Factory Reset | ✓

question

Mira grabbed me before my head could smash into the ground. The dizziness still persisted, so she helped me sit down on the ground, giving me small pats on the head every now and then.

"Are you okay?" she asked after a few moments of silence. "It's okay to not be okay."

This was my vacation, so all I should be focusing on was relaxing — not questioning reality. Yet... I couldn't help the nagging feeling that grew in my mind. I could accept the idea of being on vacation, sure, but where was I? When I tried to dig for specifics, the truth began to fall apart.

"I... don't know," I answered. "What's going on? Who are you? Where am I? Who am I?" The questions came out faster than my mind could process them. My sense of reality felt so fragile that the slightest touch broke it. Being here with Mira was like bringing a hammer to a house of glass.

Mira frowned. "You really don't remember anything, do you?"

I shook my head, having trouble coming up with words. There was obviously something more going on. There was more to this story than Mira was letting on. She knew something. She had to know more than I did. But was being here with her a good thing? What if she was lying to me?

"Well, there is no easy way to say this but... we tried to kill ourselves, Aura."

That had to have been a joke. I lived a happy life with parents who loved me and friends who cared about me. Meeting Ethan in high school was one of the best highlights of my life. Everything in my memories felt perfect. The perfect family. The perfect childhood. Maybe... too perfect?

"No, that's not true," I said after a while. "I would never do that."

A sigh escaped Mira's perfectly pink lips. "Look, I wish things went differently, too. We were all hurting in our own ways, and I should have prevented this. I didn't want you to do it alone."

I had so many memories — memories of a life well lived. How could I have... attempted something like that? Or maybe I didn't really know myself as well as I thought I did.

"But what about Ethan, my boyfriend? Isn't he real? If you let me borrow your phone, I can—"

"That's just what they want you to think." Mira laughed. "Besides, you were never into guys like that. We've been friends for years and I've never seen you have a crush on a guy before."

Ethan was real. He had to be. I remembered his voice so clearly before but trying to picture it now was nearly impossible. If only I had my cell phone with me. Calling would prove he was real. Our families had known each other since we were small children — he was everything to me.

"I like guys, though," I insisted, but a part of me felt sick when I said those words. Did I really like guys? Or was I just led to believe I did? "Well... I don't remember liking a girl before."

Mira stared at me, the smile growing wider on her face. "Well, I'm a girl and you like me."

I looked away, avoiding her gaze. That would explain the way my face burned up when she held my hand. That didn't just happen with anyone. That only ever happened with me and Ethan. I knew his body as well as he knew mine — we were together for two years and counting.

Or... were we?

If Mira was to be trusted, then the guy named Ethan who I dated was not real. None of it was real. Did that mean my memories were fake? But how could I remember something that didn't happen? How could I be so sure of my life if I didn't live it like I thought I did? What was real?

But wait... why were my memories to be questioned? What if Mira had fake memories?

I sucked in a deep breath, trying to calm my mind. "Hey, Mira?" I asked, forcing myself to look into her eyes again. She nodded, a look of concern grew in her eyes. "Why do you think your memories are real? Why aren't mine? How are you so sure that you know what reality is?"