Secrets of a Journal

Chapter 2

I awoke after a long sleep to the sound of someone knocking on the door. Before I had a chance to get up, the door opened and a young boy, about my age, came through the door.

"Hayley, you're okay! I'm so glad to see you!" He exclaimed as a huge smile formed across his face. He looked vaguely familiar but I had no idea who he was.

"Do I know you?" I asked, startled. After I spoke, his smile slowly faded off his face.

"You don't remember me?" He questioned with more demand and I shook my head in response.

"Sorry, I've got amnesia so I don't remember much." I said softly.

His jaw dropped. "Seriously? So you remember nothing?"

"I don't remember the last two years of my life." I said with despair hidden in my voice.

"So the last thing you remember is when we were sixteen?" I could tell that he was still in shock so I just nodded.

"I-I don't know what to say." He placed his head in his hands and quickly lifted his head up again "I'm so sorry. It must be so hard if you're gonna have to learn everything again! Anyway, it's me, Riley," he introduced himself. "Your best friend."

I caught sight of my phone at the edge of my bed and then realised that he was the boy on my wallpaper on my phone.

"Riley?" I gasped. I last remembered him as a short, skinny boy. Now he was much taller and more muscular. He looked so much older. Then again, I had forgotten two whole years of my life. "You've changed so much! That's probably why I don't recognise you!" I grinned.

"Well it's the same old me." A lop-sided smile spread across his face and he sat down on the chair next to me. His dark brown hair fell in front of his eyes and he shook his head in an attempt to move it away. After, he looked directly at me and an awkward silence settled between us. I shifted uncomfortably in my bed. In an attempt to break the tension, I coughed.

"This must be so strange for you. I don't think I'd be able to cope if I forgot my friends or family."

A single tear dropped onto my cheek when he reminded me about my family. Realising that I had lost my own parents made my heart ache. I quickly wiped away the tear in hope that he didn't see.

"So what memories do we have?" I turned to face him as I asked in an attempt to change the subject

"What do you mean?" Riley slightly cocked his head to one side. "Like the stuff we did together?"

"Yeah!" I exclaimed.

"Well - wait. How much do you remember?" He raised both of his eyebrows.

"My last memory is of us playing in the park together," I told him.

"That narrows it down," he said sarcastically. "We used to go to the park all the time. But anyway, my favourite memory of us is something that just happened recently. Last weekend, we got kicked out of a cafe."

"Seriously?" A small laugh escaped my lips.

"Yeah, I'm serious!"

"Why did we get kicked out?" I asked him.

"We were with our friends and decided to play truth or dare. Being the crazy person that I am, I tripped you up for a joke but you ended up falling drastically onto a random woman's lap and knocked her plate off the table!" Riley began laughing uncontrollably and clutched his stomach.

"Oh my goodness," I gasped with disbelief. "I can't believe this!"

"It was so funny!" He chuckled.

"On a different note, have the doctors told you when you might get your memory back?" He said after he had finally calmed down. His voice held a strong sense of hope which made me feel more upset. I glanced down and fiddled with my phone in my hands.

"I don't know if I will get my memory back. The doctors haven't actually told me yet," I replied, sadly.

Riley and I talked some more and he told me many more interesting memories that we had together. It felt weird having to be told everything again, but I was glad that he was helping me.

When he had to leave, he bent down and gave me a quick hug. Although I was getting on well with him, it felt too awkward to be hugging him since I didn't even remember two years of our lives. It was as though I barely knew him.

A knock on the door interrupted my thoughts.

"Come in!" I called.

Dr. Hayes came into my room. Following him, was a middle-aged looking woman. Her short blonde hair bounced on her shoulders as she walked.

"Good morning Hayley. I hope you're feeling better today." He said formally.

"Yes, I'm feeling a bit better," I replied.

"Good." Dr. Hayes sat down on the seat next to my bed and gestured for the woman to sit down on another chair in the corner of the room. "You must be wondering who this woman is." He laughed.

"Yeah, I am," I replied.

"Well, this is Claudia. She is your social worker." He smiled.

"Social worker? Why do I need a social worker?" I demanded.

"Well this is what we are about to tell you. I'll let Claudia explain," he said.

"So Hayley, since you are eighteen years old, you can legally live on your own. However, since you have got amnesia, it just wouldn't be good for your own health." I nodded with understanding as she spoke. "Once you have recovered -"

"But will I ever recover?" I interrupted and looked to Dr. Hayes.

"We don't know. You may get your memory back or you may have amnesia forever." I stayed silent as he spoke. How was I possibly going to cope without my memory?

"Anyway, as I was saying, once you have recovered, you will have your choice to live on your own." Claudia told me.

"Wait, so you're saying that I'm gonna have to live with someone else for now?" I asked, dismayed. "Are they going to be strangers?"

"You will have foster parents and yes, they will be strangers to you unless you've previously met them when you were younger, except this is highly unlikely," she informed me. "But don't worry about them. They are a nice family." She smiled at me.

"When will I meet them?"

"Tonight."