Noah needed to get information from someone , in order to get an idea of what he had been doing today and to discover why he had gone missing. He needed her help. And it appeared she at least knew what he had been doing just before the warehouse.
Before he could reply, Riley sent another message, “I’ll pick you up for school tomorrow, since I have your car. ”
Noah responded back. “When you have time, can you tell me what we were doing today? I really can’t remember anything.”
“Seriously?” She seemed skeptical.
“Yes seriously. I can’t remember anything past an hour ago. I don’t even remember being with you tonight.”
Her next response seemed pissed. “Are you trying to break up with me?”
Noah realized she must be his girlfriend. How did he get so lucky to score this could-be model? He responded as fast as he could. “No! I really can’t remember! I’m not joking.”
“Wow…do you need to go to the hospital?”
He wanted to avoid any attention as much as possible. As far as he knew, the soldiers didn’t know who he was. If they were looking for him, they might check the hospital. He needed to act like nothing happened and lay low for a while.
“No, my head feels fine. I just need help remembering.”
“D” was her next response.
Noah waited, but she didn’t respond again. What did ‘D’ mean? He waited a few minutes and finally asked. Still no response. After about ten minutes she finally responded again.
“Driving. Wow you really don’t remember anything do you?”
“Yes.” Noah then patiently waited for an explanation.
“You were picking me up after work today, but you surprised me by taking me downtown to visit the shops. You don’t remember that? We visited several of the stores, and then just walked around for a while holding hands. It was actually really romantic <3”
Noah felt bad for not remember any of that. “I’m really sorry. When did I disappear?”
“You said you had a surprise, and you left me with your car. After waiting for a while, I noticed you had left your phone and wallet in the car. I thought it was strange. You had me really worried. I started wondering if I should call the cops.”
Noah tried hard to remember, but there was still nothing. Why couldn’t he remember hanging out with her only hours ago? After a few minutes of concentrating, another message popped up.
“You there?”
Noah began typing again. “Yes, sorry. I was just trying to remember.”
“Any luck?”
“No, but I think it will come back eventually. I just need your help until then. I didn’t even recognize my father when I got home.” He wasn’t sure if he should tell her that, but he needed her to understand just how little he did remember.
“…Are you sure you shouldn’t go to the hospital?”
Noah decided he should try to lighten the mood, so she would let the hospital idea go. “No, haha, I really feel fine. Help me until my memory comes back?”
“Okay love <3”
Despite the situation, he felt happy to be dating Riley. It was too bad he couldn’t remember more about their relationship. He must have been trying to get lucky with all romanticizing he had apparently been doing.
He hovered down on the clock in the corner of his screen to see that it was Sunday, April 4. He knew he had school tomorrow from Riley’s comment about picking him up.
“What time will you be here tomorrow?”
“How does 7:15 sound?”
“Sure.” Noah paused for a moment and then asked, “Oh, this is weird, but how old am I?”
“Seventeen.”
Wow, he really had made a good guess when the cop had asked.
“How old are you?” He knew that knowing her age probably wouldn’t help him remember anything, but he figured he should probably know some basic details about his girlfriend.
“Same.”
So, they were both seventeen. Did that mean they were Juniors in high school? It must. It was unlikely they both had late birthdays. He tried to think of his school, to imagine his friends, classmates, teachers, or even his class schedule, yet nothing came to mind.
Oh no…my class schedule.
“I don’t remember what classes I take. Do you know?” He realized tomorrow would be like the first day of school for him, even though it was almost the end of the semester. If he hadn’t recognized his own father, who was someone he had probably known his entire life, then he probably wouldn’t recognize anyone else. Tomorrow, he would be walking into a crowd of strangers, uncertain of who was a friend and who was just another face.
Riley’s responded to his question. “I don’t have your schedule memorized. Check your agenda in your backpack.”
Noah looked around the room but didn’t see a backpack.
“I don’t see one.”
“Oh wait, that’s in the car too. A copy of your schedule is probably in your school agenda. I’m already in bed. Is tomorrow morning okay? I can walk you to your first class.”
He didn’t want to make her get out of bed for this. He could wait until she picked him up tomorrow.
“It’s alright. I’ll see you tomorrow morning. I should probably go to bed anyway.”
“Okay. Goodnight love <3”
Noah wasn’t sure how long they had dated or how long she had called him ‘love,’ but his heart swelled at her endearing comment. Unsure of what he called her, he decided to respond with the same comment.
“Goodnight love.”
“=) You’re supposed to say Goodnight baby.”
She seemed to have picked up on his confusion about what he called her. He guessed that it was probably due to woman’s intuition.
“Goodnight baby.”
Noah then looked around the room. The bed was inviting, but he decided he should probably take a shower first. Even if he didn’t have any blood on him, he felt sticky from sweat. Plus, he hoped that maybe washing off the grime would help rid his mind of the nightmare he had just experienced.
In the bathroom, Noah was able to see himself in the mirror for the first time. He was surprised to see that he was in great shape, with decent-sized muscles rippling underneath his skin. He wondered what kind of exercises, or sports, he participated in to be so toned. He couldn’t remember all the hard work, so it felt like he had earned this body without any effort.
Looking at his face, he noted that he had brown hair and blue eyes. The dark circles under his eyes betrayed how stressed and tired he was. Surprisingly, his body showed no evidence of having been harmed in the last hour. Looking closely at his thigh, there was no wound or scar from the scalpel. He again considered whether he might have hallucinated being stabbed.
After the shower, Noah put on shorts and a t-shirt, and then laid down in bed feeling clean and refreshed. He was afraid he would have trouble falling asleep, but within minutes his mind was drifting off. Tomorrow would be a challenging day, but for right now – in this moment – he could fully relax.
Chapter 4: First Day
“Noah…Noah!”
Noah woke up startled. An angel with blonde hair and blue eyes was standing next to his bed, peering down at him. After a second, he realized it was Riley. Frantically looking for the clock, he saw that it was 7:19 AM. He had slept in. Apologetically, he looked back at Riley and saw she was handing him a black phone.
“What’s this?” He asked.
“Wow, you really do have amnesia. This is your phone. Looks like you use it as your alarm clock. It kept going off on the way here.” She smiled at him, not appearing upset.
“I’m so sorry. I hadn’t even thought about it.”
“It’s fine, but you need to get ready. We need to go soon.”
“Okay. Umm…” Noah paused as he started to get out of bed. “How did you get into the house?” He wondered if she knew the code to the front door.
“Your dad let me in silly. He was leaving just as I got here. I tol
d him who I was, and that I was picking you up.” She smiled at him again. “Now, I’d love to take advantage of this situation, with us being the only ones in the house, but unfortunately we really don’t have time. ”
Noah blushed in response to her comment. He jumped out of bed, trying not to think too deeply about what she was implying. He opened the dresser and pulled out some clean clothes. He then headed for the bathroom. As he closed the door behind him, he began wondering why she had needed to explain to his dad who she was. Had he never introduced her to his parents?
Out of the bathroom, Riley was leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. Her head was tilted slightly, with a cute smirk on her face. She was wearing jeans and a brown light-weight jacket that only went as far as the middle of her stomach. Her pink low-cut shirt was slightly revealing. Noah paused at the bathroom doorway.
“Yes?”
Riley gently bit her lip before responding. “We should get going.”
“Sounds good.” He walked towards her, but she didn’t make any indication that she intended to move from her spot against the wall. When she didn’t budge, he stopped, feeling suddenly awkward about how close they were next to each other. Excitement was in her eyes. Unsure of what she was thinking, he whispered quietly.
“Are you okay?”
Her lips formed into an adorable pout in response to his cluelessness. “Kiss me, dammit.”
Noah’s eyes widened in surprise to her forwardness. “Oh! Umm, of course.” He hesitated at first, not remembering having had the experience of kissing anyone. He slowly leaned in until his lips were gently touching hers. Her warm skin felt amazing, and the smell of her perfume made him excited.
Unexpectedly, Riley started giggling, pulling away briefly. “Wow, you don’t remember how to kiss do you?”
Noah could feel his cheeks turning red, embarrassed that it had been so obvious. She grinned at him, her eyes dancing with delight. Grabbing his hands, she cupped her face with them and pressed her lips against his. Riley then proceeded to give him a short tutorial on the art of kissing.
After a few minutes, she pulled away again. “How was that?”
Feeling slightly dazed, Noah responded. “Amazing.” He then paused before continuing. “You realize that was basically like my first kiss, right?”
“Yep.” She nodded, her eyes excited again. “Now, we need to go .”
Riley grabbed Noah by the hand and led him downstairs. As they passed the kitchen, she abruptly stopped. “Oh! Do you need to grab something to eat?”
Noah hadn’t even thought about breakfast. He honestly wasn’t hungry. “I’m fine. Let’s go.”
As they walked out of the house, she instructed him to get into the passenger’s seat of a gray car. “I’ll drive since I’m assuming you don’t remember how to get to school.”
Noah nodded in agreement as he opened the door and got in. Riley sat in the driver’s seat and then reached into the back to grab a black backpack, handing it to him. “Your agenda should be in there. I also stuck your wallet in one of the pockets. ”
He expressed his appreciation as she turned on the engine and began driving. Opening the backpack, he discovered a small red binder with a high school’s logo on it. Flipping instinctively to the back, he found a class schedule written in pen on the last page. The handwriting was extremely elegant.
Wait…How had I known to flip to the last page? Is this my handwriting? It looks…girly…
Looking at Riley, Noah questioned her about the elegant script. “Whose handwriting is this? Is it mine?”
She glanced over at the agenda and then back at the road, pausing briefly. “I don’t know who wrote that.”
He considered her answer for a moment, frustrated that he couldn’t just remember who had written it. Something felt nostalgic about the handwriting, but he didn’t know why. It definitely appeared to be a girl’s handwriting, but it wasn’t Riley’s. Whoever had written it had placed stars next to his first and fifth classes. He wondered what that could mean.
Remembering that it was April, he recalled it was towards the end of the semester. It was possible he may have been dating someone else at the beginning of the semester, which would explain why Riley didn’t know who had written it. It was also possible his mom had written down his schedule for him, and Riley just hadn’t known. But then, why place stars next to first and fifth periods?
Although he wanted to solve the mystery, he decided to drop the subject since it was possible a previous girlfriend had written it. Instead, he began trying to focus on memorizing his schedule. Noah wished he had a map of the school, so he could get an idea of how it was laid out. The schedule had room numbers, but without a visual he had no idea where to even begin looking for each class. He was glad Riley would at least help him get to his first one.
Flipping back a few pages, he discovered that his agenda did have a map of the school. Someone had even highlighted the paths he needed to take to each class, along with arrows and numbers to indicate the order. He sighed in relief, thankful this person had taken the time to do this for him. He knew from the handwriting that it was the same girl who had written out his schedule.
Noah doubted his organizational skills were anything beyond average, so whoever had labeled this map for him was a godsend. He wished he could remember who it was, so he could thank her for saving him from a day of embarrassment. He relaxed a little, feeling like his first day at school might not be so bad after all.
Flipping through a few more pages, he caught sight of a series of tiny numbers written in mediocre handwriting. He realized it must be his handwriting as he examined the fine print. It was three numbers separated by dashes. Wondering what it could mean, he finally concluded that it was his locker combination. He hadn’t even considered needing to put his stuff in a locker. Happy to have accidentally found this new information, he continued to flip through the pages in case there was anything else that might be useful.
However, after a few minutes, Noah had not discovered anything new, so he put the agenda down on his lap. Remembering the phone in his pocket, he pulled it out to really examine it for the first time. It was a plain black smartphone with no unique identifying features. He turned the screen on, and a keypad appeared to input a password.
Great. I don’t know my password. Noah attempted to tap on a few numbers, but his finger didn’t take over like it had with the door last night.
He looked over at Riley, hoping she could help him access his phone. “Do you know what my password is?”
She glanced at it briefly. “Nope. Sorry.”
Noah sighed and stuck his phone back in his pocket. He was frustrated that his lost memory was complicating everything. But at least he could answer the phone if someone called him. Uncertain of what to do, he began thinking of earlier when Riley had woken him up in his room. He recalled that he had wanted to ask her about the comment regarding his father.
“Oh, I wanted to ask, why did you have to introduce yourself to my dad? Don’t you already know him?”
Riley didn’t answer right away. She paused for a few long seconds before responding. “Since you don’t remember anything, it’s going to be long story and we’re already here. So…I’ll explain after school.”
Noah realized they were just pulling into the school parking lot. It was already full of students. Some of them were standing around chatting in groups, but most were walking inside. From the number of cars and teenagers, Noah could see that it was a decently large high school. He hoped that the size would make it easier for him to go unnoticed.
Riley parked the car and handed him the keys. He was briefly confused for a moment. “Oh…right, this is my car.”
She gave him a sad smile, as if to express her sympathy for his predicament. “I’ll show you your locker and then walk you to your first class. Wait…do you know your locker combination?”
Noah held up his agenda. “I think I found it in here.”
“Great.” She opened t
he door to get out of the vehicle. “Let’s go.”
Noah stuffed his agenda back in his backpack, got out, and locked the doors behind him. He then walked over to Riley. She immediately grabbed his hand, intertwining her fingers with his, and led him through the sea of strangers.
Chapter 5: Best Friend
Not surprisingly, Noah didn’t recognize anyone as Riley led him to his locker. Once there, she helped him with the process of inputting the combination. About halfway through putting in the code, his fingers took over again like they had with his front door at home. He looked at her with a grin when the lock popped open, satisfied by his minor accomplishment. She smiled in response, as if to cheer him on.
While he had been trying to unlock his locker, Noah had seen people stare at him while they walked by. He wondered if they had noticed that he needed help opening it, or if he was just being paranoid.
No one knows I have amnesia. He reminded himself. To them I’m just the same person as I was last week. Most of them probably don’t even know my name.
After grabbing the books he would need for his next two classes, he closed his locker and turned towards Riley. “Lead the way.”
With a smile on her face, she grabbed his hand again and they walked side-by-side as she led the way to his next class. More people were beginning to notice him as the two of them continued down the hall. He wondered what was causing his peers to stare, suddenly feeling paranoid again.
It was a short walk to his first class, and they stopped promptly in front of the door.
“Here we are,” she announced. “I don’t have a class with you until last period, so I won’t see you until the end of the day. Sorry.” Her adorable pout reappeared again.
Noah looked around the hallway, suddenly feeling anxious about having to fend for himself all day. Unexpectedly, one of the students walking down the hall abruptly stopped. Catching his attention, Noah looked at her. She had dark-brown hair, brown eyes, and fair skin…and she was extremely attractive – she definitely had the could-be model status like Riley.
However, her attractiveness wasn’t the reason why he didn’t look away. She was looking right at him with a strange expression on her face. Her deep brown eyes seemed pensive. Did he know her?
The Keras Genome Page 3