The corridor was almost empty. Cole smiled to a couple of his acquaintances as he walked past them, thinking about exams and university. His AS exams were fast approaching, so he knew he needed to revise, but he didn’t know what he was going to do when he left college. University didn’t seem the right place for him, because he wasn’t interested in studying any subject in depth. If there were any other options they weren’t mentioned during tutorials, as the whole focus was on everyone going on to university, which meant he’d need to research them for himself. Sighing, he stepped around a group waiting to go into class, and nearly walked into someone.
Cole’s eyes met Charlotte’s. “Sorry,” she muttered, stepping around him.
For a moment Cole watched her walk away. “No insults?” he asked, just loud enough for her to hear him. There was never any malice between them, but they’d never been friends. “Are you okay, Lottie?”
When she turned to look at Cole, confusion filling her eyes, a tear trickled down her cheek. “Do I know you?”
All Cole could do to begin with was stare at her. They’d been in the same tutor group throughout secondary school and the question seemed more than a little strange. While he tried to work out an answer to the question he remembered there had been an accident. One of the boys in their year, who had been a friend of Charlotte’s, had died, and he’d felt emotionless about the whole thing. It was a bad thing to happen, but it didn’t really mean anything to him personally.
“You did know me.” Cole smiled at Charlotte. “I don’t think you know me any more.”
She ran a hand through her hair. “Amnesia is a pain.” She half smiled back, wiping the tear away. “I keep meeting people who knew Charlotte and they expect me to be her, even after I explain that I have amnesia, so I have no memory of her or them.”
“Who are you now?”
“Anna. I chose the name when I was in hospital and had no idea who I was, because it felt right, only to find out later that my name was Charlotte.” Anna shrugged. “As far as I’m concerned I’m not Charlotte, but…” Another tear trickled down her cheek. “There are so many people who want me to be her and I can’t cope with it.”
Cole looked at the girl who he’d always known as Charlotte and tried to put himself in her shoes. It was harder than he expected it to be, because he had no idea what it was like to have no memories, which was what made him sympathise with her. He could remember her during their school years, but she had no idea who she’d been then or who her friends were or… Thinking about it made him realise she really wasn’t Charlotte any longer. Once the memories of who she had been were gone she couldn’t be that person.
Mirrored from K. A. Webb Writing.
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