A disastrous book

Chapter 23: The professor

Mr X's POV

Riley 2.0 sat silently next to me in the passenger seat, fiddling with her fingers — a habit I also noticed the other Riley do whenever she got nervous — looking up occasionally in the school's direction to see if they came out.

It's only been 5 minutes, but it sure as hell felt longer.

From the first time I saw her in my class, I felt like she always wanted to talk to me, to tell me something, but every time she looked ready to approach me, she backed out and ran out of class along with her two friends.

And I'm pretty sure I have an idea of what that's about.

"Something on your mind?" I try and start the conversation that was long overdue.

She seemed a bit startled but she quickly regained her composure.

"Nope. Nothing." She stutters.

I sigh. I knew she wasn't going to make this easy.

"Well then, I do. It's been actually on my mind for quite a while now. Ever since... that day."

She doesn't try to hide her uneasiness this time. She fidgets in her place stumbling over her words.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about." She lies.

"You mean you don't remember the day we met?" I challenge her.

She looks at me as if begging me not to go there, but I can't wait any longer. I need to know.

"You don't remember you bumping into me on the street? You don't remember what you said?"

I walk around aimlessly, lost and confused wouldn't begin to describe the state I'm in.

Too busy freaking out in my own head, I feel someone crash into me. I jolt at the impact, and look down to see a young girl holding onto my forearms, hysterically shaking, looking up at me with wide eyes with a bit of hint of madness swirling inside them.

"What year is this??!"

"I was just drunk" she attempts to play it cool and shrugs "I don't remember anything after I drank."

I want to smile at her weak excuse. This girl couldn't tell a white lie if her life depended on it.

"Riley, there's no point in lying, I'll know if you do." I gently warn her. "What did you mean by that?"

I feel rather bad for putting her in this uncomfortable situation, but if her case is anything like mine, then this would all be worth it.

Because I, Mr X, believe that I've lost my memory.

It all happened the day before school started, the day I saw Riley.

I woke up in an unfamiliar bed in some strange apartment, having no idea who I am or how I got there. All I knew was that I was a chemistry teacher and the last class I taught was in 2014.

I remember nothing else. Not where I came from, my parents, my friends if I had any, my relatives, nothing.

I didn't even remember my own goddamn name.

Not knowing what to do, I left the apartment. I wandered off in the streets, not recognising anything about this city. I was completely lost.

That's when a frantic Riley bumped into me and asked me a question— one of the many—that's been on my mind ever since I woke up.

I just stared down at her, utterly speechless, but before I could say anything, she detangled herself from me and moved on to the next person.

I followed her around for a bit, intrigued. But what shocked the absolute crap out of my system, was the answer some people gave her.