Strangers

2019 ‖ Eckley, CO

Entering the room for their first class, Cameron tries to hide behind Sonny. Being the new kid is a scary concept to him. In his old high school, he experienced both ends of the popularity scale and his goal for this school year is to not even place on it at all. All he wants is to be invisible.

"There's one thing I have to tell you," Sonny mumbles as he throws his bag onto an empty table. Cameron does the same and looks at him, raising his eyebrows. "Don't freak out." Sonny points with his chin behind Cameron so he turns around. First, he doesn't notice anything, his eyes wander over unfamiliar faces.

But then his head stops.

"Holy shit." Sonny grabs his shoulder. "I need to tell you something." But he frees himself from his friend's grip and walks over to the table, his eyes widened and his heart racing.

"Kaz?"

The boy with the red curls turns around and when their eyes meet Cameron's legs get weak.

How? What is he doing here? He leans against the table to save himself from falling over.

"Yeah?" His voice is the same as Cameron remembers but the expression on his face is empty. "Wow, that's crazy to see you here. Did you move?" Kaz turns to his friends and then back to Cameron. Now he looks confused. "Sorry, what's your name?"

His heart stops.

"Cam." "You must be mistaking me for someone else. Sorry, I don't think we've met before." His mind is going blank for a second. "What? Yes, we have. Last summer. In Pismo Beach. You saved me from drowning! We...we were...how can you not remember?" Kaz looks very confused and also a bit annoyed. "Look, dude, I'm sorry you had to go through that. Like I've said, you're probably mistaking me for somebody. If I had saved someone's life, I would remember."

Cameron doesn't understand, he wants to scream at him, shake his shoulders. How can he forget him? No day had passed without him thinking of the time they had spent together. And Kaz can't even remember his face? Or maybe he is just acting?

"Ah."

He walks back to his table, feeling defeated and hurt. When he sits down he feels Sonny's hand on his shoulder but he moves away. He looks at his friend, anger all over his face. "Why didn't you tell me? Why did you keep it a secret? Are you crazy?" "I wanted to tell you but he didn't seem to remember me either. And I didn't want you to get hurt. I was planning on telling you when I found out you were going to transfer but...I didn't know how." Cameron turns to the front and stares at the wall, his arms crossed. "Dude please, I-" "Just shut up."

~~~~~~~~~~

He had refused to talk to Sonny for the rest of the day, mainly because of his anger but also because knowing that Kaz doesn't remember him, felt like his heart got broken all over again.

After classes had ended, Cameron took a quick shower and decided to go running, ignoring Sonny's desperate attempts at apologizing as he walked out of their room.

Running had always been one of his favorite activities and a great way to let off some steam. At first, Cameron went running to stay physically fit but when his life started crumbling, he had found himself more and more often running through the nearby park and down the busy streets with the adrenalin pumping in his ears.

Sometimes it's the only thing that makes him feel like he is in control of his life.

Once he returned it was around 8 so Cameron hid in the library, turning the pages of some biology dictionary, without being able to read a single word. The letters danced in front of his eyes, formed shapes, imploded, reformed. He saw Kaz' face. His expression this morning. Empty and yet weirded out. It just doesn't make sense.

He went back to their room once he was sure Sonny had gone to sleep.

Now lying in bed, all of a sudden and without a warning, comes the exhaustion. The result of a burning heart, anger, tears and running for three hours straight. Cameron wraps the blanket tighter around his shivering body. His eyes close automatically and his breathing relaxes.

But his mind doesn't rest. Images start flashing in front of his eyes. A forest. The moon. A lake. There's something in the water. A light. He leans closer. Heat. The heat turns into pain. He screams.

Suddenly he is back in their room. A strip of soft light catches his attention. The door is open. A figure is standing in the dark. Heavy breathing.

Cameron jolts up. This isn't a dream. He sees the figure standing in the doorway looking at him. Then the stranger turns around, walks out and closes the door.

Cameron starts to breath faster and can feel panic filling his body. What just happened? Didn't he lock the door? He looks over to Sonny but the bed isn't just empty.

It's completely gone.

"What..."

His first instinct is to grab his phone. With shaking fingers, Cameron manages to unlock the display. 11:25pm. Should he call someone? But who?

He looks back at where Sonny's bed is supposed to be standing but the corner of the room is empty. He would have woken up if someone had tried to literally steal a fucking bed, right?

Then he hears something. Wind. Cameron looks over to the windows but they are closed. Cold air is wrapping itself around his ankles. Where is it coming from? He gets up and examines the almost pitch-black room.

The wind is pressing itself through the small crack between the door and the wooden floor.

Strange.

With shaky legs, he starts putting one foot in front of the other. He has to get help. Something is very wrong. Cameron reaches the door and pushes down the handle.

But what he sees on the other side is not a hallway.

It's a parking lot.