familiar // david dobrik

one

NOT KNOWING what life was like before made it really hard to fall into any type of routine. They let me out of the hospital five days after I woke up, I went home to a room with pictures of my face hanging up with many different people. None of them I could remember ever knowing. 

My mother, Lucy, thought it would be a good idea for her to bring over as many different family and friends as possible, hoping to jog my memory. But it didn't work. I didn't think it would, but I didn't have the heart to tell her. Every single person that came told me different stories. Ones of my childhood, ones that occurred jut months before, nothing helped, I think it made it worse. 

Sitting in my room alone was okay, no one breathing down my neck. But I felt out of place. I didn't recognise the people on the posters or the boy who was my phone lockscreen. I couldn't even remember the password to my laptop. I didn't know why I liked the smell of my perfume. I felt like I was someone else taking up host in this girls body. I constantly had to remind my self that that was not the case. I'm Aspen. I'm nineteen and this is my home. I have three siblings, they're all married and I live alone with my mother. That's my life. 

I found books, three weeks after I woke up. Apparently old Aspen liked to write songs. They were good. I couldn't remember how to play the guitars I had in my room, but I could read the lyrics. They gave me insight to what I was like before. What it felt like to have my heart broken. 

I re-taught myself guitar, it was easy to pick up. My family bought me tools to produce songs on my laptop. It seemed to be the only thing that kept me sane. I couldn't deal with the awkward silences and the stories of before. Old Aspen was scared of the world hearing her music, they told me she never shared her songs. I thought they were beautiful. I shared them for her.

So here I am, unpacking the boxes in my new apartment. I left Seattle two days ago; it's been six months since the accident. I got a song writing record deal in L.A. It was hard to leave behind Lucy but I think she understood. I couldn't sit doing nothing with the thoughts of what could've been, it was intoxicating. The record company is paying my rent, and I start in the studio in a week. The apartment was small but in a decent part of L.A. It was a fresh start, I felt like  could finally breathe easy again. 

It was eleven at night when I unpacked the last of my boxes. I decided that I needed to eat, not having sufficient groceries to make a meal I decided on KFC. I grabbed the keys to my Subaru and my wallet and walked out the door. I was still wearing my day clothes, black jeans and a dark green crop sweater with my docs. Even though I have amnesia I still liked the same clothes as before, thank god. I shut the door and was turning around when I almost bumped into two boys, one of them was wearing a scarf? around his head and the other was wearing a grey t-shirt and black jeans. I smiled at them. 

'Oh hey, are you our new neighbour?' The one in the grey t-shirt spoke. He had a deep voice, he was cute. 

'Yeah, I guess. I moved in a couple of days ago.' I smiled. 

'That makes you new' The other one retorted. I couldn't tell if he was joking or not. The one in the grey lightly punched him in the arm. 

'Ignore him,' he laughed, he must've been joking. 'I'm Alex, this is Dom.' Alex stuck his hand towards me. I shook it. 

'I'm Aspen, nice to meet you.' I smiled, words echoed in my head about being cautious around strangers. Lucy drilled it in my head before she let me leave. These boys seemed nice enough, but I guess you could never be too careful. 

'Are you heading out?' Alex asked. 

'Yeah, I'm just grabbing dinner. I just finished unpacking.' I rubbed my right arm with my left, a nervous habit I've noticed I started doing once my casts came off. 

'Oh, well I guess well probably see you around.' Alex gave me a kind smile and I nodded, telling them goodbye. I headed down the stairs and to my car in the garage. They seem like nice enough neighbours, right?

Wrong. It's three am, THREE AM and I've never heard music so loud in my life. It's been this loud since I got back from getting my food. I ate it, attempted to watch an episode of Riverdale on my laptop but failed cause I couldn't even hear with my headphones in. Then I showered got ready for bed and wished and wished they would quiet down. They didn't. I contemplated calling the police but I decided against it, I didn't want my neighbours hating me already. So I got out of my nice warm bed, walked out of my door and knocked on theirs. Somehow they heard me knocking and a brown-eyed boy dressed in all black, holding a camera answered the door. The music faded away.

He looks familiar.

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that's Aspens lockscreen hehe