When I woke up, it was 5 pm. I felt gross; my mouth tasted like metal and dry spit. Although the ceiling fan was spinning at it's highest speed, I was still sweating. I turned my head slowly to the left to look at my nightstand, where a piece of paper laid. I reached for it and opened it, revealing a note written in familiar sloppy handwriting.
if you're reading this, you're probably just waking up. i'm not in the house right now but your sister is. i called her last night and she said she would watch over you until i get home. it probably won't be until night, so try not to miss me too much, yeah? let me know if you need anything, i'm a call/text away. don't be scared.
- tyler
Where was Tyler? And why is my sister here? I was confused as I got up out of bed, trying to recollect memories from last night. All I could remember was making Tyler late to practice yesterday. But that was more than 24 hours ago. I rubbed my head as I shuffled to the bathroom to splash some cold water on my face, and brush my teeth.
Looking in the mirror, I realized that I looked worse than I felt. My eyes had crust lodged in the corner of my eyes to pair up with a long, dry spit stain that left my mouth. I groaned.
After I got myself together, I headed downstairs to see if the note Tyler left had any truth.
It did.
Julia was laying on the couch in the living room, watching some type of political documentary. A huge bag of Doritos and a soda bottle laid on her stomach. Hearing me walk in, she turned her head.
"Hey! Wow, you're finally up." Julia said with a mouth full of chips. She continued to take another one, and popped it in her mouth. "You must've been really tired."
I sat down on the couch next to her, crossing my legs. "Where's Tyler?" I asked quietly. She turned her head towards me.
"At his game? I thought he told you that." Julia moved her chips and sat up to get a better look at me.
I shrugged. "I don't remember that. I don't even remember how I got into bed last night." Julia narrowed her eyes as she looked at me.
"You don't remember passing out?"
I stared at her. When did I pass out? That never happened. I would've remembered some like that, if it did happen. I rubbed my head in confusion. None of this was making sense.
"Jeez, you're really out of it. You really don't remember?" Julia looked surprised and worried. I shrugged again. She sighed. "Well, apparently you were about to pass out due to dehydration when you hit your head on a wall. You passed out. You woke up a couple of hours later, and had some tests ran on you that ended up diagnosing you with Traumatic Brain Injury. Since it's pretty severe, you're supposed to stay home and sleep, while someone is supposed to watch over you. And since Tyler has games and stuff, he asked me to hang out with you. So to answer your question, he's at his game." Julia looked at me with funny eyes, as if to make sure that I understood.
"I don't remember any of that. Did you talk to him today?" I couldn't help but think about Tyler. Something told me something more than that happened.
"Yeah, of course I did. How would I have gotten in here?" Julia laughed. "He told me you guys kissed last night. You have to remember that at least, right?"
My eyes widened. I kissed Tyler? No, that couldn't have happened. Why would that have happened? I scoffed. "Nice one Julia, that's funny."
She looked at me crazy again. "Uh, he told me that. I swear he did. I'm pretty sure he wouldn't lie about something like that." Julia got up to throw her bag and bottle in the trash. She came back wiping her hands on her ripped black jeans. "You're not hungry or anything?"
"No not really, but I should eat something small just in case." I got up and went into the kitchen and looked in Tyler's fridge. A huge box of Dunkin Donuts caught my eye immediately. I pulled it out and looked inside to see one of my favorite donuts sitting in the corner. My appetite wasn't really high lately, which probably explained why I felt like puking when I ate it. I headed back into the room after drinking a cup of milk.
"So you said Tyler was playing today, right?" I laid down on the couch as I pulled a blanket over me. Julia nodded.
"You're gonna watch your boyfriend?" She chirped. I scoffed again.
"That's not my boyfriend. And I still can't believe you said I kissed him." I watched Julia as she scrolled down on her phone.
"Well it happened, so I guess you better believe it."
I couldn't help but feel confused. How did I not remember that? I should remember something like that. It's completely absurd that I don't. "Why do you think I don't remember?" I asked Julia quietly.
"It's probably one of your symptoms."
She said it so much ease. I didn't want it to be that answer, but I knew it was. It upset me. I slowly closed my eyes as I got comfortable on the couch. I kissed Tyler and I didn't even remember. What else didn't I remember? What wouldn't I remember in the future? Questions like these swallowed me whole, as I fell unconscious again.