Learning to Remember

5. Back to School

"I'm not sure why I feel so nervous." She said from John's passenger seat when they parked at the school the next day.

"I can only imagine how you must feel with having no memories of anything. I'm sure being nervous is perfectly normal." He assured her. "But hey, at least there's practically no one here." He motioned to the parking lot, which only had four cars other than his.

"Is that normal?" She asked as she looked at the mostly empty lot.

"Two weeks after the end of the year?" He chuckled. "Definitely. Most everyone is off on vacation. Likely relaxing on a nice sunny beach somewhere."

"Oh?" She asked in confusion.

"Yep, most teachers are eager to go somewhere and unwind from the stresses from after the end of the school year so practically everyone plans their vacations for the very beginning of our break."

"That makes sense." She nodded and smiled. "You don't typically go to the beach though."

"Nah." He shook his head. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I enjoy a nice sunny beach as much as the next guy. But I like a little variety. Are you ready to go in?"

She turned and drew in a deep breath. "Right. Let's do this." She said before opening the door and getting out of the SUV. "I took a walk around the neighborhood yesterday afternoon."

"Oh yeah? How was it?" He asked as they walked toward the front entrance.

"I wanted some fresh air, but also I was looking for my car. I found a set of what I'm assuming are spare keys. You were right, it had a Honda logo."

"Did you find the car?"

She shook her head. "No. Maybe they stole that too."

"You should call officer Jenkins and let them know that is a possibility." He said as he waved his ID badge at the door lock.

"Good idea."

"Here we are." He said as he held the door open for her. "West Patton High School."

She stepped in and took a deep breath as she looked around the Lobby. "The mascot is a bear. Nice." She smiled.

"You like bears?"

"Uhh... I guess so?" She chuckled. "Or maybe I'm just relieved it isn't the cliche of some type of big cat or bulldog. Not that there's anything wrong with those animals... it just seems every school has those as mascots."

He laughed. "Good point. You know, it's funny."

"What is?"

"How you have amnesia and can't remember anything about your life but you can remember all of these random generalized details, like school mascots and how my favorite color is typical." He chuckled as he led her through the lobby and down the hall. "And you can remember other things necessary for life like the English language and how to make sandwiches."

"Yeah, I guess I should be thankful that I can at least function normally."

"Exactly. It's pretty fascinating when you think about it."

"That's true. You're good at keeping a positive outlook. It's nice."

"Oh, um. Thanks." He smiled. "This is the English and Language Arts Hall. Up ahead is the History Hall and my classroom." He pointed and had her take a right, which led them through a short connector hall with bathrooms before it opened up to another large hallway identical to the one they were just in. "To the right is Science and to the left is mathematics." He turned left and she followed. "Here you are." He put a key into the door and opened it.

"You have a key to my room?" She asked, confused.

"The one key opens all of the classrooms. It helps if a teacher's absent or if they lock themselves out of their room. Which happens more than you think." He smiled and she stepped into the room.