•••

I blinked.

They blinked back at me.

I blinked again.

Valerie made as if to stand up and walk towards me and that immediately sent me to panic mode.

"Uhh . . ." I stuttered. "I'll just . . . you know." I pointed my finger behind me towards the bathroom, the words spilling out of my mouth much slower than I intended. "I'll just . . . go back in."

Before any of them could react, I went back into the bathroom and hastily closed the door behind me, throwing my weight on to it as I felt afraid that someone would barge in.

A deep breath escaped my mouth. What the hell was going on? Why were they here? Why were Jac and Valerie here?

Why was Clark not here?!?!

A terrible thought invaded my mind. What if Clark and I weren't friends anymore? Maybe that would be a major reason as to why he wasn't here.

No no no no no no no nO NO! It couldn't be. We'd promised. We'd promised each other to be the best of friends through thick and thin no matter what.

"Dee?" A voice - Valerie's voice - sounded on the other side of the door. "You OK in there?"

My eyes widened. Dee?!

Dylan had called me that over the phone and I'd blatantly denied it. And Valerie just said it.

Was Dee my new nickname or something.

"I . . . uh," my mind fumbled around for a clever response. "Dee's not here, only Red."

I facepalmed myself. Damn it. Way to go, Red.

Another voice sounded muffled through the door. A male one.

"Is everything alright, dear?"

I knew that voice. My heart did a crazy flip at the sound of it. I had a peculiar disorder of obsessively crushing on Jac and because of that, I'd pick out the sound of his voice and accent -especially his accent - easily when I was in the cafeteria or the hallway or the field.

And now he'd just said 'dear'.

That had to be me, right?

I scanned the bathroom, just to make sure. The coast seemed clear. So that meant I was the only dear in here, and I couldn't help but smile goofily.

Jac just called me dear.

The Jac just addressed me as dear. Well then, this happened to be one great perk of having amnesia. Three years had gone by and someway, somehow, Jac and I grew close.

That thought made me put my guard down and open the door slightly to peek at the duo.

Jac stood there with his dazzling and sparkly teeth, chocolate flawless skin and kinky afro hair and I just felt myself swoon. I didn't know if it was just me but I heard the faint sound of angels singing the chorus of "Hallelujah" in the background as he looked at me and I looked at him and we smiled at each other.

But then the moment was ruined when Valerie stepped between us and began talking to me in her nasal voice.

"Dee! I've missed you so much!"

I didn't see her hug coming. It happened in a flash. She grabbed me by the shoulders and embraced me tightly. She smelt like strawberries with a hint of mint and I couldn't help but subtly sniff her neck.

I raised both arms and hugged her back rather awkwardly, as I was patting her like a child.

This was weird.

Valerie let me go at last after what seemed like a lifetime. She then proceeded to hold both sides of my face, looking at me intently. "You OK?"

I nodded, feeling weirded out by her affectionate gesture. Since when did Valerie and I talk?

Jac came towards me and took my hand as Valerie stepped back. I didn't know what he was doing but he pulled me close to his chest. I'd figured he wanted a hug too and oh my god my heart was racing as I stood close to him.

I saw his head tilt down towards mine and I became confused all of a sudden as he half closed his eyes. Our noses were inches apart and with a horrible realization that he was about to kiss me, I leaned back, placing my hands on his chest as the barrier.

"Yo . . . what the hell?" I asked, eyes full of wonder. "Are you doing?"

A confused look was immediately etched on Jac's face. He seemed genuinely puzzled and I wondered why.

Did he just try to kiss me? Like, OK, I might have been crushing on him but I'd never thought about kissing him. It felt peculiar, knowing that I'd used to be an invisible speck of dirt to him and here he was getting all cozy with me.

"What's wrong, babe?" He asked in his exotic Nigerian accent.

I couldn't reply at the moment because my mind was trying to wrap itself around the fact that he'd just called me babe.

From 'dear' to 'babe'.

What the actual fúck?

Out of a whim, my head snapped towards the vase of flowers beside the bed. I gulped as I put two and two together. It dawned on me that Jac was the one who'd sent the flowers.

And the card that had the words 'boo' and 'I love you to the moon'.

I looked back at him.

Did that mean . . .

Oh. My. Effing. Jeez.

I stepped away from him and placed a hand on my forehead as it began to ache. This was all too much. Valerie Hawthorne. Jac my crush. No sign of Clark.

"I need to sit down," I wasn't sure if I was telling myself or addressing them. Trudging towards the bed, I saw the golden haired boy still stood by the door from the corner of my eye. Was that a smirk on his face?

"Bloody hell," he spoke up for the first time once I sat down. "She's a nut case, for sure."

I snapped my head towards him. Who was he referring to?

I heard Valerie sigh. "Dylan, stop it. Don't say that." She said.

"Dylan?" I looked back at Mr. Gold Hair. "Wait, you're the one who called me?"

He rolled his eyes. "No duh, douchess."

Douchess?! Oh, I hoped to god that wasn't another silly nickname.

"As the nurse had told us earlier," Dylan began talking in his boyish voice. "Dee has amnesia, and the two of you seem to have completely thrown out that fact once you came in."

I saw Valerie and Jac frown simultaneously. And then their faces seemed to come to a realization as their eyes dragged to me.

Valerie quickly walked to my side. "Oh gods, do you - do you remember me?"

I nod. "Yeah, of course."

A look of relief passes on her face. "Thank heavens. I thought you'd forgotten your best friend."

I froze.

"My what?"

•••

Dun dun dun!

Thoughts so far?

-Marj.