Jovial Memories

Chapter 11

            "Amanda Wells," came a booming voice. Mandy's eyes squinted open to find herself in a dark room with a bright light shining towards her. With all the brightness, it was hard to determine who was speaking to her, and all she could detect was a dark silhouette of a human being.
            "You have violated the law," the voice continued.
            Mandy shuddered, shielding her eyes as the light grew larger. It was blinding, causing her eyes to sting.
            "No, I didn't!" she argued.
            "You're lying," the voice responded.
            Mandy knew she was lying, but her fear was so great, she'd say anything to save her life. A second later, the light began to vanish, and Mandy was becoming trapped in darkness. She let out a large scream, watching as the world disappeared.

Mandy shot up from her bed, sweat plastered over her body. It was the middle of the night, and all that could be heard was the quiet ticking of the clock hanging on her wall. Her heart was beating quickly, and she herself was panting.
            "It was only a dream," she whispered, pulling her covers close against her body. Unable to sleep, she got up and walked slowly over to her window, pulling the curtain to the side. From the glow of house lights and street lamps, she was able to detect a gentle snow falling. Still, it wasn't enough to cancel school for the following day.
            She quietly left her room and retrieved a glass of water from the bathroom, calming down as the cool liquid soothed her dry throat. Crawling back into bed, she lay awake, trying to calm down.
            Ever since she'd told Roy and Iris the truth, she had more reason to fear each day that Agent Bryant would come after her and do something terrible to her, all because she'd accidentally blown her secret.
            She knew Roy and Iris were trustworthy, or so they seemed. She certainly didn't expect them to share the secret, but the fear still remained, and she was becoming more anxious each day.
            For the past few days at school, they'd been a little more talkative, but there had thankfully been no mention of the device that Mandy had introduced them to. Though this calmed Mandy, she also wished they'd stop taking this event and turning it into an opportunity to grow in friendship.
            They hadn't persisted in her sitting with them at lunch, but they were certainly more talkative in class, even offering help with homework, which Mandy was forced to oblige to since she needed to improve her grades, like always.
            She'd been back to her Year Dimension since revealing the secret, though nothing had changed. It wasn't like the people in the Year Dimension were aware that others knew of them. All had seemed normal, which relieved Mandy. To her, the Year Dimension was her new reality.
            Taking a deep breath, Mandy soon found her breaths growing deeper and her eyes growing heavy. Slowly, she drifted back into an uneasy sleep.

The alarm's blaring noise caused Mandy to groan. She woke up to a sunny day with a new light layer of snow covering the ground. Reaching for her alarm, she turned it off and stood up, feeling sleep-deprived and exhausted.
            Rising to her feet, she felt her head ached and her limbs felt like Jell-O. As much as she would've loved to tell her mother she needed to stay home, she had an important test in one of her classes today, and she wished to just get it over with instead of making it up.
            Getting dressed for the day, Mandy soon felt herself growing a little stronger and supposed the feeling of weakness had only been from the night of inconsistent sleep. Dragging her feet downstairs, she groaned to find her mother had failed to lay her breakfast out.
            "Mom!" Mandy complained.
            Her mother's feet came rushing from upstairs. She was surprised to see her mother dressed up in nice clothes. Obviously, she had something important to do today.
            "I've got a meeting this morning, Mandy. Just fetch something out of the fridge," she spoke, almost knowing exactly what Mandy wanted.
            Mandy sighed, watching as her mother hurried back up the stairs. She opened the fridge and reluctantly grabbed a gallon of milk. She then fetched some cereal from the panty and ate quickly, saying a quick good-bye to her mother as she left for the day.
            Walking to the bus, Mandy watched as young children played in the snow, creating snowmen. She looked at them in jealousy, wishing she could spend a day having fun. These children were young though, preschool age, and it wasn't like they had to attend school.
            The other high school students seemed just as annoyed as they met up at the bus stop. Mandy crawled onto the bus and found her usual seat in the back. As she made her way, one of Abby's friends snickered as she stuck her foot in front of Mandy.
            Mandy tripped, though caught her balance, and continued on. She was steaming with anger as she listened to the quiet laughter of Abby and her friends, and she sat down, refusing to make eye contact with any of them.
            The bus was much more rowdier than it normally was, and the bus driver had to raise his voice a few times to tell the children to calm down. Upon arriving at school, the excitement was soon moved to the school campus, and Mandy sighed as she made her way to class.
            Her test went all right, though Mandy supposed she hadn't gotten better than a B- on it. The next few classes were just as boring and uninteresting, though no teacher had to lecture her on improving grades, which somewhat boosted her spirits.
            The last class before lunch was spent with Iris and Roy, and as Mandy took her seat, both of them grinned at her cheekily.
            "Morning," Iris exclaimed.
            Mandy only grumbled and retrieved her supplies from her backpack, preparing for class. Unfortunately, this act failed to keep them from ignoring her.
            "How was your evening?" Roy wondered.
            "Dandy," Mandy replied sarcastically.
            Seeing that Mandy wasn't in a talking mood, they soon fell quiet, and class began. Unfortunately, Mrs. Riggs decided it was the best day for cooperative working, and she decided that Iris, Roy, and Mandy would be in a group to discuss the chapter they had just read.
            While Iris and Roy seemed very involved in the conversation, Mandy sat back and let them talk, glancing up at the clock. Her stomach was growling, and she desperately just wanted to get away and go hide in the bathroom for lunch.
            "What do you think, Mandy?" Iris asked.
            Mandy was brought back to the present. "About what?" she wondered.
            "The chapter," Roy reminded her.
            Mandy shrugged. "It was okay, I guess."
            The sound of the bell ringing ended the class minutes later, and Mandy quickly gathered up her supplies and left before Roy and Iris could persist in chatting with her any further. Finding the hallway empty, she decided to eat lunch there.
            Once lunch had ended, Mandy continued onto her afternoon classes, and after several hours, the school day came to an end.
            As Mandy packed up her things for the day and headed outside, Roy caught up to her, a pile of books in his hands.
            "Hey, Mandy!" he called. "Wait up!"
            "What is it?" Mandy growled, spinning around. "I'm going to be late for the bus."
            Roy was taken aback, but he continued speaking. "I was just going to tell you to study for that test. You were out of class so fast, I wasn't sure if you'd heard the announcement."
            "Oh, thanks," Mandy replied, blushing in embarrassment. She had missed the announcement...
            Leaving Roy, she climbed onto the bus and glanced out the window as she made her journey home. It seemed every other student was exhausted, for the bus remained fairly silent the entire drive home.
            At her bus stop, Mandy got off and slowly walked home. As soon as she stepped in her house, she was greeted by warmth. Grinning, she threw her bookbag on the ground and took off her coat, heading upstairs to her warm room.
            Exhausted, Mandy decided it'd be best to visit the others in the Year Dimension before she started studying. After all, her mother wouldn't have dinner ready for a few more hours. She had some time.
            Pulling out her Time Precedent, Mandy happily punched in the familiar year and watched as the world disappeared from her in a flash.

Mandy found herself sitting on the living room couch in her old room, watching an old television program she frequently followed years before. It was a cheesy sitcom about two teenage girls struggling through high school, though now, with her high school experience, she found it to be extremely inaccurate.
            Still, she smiled a little as a familiar episode came on.
            "Mandy," her mother said, stepping into the living room.
            Mandy looked up, grinning. "Hey," she spoke quietly.
            "I thought I heard the T.V. on. Jessie should be here in a few minutes to watch with you. Want me to make some popcorn?" she asked.
            Mandy nodded, turning her attention back to the television screen. Her mother was correct. In a few moments, the doorbell rang, and Mandy rose, grinning as she smelled buttery popcorn.
            Jessie stood at the front door, and Mandy threw her arms around her happily in an embrace, glad to see her friend.
            "Do I smell popcorn?" Jessie wondered.
            Mandy nodded vigorously, leading her to the living room. They both crashed on the couch, and Mandy grabbed a blanket for them to share as they became indulged in their television show.
            Mandy's mom set a warm bowl of popcorn in front of them, and both Jessie and Mandy took turns trying to throw pieces of popcorn into each other's mouths. By the time the bowl was empty, they had been laughing to themselves intensely, and popcorn pieces were scattered across the couch and floor.
            "So, how is everything?" Jessie asked as they quieted down.
            "What do you mean?" Mandy wondered.
            "Just, how are you doing?"
            Mandy shrugged. "Okay, I guess."
            "Problems?" Jessie wondered.
            Mandy found it odd that this Jessie, an imaginary Jessie, really, was asking her problems about Mandy's reality. It all seemed to go together very oddly in her head.
            "Some people at school are bothering me," Mandy confessed.
            "Bullies?" Jessie wondered.
            Mandy laughed. "Nah. This boy and girl, whom I'm fairly certain are dating," she joked. "They keep wanting to hang out with me but won't take no for an answer."
            "Are they mean?" Jessie asked.
            "No. They're...quite nice actually," Mandy decided, seeing as they'd kept her secret and hadn't mentioned it since.
            "Well, why not give them a chance?" Jessie wondered.
            Mandy sighed. "It's complicated."
            Jessie sympathetically placed her hand on Mandy's shoulder. "I know you value friendship, and I know you couldn't survive without it. Maybe this is your chance to make some friends."
            Mandy smiled weakly. "Maybe," she decided, though she wasn't necessarily taking Jessie's word for it.
            Deciding it was time to go home and study, Mandy told her best friend good-bye and returned, wondering if perhaps she shouldn't push down the friendship trying to emerge.