Hypnotizable

A Matter of Time

The next few days were pretty mellow. I kept trying to remember more, without much success. Somewhat surprisingly, I didn't give myself over to any frenzied bouts of self-pleasure. Deep down, the urge was there. But it would take time to wrap my head around what had happened. I wasn't ready to tell anyone else about it, that much was sure.

That Thursday, I went with Olivia to Gabriel's house. It was the first time I'd ever been there, and apparently he'd invited us over to show off his new TV. The place was run-down, but big. He had two housemates, both of them (unsurprisingly) female. We waited in his room while they cooked.

"Are you sure they don't want any help?" said Olivia.

"We'll just annoy them if we go anywhere near the kitchen," he said. "Like you'll get annoyed if I say--"

"Gabriel!"

He turned towards me. "Livvie's been having this little problem lately, you see."

"She knows," said Olivia. "She was there."

I did know, though it took me a moment to figure it out. "That's still bothering you?" I said.

"Yes! The problem is my biology class." She giggled. "Lately we've been talking about--you know--"

"Dinosaurs?"

She gasped with laughter and almost doubled over. "Don't say it! Please!"

"All right, I won't say it again."

"But her professor will," said Gabriel.

"I've had to run out of class several times," said Olivia. "No matter what I do, I can't help laughing."

"You should go back to Dr. Lawson," I said.

"Maybe not yet," said Gabriel. I barely paid attention to him. All of a sudden, I felt sort of out of it. After a long stretch in my chair, I stood up and asked, "Is supper almost ready?"

The two of them gave me a look like I'd changed the subject inappropriately. Well, I was hungry.

"Supper's ready," said Gabriel. "Let's go."

We ate together with his housemates, and then he tried to make us all watch Breaking Bad. He was a huge fan, but two episodes of meth lords trying to kill each other was plenty for me. I escaped with Olivia a few minutes after the third episode started.

"Are you sure you're all right?" said Olivia as we walked back to our dorms.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well...OK, don't worry about it. But if something's bothering you, you can always talk to me."

"Thanks. I'll remember."

I had three classes the next day, and then at two o'clock my weekend officially started. Something or other usually happened. There were parties, projects, meetings, whatever. I might not have a ton of friends, but I had enough.

As I was lying on my bed, the phone rang. It was one of those annoying blocked numbers, but I answered anyway. "Hello?" I said.

I put the phone down and sat up on my bed, then took a step to the closet and wondered what I was going to change into.

Wait a minute. What had just happened?

I grabbed my phone again and checked the time. It was a little later than felt right. Then I checked the call history. The call from the unknown number had lasted...twenty-two minutes. And it was all a blank spot in my memory. I tried to remember, I really did. I sat down again and concentrated, as hard as I could. It was useless. Right after my "hello," everything cut off.