Hello everyone! Sorry for the super late post, I couldn’t quite figure out some of the transitions but I’ve finally banged out the story!
Flash
In the colorful classroom of their kindergarten, Avery and Caris sit side by side at the art table, each with a small box of crayons. They are working on a drawing of a rainbow, but Caris is frustrated because she can’t get the purple crayon to work.
Avery notices and leans over, whispering, “Try it this way.” She hands Caris a fresh purple crayon and shows her how to color in big, smooth strokes. Caris’s face lights up, and she starts to draw more confidently.
“Thanks, Avery! You’re the best!” Caris giggles, feeling proud of her new skill.
Avery smiles back, her eyes sparkling. “We make pretty pictures together, Caris!”
Together, they finish their rainbow, both of them beaming as the teacher walks by and praises their teamwork.
Flash
Ten-year-old Avery and Caris are sitting on the porch swing at Caris’s house, eating homemade cookies. They’ve been inseparable since they were toddlers, but now they’ve entered a new chapter. Their days are filled with school projects, reading new books, and talking about their dreams for the future.
Caris takes a deep breath, nervously fidgeting with the corner of her book. “Avery, what if we don’t stay best friends when we’re older? What if we, like, grow apart?”
Avery looks at her seriously and then grins. “We won’t. We’ll always be best friends, no matter what. We’ve been through so much already! And besides, I’ll need someone to tell all my secrets to when I become famous.”
Caris laughs, a little relieved. “Yeah, I guess I can be your personal assistant, then.”
The two girls burst into giggles
Flash
After school, they sit together at their favorite café, sipping hot chocolate. They talk about everything—school, boys, their favorite books, and the upcoming talent show.
Caris twirled her hair, something she did when she was nervous. “Avery, I signed us up for the talent show. We’re doing a duet.”
Avery raises an eyebrow. “A duet? Are we singing?”
Caris laughs, a little embarrassed. “Well, that’s the plan. But I know you’re the better singer, so I’ll let you take the lead!”
Avery grins, squeezing her friend’s hand. “You know we’ll rock it, right? We’ve always made a great team.”
A team no longer, Caris thought bitterly, her hands on the handlebars of her bike tightening, Had Avery been lying this whole time? Their relationship – from staying over at each others’ houses, late night gossip, had become little more than texts. Mostly Caris texting Avery when they could meet up, and Avery always deflecting.
“CARIS! CARIS!”
By the time she heard her boyfriend’s screams, it was too late. Caris’s eyes widened as she was rapidly sped down a boulder on the hill. Her fingers slammed on the brakes just as the front tire of her bike hit the boulder.
The force sent Caris catapulting through the air. She felt herself hit the ground, and then everything went black.
===
“Yeah,” Caris smiled, her eyes placidly blank. “Thankfully.”
Something had changed. Her smile was friendly, yes, but it lacked the warmth Avery was used to seeing directed at her.
Caris continued staring at Avery with that wrong smile, then asked, “Who are you again?”
Avery felt her heart stop. “You don’t remember me?” she asked weakly.
Caris tilted her head. “You look a little like Skye,” she said. “You have the same red hair. Are you related?”
No. This couldn’t be happening. Over a decade of friendship. How could Caris remember her sister but not her?
“Caris,” Colton said gently. “Do you remember me?”
Caris nodded. “You’re my older brother.” She turned to their mom. “You’re our mom.” Then, at the unknown boy, “You’re my boyfriend.” Boyfriend? Why had she never told Avery? Caris looked down at her hands. “Something’s wrong, isn’t it?” she concluded.
Nobody had the heart to say anything in response.
===
The following week, Caris was forced to stay at the hospital under constant supervision. Her brother and boyfriend quizzed her on past events, and she remembered everything, down to the tiniest details. But it seemed her mind had been wiped of everything related to Avery.
===
“There’s a chance she could regain the memories,” Doctor Yuki says, gesturing at some futuristic-looking tech. “We’ve been working on these chairs that can connect mental headspaces.”
“I’m going to give the two of you some sleeping pills. If by two hours you don’t wake up, then we’re pulling you out and we won’t try again.”
===
“It’s not a math problem.”
“Nonsense! Math is the language of the universe. Out with it, girl.”
“Well,” Avery fidgeted with her hands. “I have a friend who suffered a concussion, but she’s recovered and totally back to normal except she forgot that I even existed.”
“Ah, a logic problem!” The professor clapped their hands together in excitement. “What are we working with here?”
Avery blinked. “I’m sorry?”
The professor had already taken a piece of chalk and was drawing a T chart on the board. “You obviously expect her to remember you, but she clearly doesn’t. I can’t manifest an answer from thin air. For what reasons do you expect her to remember you, and for what reasons do you expect her to forget?”
“Well…” Avery thought back to Caris. “We’ve been friends since we were kids.”
The professor wrote under the “Remember” section – Old bond. “Anything else?”
“We went to the same elementary and middle schools. We went to different high school. We gave each other cards and gifts every birthday and Christmas,” Avery winced, thinking of how her birthday gift to Caris this year – a bar of chocolate – had been delivered… only a few days ago.
The professor added Similar schedules – until recently and Gifts. “Alright, now, for the forget section?”
“That’s just it,” Avery sighed. “I don’t know. Since I got my job and we went to different schools, it was always her asking me to hang out. She never stopped, even if it became less frequent. All evidence points to that she wanted to see me, but instead she’s forgotten everything.”
Avery expected the professor to continue jotting stuff down on the chalkboard, but was surprised when instead, the professor carefully set down their chalk.
“Have you considered,” the professor started carefully, “That maybe she doesn’t want to remember you?”
“What?” Avery slammed her hands onto the professor’s desk, outraged. “I’m her oldest and best friend! How could she not want to remember me?”
The professor didn’t even flinch, staring down at Avery with an unimpressed expression. “What people think they want and what they actually want can be very different. Some people want to be healthy and fit, yet they indulge in junk food and lying on the couch all day. I’m just saying, perhaps your friend thinks she wants to see you, but sometimes doesn’t, and the concussion jostled something in there that allowed the side that doesn’t want to see you to take control.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
The professor shrugged. “Humans don’t make sense. They run on emotion, not logic.”
===
“What’s with the long face, my dear?” The person asked. “Tell me, help could be here.”
“She doesn’t allow herself to remember you?” Amaya asked.
“Yeah, that’s what the professor said. I don’t know why, though.” Avery frowned.
Pursing her lips, Amaya thought of her next rhyme. “Love’s just one letter off from lose.” She finally said.
“She’s scared of losing something she loves? That’s ridiculous, just because we stopped hanging out doesn’t mean we aren’t friends,” Avery exclaimed.
“Was she ever what you did choose?” Amaya gave Avery a piercing stare. “No. You always had an excuse.”
Avery swallowed. Now that… there were times she could have hung out with Caris, but they had their own lives now. Caris understood, right?
“Won’t let you stay just to refuse
When others call you with bad news
My heart can’t take much more abuse
An empty house painted with blues”
===
Avery opened the door and found herself in… Caris’s room.
Seriously, what was she expecting?
The room was virtually the same as Caris’s in real life, that was, if Avery remembered correctly. She had only been in there once or twice, but she was sure there weren’t three piles of marbles. One on Caris’s desk, one on the bed and one in the closet.
At each pile was a person at work. The person on the bed caught her eye first, no doubt because of their long, bright blonde hair. They were dressed in lacy white garments as elaborate as a female manga protagonist’s. The person at the desk was dressed in what looked like office clothes, with a neat blouse and pencil skirt. They also had a feminine looking body. Their hair was a darker blonde and slightly wavy. Since the closet was parallel to the door, Avery didn’t notice the person there at first, but they seemed more masculine presenting, with dark hair and clothes.
All three looked very different, but they were all at work picking up marbles and tossing them at various tubes in the walls, which also weren’t in Caris’s real room. Each person seemed tense, the room silent except for the clink of glass on metal.
“H-hello-“ Avery squeaked. “I’m-“
“We know who you are,” The person at the closet said with a masculine voice. “Avery McCollins. Caris’s first and best friend – even though you don’t deserve the title.”
The person on the bed threw the marble they were holding at the first speaker. “Would it kill you to be a little nicer?!” They turned to Avery with a bright smile, and yeah, their face was definitely female looking. “Hi, I’m Galiena, the mouthy idiot is Adonis, and the silent stick-in-the-mud is Therese.”
“Galiena,” sighed Therese, who had been silent until now. “Must you be so uncouth? Caris is a nice girl, and her subconsciousness should reflect that.”
“W-wait,” Avery spluttered. “You know you’re in Caris’s head?”
“Yes, our job is to sort these memories,” Therese held up a marble. “Into the different regions of her life.”
“This one’s about her biology textbook, it goes with the academics.” Adonis tossed the marble Galiena had thrown at him into one of the tubes in the wall, where it disappeared. He turned back to the pile in the closet with a scowl, but Avery was too relieved to take offence at his curt demeanor.
“So you’re in charge of memories? That’s perfect! Could you please-“
“Woah woah woah, I’m stopping you right there,” Galiena held up a hand, the other continuing to pick up and throw marbles. “We know what you’re going to ask, and no, it’s not happening.”
“I haven’t finished talking,” Avery said indignantly.
“You don’t need to. There’s only one reason you’re here, and it’s to find out why Caris has forgotten about you and restore the memories, correct?” Galiena asked with a raised eyebrow, as if daring Avery to challenge her.
“That’s-that’s correct,” Avery stuttered.
Adonis snorted, tossing a marble over his shoulder. It somehow landed perfectly into one of the tubes, where it rolled away. “So she decided that her friendship with Caris is, in fact, worth a few hours of her time. Color me impressed.”
“We have all Caris’s memories of you,” Galiena piped up. Avery figured she was the extrovert of the trio. “They’re stored in this box.” Galiena dug her free hand through the pile on the bed, which seemed not to have reduced in size despite how long she had been sorting. She pulled back with a wooden box in her hand. “They’re all in here.”
Avery moved to take the box, but Galiena hugged it protectively.
“Don’t,” Therese warned without turning. “There’s a reason we’ve kept all her memories of you here and not with the rest of the relationship memories.”
“Right,” Avery nodded, taking two steps back as she eyed the box. She wasn’t about to test her luck as a guest in this domain. “Would you mind telling me why, then?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Adonis snapped. “You’ve been friends for almost all your life, and then you go cold turkey on contact. You’ve been so busy with your new school, new friends, and fancy fencing job that you haven’t given an iota of thought to how that might affect Caris.”
“The concussion really shook up her mind, and we’ve been working overtime repairing the damage.” Therese added. “It’s the only thing strong enough to displace the older memories. We kept the memories because Caris loves you and we love Caris, but we don’t forget. We don’t forgive. We saw an opportunity to take the pain away and we took it.”
“Friends don’t hurt each other, right?” Galiena asked. “Your absence didn’t go unfelt. Why do you insist on restoring her memories? You’ll just leave once you’re done, and Caris will be alone again.” It seemed that, for all her friendliness, she was every bit as vicious as her siblings. “Why cause her pain when you can prevent it… just by doing what you’ve done for years?”
Galiena tossed the box Avery’s hands. She instinctively wrapped her hands around it. “I’m not leaving.”
“You have the option to.” Galiena pointed to the door. Through it, Avery could see her and Caris’s unconscious forms on the hospital beds. “You can go back now. Caris won’t miss what she can’t remember. The “best friend” title she’s been saving for you can be given to others who will value her more. You can go back to your normal life, except you won’t have Caris nagging you to hang out. That’s what you wanted, right?”
Everything coming out of Galiena’s mouth deepened the guilt inside her. She really made a mess of things, but she was determined to fix it. “I want to make it up to her.”
“For what?” Therese clicked her tongue. “You don’t need Caris’s company when there’s other people you hang out with at school.”
“It’s not about that! I want to be her friend, regardless of if my other friends are in the picture. I want morning jogs and afternoons coffee hangouts together talking about everything and nothing with her. I want to treat her like I did when we were young and as I should have kept on doing.”
“Really.” Adonis said skeptically. “How are you going to make the time for that? You gave Caris her birthday present this year just two weeks before summer break ends. Caris’s birthday is in May. That’s quite literally a season apart. If you can’t scrouge together a few minutes, maybe half an hour in three months to give a present to Caris, how will you make the time to hang out with her? It’s quite clear where Caris lies on your priorities.”
“My priorities were wrong,” Avery’s face scrunched in disgust, “If she doesn’t want me then that’s one thing, but I sure as hell am going to try and grovel at her feet if I have to. The least I can do was apologize for the hurt my absence caused her. I’m so sorry, I’ll never stop saying it. And if you ever gave me that chance that I don’t deserve, I’d announce to everyone, in the global fucking news even, that I’m lucky enough to be friends with Caris Goldstein.”
“What if Caris’s family moves to Europe tomorrow?” Adonis narrowed his eyes suspiciously. By now, all three of the siblings had stopped their marble sorting and were giving Avery their full attention.
“Then I’ll save up enough money for a plane ticket to wherever she’s staying. Because Caris is my oldest friend, and I’ve just been so blind to the affection she has for me.”
Therese exhaled slowly while closing her eyes, before they snapped over again. “We don’t like you,” she announced.
“At least we’re united on one point,” Avery chuckled humorlessly.
“You hurt Caris, and by extension us.”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
“We don’t want you to be nice and schedule time to hang out with Caris as penance, or because you think it’s a necessary chore to maintain friendship.” Adonis sighed, and for once, he didn’t sound aggressive. “We want you to do it because Caris is a great friend, and you enjoy her company.”
“There will never be a day where I do this out of guilt. While I am sorry and I do need to beg, it’s not just because I want forgiveness, but because I want to be her friend.”
“We’re not going to forgive you that easily.” Therese huffed.
“I didn’t expect you to.”
“If you don’t initiate text with her at least once every month, you’ll be dethroned from the “best friend” spot permanently.”
“That’s reasonable, and I accept that.”
Galiena snapped her fingers at the blinds concealing the only window of Caris’s room. “Please don’t be the reason that I break again.”
It was barely more than a whisper and yet the words rang loud in Avery’s ears. “I won’t, I promise.”
===
“You did it?” Doctor Yuki asks when the two of them wake up.
“Yeah,” Caris smiles, and it’s the brightest one Avery ever saw.
===
The sun was low in the sky, the sunset a pink and blue backddrop for the bustling amusement park. The air buzzed with laughter, the scent of popcorn, and the distant screams of thrill-seekers riding roller coasters.
Two girls were strapped in one of the cats of said coasters. As the coaster clicked its way up, the wind whipped their hair around, and Caris felt her stomach do a flip. She squeezed her hands into fists, bracing for the drop. Avery turned to her, her voice almost drowned out by the increasing clamor of the ride. “Ready?”
Caris could barely respond before the roller coaster surged forward with a deafening roar, sending them plummeting down the first steep drop. For a moment, everything was a blur of wind and speed—until, with a wild laugh, Avery’s voice cut through the chaos. “Told you!”
By the time they finished the ride, Caris was breathless, her cheeks flushed, and her stomach doing backflips. She stumbled out of the seat, trying to regain her balance. “Okay, I admit it. That was… amazing.” She looked over at Avery, who was practically glowing, her eyes alive with the thrill.
Avery grinned, arms raised as she let out a victorious cheer. “Told you! What’s next?”
Caris glanced around, still a little dizzy from the ride, and spotted a giant cotton candy stand. “How about a snack? I think I’ve earned it after that.”
“You read my mind,” Avery replied, looping her arm through Caris’s as they headed toward the stand, ready to take on the next adventure life had to offer.
