The City is a place where everything resets after the lights have gone out: relationships, conversations, memories. Everything is inside an irreversible loop and no one knows it. All except for one girl.
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Jule, a resident of the City...
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I stared at the peeling brown paint of my desk, the events before the first period bell rang still processing in my brain.
Eugene dropped by my seat like he always does every morning. "Hey, wanna hang out in my place after Will's practice?" he said. "Around 6:30?"
In normal circumstances, I would have accepted. We would pack into Euge's tiny house, playing both video and board games Euge had amassed in his room. It was a fun evening, but I remember the reset cut it in the middle, restarting the day when we haven't even gotten home for the night.
When I realized I could remember the past, I found myself not wanting to hang with my usual friends. That means I often forwent the Euge-house-hangout.
I don't blame myself, though. Jule explained to me long ago that being able to remember was not a gift, but rather a curse. Because you may move forward but the world around you didn't move at all. You'll find it boring. You'll find it cold and unforgiving. You'll find it lonely.
And I couldn't believe Jule had endured all of that for so long without going insane.
Will came by after Euge, asking me if I want to go to Euge's hangout. I barely answered with a small "no", my thoughts on my encounter with Jule earlier.
She didn't know who I was.
She wasn't joking either. I spent enough time with her to know when she's lying or not. And this morning, she wasn't faking.
She has forgotten who I was.
Was that possible? She told me that she didn't know how she was able to remember. All she knew was that she was somehow supposed to get out of this loop through me.
The more I thought about my behavior the other day, the more I realized I'd been an asshole and Jule didn't deserve that. I made a mistake and now I need to face this consequence.
Was this heaven's way of telling me I messed up and that this was my punishment?
"Earth to Rom, come in," Janice's voice tore through my thoughts. I looked questioningly at her.
"You said something?" I said.
"Are you alright, Rom?" Aubrey chimed in. "You didn't even react when Janice did it."
"Did what?" I asked before automatically feeling my head. To my horror, there was a rubber band tying my hair back. My eyes widened. I fumbled to get that rubber band off my hair. Oh, God. I look hideous with my hair pushed back. That's why I was keeping my hair this long.
"Janice!" I growled, even though a smile crept to the corner of my lips. I could never get mad at her, for some reason.
Janice was the type of person to mess with boys' hair and get away with it. I was her favorite because I, apparently, give the greatest reaction among us.
