Experiment X

Chapter 4: Criminal Investigation 101

Standing in the shower a week late, the memories of the party came rushing back. I spent all week grousing and wondering why Xander was hurt; I had missed the most important aspect of our meeting.

He was a boy from my past! And he probably came with answers.

I closed my eyes and lightly banged my head on the tiled wall. I wish I could have the nerve to bang it harder.

I was so stupid! I should have seized the opportunity and grabbed details of who I was! What was I thinking acting like a blonde…?

Oh God…

I had to put my head in the game, and start acting better than I did at the party. I should have ran after him, perhaps caused a scene rather than letting him go. Ugh!

I tried gathering facts. He called me Vicky…which was short for Victoria. He then said that I gave him some sort of duffel bag to guard. He kept that duffel for two and a half years? What if he was lying...just taking advantage of my situation? But for what?

That’s the thing about Amnesia; you don’t even remember your enemies.

Why couldn’t my brain come with a built in bitch detector or enemy sensor? That way I could at least tell my enemies from friends – not that I have many friends. Whichever way, I’m putting Xander under Enemy list. I do not know him and I do not trust him.

With that thought tattooed to my head I dressed up and headed to class.

Pulling out my headphones I found a seat at the very front row of the class. You might think I’m a nerd but this class was my favorite. Professor Grant was a genius, to say the least. The way he would feed you the information in the most wonderful way, and captivate every single one of his students.

The most amusing part of his lectures were the way they ended. Surprisingly the bell always rings when he’s just about to tell us something important. It would end with him theatrically perched on the desk, glasses hanging on the bridge of his nose and his finger pointing up to add sophistication, then he would clear his throat and say in an oops-sorry-i-forgot kind of voice “oh, and class, there’s one more thing…” and ring goes the bell. Then all he would be able to do is wave his hand dismissively like, oh well, next time.

Okay, so in he comes in with his brief case in his hand and a cheery smile on his face.

Professor Grant wasn’t what you would consider old. His face was wrinkle free, not completely, but you get me. Just small laugh lines could be seen here and there, giving him that subtle hint of wisdom. Other than that his skin was flawless, yet his hair was full of greys and whites like salt and pepper.

I always had a feeling that his hair was dyed. The question is why?

Anyways, that was none of my concern. Today’s lecture was about reading body language and facial expressions.

“Basically,” he lectured on with the most fascinating voice I’ve ever heard on a teacher, “almost every single emotion can be expressed through one’s face. These include happiness, sadness, anger, surprise, confusion, etc. The only explanation as to why you won’t be able to read the persons emotion on their face is because you’re either a very unobservant person, which won’t help you in any way if you’re studying criminal law. I repeat it will certainly leave you jobless!” As the class erupted into a roar of laughter, he added, nonchalantly, “or it’s because the person is very good at concealing their inner feeling on their face by masking it with another emotion – or no emotion at all. I suppose most of you are professionals in showing off the neutral and bored look. Or the poker face, as you so intelligently call it.” he said with air quoted.

Looking at my watch, I realized that there was less than one minute left for the class to end. Guess it was nearly time for his signature leave.

“Oh and class, there’s one more thing...” and ring goes the bell.

What did I tell you?

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picture on the right: Xander