Broken Memories

Chapter 9. Lauren

Chapter 9. Lauren

'There were seven of us. Myself, your parents - Gail and Cameron, Lily - Scarlett's mum, Sarah Brookes, Joseph, more commonly known as Joey Bradley, and Tim Lorrie...

We were the dream team. Excellence students. Aced everything. We all were in the same form class from Year Nine through to 13 and stayed best friends right throughout. We all had a huge passion for science and maths. Gail, Cameron, Sarah and Joey were more into science while Lily, Tim and I had discovered the true language behind maths. Together, in group projects, we were unstoppable. Although, often we had to divide into two groups so our only real competition was ourselves. We ended up teaching the class and the teacher most lessons in our senior years. We made it fun, relatable. Everyone wanted to be in our class. Our class went from average to the best form class in the history of the school itself!' Aiden says triumphantly with a contagious grin. 'Well, okay... maybe not that good! But our group of seven was very well known.' Aiden pauses and his eyebrows suddenly fall to his eyes in a frown, deciding what words will be next to pass through his lips.

'Oh, wait... perhaps I should go back a bit further...' A mysterious air starts to fill Aiden's voice and I wonder if I even want to hear the rest of his story. But I force myself to stay silent and let him continue. 'In our intermediate years and early high school months, there were actually eight of us. The seven I mentioned before and Mike Owens. Mike and Cameron were best friends from primary school but when we went to high school, Mike and Cameron had a few fallouts. Over a certain girl they both liked.' Aiden's deep brown eyes dart across to mine, watching for a reaction. 'This was only the beginning of the tests of their friendship. They fought like the worst of brothers over the smallest things after that. And like the immature young people we were, we started taking sides. Weeks went by in arguments between all of us and we would've completely fallen out if Mike had stayed any longer.' Aiden's hands twitch nervously in his lap as if he was living in regret, in fear. A sigh passes through his lips just before he clenches his jaw in pain. 'Looking back, I see that he was the most mature person in making the decision to leave, but when I look back I also see that I should've made sure he stayed. Because from then on, Mike had a constant need to show us what we were missing and prove that he was better. He was competitive to a deadly fault. He created his own small group that had only one purpose. To beat the group that I was in. And when that didn't happen, well... it only fuelled his need to beat us in any way possible.' Tears start to cloud my vision as emotion from Aiden cuts right to the bone. Every word carves a deeper imprint on my twisting and aching heart.

'Anyway, once we left high school, we were all offered many scholarships. The seven of us split apart for a few years but found each other back in New Zealand in Wellington. Then Cameron, who had always been the most passionate and involved in science, noticed signs of another planet while doing an astronomy assignment. Don't ask how. Only he knows - knew - how his brain worked.' A smile flickers across my lips as I remember the intelligence of my parents and how it seemed that they knew more than any teacher, professor or person than I had ever met. I quickly leave my daydream to continue listening to Aiden. 'So, he called on his dream team and with the money we'd all saved for Uni that we didn't need, we bought top of the line astronomy gear. Telescopes, detectors, you name it, we had it. For over seventeen years we studied. Professors and lecturers that taught us many years ago were very keen to push us along and gave us guidance and support. So much had gone into this research in front of us now. And there is still so much to be discovered! At times, we felt so hopeless, not finding any changes for months. Right when we were about to have a break, something new would come up. More evidence proving that it was a planet out there. Another moon, a slightly different angle of the planet. We had a whole lab full of proof! And most importantly, we had enough proof to make the planet valid,' Aiden's voice which had sped up in excitement started to slow down once more to capture the past moment in time. 'But... as you can imagine, the seven of us didn't always work perfectly together.