When Hottie Met Junkie by Adam Woods, Ishita Garg (best e ink reader for manga txt) 📕

“You're going to be late for school. Come on, get up,” Jenna said.

I yawned and got off the bed. That boy's face was hazy in my memory, but I would never forget those eyes. That was the thing about dreams. They slipped out of your head pretty fast.

School, I remembered. I was going to the school for the first time after the accident. I had decided that no one needs to know about my memory loss. It wouldn't be too hard to keep it from everybody else. I got ready for school in a hurry. It took me time to decide my outfit, but I settled with a red sequined top with black jeans and my wedges. I brushed my hair and tied them up with a rubber band. One last glance in the mirror and I was ready to go. I made my way to the kitchen and Aunt Jenna was sitting on the counter, wearing a pair of gray trousers and a black button-down shirt and her high-heeled black peep-toes. She was staring at her laptop screen, typing furiously. She glanced up from her laptop to see me. “Give me a minute, please, C. And the breakfast is on the table.” She said.

I had breakfast in silence, still thinking about the dream I had last night. I didn't know why but it felt like I had seen that face somewhere before. Shaking the thought off my mind, I concentrated on the day ahead. I knew the day was going to be filled with drama, it’s not every day that an accident victim returns to her classes from a hiatus.

“Are you done with the work, Jenna?” I asked.

“Almost,” she replied.

“You don't have to drop me to school, really, I can go on my own.” I said

“No, Chris. Just a few more minutes.”

“Alright” I replied.

I went to my room to pick up my bag. By the time I was back, she was wearing her blazer and was ready to go. She looked at her watch. “Crap, we're both gonna be late,” she said. She worked as a freelancer, having published some of her articles in the local newspapers. The big scoop was yet to be scooped.

“It’s okay, don't worry. We have time.” I told her.

“Come on, hurry up. Get in the car,” she said, impatiently.

We made our way to the car outside our house. It took us 10 minutes to get to school. Jenna kissed my cheek and said “Have a great day, Chris. Bye.” I narrowed my eyes at her and replied “You too.”

***

I hopped out of the car and made my way to the school. I stood outside for a minute and stared at the huge white building and the green fields around it. Nothing I didn't remember had changed. The day is going to be great, I said to myself. I saw some students staring at me, and when I looked at them, they looked away and began to whisper in their groups. I guess I would have to get used to this now. The accident made me popular. It was on every news channel, in every newspaper for days. No one could forget about the accident that easily, especially when one of the person involved in the accident studied in their school. I hurried into the school, my cheeks burning. I had to go to the principal's office the first thing in the morning. I was sure I remembered where that was. It was on the ground floor, just opposite the east-side courtyard. As I walked down the corridors of the school making my way to the principal's office, the stares and the whispering continued. I didn't blame them, but couldn't they be a little subtle? I recognized some of the students, but most of them were strangers. Unlike the corridor in my dream, this one was filled with light, people and noises. I walked around making sure to take in the changes that I didn't recognize. Most of the school was still the same. I had reached the east-side courtyard and was walking down to the principal's office. There was no sign on the door of the room which said “Principal's Office” but I opened the door anyway. The room was empty. I looked around to make sure I was on the right floor and at the right place. Yes, I was. It was the ground floor and the east-side of the school. But where did Ms. Wegner's office go? I started to panic. People passing me by stared at me like I was someone crazy, but did not care to ask what the matter was.

“Christine?” I heard someone say.

I turned around to see Lauren McKain, one of my best friends, staring at me. I had never been so relieved to see her. I rushed towards her and she hugged me tightly.

“Oh, my God. How are you?” She asked, excitedly.

“I am fine, Ren. How have you been?” I asked her.

She stood there with me, wearing a blue denim skirt paired with a black top and her black boots.

“Oh, I have been great. I missed you, C. We missed you.” She said.

“I missed you all too.” I said with a smile.

“What are you doing here? This is east side, our classes are in the exact opposite direction.”

My cheeks turned red with embarrassment. “Ugh, actually, I was looking for the Ms. Wegner's office. Wasn't it here only?”

She looked puzzled. “No, it was shifted to the second floor, west-side four months ago. What, you don't remember?”

I smacked my head dramatically and replied “Oh yes, I forgot.”

She asked me jokingly, “What, did you hit your head pretty hard during that accident?”

I shook my head at her. She suddenly realized what she had said and apologized. “I am sorry, Christine. How's Mr. Johnson now? The newspapers said he's in coma.”

I mumbled, trying to hide the sadness in my voice, “He's still the same.”

She squeezed my hand. “Come, let's go to the principal's office.”

I smiled at her. She accompanied me to the office. It had been shifted to the floor where our classes were. Sadly, I didn't remember any of it.

“Go on, I will wait for you outside,” Lauren said.

“Alright, I won't be long”

***

I entered the office, and this time the room wasn't empty. Ms. Wegner was sitting in her chair, wearing a black suit with her black stilettos, doing some paper work. The air conditioner was on full blast and I shivered slightly. Ms. Wegner saw me come in and gave me a warm smile.

“Hello, Ms. Wegner,” I said.

“Good morning, Christine. Have a seat, please”

I sat in the comfortable leather chair kept in front of Ms.Wegner's mahogany table.

“How are you, now?” She asked me sweetly.

“Oh, I am fine Ms. Wegner. A lot better.”

She pursed her lips. “I am sorry about your father, dear.”

I nodded. “Me too.”

Her face brightened, “Welcome back to Maine High School. I am sure people here missed you a lot,” she said with a smile. “I have been informed about your memory condition. Something amnesia, right?”

“Retrograde amnesia.”

She nodded. “The school staff and I will be here for you if you need anything. Don't hesitate to ask help.”

“Yes, of course, Ms. Wegner,” I said.

She handed me a piece of paper. “Here's your class schedule. You may go, now. Have a great day.” She gave me another bright smile.

“Thank you, Ms. Wegner. You have a great day too.” I replied back.

***

I walked out of the room and a wave of heat hit me hard. God, it was so much better inside the office. Lauren was still sitting outside, looking at her reflection in the glass table in front of her and applying lip gloss. She saw me coming out of the office and I rolled my eyes at her. We chatted all through the way to our class. There were a million things to talk about. Walking down to our class, I took in everything and everyone around me, trying to remember the changes I didn't recognize and keeping them in mind. Lauren was genuinely happy to see me again, and her happiness was quite contagious. She made up for the bad start of the day. Today can't be that bad, I thought to myself. I couldn't wait to meet the rest of the gang.

“Why didn't you return any of our calls?” She asked me, narrowing her eyes.

“Oh, I am sorry. I just needed my time to heal. And I wanted today to be a surprise,” I winked at her.

“Chloe and Jane are going to be so happy to see you,” she said excitedly.

“I hope so,” I replied. “So, what's new?”

“Oh, nothing, really. Just the usual. Chloe dumped Micheal”

What? Micheal? When did she go out with him? I thought she was going out with Scott.

“Why?” I asked. “They were such a great couple.”

“You know Chloe. She got bored of him and left him. Poor, Micheal. He really liked her.”

“I know. They had been together for how long?” I asked her.

“You don't remember? She started dating him a few months after Scott dumped her.” She said.

Scott dumped her? Why would he dump her? Oh, God, I missed out on a lot.

“Oh, yes. Now I remember.” I replied, trying to recall when these things I missed happened. Nothing clicked my mind. I sighed.

Lauren looked at me, puzzled. I wondered if I should tell her about the memory loss thing. I don't think it is a good idea because I don't want people looking at me with pity.

She whispered to me, “God, C, you are popular now. I will have to get used to the stares while I am with you.”

I groaned. “Yea, I know. It's not going to be easy, really.”

She giggled. “I think I am going to enjoy this.”

I walked around keeping check of my surroundings and the people around me. Many waved at me; I smiled at them, to be polite. Some even stopped to ask me how I have been. I remembered most of them, that's good.

Just then, Matt, one of my classmates, came out of a class room. He stopped right in his tracks when he saw me.

“What the hell,” he cried, clearly delighted to see me. 

“Why does Matt Preston look like he wants to eat me up?” I whispered to Lauren. 

She stared back at me with a blank expression. Just when she was about to say something, Matt had rushed towards me and pulled me into an awkward embrace. He kissed my nose and whispered in my ear, “Your baby missed you.”

My eyes widened and two words escaped my mouth. “Oh, no.”

“Ain’t it getting a bit outta hand?”

Demarco Corrigan puffed out thick wisps of cigarette smoke. He loved smoking. Smoking had style. He smoked all the time. He smoked when he was dealing. He smoked when he was beating up people. He smoked when he was running from cops. He even smoked when he took a shit. Those ‘Smoking Kills’ footers were for ninnies.  He looked at the dark-haired kid sitting in front of him, and repeated: “Ain’t it getting a bit outta hand?”

The kid sniffed twice and rubbed his nose with the back of his palm. He was tall with an athletic build, long legs. He wore a dirty white t-shirt and