Blackout

8. A New Message

Claire Carter | Before

"I still don't fully  have my head around it," I admitted. I tried to run back the events of  yesterday in my head. "I remember hearing yelling and walking into the  classroom, but then there was a blue flash. I can't picture anything  else."

"I can't either. It  feels like a blur. The only person who seems to have any concrete  memories is Alex, and he was.... unconscious for most of it." said  Brianna.

"I guess we're lucky then." I shrugged. "No one remembers. Your secret's safe."

"I guess. But I'd feel better if I understood why no one can remember." Brianna sighed half-heartedly. "We're here."

"You don't have to  understand everything." I pointed out, unbuckling my seat belt. "We're  lucky. We can leave it at that. Now can we please move past this? I  really don't think I can talk about what happened anymore."

I climbed out of the car  and grabbed my suitcase to begin the long trek up the Thompson  driveway, which was too steep for Brianna's car. I turned back to wave  Brianna goodbye, and she drove off. As soon as she was out of sight, I  rang Mae's doorbell.

"Welcome." Mrs. Thompson  greeted cheerfully, opening the door. She stepped aside so I could walk  into the foyer, smiling brightly. Mae was almost a copy of her mother.  They were both sunny, and had the same ash blonde hair and thin figure.  Mae's mom used to do pageants as a kid, and even had a few trophies in  the attic to prove it.

"Hi," I responded, dragging my suitcase through the doorway.

"How are you holding up with everything?" Mrs. Thompson asked me.

"It's really no big deal." I lied. "I wasn't even there when it happened or anything."

"Well that's a relief,"  said Mae's mom. "If you girls need me, I'll be in the office." she  pointed to the spare room that had been transformed into her workspace.  Mae's mom worked from home for some kind of agency, but I never  bothered to learn the details.

"Maeve!" Mae's mom  called. "Claire's here!" Whenever Mae's mom raised her voice for any  reason, it took me off guard. I wasn't used to hearing her shout at all.

I could barely hear Mae's feet as she floated down the stairs. "Hey Claire," said Mae.

"I told Claire that I was going to be-"

"In the office. I know, Mum." Mae interrupted. "Come on." She waved to me.

"You're sure that you don't need anything?" Mae's mom asked.

"We're fine!" Mae shouted behind her, already heading back to her room.

Mae's room has always  been my favorite. She covered it in her personality. Currently,  there were cheerleading posters and large photos of members of a soccer  team I had never heard of (sorry, I meant a real football team).  Mae also had Polaroids tacked on a massive bulletin board. Many of the  photos had her back in England, or with me. I stared at the board,  mesmerized by all the memories displayed there.

"I still can't believe  school's out for the entire week," said Mae, bouncing around her room  excitedly. "It's brilliant. Of course, the whole electric thing wasn't,  but still."

Mae seemed so casual it  was easy to forget the strange messenger in black who had chased us  downtown. I tried my best to push the memory out of my mind and act as  lighthearted as Mae was.

"Yeah." I agreed, smiling back at Mae. "I still can't believe any of that happened."

"Well, they're still making the cheerleaders practice for the rest of the week." Mae sighed.