I notice him almost immediately. He's standing against a tree, almost like he couldn't be bothered to stand there. His to-die-for blonde hair flows lazily in the light wind and when his hazel eyes lock with mine, the air is knocked out of my lungs.
"Are you okay?" Maxx says, sitting up immediately. "I'm. . fine." I say, struggling to breath.
"Can we leave?" I ask him, trying to stand, but he pulls me back down.
"You aren't going anywhere."
"But I want to leave." I say, somehow being able to fully breath again.
"But I don't, so we're staying." he says in a cold voice I don't recognize. I turn, expecting to see bright blue eyes and dark black hair but instead I see blonde hair and hazel eyes. Nathan.
I gasp and struggle to stand but my feet won't move. "I want to leave." I say again, but Maxx/Nathan won't move. Their features blend into a face equipped with blue-gray eyes and a mix of black and blonde hair. This has to be the freakiest thing I've ever experienced.
"You need to calm down," the face that is now recognizably Nathan says, shifting to a sitting position and pulling me with him. He kisses me but I don't want to so I try to push him away. He pushes back. . .
I gasp and bolt up from the lying down position I was in. I'm back in this world, hopefully. I think it was just a dream, but, anymore, I can't be sure. Struggling to breath I turn my head wildly back and forth trying to place myself. I'm in a forest, sitting on a blanket with Maxx. "Are you okay?" real life Maxx asks, mirroring dream Maxx. "No," I say and break down into tears, sobbing loudly. If people were around, they'd be staring at the noise I'm making.
Maxx, not sure what to do with himself, asks, "Do you want me to hug you?"
I shake my head but he still hugs me. He smells like Nathan and I recoil.
"What's wrong?"
"Everything," I manage out. "You'd think I'm crazy- which I might be -if I told you."
"Abbi, you aren't crazy." he says, trying to be reassuring.
"You don't know the first thing about me, Maxx. I'm very crazy. I don't remember most of my life. It's starting to come back and everything that comes back is crazy. And this, this world thing. I don't know what's real and what isn't anymore and that terrifies me."
He looks at me, confusion crossing his face. "How could you possibly not remember most of your life?"
"I. . . I don't know. But I remember some things. Things that would never happen to the Abbi that I remember."
"Would it help if you told me what you do remember?" he asks me. By now my tears have dried but I have the hiccups from crying so hard. "Maybe after your hiccups go away?" he says, trying to make me smile. A small smile appears but doesn't last long.
"You don't know what you're getting yourself into."
"I might have an idea." he says quietly, almost to himself, but I still hear him.
"What did you say?" I ask.
"I didn't say anything." he says. Maybe I am going crazy if I'm hearing things that don't actually happen.
I sit with my head between my legs trying to get my hiccups to go away for a long time. Maxx sits patiently and tries not to laugh too loud when I'm still hiccupping twenty minutes later.
