The Acceptance Club

01: Amnesia

My eyes shot open and I jolted up. First thing I noticed was how wet my face felt. Have I been crying? I thought to myself and wiped my eyes clear of tears. "I thought I promised myself that I wouldn't anymore-" I cut myself off as I looked at the image in front of me. There was a mirror in front of the bed I laid in and I only just now realized that I didn't recognize the reflection staring back at me. "Who...am I? Why can't I remember...?"

I then shook my head as I continued to look around the entirety of the room. "W-Where am I?" I asked no one in particular. I bit my lip and clutched the blanket laid over me. Would it be a good idea to stay here? I have a feeling none of my questions would get answered if I did...

Reluctantly, I slowly slid my legs to the edge of the bed and felt the cold floor beneath my feet. I shivered at the touch and quickly spotted some socks and shoes. They were placed so neatly next to the bed that I assumed someone must have intentionally planted them there for me to see. 'How considerate,' I mused with the corners of my lips tugging upwards.

However, my smile was quickly replaced with confusion as I continued to ponder my situation. If someone placed shoes for me here, do they know why I am here? Do they even know where 'here' even is or anything about who I am? I sigh at the thought. How would I even begin to know who to look for...to answer those questions...? Feeling a bit discouraged, I slapped myself to bring myself out of the negativity. Though, I may have slapped a bit too hard as I immediately winced from the sting.

"S-Surely I'll find out a couple things if I just explore," I say with determination filled in my now teary eyes.. I began my search starting with the room I was in. It was empty. Well, it was empty of people. My eyes scanned over multiple posters, files and the desk they were placed upon. There was a computer and a couple of office drawers.

"You didn't have to fight her for me!" I heard suddenly.I instantly clutched my head. "Ughh.." I groaned in pain. I looked around the room after the pain subsided. "That didn't sound like a voice that was nearby..." I said to myself. I groaned again as the pain in my head came back. It was like an echo of a memory...that I can't quite remember yet. The more I tried to recall it, the more my head hurt. That was so very...familiar to me. I frown.

"I don't think...I'll find anything useful here..." I say to myself after scanning more folders and files. My eyes eventually met with a poster infested wall in the room and I froze. "Nope. Not reading all that. Too many words." I say uninterested. I ended up grabbing a random folder, titled "students". I opened it up, hoping I'd find a clue to who I was. "Maybe I'll recognize one of the names listed in here. Maybe I'll recognize my own..." However, my body stiffened when I looked upon the paper.

"H-Huh...? W-Why is this paper completely blank?" I stammered. I looked back towards the other folders and looked at all the files to find out they were all, infact, blank.

Unsure of myself, I silently backed away from the mess I made. "Heh heh..." I forced a chuckle, feeling uneasy. I wanted to give an excuse for it but left myself in uncomfortable silence in trying to do so. I looked back at the poster infested wall.

"G-Guess I'm left with no other choice then." I hug myself. I scan over the papers. "Join the music club...School concert...School dance...Lunch for this month...Join the chess club..." I continued to mutter. "Nothing here helps...These are all either events coming up or desperate advertisements about school clubs...I should start looking for someone instead." I started towards the door, only then realizing that I had forgotten to put on the shoes from before. "Wouldn't want to walk around barefoot...That's disgusting." I shake my head at the image of a dirty floor.

After putting on my shoes, I walked past the wall of posters and out the door. Maybe if I had noticed one of the posters falling from the wall, I would have been more prepared for the bitter truth...