Chatoyant College Book 9: Sundered

Chapter 97: Never Happened

Corrie gasped, but Edie felt oddly detached—despite the roaring in her ears. It was like she'd almost expected this response. She looked at Genesis, but she was just as confused as Chris. Edie took a deep breath, wondering what to say next. "Leila, my girlfriend? Tall, red hair."

She was pretty sure she wasn't going to get a useful response to that, but she had to try. Chris and Genesis continued to look at her with no recognition in their faces. "Since when do you have a girlfriend?" Chris asked nervously. "I wouldn't have... you know, flirted with you, if I'd known."

"What's going on?" Naomi whispered.

Edie swallowed hard so she wouldn't yell at Chris. When Chris had flirted with her and freaked her out, she'd known very well that Leila was Edie's girlfriend. She'd tried to tell Edie that she was a better girlfriend for her because she wouldn't disappear without warning, like Leila sometimes did.

Now, though, it was obvious that her memory had changed. She didn't remember Leila, so Leila was removed from all of her memories. It was almost the opposite of what had happened to Edie, with her memories returning. And she'd seen it before—she'd experienced it before.

"What about Donna and Zoila?" Edie asked. "Maybe they know what I'm talking about. Are they around?"

"Sure," said Genesis, looking around. "I think they're still working on the forest set."

"I'll take you to them," said Chris, holding out her hand.

Edie hesitated for a moment, then took Chris's hand. "Come on," she said to Corrie and Naomi. If Chris was annoyed that Edie's friends were coming along, she didn't say anything, but led Edie toward the stage. Corrie took her other hand, and she squeezed it gratefully.

Backstage was crowded with sets; painted walls, boards on rollers, and freestanding two-dimensional wooden trees. Donna and Zoila were each bent over a different piece of set; Donna was painting some wooden grass, and Zoila was hammering a tree to a wooden roller. "Hey, guys," Chris called over the sound of the hammer's pounding.

They both looked up, stilling their hands, and smiled. "Hi, Edie," said Donna. It made Edie shiver, and she quickly took her hand out of Chris's. What, she wondered, was their new memory of how she and they had met? They must have met at the party that Corrie had brought her to, the one for theater majors. If Byron or Corrie had been the one to introduce Edie to the group, they would have said Edie, not Edith. That made sense. If Edie could just figure out what they thought, maybe she could break through it somehow.

"I was just wondering if either of you have seen Leila," said Edie. "I don't know if you really know her. My girlfriend. She calls me Edith," she added, inspired by the name change.

But Donna and Zoila just looked at each other and shrugged. "Doesn't sound familiar," said Zoila.

"She's a theater major," said Corrie. "Um... she wanted to be in this play, didn't she? But she didn't get a part?"

"She got Hippolyta, instead of Titania, which is what she wanted," said Edie. "She decided not to participate at all because she didn't get that part."

"That sounds annoying," said Donna.

Edie privately had to agree, but she wasn't going to change the subject. She turned to Chris. "She was supposed to do costumes. Don't you remember that? You guys were disappointed because you wanted to wear costumes she'd made."

"I like my costume," said Donna. "I'm playing Peaseblossom, you know." She grinned.

Edie took a deep breath and looked at Corrie, trying to figure out what to say next. They seemed pretty certain that Leila never existed... though they weren't saying straight out "that never happened" or "I don't remember that." They were just sidestepping the questions. She stepped closer to Corrie and Naomi. "Maybe we should have Professor Lal take a look at their memories?" she whispered.

Corrie frowned. "Maybe. But you know this has happened before... maybe it's what's supposed to happen."

"What are you talking about?" Naomi whispered.

"We'll tell you later," Corrie whispered, with a nod to the others. "They don't know about you-know-what."

Edie nodded reluctantly, her stomach churning. The faeries had taken away their memories of Annie when they'd kidnapped her, and most people had forgotten about Ever in turn when she'd traded places. But no one had kidnapped Leila... or had they? She would have to go back and see what the others had learned.

"Thanks," she said, turning again to the other girls. "Sorry to take up your time."

"It's okay," said Donna. She had gone back to her painting. "We're almost done anyway."

"If any of you hear from her, will you call me?" Edie fished in her pocket and found the pen and paper she was still carrying. She wrote down her cell phone number, then tore out the page and handed it to Chris, who took it with a smile but not a flirtatious one. "Just in case."

"Sure," said Zoila. "You're coming to the show, right?"

"Wouldn't miss it," said Edie. She thought she probably would like to come, if she got a break long enough to sit down and watch a play. For now, she just turned to Corrie and Naomi. "Okay. Let's go back."