It Started With a Song [Shawn Mendes]

35

(Summer's POV)

I watched the clock intently as I sat in my car, waiting for it to turn 6:00. The 59 turned into a 00 and I jumped out of the car and ran up the steps and into the diner. I walked through the doors and sat down at the counter while looking all around for Shawn or anyone I knew. 

        "Hi sweetie! This is for you!" Annie handed me a milkshake and a straw. Then she walked away with a smile on her face.

        I started to open the straw then realized that I hadn't paid for it. "Wait, Annie-" But she was already gone. Then I noticed a slip of paper tucked under my glass. 

        First memory - check!

        Find the next where we first met.

        I read the paper a few times just to make sure I was seeing correctly. So whoever this is, and by now I'm pretty sure it's Shawn, wants to send me on a scavenger hunt, huh? Okay, let's do this.

        I try to think where I first met Shawn. I mean, I had known who he was since middle school, maybe even before, but I don't think that's what he means. Maybe camp? No, we didn't talk to each other there at all. Then I realize that the first place we actually really talked was at the party. I hopped in my car and headed towards Brian's house.

        Once I got there, I got out and knocked on the door. Luckily Brian opened. 

        "Hey Summer, come on in! We're just hanging out out back." Before I could say anything, Brian was rushing me through the house to the backyard. For a moment I thought maybe by "we" he meant him and Shawn, and that maybe it was over, but I should have known that wasn't the case. It was Jack and Allen who were outside with him. Once we were there thought, they all went back through the door. 

        "Once you found what you need, you can leave through the gate." And with that they were gone, just like Annie. Okay now I was confused. What was I supposed to be looking for? I searched all around, where the dance floor was, the food table, around the door, then I saw a tray with a lid sitting on a table next to the bench where I was sitting when Shawn started taking to me. I ran over and lifted the lid up and sure enough, underneath was another small slip of paper, just like the other one. 

        Almost there! 

        Now go to the place where lessons were

        learned.

        Well that sounds pretty obvious. "The place where lessons were learned." - School. I sighed and hopped back in the car. When I pulled into the school parking lot it hit me. I couldn't get inside because it was late. Maybe the clue was outside? I walked up to the doors. Yep, definitely locked. I looked around the outside of the building but still couldn't find anything that looked like a clue. My heart started beating faster. What was I supposed to do now? There was no clue at the school. Where else were lessons learned...

Wait.

There was one more place where both Shawn and I had learned lessons, and that was at Shawn's house, when I had tutored him. I drove as fast as I could to Shawn's house. When I got there I knocked on the door, listening to the crickets and the sound of my own pounding heart. I heard footsteps approaching, but as soon as they reached the door they stopped. I waited a few seconds but the door didn't open.

A few more seconds, the door still didn't open.

I was about to knock on the door again when I noticed something peeking out from under the doormat. It was white. Paper! I quickly bent down and pulled it out. My eyes ran over the paper, taking in the words.

Driving with the same song playing over and over can damage the brain.

I didn't know taking a walk could.

I laughed out loud, remembering Brian's favorite song playing again and again and again on the way home from the party. That can definitely hurt your head. But I'm guessing Shawn means literally, because not a second after, the car crashed and he got a concussion. Also, the part about taking a walk must be about when I got a concussion while walking around the hospital.

The hospital. That's it. That must be the last "memory".