These Times of Shadows [on hold]

11

Patty eats her lunch silently.  She sits amongst the girls that say they were once her friends, but their sympathy only lasted so long.  Now they practically pretend that she doesn't exist.  They don't kick her out of their little lunch group, but it wouldn't really make any difference if they did.

School has been the same bland routine, day after day.  She had begged her parents to let her stay home.  She had even pulled the dead best friend card; "Natalee is gone; how do you expect me to get through this now?  School was hard enough before, and now I don't have anyone to help me through it!"  It had almost worked, too, until her parents remembered that she couldn't remember a damn thing about her former best friend.  They took pity on her, though, and spoke gentle words of support and comfort.  She finally couldn't stand it anymore; no matter how much she hated it, she shouldered her backpack and walked out the door.

She wonders how much better her life was before.  Was she popular?  Did she flirt with a lot of these boys?  Did these girls wish they were like her, or had she wished she was like them?  Her parents told her she was a good student, but wasn't too big on sports.  Fat load of good that information does her now.  She's in the midst of the biggest 'stranger danger' situation possible, and it's her own family that pushed her into it.  

All of a sudden, a girl that Patty is sure she's never seen before - at least not since returning to school - plops down in the seat across the table from her.  Some of the other girls glance in her direction, confused, but most ignore her presence. . . which is probably good, since it's quite obvious she's just sitting there to talk to Patty.

"Hey there," she greets, her blue eyes sparkling with kindness.  Patty puts down her yogurt and swallows.

"Hi," she responds, not knowing what else to say.  She's aware of all the stares aimed in their direction, so she figures this girl is new.  Great, Patty thinks, More attention to draw to myself.

"You're Patty, right?" the girl wonders.  

She nods, red curls bobbing against her shoulders.  The girl gives her a bright smile.

"I'm Hillie.  It's nice to meet you," she states, and she says it so confidently that Patty half-expects her to stick a hand out for her to shake.  Her voice is bright, with a slight accent - British?  Irish? - some little lilt.  This girl is clearly not self-conscious in any way, something Patty wishes she could say about herself.

"Um. . . you too," she murmurs, embarrassed at all the looks coming their way.  Hillie finally seems to understand how she's feeling.  She pushes the chair back from the table decisively and gazes down at Patty.

"Feel like wandering the school for a while?  I could use a tour guide," she hints.  

Patty shrugs and packs up the remainder of her lunch. "I'm not the best at remembering where everything is, either.  But I can try, I suppose."

Hillie grins and struts out the doors.  Patty keeps her head down as she follows, hoping that there aren't many people taking note of this.  She doesn't know how many more rumors she can take circulating around this school about her.

Hillie's waiting in the hall. "So. . . amnesia.  That must be tough," she comments, and Patty glares at her.  That was sort of inconsiderate.

She begins walking as she replies, and Hillie matches her strides. "I don't think tough really cuts it."

"A blood transfusion, I hear, too." She pauses as she notices Patty's nostrils flare. "Hey, I'm not trying to start up gossip.  I'm trying to find out what's actually true from the source.  Besides, I haven't been overly fond of anyone I've met in this school so far today.  I was hoping that you'd be different, since you're sort of an outcast too.  We gotta stick together, right?"