Remind Me

Chapter Six

"Brinley, wake up."

Someone shakes me awake. I open my eyes, confused at first. My head hurts. My throat hurts.

Clarin is leaning over me, looking concerned.

"What?" I ask quietly, voice hoarse.

"You were screaming," she says, eyebrows drawn together. "Are you okay?"

It's only now that I notice the tears on my cheeks. I brush them away and nod.

"I'm fine," I say.

"Okay," she lets out a breath, crossing her arms. "I'm going back to bed now. Let me know if you need anything."

She takes one last glance at me and leaves my room. I reach over to my desk and grab my phone. It lights up, telling me it's 3:45.

There's no hope of me falling asleep now that I'm wide awake. I decide to go through my pictures on my phone.

A few of them are of Clarin and I, younger then. We both had bangs and missing front teeth. Even then we were indistinguishable.

Some of them are of me and Jackie when we were young. We're smiling or laughing, and it's apparent that she really did mean a lot to me.

A few of them contain Owen and I. Some of them are from past years, I can tell. But some have to have been taken more recently. In one, I'm laughing and he's got his arm around me. In another, we're smiling and happy together. In the most recent picture I have on my phone, he's kissing my cheek. I've seen this picture before, the first night I was home.

I spend the rest of the night going through old photo albums I find in the top of my closet.

_|_|_

"You're awake," my mom looks surprised opening the door at around six in the morning.

"What gave it away?"

"You're hilarious," she rolls her eyes. "Jackie's mom called. Your old best friend, you know?" I nod my head. "Well Jackie says she wants to take you to the mall today."

"Wait, don't you have work? Don't I have to go to Owen's?" I ask.

"It's Saturday," she replies. "I don't work on Saturday."

"Oh," I say, and something inside me deflates.

"She'll be here at eight to get you," she says. Then she shuts my door and leaves.

I sigh and put down the photo album I was looking at. I feel guilty not wanting to go to the mall. I know Jackie and I used to be best friends. She used to be important to me, and that's hard on her. But every time I've run into her, she's cried. I know she's sad, but that doesn't help me. If that's how today's going to go, I'm going to kill myself.

I get myself ready after a warm shower and wait in my bed, staring blankly up at the ceiling.

When I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket, I pull it out and look down.

'I'm here.' -Jackie

I walk down the stairs and wave my mom goodbye before exiting. There's a small blue car in the driveway. I go over to the passenger side and open the door.

Jackie's a small girl, very skinny. She has light brown hair and dark brown eyes. Her long eyelashes make them look stunning. I give a small smile when I get into the car.

"Hey, Brin," she says. She's not crying yet. That's a good thing.

"Hi," I say cautiously, and she turns on the car.