Bits & Pieces

3

“Okay, Clara, I’m going to send someone in now. Ready?” Dr. Hall said.

“Ready.”

A girl walked in who was about my age. She had dark skin and dark hair that was braided into 50 or so little braids with purple beads on the ends of them. She was gorgeous.

“Hey Clarie!” she said.

“Hi..,” I said slowly.

“I got a new a hamster! I named him Turtle. Sara says that’s a stupid name but it’s supposed to be ironic. She didn’t really get it.”

“You named your…hamster…turtle?”

“Yeah!”

“Creative.”

Dr. Hall came in. “Nothing?”

“Nope.”

“Go ahead, introduce yourself.”

“I’m Nina! I’m one of your best friends. I’m a beautician and I live in Manhattan.”

“Nice to meet you.”

She cringed. “Nice to meet you, too. I should go so you can see the next person. I’ll see you soon.” She hugged me and walked out.

The next person was a guy with auburn hair.

“Hey Clara.”

“Hi.”

“Um…I’m supposed to say something that could trigger a memory…Wow, I’m bad at this. Why the heck did they call me? Uh…Sara and I are going to the zoo tomorrow.”

“Why does everyone keep talking about Sara?”

“Because she’s, like, really hot.”

“But the last person was a girl. Um, Ni- uh, something that started with “N"-"I”?”

“Nina. And, oh, we’re going to a play soon. You should come. Actually, the doctor lady says you have to but you should. It’ll be fun.”

Something in my head was screaming “Stranger danger!” but I ignored it. I would have to learn to. “Yeah, okay. That sounds cool.”

He checked his watch. “It’s been 3 minutes. I can tell you who I am now, I guess. I’m Jake. We went to school together. Dating Sara. So, yeah.”

“Hey.”

After that conversation went nowhere, another girl came in.

“Hey,” she said. She had seriously long hair and looked totally fabulous.

“Are you going to the zoo tomorrow?”

“Yeah! Oh my God, Clarie!”

“So you’re Sara?”

“Yes! Yes! Oh my God, yes!”

“Sorry. Jake just sort of told me how pretty you were and everybody keeps talking about you and I sort of put the puzzle pieces together.”

“Oh…” She wiped away a tear with the back of her hand. “You’ve always been really smart like that. One time I wrote you a note and you and Mollie corrected the spelling in it. I used the wrong form of “your” or something.”

I laughed a little. “Um, I guess I’m going to a play with you guys. Which one?”

“I can’t tell you that. It’s a surprise!”

“Aw.”

Dr. Hall poked her head in. “Sara, we’ve gotta finish up now. We have to do a full checkup of Clara at 2, so we need to be done by then.”