the amnesiac

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

I move my spoon in a full circle, scraping it on the bottom of my bowl. I stared down at the liquid soup spiraling in the center. "Hannah," my mom called my name. I didn't answer; I just kept moving my spoon and staring. "Hannah," she tried again.

"Hmm?" I didn't even look up at her.

"Hannah."

I looked up this time, dropping my spoon. I blinked at her, realizing that I had barely said anything since I got home from school. The last word that I said was after my first period, when I was "speaking" to my "wonderful" boyfriend.

"Honey, what happened at school?"

I looked back down at my spoon, picking it up, but not circling it yet.

"Honey."

I slowly turned my spoon, placing it in the center of my soup, and stirred.

My mom scrunched up her nose, frustrated. "Hannah, speak to me."

I ignored her, of course, which she didn't appreciate.

Her hand flew towards me, and she snatched the soup bowl away from me, skidding it towards herself, ignoring the amount of soup that that spilled onto the table. I breathed in slowly, feeling my chest clench together. My throat tightened, and I knew I was about to cry.

I felt a soft hand in top of mine. "Is everything okay?"

I looked at my mother's hand, then her face. I sighed, and a little bit of the stress was lifted off my shoulders. "Everyone at school were such jerks."

My mom purses her lips and squeezes my hands. "Well, you were in the popular crowd. Sometimes they can get a little snippy."

I looked up and glared at her. "Why didn't you tell me which 'crowd' I was in?"

My mom chuckled nervously. "I didn't even think to do so." She looked into my eyes and smiled. "What about Aaron? He must've been able to cheer you up somehow."

I glared harder. "Actually, he's the biggest jerk of them all."

My mom let go of my hand and brought it towards her chest, holding it as if I had bruised it. "Wh- what?" The defeat in her voice was completely noticeable, but I just didn't understand how she could think that Aaron was such an angel.

"He didn't care."

"Well, of course he did."

"No, he didn't."

"How would you know?"

I stared at the ceiling angrily. "Well, first of all, he didn't ask anyone what happened to me. He didn't even ask me!!"

My mom's shoulders jumped each time I yelled a word, and she stayed silent for a long time. I scrunched up my nose and stared at the wall clock.

"Do you mind actually telling me what happened?" I rolled my eyes and looked back at my mom. I swear if my eyes could shoot lasers there would've been a burnt hole in her chest by now.

I inhaled sharply and began, "Aaron didn't believe me when I told him that I had amnesia."

My mom nodded and mouthed ohhh. "So that's what this is about."

I exhaled and tried to smile, but angry tears threatened to escape my eyes, so I ended up looking like a deformed alien.

She leaned in closer and stroked my hair calmly. "If you don't think he's worth it, don't bother to even think about him. But you need to figure everything out before you let everyone go."

I blinked a few times to clear the tears. "What do you mean?"

She tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. "You said that everyone that knew you were...jerks right?" She flinched as she said jerks, but her eyes told me that she seriously wanted an answer.

I nodded. "They didn't even care. They didn't act much like friends at all."

She sighed. "Honey, don't you see? This is like a second chance. You can either try and find out who you were before you hit your head and have popular friends and goes with the crowd, or you can be this new girl that stands up for herself and does what she wants. You can make new friends. Baby, you can be anyone you want. You can forget the girl that you used to be. Make Aaron forget. Make me forget. I'll support you, sweetie. No matter what you choose."

I exhale and I feel a strong pulse run through my veins. My heart speeds up and I feel like crying, but instead I wrap my arms around my mom and thank her.

I thank her for that beautiful speech, for her wisdom, for her support, for her understanding, and for being the most amazing mom I can ask for right now.

Because she's right: this is my second chance.