I staggered beneath the weight of those memories and hit the side of Mr. Mendez's desk. Blood dribbled over my top lip and instinctively I tried to lick it away and that coppery tang hit my tongue. Mr. Mendez still had a box of tissues on his desk, and I lifted my mask to stuff the tissues against my nose. The mask popped off my ear and I stared at it, my brain not comprehending how it wasn't soaked in blood.
I had always imagined the nosebleeds starting with the memories, but it seemed they began the moment I returned to myself. That made sense, in a way, that it was the sudden addition of all those new memories that caused the bleeding.
In my flashback, Chris had also suffered from nosebleeds. Time had skipped for him, and I couldn't quite figure that out. Then again, I'd also felt more like myself in this flashback, and less like Chris. I knew without a doubt that Amanda had indeed been the reincarnation of Brent – that one touch had told me exactly that. Somehow, I hadn't thought about what would happen to my soulmate after they died and I lived. I imagined living with the grief, never thinking that they would be reborn, and that I might meet them again, in a separation of years that would make a romantic meeting impossible.
"Hey, what are you doing in here?" asked a male voice behind me.
I turned with the tissue still pressed to my nose. A janitor stood in the doorway. "I'm sorry, I got a nosebleed and I needed a tissue and I didn't want to get too near anybody," I said.
"Shit," he said, and backed away. I assumed he was running for the most potent cleaning supplies he could find, and I used the moment to check to see if my nose was still bleeding – it wasn't – and then I put my mask back on and ran for the photography room.
No one was in there, but I saw a cardboard box on one of the counters labelled NEGATIVES, and the little markers with last names on them. I found mine and tucked the sleeve of cut negatives into one of my notebooks, then hurried for the door.
Once outside, I gulped the fresh air through my mask, mindful of the CDC guidelines to not touch my mask until I had used hand sanitizer. I headed for my car.
"James!"
Eli waved at me from his car, which he had parked beside mine.
"What's up," I said, stopping a little more than six feet away.
"Dude, I want to hug you right now. That's what quarantine is doing to me. Making me a hugger." He lifted his arms then dropped them.
I opened my car door and threw my stuff on the passenger seat. The hand sanitizer was in the cupholder and I grabbed it, squirting a healthy daub into my palm. "It's turning me into a germophobe."
"You're not alone, buddy. Hey, I was talking to Jax and he wants to do a watch party this weekend."
"Cool," I said, and tried to wrap up this conversation. I could feel a trickle of blood worming its way out of my nose, and I didn't feel like explaining to Eli what had happened. My head was pounding and all I wanted was to go home and lie down in the dark, which was how I managed to forget to mention Aunt Lulu. I remembered after getting home, dodging Mom's questions, scrubbing my face clean, then wetting a facecloth with cold water and lying down with that over my forehead and eyes.
"Damn," I muttered. But it was half-hearted. I didn't know if Aunt Lulu could even help me. I could text Eli later, after my nap. Then I fell asleep.
***
When I woke up, it was dark outside my window. I groaned as I sat up, then flicked on my bedside lamp. Rubbing my face, I tried to check the time on my phone, but the screen stayed dark. I plugged it in before reaching into the drawer of my nightstand and pulling out my journal.
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YOU ARE READING
The Last Time We Met
Genç KurguJames remembers his past lives with Cedric, but each of those lives ended in tragedy. This time, they will try to change fate. ********************************************************************************************** When James finds a strange...