Aspen Heights, Book 2: Forgotten

Livia

I pulled my sweater sleeves down over my hands, my teeth chattering. I should probably go inside but this is the only place I can go to be alone. The rock I was siting on was bumpy and hard, but I didn't care. Nobody understands what I saw that night. The night that weirdo lady came and hurt my friends. It's all I could think about. I'm always pondering what's going on. They're hiding things. Everyone thinks I'm being distant and standoffish, which is probably true, but I just can't stop thinking about the dance. I rub my cheeks with my hands and close my eyes as a wind blows past, most likely giving me hypothermia. I needed to talk to Elita. I've been waiting for her to come back, to tell me what's going on. But now that she's here I'm not sure what I should say to her, I mean we're not exactly friends...in fact, we were kind of enemies. And now I'm finally realizing what a jerk I was to her. How can I expect forgiveness after all I did? "There you are! I've been looking for you everywhere!" Came a familiar voice from behind me. "Huh?" I asked, coming out of my trance. I knew she would find me at some point. I sighed and swiveled around to face Brianna, the only friend I had left. "Hello, earth to Livia!" Brianna sang, giving a dramatic shiver. "Oh, sorry. I... I just wanna be left alone right now," I explained, trying my best not to be rude to the only person I had left. Somehow, no one was quite as scarred by all this as I was. "You've been saying that for weeks and I'm sorry but I can not just let my best friend alone forever," she said, exasperated. "You don't understand what I'm going through, what it was like. I thought you all were dead!" I said, tears welling up in my eyes as I remembered the disturbing scene. "We all just ate some funny stuff. We were all just passed out, we weren't dead. We're all here now so it's fine!" Brianna said, oblivious. Nobody knew but me. They had all forgotten, just like Elita. Those creepy people wiped their memories or something. "That isn't true! Everyone thinks that you all just ate something that somehow caused you all to pass out, but I know what happened. There were dark people there. They wanted Elita. And then she disappeared for three days. The only thing that saved us were those gun things that girl Sophia had," I whispered, my entire body numb from the cold now. "Stop that, that isn't true! I don't know what you're saying!" Brianna replied, looking at me like I was crazy. It hurt me. The fact that Brianna didn't believe me. The fact that no one believed me. Everyone thought I was delusional but I'm not! Am I? "Of course not, you just believe what they told you. That you ate some funny stuff and you all passed out. But I didn't pass out. I remember. I saw. They brainwashed you!" I explained, swallowing hard to keep my tears in. "Whatever," Brianna said, turning and walking away. I laid down on the rock, breathing heavy. "I'm not crazy," I told myself. "I'm not crazy."