The Art of Mending Memories

The Art of Mending Memories 16

The Art Of Mending Memories

Chapter 16

English class passed in a blur. It was like my mind couldn't function correctly. It was shut down, an empty void inside my psych. She gave us a project, that was all I was able to recall though, at the end of class.

This day had been impossibly long. I could hardly believe it was only Tuesday. Monday seemed forever ago. The fight with Aunt Jane was only three days ago, but it felt like eternity.

"So are you going, Kaelyn?"

I was snapped back into reality, sitting at my lunch table. Kara was staring at me expectantly, awaiting my answer to her question. I could feel multiple pairs of eyes on me belonging to my other table mates, all waiting for me to say something.

"Sorry," I replied, "I was spacing out. What are we talking about?"

"Kaelyn, are you alright?" Sophie asked me from a few feet away. Concern was etched on her face and mirrored on the faces of my other friends.

"Yeah," I replied. "I'm fine." It wasn't exactly a lie ̶ I never lied ̶ but it wasn't full truth either. Physically, I was perfectly fine. Mentally...well, I wasn't in top mental health.

"Are you sure? You've been out of it all lunch," Ian said with equal concern beside Sophie. "You haven't even eaten your lunch yet." He gestured to my uneaten sandwich and apple.

I shrugged. "'M not hungry," I mumbled.

"Exactly!" Ian shouted. "You must not be feeling well!"

"Ian. I'm fine. I'm just tired," I said through my teeth.

"Kaelyn, what's wro ̶ "

"Nothing. Really, Ian. I'm fine." I smiled at him, as if to prove my point. I turned my head to Kara, who sat beside me. "What did you want to know?"

Kara had been silently studying me through my short conversation with Ian, and I could see the concern in her eyes. She, too, wanted to know what was wrong, but she could read my mood and knew it would be better not to ask.

"I was wondering if you were going to homecoming. It's in three weekends," she told me in a quiet voice.

Through all the recent events, this had completely slipped my mind. Usually I thought dances were no big deal, but I always ended up going to homecoming because my friends ̶ aka Kara ̶ forced me.

"Do I have a choice this year?"

She smiled at me. "Of course not. I was just wondering if you were going to come voluntarily this year."

"Why wouldn't you go to homecoming?" Cassy timidly wondered from my other side.

"I'm not big on the whole dance thing."

"You should have seen her last year," Kara informed the werewolves. "We literally had to kidnap her, just to get her to go to prom."

"It's true," Sophie added. "And we had to chose a dress without her there. Paul's mom helped us out."

"I thought the kidnapping was fun," Ian said.

"Shut up. You weren't the one getting kidnapped," I retorted with a twinge of humor.

"Or the one getting kicked in the balls," Jean-Paul said in flat, humorless face, beside Sophie.

Everyone cracked up laughing as I bit my bottom lip guiltily.

"Sorry. It was an accident, Jean-Paul, I swear."

He frowned at me, everyone else still laughing.