Dazed

Chapter 4

I wake up and my eyelashes are stuck together, my face is puffy and eyes are bloodshot. I have no clue why and I don't want to tell my dad. The gun still haunts me.

I go to the bathroom and get in the shower, hoping that it will help.

My thoughts ramble about what might happen today and when I will go back to school. I wish my memory would come back. Then I would know what to do and what classes I would most likely take. But as of now, I'm lost.

I turn the water off and get dressed. I am still afraid to walk out because my eyes still feel puffy. In the mirror, I look better than I did in the hospital. No longer skinny as a twig, but just where I should be. My skin isn't pale anymore, it's a perfect tan. My hair is thick again and I feel more energized.

After five minutes of studying myself, there's a knock on the door. "May?" I roll my eyes at my aunt's voice. "I heard the shower turn off and nothing for a while. Are you okay?"

"Um, yeah, I'm fine. Just impressed on my recovery and how much I've changed since the hospital."

She shakes the door handle, then gives up when I don't let her in. "Okay. I am going to finish making breakfast, be out in five."

After I hear her footsteps fade, I sag my head. I think I cried in my sleep, but why? Bad dream? I shake it and walk outside to the dining room.

My dad looks up from his phone and smiles. "Hi, honey. Rough night?"

"How did you know?"

"Last night we heard you crying in your sleep. I went and layed with you until you stopped. Why were you crying?"

"I honestly have no clue. Nightmare maybe?" I shake my head. "What are we doing today?"

"Well, you're going to go on a tour of the school for like an hour, then Janna will take you school shopping. Clothes, shoes, supplies. Anything. Here's your credit card."

My jaw nearly hits the floor. What? Credit card? Me?

"Mine?'' I look at the pink card in my hands with my name on it. Yep. that's my name on there. The one and only Mailee Jay. "Thanks, Dad."

"You're welcome, sport. You have two thousand dollars on there to start. I will put one-fifty on each month, but you have to have good grades and a job or I cut you off." His hands raise the newspaper back up to cover his face as my jaw drops again.

As Janna brings breakfast in, she whispers, "Might want to close your mouth. Don't want any flies in there." She winks and sets a plate in front of my dad. I clench my jaw shut and hug my dad, happier at the mention of school more than two grand.

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The school is two buildings and huge. The peer counselors show me around and promise to help me on my first few days.

I try to pay attention, but it's no use. Who in their right mind would give a teenager two grand for no reason? He didn't give it to me like he was giving it back but like it was my first time with one.

Now that I think of it, I'm probably the only teen with two grand. This could be interesting. All of a sudden, the counselors are saying bye and the they will see me on my first day. I guess I really zoned out. Oops. I exit the building, looking at all the lockers as I pass by. I come across a TV hanging on a wall. I vaguely remember one of the counselors saying the TVs ran a loop that played all day every day.

This loop played some video of a football game that students clearly made. I stop and watch for a minute. Another video starts to play. A tribute to Addison. I watch as her school picture dances across the screen with messages of love and hope pop up. I exit the building and shake my head as a memory of a dream comes.

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Locker doors slam and people are making their way through the halls. I throw my math text book in my locker and it slams shut. I see Aiden where the door should have been. "Thanks, Aiden, but I wasn't quite done throwing stuff in there." I tease and open it again.

"Then maybe you shouldn't have just been standing there."

"Oh, shut up." I turn to him and kiss his cheek. We start walking after I close my locker again. As we pass the cousneling office, I see my friend Jamie in there. I think she is a peer counselor.

We walk to Aiden's car because I don't have mine yet. Yet. We slide in and he starts pulling out of the parking lot. "Let's do something rather than just go home." He says turning away from the school.

"Like what?"

"I was thinking you can go to the mall with me and pick up my work clothes." He looks over at me.

"You got the job?! That's awesome! Let's go!" I crank up the radio and wait for a song to play. "Where's your AUX cord?" I ask, pulling my phone out of my backpack. I can't stand radio commercials, so my music it is. Aiden hands me the cord and I plug it into my phone's headphone jack. I hit shuffel on my playlist, lay my head back, and close my eyes. After a few seconds of silence, our song plays. My eyes shoot open and my head goes back up. I glance at my boyfriend and see a smile plastered on his face. I grab his hand and we listen in silence.

"If you're going to be somebody's heartbreak, be mine" Aiden sings, stealing my attention from the landscape beyond my window.