Chapter 4

The bell rings after an eternity of waiting. I stuff my books into my backpack as fast as I can and rush towards the teacher's desk, but the crowd gets closer to the exit, blocking my path. I grunt desperately and stay still, watching impatiently as people walk disorderly through the door.

"Let's go, Jay, you don't want to miss lunch."

I feel patting on my right shoulder, making me turn my head swiftly to look for its source with disoriented eyes. The guy with pale skin looks at me grinning, waiting for an answer. I blink surprised for a moment until I realize he's referring to me with that nickname.

"I can't, I have to talk to the teacher first."

I smile and raise my hands carelessly to take relevance off my words, but the guy raises an eyebrow and looks at me with boredom.

"You prefer to stay here and lose your time when you could come eat something delicious?" He huffs mockingly.

"I'm not hungry," I shrug, "so I'd like to talk to her now, before I forget the topics she explained today."

The guy rolls his eyes, frustrated and bored. After a few moments, he chuckles mockingly.

"Well, hurry up, because, considering how distracted you woke up today…" he says, chuckling slightly as he sweeps me with his gaze, clearly looking at my pajamas.

He shakes his head and starts laughing out loud, unable to control himself. I feel my cheeks blushing with embarrassment, but I force myself to smile, trying to ignore the situation.

"Then, I'm going ahead, bro," he pats me on the back and jogs away before I can say anything back.

I shrug and turn my head towards the teacher. When I notice there's barely anyone left, I approach her. I see her putting her books and pens away in her black portafolio, to then put on her coat with a swift, but delicate movement. My heart skips a beat out of nervousness when I get closer. I hold tightly to the strips of mybackpack. 'I don't know how I should tell her everything, how to express the thoughts eating me up, but I know that, if I don't do it now, I won't be able to do it later', I say in my mind. I sigh and shake my head without stopping. 'Or worse… maybe my thoughts will continue creating hurricanes in my mind, nonstop.'

"Excuse me, I was thinking about today's class and ammm…"

I stay quiet, not knowing how to begin. Regret starts overwhelming me and commands me to run away from there, but I force myself to stay firm. The teacher glances back at me, with a gaze deep as the infinite ocean.

"Let's walk to the teachers' lounge and you tell me about your doubts on the way."

She sets a hand on my backpack and pushes me delicately to invite me to walk as we go towards the exit. We stop next to the stairs' railing to talk, since the dinner is downstairs and the teachers' lounge is a couple doors away. She looks at me with curiosity, waiting for me to start the conversation. I take a deep breath before speaking to gather all my courage.

"In class you were talking about the brain and the connections between neurons," I frown, trying to remember her exact words. When I fail, I decide to leave it aside and resume talking. "I was thinking about that and I have some questions."

The teacher nods firmly.

"I noticed you were particularly interested in that part of the class," she smirks and shakes her head slightly, "because, with the other topics, apparently the pen is more appealing."

I blink multiple times with surprise as my blood goes up to my cheeks. 'I thought I had pretended well enough so she wouldn't notice', I think, scolding myself in my mind. I look around, trying to come up with an excuse that doesn't come. I sigh, defeated, and nod slowly.

"I'm sorry, but I'll try to pay closer attention in future classes," I purse my lips with frustration. "It's just that today's a bad day for me."

"Lucky for you, the day's not over yet," she responds, arranging the strap of her suitcase on her shoulder. "Tell me, what questions do you have?"

"I don't know how to begin…" I stay quiet to organize my thought for a while, trying not to sound stupid. "Do you remember how you mentioned neurons connect with each other to create memories?" She nods. "What happens when someone has amnesia?"

The teacher blinks in surprise when she hears my question, but answers after a couple of seconds.

"Wow, James! I didn't know you had such scientific curiosity." She smiles and shortly after resumes. "There are different types of amnesia. Broadly speaking, a person can have amnesia and forget some things about their past or they could lose the ability to create new memories. It depends a lot on how the situation arose." The teacher chuckles slightly. "Although it would be false to claim only people get amnesia."

I nod slowly, absorbing every word she says. After a moment thinking, I continue.

"Can you combat amnesia?" I ask, unable to prevent my voice from cracking.

The teacher looks over my shoulder, focusing to give me an answer.

"You can prevent it with a healthy diet, stimulating your brain with mental exercises and avoiding strong impacts on your head," she raises her hand to her chin. "But genetics also play a significant role in how the brain develops."

I look at my feet and entangle the fingers of both hands, pressing so tight my knuckles turn white. 'I don't know how to ask what's lingering in my mind, but much less I know how she'll react. But still, I have no option', I think, making up my mind.

"Can someone regain their memories?"

"In a way, yes, but it depends significantly on what caused the amnesia, along with the…"

A loud scream interrupts her. Both of us look towards the origin of the noise, peeking over the railing.

"THE PIZZA IS ALMOST GONE!"

The teacher laughs aloud and shakes her head as she raises a hand to her forehead. She looks at me, wiping a tear from her eye.

"I think you should run, James. You wouldn't want to miss your favorite dish. We can continue discussing your doubts on Monday, so you don't make Phillip wait for you for too long."

I frown with confusion when I hear that name, but then I nod slowly. 'I guess that's the blond guy's name', I think to myself and look at the teacher walking towards the teachers' lounge.

"Have a nice weekend, James. Don't forget to wear adequate clothes to class and don't get behind on your other topics. We don't want you failing your tests."

She gestures goodbye and walks into the room, to which I respond with a gesture of my own. I start going down the stairs and look out of the window in the middle of it. When I ran through here in the morning, I couldn't pay attention to the view from here. I get closer to the glass to see carefully what there is on the other side.

I tilt my head sideways with curiosity when I see that, from here, what's on the other side of the wall is clearer. Some thick trees can be seen, creating a wide forest without end at sight. I let my thoughts wander for a moment, wondering what I could find walking through those woods.

The squawk of a bird stops my train of thoughts, making me look at the sky. My eyes run into several black dots circling the air with wide shapes. I squint to analyze carefully what those silhouettes are. Many buzzards are flying over a short building some feet away, on this side of the wall. It has gray walls and big windows, but, for some reason, they're dark and nothing from the inside can be seen.

I frown and take a step back unconsciously. The birds' squawking starts ringing again, sending a shiver down my spine that I don't know where it comes from. I don't know if it's the way those birds circle the building or the dark tainting of its windows, but something screams for me to keep away from that place. I continue walking down the stairs, trying to push that feeling away from my mind, but my heartbeat doesn't let me forget it.

'And the memory of that scene won't let me forget it either', I say to myself.