Photographic Memories

Chapter 3

Use the white background for the best results for Luna's story, but it's up to you. It just looks best :)

_____________________

I headed back to my apartment. I shared it with Olivia Kowal, a med student that went to Yale. I wanted to shut myself in my bedroom and just pour over the things that Luna had written for me.

I was too lazy to get my keys, so I just knocked on the door. After a few moments, I didn't hear anyone coming to the door, so I sighed and got them out. Olivia was always out doing something. She was very intelligent when it came to everything but her time. She would go out for drinks and party, when she should be back at the apartment studying.

I opened the door, expecting silence. Instead, my heart jumped when I saw Olivia on the couch, completely immersed, making out on top of some dude.

I screamed in a pitch higher than I knew I was even capable of doing.

Olivia quickly jumped off of the guy, and I got a clear view of his face.

"DEREK?!" I shouted.

Derek's face paled. He tried to talk, and could only muster, "D-Dawn, your apartment? I didn't know--"

"GET OUT." That was all it took before Derek ran out of the room before I could put my hands on him. I slammed the door behind him, imagining his neck being in the door frame.

I had never met anyone who made me more angry than him. Taking a deep breath, I turned to Olivia. "What the hell."

"Sorry, I thought you would be at the coffee shop for longer. How do you know Derek? He's hot, right?"

I crossed my arms. "Don't ever invite him back here. Don't ever invite anyone back here. If you wanna hook up with someone, don't do it somewhere that will scar me forever."

I was seething, but I could never stay mad at Olivia for very long. She just had that quality in her, alongside a warm smile and calm tone of voice.

"Alright. I'm sorry."

"It's fine. Just never say that he's hot again. "

After that, I went to my room to change and headed to the gym to exercise. The fact that Derek was at my place, making out with my roommate, fueled me to work harder than I normally did at the gym. Once I was exhausted, I came up to shower and eat. This had been my daily routine for a long while now. Order and organization were things that I needed in my life, I feared that I would waste time without it.

After I finished eating, I ended up sitting at the kitchen table continuing reading Luna's first story.

A dark storm cloud hovered above me. I was washed with sadness and regret. I wished my thirteen year old self understood just what kind of pain Luna had to endure. What frustrated me even more was the fact that I couldn't fully understand it even now, because I couldn't remember anything in this book. It felt like reading about someone else's life. As if Luna wasn't even describing me, because I didn't even know who the person she was describing was.

I closed the book, and took a breath. I didn't want to think about the book anymore. Stupid Derek. I wouldn't even have to worry about this if he wasn't so incompetent. I wanted to hurt him. First he threw my book in a river, then he made out with my roommate. I glanced over to the block of knives.

"The only person I've ever wanted to hurt is myself."

The image of me screaming "Luna" as Luna stabbed herself flashed in my mind. A picture that I haven't--

I cut off my own thoughts. Picture.

I set my book down, my thoughts racing.

When I looked at the knives, I suddenly remembered the exact moment of Luna committing suicide. A memory that had been pushed away for so long.

Is that what it took? A visual to help me remember?

I remembered once studying about how the brain had a special skill in remembering images. Even if someone could not remember an event happening, a picture would trigger something in their mind that would help them remember. After all, brains don't forget anything.

I instantly thought about the guy with the camera hanging around his neck. Chase. I needed to talk to him about it, maybe he could help me. Maybe he could give me the visuals that I needed to remember.

I'm not sure if this is a short chapter or not, I didn't want the word count to be too long, because there's a lot of the pictures to read. Hope you endured nonetheless, especially when Derek was in the apartment. I honestly cracked myself up with that one.

Has this thing ever happened to you before? When you completely forget about something, but by looking at a picture you remember?