoped I would at least see you after it happened so I could apologize. I still feel bad. Please, Alex. Remember me, forgive me, cry with me. I miss you, Alex, and I want you to come home. Please." She started crying then, full on crying. I nearly did myself, what was I missing?

"Cassie please, talk to me. I'm clearly missing something, I just don't know what. Is there something I need to find? Talk to me girl, I need to know."

"Yes. You do need to know. What happened to you Alex? I saw you around a little bit after we argued, and you looked so different. It was a good different, but you were never the same after it. Do you remember the girl you ran into in the hall? You were late for class, and you were running as fast as you can. You came around the corner and ran into a girl with long, black hair. We both lay sprawled on the ground for a while. You stood up and ran away, while I called after you. I called after you and you didn't look back. Please. Remember something! Please Alex!"

As she described it, a fuzzy memory began to reappear. It was like something out of a dream I couldn't quite remember it, but something was there. What was it? I sat with Cassie, gently guiding her to the couch. We lay down on it, my strong, skinny body on top of hers. I was crying now.

"Cassie. Help me. There's something there. I don't know what it is, but there's something there. Please. I think I remember something, but it's like it's out of a dream. I don't know what to do."

"You showed up to school one day dressed ever so nice. I did the same. You never told me, so I didn't know if you had a dream too. I dreamt that I dressed nice, and so many things happened. I don't quite remember what all happened in the dream, but I just felt like I needed to dress nice like that. Do you remember Jack came up to us, and told us about the dance? We went that night, and you started crying because I changed into my dress, and you didn't change. I never thought I would ever see you in makeup honestly, I never really thought anyone like you actually had that on. Anyway, we danced that night, and kicked our shoes off. We danced fast, and slow. The first song we danced to was also the last, and it was one of your favorites. We danced all night, and lay under a tree when the dawn came. We lay in the grass with the dew and frost, and you kissed me. We skipped school that day, and just sat with each other."

Something came over me, though I wasn't sure what. What was this? I couldn't do this. "I'm sorry, Cassie. I don't remember anything. I have to go."

I rushed out of her house, and ran down the street. I didn't look back.