Exactly one year ago, I woke up on the side of the road with no memories except my name, Victoria Winters, and my age, eighteen (I’ve turned nineteen at some point in the past year). Oh, and a few not so normal abilities. You want an example? How about being able to walk on a rope ten feet off the ground without getting nervous or almost falling? And what about the ability to all but turn myself into a human pretzel? And then there’s the fact that I can stay under water longer than any other person on record. I guess you could say I had enough reasons to join the circus… so that’s exactly what I did.
“Hey, Vicky, are you going to keep standing there, spacing out, or are you going to come help us nail down this tent?” That was my best friend speaking. Ally was twenty five and had been working for the circus since she was sixteen; she was the one that helped me get the job here. We’d only known each other for about a year, but that was all it took for us to become as close as sisters.
I snapped out of my thoughts and ran over to where they were setting up the giant tent. We had just arrived somewhere in Texas, but I didn’t know exactly where- it was too difficult to remember every city we stopped at. In the year since I’d joined them we’d been to more than eighty cities. It was a lot of traveling, but it was fun when surrounded by friends.
“What are you thinking so hard about?” Ally asked as she held down a tent peg and I hammered it into the ground before we moved onto the next one.
I shrugged. “Nothing important.” My body was drenched with sweat from being out in the sun all morning, but we were almost finished. The show would be starting soon.
“Oh please. You have told me that lie ever since I found you, Victoria. After hearing that three hundred and sixty five times, I figured out it’s a lie. You were thinking about your past weren’t you?” I was pretty sure she knew me better than I knew myself.
“Yeah,” I admitted. “I can’t help it! I just want to know where I come from- who I am! I don’t even know when my birthday is.” My words caused a longing in my heart. Did I have a family? What about my friends? Did I have a boyfriend? I didn’t know.
Ally smiled sympathetically. “That has to be rough. But have you ever thought that maybe it was for the best? I wish I could forget my past.” I didn’t know much about Ally’s past, but I did know it was unpleasant which was why she preferred not to talk about it.
“Yeah, I know…” But she would never understand the way I felt. All I wanted was to know what my past was like. Why did I wake up with no memory of anything? It’s not like that happened often. Who would leave an eighteen year old girl on the side of the road? I had a couple scars, but nothing that proved I had been abused.
I cut off my thoughts and focused on setting up the tent. I had to stop thinking like that or I would drive myself insane. I had to stop thinking about the past and focus on the future.
About five hours later, I observed myself in the mirror of the trailer I shared with half of the other employees. We had one for the guys and one for the girls so that each gender felt they had a bit of privacy. Usually we got to stop at hotels to sleep, but sometimes (when we were in a hurry) we all had to sleep in the trailer. Or, lie down and try to sleep in the trailer- most of us found it impossible to sleep around so many other people.
My strawberry blonde curls were pulled tightly into a bun and hidden with a short, white wig that was firmly attached to my head. My face was covered in the usual circus make up, consisting of random shapes created with eyeliner. My light blue eyes seemed to glow, the unique make-up causing them stand out. Ally was always telling me how jealous she was of my eyes and I had to admit, they were the prettiest thing about me.
“Victoria, are you ready?” Acacia a friend of mine asked. She was usually the one that kept track of time and got us all on schedule. I have no idea what any of us would do without her. “Karana and Kyle just went on so you have about eight minutes.”
I instantly jumped up, moving around the other girls. “Okay, thanks Acacia ” She waved it off and I hurried over to the main tent, sneaking in through the hidden stairs. I joined my partner at the top, a cute curly haired brunette. He gave me a smile, “Hey.”
“Hey,” I replied, scanning the crowd with curiosity. We usually drew in a large crowd and today was no exception. There were people everywhere. I remembered how my heart sped up before my first couple of performances, but by now I felt nothing. I knew the moves by heart and trusted myself not to fall.
“How was set up?” Brandon smiled with an air of smugness and I rolled my eyes. He had a way of getting away with doing the least amount of work possible. The only time his laziness really bothered me though was when he was the only thing separating me from a painful death.
The music started to change; that was our cue. “Go!” I exclaimed, knowing there was no way the audience would hear me over the loud music. Brandon grabbed the small bar with one hand, wrapped his other arm around my waist, and jumped.
I held onto Brandon as we sailed through the air. It might seem romantic, but it wasn’t. I wouldn’t date him even if we were allowed to date other performers. It would be awkward and, honestly, I wasn’t attracted to him. He was more like a brother to me than anything else.
We were halfway back to where we jumped from when the fun part started. Brandon loosened his hold on me and I grabbed the bar as well, doing a fast pull up and flipping so I was doing a handstand on the bar. I felt the adrenaline rush through me and I couldn’t help but grin. If I never got back to my old life, this one wasn’t so bad.
When my part ended, I jumped from the bar to the long board I was lightly sweating, but not as badly as when we had been setting up. I was normally pretty good at not sweating; the only exception was the heat.
“There’s a guy staring at you,” Brandon told me as we sat on the rail, both of us breathing heavier than normal. I had a bit of time to spare before I had to get ready for my next act. Not much, but enough to rest my muscles for a minute.
I followed Brandon’s gaze, not expecting my eyes to land on anyone specific. He usually said that, but it was hard to make out one person in the crowd. But this guy, he was different. He sat between another guy and a girl- all of them seemed to stand out. I couldn’t quite tell what it was, but there was something about them that demanded attention.
“They’re staring at you, right?” I asked Brandon, not looking away from the odd trio. They seemed almost… familiar.
He chuckled. “Nope, I think they’re looking at you.”
“I think I know them.” The words shocked us both. It was the first time I’d ever found anything that was familiar. But I was certain I knew them. And from the way they were staring at me, I was sure they knew me as well.
Brandon tapped my arm, drawing my attention back to him. “You can talk to them later; you need to go get ready for your next act.” I hopped up; for a minute I had forgotten about the show entirely.
“Oh, right!” I quickly rushed towards my trailer and away from the people. I hoped I would be able to find a way to talk to them later. They might be able to jog my memory or at least tell me what I used to be like. My heart was beating as fast as it had during my very first performance; I couldn’t wait to talk to them.
Finally, after what seemed like our longest show ever, we went outside to take pictures with fans. Most people left without taking pictures, but there were always a few that waited. They were the ones that didn’t care that we were drenched in sweat. Well except for Acacia who does a stunt in a small pool near the end of the show.
I waited eagerly as people entered and snapped dozens of fast pictures. I pasted a smile on my face, but I was watching the doors the whole time for a certain trio. After a half an hour, I was starting to think they wouldn’t show up. My last hopes diminished as the last person in line came over and took a picture. Those three could be my only chance at knowing my past and they had already left.
And then they appeared from near the bathrooms, glaring at each other. I watched with interest, hoping they would come over. Luck was on my side, because they did. Just as Luis, a bodyguard of sorts, was closing off the area. I quickly ran over, ignoring whatever Ally was trying to tell me.
“Luis, wait- I want to talk to them!” I told him. He raised an eyebrow, but opened the gate anyways. He didn’t say a word as I scurried out, but I didn’t expect him to. Luis was the silent, but strong type of person. In the year I had known him, I’d only ever heard him say eight words.
Once I was on the other side of the fence, I focused solely on the people in front of me. The dark haired man that had been staring at me earlier was the first one I noticed. He was handsome with a good build and vivid green eyes. The other man had blond hair and dark blue eyes with a kind smile. The girl with them had black hair and brown eyes.
“Victoria?” The blond man exclaimed excitably. I nodded and he hugged me tightly, taking me by surprise. What was he doing? He leaned back when I didn’t hug him back, placing his hands on my shoulders. “What’s wrong?”
I moved back a little, trying not to appear rude. “Nothing, it’s just that… I don’t remember you; any of you. I lost my memory a year ago.” He let go of me, taking a few shaky steps backwards as all three of them swore at least once. “Um, who are you?” I asked shyly.
The girl sighed. “This is going to take a while…”