This weekend had me shaken up, and not like a can of condensed air before use. Aurora was becoming public enemy number 1 and I had no idea why. She seemed to be just as intelligent as me, and she proved this at any point in school she could. Whether it was answering questions in Mrs. Natsume’s class before I could speak or even raise my hand or taking near all credit for the project in Mr. Reed’s class. Why did she hate me so much? It made no logical sense at all. I don’t ever remember pissing her off before, but then again, there was a gaping hole in my memories.

Then there was Cody, who I couldn’t tell the truth to as it all would sound like a lie. Yet that’s all I’ve been doing to him since day one, but he’s never questioned it, just assuming all is right with the world. I don’t know how long he’ll stay with me, or at all, if he ever found out I was lying to him, even though it’s  more so to protect him than hurt him. He hasn’t mentioned it to me at school and never bought it up on our dates out, so I hope it never ends up ruining my first relationship.

And finally there was Cocoa, who was all but starting to slowly distrust me in favor of Aurora. It’s true that I never went looking for her last week, but I’ve never wanted to stop talking to her. She was my closest friend I’ve ever had and knew more about me than I honestly thought I knew about myself. Even now I wanted to talk to her… but she’s hasn’t answered any of my calls. I hope she’s all right…

 

“Well, it’s Monday again…” I sigh to Tipsy. She was curled up on the couch watching me fiddle with my food. I told myself I needed to eat something, not really having the stomach for it over the weekend. But my hands wouldn’t do much more than push around the scrambled eggs on my plate.

 

“I’m not even hungry!” I shout in protest, pushing the plate away. “Why am I so upset?” It felt like the balance of the universe collapsed under the pressure of a super nova, which was impossible, as far as I knew.

 

Standing up after deciding not to eat, partly because I was furious with myself, I pushed the self-cleaning button on the wall and snatched my backpack from the chair of the couch before heading out the door, causing Tipsy to skirt away.

“Sorry Tipsy,” I call over my shoulder as the sliding door closes behind me.

 

The walk to school today was rather lonely. I usually had Cocoa at my hip, talking about how her parents are doing or about her dream job. Passing by the hot chocolate shop brought up more memories of how she and I stopped there on the way to school to grab a bite to eat. But now that I stop and think about it, I’ve never seen Cody walk anywhere around here to get to school. How did he get there? I’ve never taken the time to ask him that.

 

After getting school I shuffle some things into my locker in preparation for Mrs. Natsume’s class. We were still undergoing our previous project, so I didn’t expect much on the forefront of learning today, just review. Upon arriving however, I notice Aurora already in her seat, as well as a few others, but no sign of Mrs. Natsume. Usually the classroom was full by now. It must be a slow start today then, as Mrs. Natsume was usually here 5 to 10 minutes early, but class was about to start in 30 seconds.

 

I decided to pull out and go over the instructions we were given the other day on reviewing old AI programming. With the fuss going on over the weekend, I hadn’t had much time to go over this, and it was due tomorrow after class. While shuffling it out, I got asked a question.

 

“Hey Random, do you know what this means?”

 

While waiting, the girl I sit next to asked me if AI tendencies tend to differ in most machines that interact with objects. It’s not rare for me to be asked such questions, but I almost never get the time between what’s going in class and even outside of it. Though I generally never made any long lasting relationships in any class, the occasional person asking me for help was more than enough to ease that, if only slightly.

As we went over it however, Mrs. Natsume came in through the door not more than 5 minutes after, looking completely disoriented. Returning to my seat, I notice her straitening her outfit, a white like lab coat and a knee high red skirt, before taking her usual seat behind her large, metallic, black desk.

 

“I’m sorry for being late, I got tied up. But that’s not important right now. As you’re no doubt aware, the project I assigned for you is due tomorrow, but I may extend it do to me possibly not being able to attend tomorrow or the day after, where I’ll end up cancelling class for those two days.”

 

Gone for a two days? Why was she suddenly dropping class for two days and not call in a substitute? I wanted to raise my hand and ask her where she was going, but I thought better of it and decided keep my hands where they were; on my lap.

 

“In exchange, I’m going to make today a free day,” continued Mrs. Natsume, “You may work at your own leisure on your projects or come to the desk and ask me questions concerning your projects if you’re stuck, NOT about where I’ll be.” She heavily emphasized the “not.”

“You’ll have until the bell rings at the end of the class.”

 

That’s weird. Mrs. Natsume was always up for teaching, never giving us a free chance to do much of anything during class, let alone the whole duration. She was acting rather strange today, and that peaked my never pleased curiosity. Even though she didn’t want anyone asking, I decided to myself to ask her as quietly as I can when I went up to her desk, acting like I was going to ask about the project, but the sudden burst of students who went up to her desk afterwards was astounding. I watched as they each, one after the other, lined up in front of her and began asked her various questions. Of what though, I couldn’t tell. Only a few remained sitting, Aurora included. So I slouched back into my seat, hoping it’d die down soon. Too bad it didn’t.

 

So I sat there, watching the clock tick away slowly, waiting for my chance to ask. But the line never really seemed to die down of students continuing to bombard her with questions. I didn’t have much to do, already having studied most of it and I had no questions to ask of my own, so my main focus was trying to get up to Mrs. Natsume before the bell rang and we flooded out into the hallways. But something inside my stomach twisted at the thought that Mrs. Natsume was going to leave early. I couldn’t shake it.

 

The bell finally tolled and everyone began shuffling out of the room right on cue, Mrs. Natsume included. Noticing this, I grab my backpack and try to fight through the crowd of students who are heading back to their seats to gather up their leftover materials. Apologizing as I knock them aside, I try to reach the classroom door before she leaves. When I finally reached the door, I look up and down the hallway and just notice her hail the corner leading into the cafeteria.

 

“Excuse me, coming through!” I exclaim, bumping some students aside. Running down the hall after classes let out isn’t one of my smarter ideas. It’s when the hallways are most crowded and getting anywhere can become very troublesome. How Mrs. Natsume got to the end of the hallway passed everyone and into the cafeteria so fast is a mystery to me. “Sorry!” I call over my shoulder, apologizing to 2 girls as I spin into the cafeteria.

 

Since lunch hasn’t started yet, the cafeteria was bare of people. Scanning the area, I saw the curved tables that circled the room were empty, the isles that held the food were cleared off, and the staff working here was still cooking meals in the back, in large portions of course. But I wasn’t concerned with any of that. Continuing to sweep my gaze back and forth trying to locate Mrs. Natsume, I had almost given up when I noticed her leaving through the adjacent doors on my fifth sweep over the empty space. Without hesitation, I kicked my foot against the floor to push myself forward and continue chasing after her as quickly as I could. But she was moving awfully fast, which made no sense.

 

After barging through the door, I notice that this side of the school wasn’t any less busy, with all the students crowded around their lockers and moving from one class to the next. It makes me glad I never had to rush from class to class; I was usually on time or earlier.

 

“There she is!” Cutting around another corner I skid on my shoes and jump backward, hoping I wasn’t seen. Mrs. Natsume was there, but so was Aurora. I didn’t want them to think I was following, so I hung around the corner and tried to listen to what they were saying.

 

“Thanks for coming over here. I know it’s a bit out of your way, but I needed to ask you something.”

 

Aurora spoke first. They were standing pretty far away, but I could make out what they were saying.

 

“It doesn’t take much out of my time, but why the other side of this floor? I don’t recall you having any classes over here.”

 

“I don’t. But,” she stops, taking something out of her pocket, “I wanted to ask you about this. Preferably where no one I know could see us.”

 

From the corner of my eye, it looked like she handed her something that was glowing faintly.

 

“Well, well. I haven’t seen this since I was your age. What are you using it for?”

 

Mrs. Natsume asks, turning it over in her hand then handing it back.

 

“I need it for one of your projects. I was asking if it was the right type I need. You know: Color consistency, glow and size.”

 

“I don’t’ remember assigning anything requiring that specific rock, but to answer your question it’s the finest I’ve ever seen. Mind telling me what you’re up to?”

 

Slipping it back into her pocket, Aurora changes the subject. “I’m working on something and wanted you’re opinion, you being a former tech genius. I also wanted to ask where it is you’re going.”

 

Mrs. Natsume wrapped her arms around her waist before answering.

 

“Flattery will get you nowhere in my class,” she said, smiling. “And to answer your question, some place where I won’t be able to monitor class. As a student, that is all you need to know. It suddenly came up, which is why I couldn’t get a substitute. Hopefully when I come back you’ll all be ready to turn in your projects.”

 

Turning around she starts heading toward me. I duck out of sight behind some huddled students and let Mrs. Natsume and, soon after, Aurora, walk on by, wondering if that’s all she would have told me provided I asked in place of Aurora. Was there a serious reason to her absence? If there was, I would never know, as I didn’t see her the rest of the day.