The "Forget You" Brew

IX.

He woke up with a huge headache—a hangover, most likely—smack-dab in the middle of the botanical garden. He could still hear music from the bonfire several meters away, making him wonder what time it was and how long he had been passed out on this damp patch of grass. Disoriented for a few moments, Kyle dug in his pockets for his mobile phone and used it again as a flashlight as he wandered aimlessly, unsure of where he was heading or why he was even there. 

Not much later, he stumbled on something. He shone the light on it and saw a sneaker. Something lit up in him when he realized it looked familiar. 

Allison. He had been looking for Allison all this time,but probably passed out for a moment or so as he was searching. Maybe he hit his head? He wasn't so sure. He merely took the shoe and went on looking for her. 

As it turned out, his friend wasn't so far from where he'd found the lone sneaker. Allison was sitting against a huge tree bark, unconscious. 

"Allie?" He knelt in front of her and brought a hand to her face. "Allie, wake up." 

It took a few minutes before Kyle finally got Allison to come to her senses. Just like he had been earlier, she was rather disoriented. "Where are we?" 

"The university botanical garden," Kyle replied,relieved that she seemed fine. Perhaps she'd been as drunk as he was. He inched closer to her feet, putting the found sneaker on Allison while she looked around, trying to make sense of things. "I think we both got so drunk at the bonfire that we just passed out or something." 

She didn't say anything. Kyle made sure her shoes were laced up nicely before looking up at her again. She was looking at him as though trying to figure out who he was. 

"Oh. Thomson." 

Kyle's brows knitted together upon hearing his name. His family name. Allison hadn't called him that since their freshman year in high school. There was a lump in hist hroat just then, the memories of Nowheretown slowly returning to him. 

That . . . that was just a dream, wasn't it? A drunken hallucination? 

His mobile phone beeped all of a sudden. Low battery. "Let's go, Allie. We have to get out of her before my phone—" The gadget died before he could finish his sentence, and everything around them went pitch black."Shit, this is just great." 

Kyle rummaged in his pockets for something, anything that might help them see through this darkness, even though he doubted he'd brought his flashlight along with him. Darn it. He was surprised to fish out a small lightbulb attached to a gold chain from a pocket, however. A lightbulb that lit up when he touched it. 

And then it hit him. 

Likha. 

She had been real, she had given this necklace to him as a gift. And if that was the case, then nothing about Nowheretown was the stuff of his imagination, or intoxication. It suddenly made sense that Allison referred to him as "Thomson," and his stomach turned at the thought of her forgetting everything about him. About them. 

"How did you do that?" Allison asked, gazing wide eyed at the small lightbulb in Kyle's hand. 

"It's . . . uh. B-battery operated," he replied lamely,getting up and reaching for her hand. In no time, they were heading out of the botanical garden, their path lit by Kyle's little souvenir from Nowheretown. 

. . . . .

"Did he return safely?" 

Tim was surprised to find Likha still at Kaipuhan Kafe when he returned after sending Kyle off. She was sitting on the stool in front of the counter, the bunny carrier on her lap.