Alan's New World

Alan woke up late. Not entirely surprising considering he stayed up way too late the night before watching reruns of Lois and Clark (Dean Cain will always be his favorite version of Superman). He must have dozed off before he set his alarm for the morning.

Springing out of bed faster than he did the day he forgot to set his alarm and almost missed his cousin’s baptism, he quickly grabbed his dirty clothes from the day prior off of his desk chair and threw them on as quickly as he could. Running downstairs, he found that his aforementioned cousin Hayley (who had lived with Alan and his family for over six years) had already left the house for school. He quickly grabbed a Pop-Tart out of the pantry and three it in the microwave for three seconds before pulling it out again. Grabbing his backpack off the kitchen table, he ran out the door and down the sidewalk.

Both of his parents had to leave for work before Alan and Hayley woke up in the mornings. Alan’s dad, John, worked as a history professor at Blue Hills Community College, while his mom Sara worked from three in the morning until noon at the local nursing home.

Fifteen minutes or so later he arrived. Blue Hills High School. Late? Yes. Too late? Not exactly. The doors had just been closed, meaning first period had not quite started yet. He opened the door and walked into the main hall of the school. Speed walking, he even passed a couple of other students in the hall who had spent too long talking and were also about to miss first period.

Walking into the classroom he normally spent this time in, he walked in to see his fellow classmates giving him a series of strange and confused looks.

“Uhm, hey everyone.” Alan said awkwardly. “I’m not that late, am I?”

He saw Hayley sitting in her usual seat in the left corner in the back of the room. She too was giving him a confused look, though there was some discontent in there as well.

“Mr. Moore?” Mrs. Fernando, the twenty-somethings Hispanic teacher sitting at the front of the class asked. “Why exactly are you not in your classroom?”

“I thought I was…” Alan responded, himself now also sporting a confused expression. “Am I not part of your homeroom, Mrs. Fernando?”

“You were moved, remember?” Mrs. Fernando responded. “To the honors class? Three weeks ago after you saved the school?”

“Yea, uhm… what now?” Alan asked, more confused now than ever. “I did… what exactly?”

“Alan, are you okay?” Mrs. Fernando asked. “I know what you experienced was quite traumatizing, but it seemed you were handling it so well up until now.”

“I legit have no idea whatsoever what you are talking.” Alan replied. He looked around the class to his fellow classmates. Hayley still looked confused, but her discontentment shifted to concern. Slight concern, but concern, nonetheless.

“Hayley, would you mind walking your cousin to his classroom over in Hall C, unless Mr. Moore, you think a trip to the nurses office might be better for you?” Mrs. Fernando kindly, yet somewhat aggressively asked.

“No, uh… no. I can walk to my classroom.” Alan responded “Just, uhm, what room number is it again?”

“Room C04, Mr. Moore.” She replied.

Alan thanked her, and with one quick move glanced back at Hayley. Alan then turned and left the room and walked towards Hall C.

Hayley and Alan were only one year apart in age, with Alan being the older of the two cousins. That said, they were lucky and got the same homeroom this year, which worked out well. Hayley was often the subject of quite a bit of bullying around the school. She was both quite a bit overweight, and suffered from Asperger’s Syndrome, meaning she struggled very much with socializing with others. She said the bullying never bothered her much, but she always spoke with so little emotion in her voice, it was very hard for Alan to know if she was telling the truth or not.

As Alan walked through the entrance to Hall C, he found his classroom as the second door on the right. He walked into the room and was met with a very different set of faces.

Half of the classrooms in Hall C were dedicated to honor’s students. I.E. The really smart (and/or rich) kids at the school. When Alan opened the door, the climate of the classroom was immediately very different from what he remembered.

“Mr. Moore.” The teacher of the class who Alan had absolutely no idea the name of said. The teacher was a middle-aged oriental man, wearing a bright blue button-up shirt and black dress pants. “We were wondering if you were ever going to show up.”

“I…I, uhm, forgot to set my alarm.” Alan answered awkwardly.

“Well, I’m just glad you’re no more than a couple of minutes late.” The teacher responded. “Please, take your seat.”

Alan had been so focused on this new teacher of his (who apparently was named Mr. Martin Dow) that he failed to realize where his empty seat was: right next to Aubrey Marie Hanson.

Aubrey Marie and Alan had a complicated history. High school sweethearts throughout the ninth and tenth grades, an accident involving a punch bowl, three red balloons, and a car radio led to the two not only breaking up, but also having a very nasty falling out.

Alan awkwardly walked through the aisle of seats in the class until he reached his assigned seat next to Aubrey Marie. He slowly lowered himself into his seat, trying not to make eye-contact with his ex, who was clearly disgusted by this seating arrangement. As Alan lowered into his seat, he pulled his notebook and pen out of his backpack and prepared for his day.

On the top of the newest page in his notebook he wrote: What in the blue hell is going on?!

***

Lunch could not come soon enough for Alan. What he had not realized is that honor students spent all day in the same class, instead of shifting from one class to another throughout the day. This meant he would be stuck right next to Aubrey Marie all day, every day. At least, until he could figure out why everyone thought he saved the school three weeks ago. And why he had no memory of this supposed event.

Alan needed to figure out quick what was going on. He knew he really only had one person he could talk to: Hayley. Despite her inability to easily socialize with most people, Alan and Hayley actually had quite a strong relationship, and were about as close to brother and sister as two cousins could be.

Alan quickly walked through the lunch line, only getting two chicken strips and an apple, and walked into the open cafeteria. He looked across the room and saw Hayley sitting at a small table with only one other person, who paid her no attention. Strangely, this caused Alan some comfort. Hayley was a person of complete and utter habit, and thankfully, her lunchtime habit continued even in this strange new reality.

Alan walked over and placed his food down at the table where Hayley sat. She always brought her own lunch. It comprised of a strawberry-jelly sandwich, two packs of Little Debbie brand Swiss Roles, a small coke, and a granny smith apple she would only ever take three bites out of.

“Hey Hayley.” Alan said calmly as he took the seat next to his cousin. “How has your day been so far?”

“Awful.” Hayley said plainly, not breaking her eye contact from the table. “Everyone’s been talking about you all day. They think something is wrong with you after the homeroom incident.”

“Yeah, uhm, about that.” Alan began. “Hayley, I have no idea what is going, okay? I woke up late this morning, and when I got to school, everyone thinks I did something heroic, but I have no idea what it is.”

“How could you not know?” Hayley asked. “You’ve been the star of the school for three weeks.”

“Yea, except I have no memory whatsoever of what I did.” Alan responded. “As of yesterday, you and I were in the same homeroom and World History classes. Now out of nowhere I’ve been part of Honors for three weeks, and I don’t even remember what happened.”

Hayley stared at Alan for a good two minutes. She, for the most part, was terrible at reading people. That said, Hayley had been an expert lie-detector since she was a child. No one could steak anything past her. She knew Alan was telling the truth.

“Three weeks ago, a strange device crashed through the window of the chemistry classroom.” Hayley explained. “It began to send out blue beams. Anyone who got near it evaporated within seconds…except you.”

“What?”

“The range of the beams got larger and larger. It continued to grow and expand, and for some reason, you were the only person not affected by it.” Hayley continued. She began sweating, as if there was a part of the story she was getting anxious to tell. “Being the only one who survived, you went into the classroom, and deactivated it. You saved the school and everyone in it.”

Alan knew there was a part of the story Hayley was not telling. She now had tears welling up in her eyes. Alan had only ever seen Hayley cry one other time in their entire relationship, and that was when her parents died, and she came to live with Alan and his family. He figured someone died during this that really affected her, but he could not think of who it was. Better to wait to get that answered, however.

“So wait, because I just so happened to be able to survive that, I am no labeled a hero to the school?” Alan asked. “Moved to honors class and everything? I don’t remember any of that.”

“Well, everyone here does.” Hayley responded wiping away tears. “They think of you as a hero.”

“But I’m not. Anyone who just so happened to not be affected by that would’ve, no should’ve done the same thing.” Alan refuted. “Doing the obvious should not make me a hero!”

Alan noticed across the cafeteria Mrs. Fernando and Mr. Dow talking, continuously looking at Alan. They were watching him intensely, as if they were waiting for Alan to do or say something.

“We need to figure why everyone thinks I did that.” Alan said.

“Or why you don’t remember doing it.” Hayley shot back. “People died that day. A lot of people, and whether you want to remember it or not is not excuse for pretending it never happened.”

Before Alan could react to what she said, Aubrey Marie and two of her friends, Alex, and Francesca, walked up to the table from behind Hayley. Aubrey placed her hand on Hayley’s shoulder and began taunting her.

“Hey big girl.” Aubrey Marie said, though she never broke her angry gaze from me. “Get enough lunch? We can get you some seconds, thirds and fourths from the lunch ladies if you want?”

This was new, too. After Alan and Aubrey Marie broke up, Aubrey seemed to want to completely ignore Alan and his family’s existence. She even became Pentecostal just to avoid going to church with him. Whether it started today or has been going on for a while in this new reality, she decided she wanted to set her sights on Hayley. Hayley had been picked on before, but never by Aubrey.

“Funny how you pick on me for my weight, considering you’ve recently upgraded your jeans size.” Hayley quickly fired back. She never had a filter at all, making it difficult for people to routinely pick on her.

Aubrey Marie’s face grew a shocked expression, as if she were outraged anyone would have the nerve to fire back at her. Francesca and Alex pretended to be shocked too, but when Aubrey was not looking the stifled a small laugh.

“How dare you?” Aubrey Marie exclaimed. “Alan, control your freakish cousin.”

“You know, Aubrey, I get you’re ticked with me and whatnot, but you could at least come at me and not attack Hayley. Put some class into it.”

Aubrey Marie rolled her eyes at Alan, though instead of responding to his comment shifted her focus back to Hayley. “I guess I should be nicer. You still have a lot of trauma to get over, don’t you? Still not over Michael Anthony? The one guy not related to you who could stand your weird personality and, uhm… rounder figure?”

That name. For the first time in all of this, a series of repressed or stolen, or possibly even fake memories came flooding back into Alan’s head. Michael Anthony. Alan’s longtime best friend, and Hayley’s boyfriend.

Strangest part of all of it, is the memories Alan saw were not his. No. They were Hayley’s.

From Hayley’s point of view, he saw the machine crash into the chemistry room and begin evaporating people in the class, including Michael Anthony. What Hayley had not told Alan was that she too survived the blast.

Well, I guess when you finally find some who finds whatever you’ve got going on here attractive, then you better take him and run.” Aubrey continued taunting.

“Aubrey, stop!” Alan muttered. Seeing Hayley getting lambasted like this, it hurt more than it ever had before. Hayley usually never let this type of stuff get to her, but now that it was about Michael Anthony, she was really hurt by it. “You’ve proven your point, whatever point that may be. Now go.”

Aubrey ignored Alan’s warnings and continued taunting her. “I’m surprised you even still like your cousin. I mean, he had the power to, but he was not able to save your friend. I mean unless you’re not telling us something.”

That part struck Alan as strange, almost like Aubrey Marie knew something about that event that most people did not. Almost as if she knew Hayley was actually there.

“I guess you’re gonna have to keep looking until you find another boy who finds fat freaks like you attractive.” That was it. Aubrey had gone too far.

Alan stood up, not knowing what exactly he was going to do. Well, what he would have done, had Hayley not stood up first. In what seemed like slow motion to Alan, Hayley leapt from her seat, and in one swift motion, threw her fist straight into Aubrey Marie’s face. Aubrey’s dirty blonde hair flew into the air as she fell backward, landing flat on her back on the floor behind her.

Hayley just stood there, looking down at Aubrey. Hayley’s raven-black hair hanging over her face.

Without any more words spoken, Mrs. Fernando came over and began escorting Hayley and Aubrey Marie out of the cafeteria, towards the principal’s office. 

***

Alan spent the afternoon after he got home from school pacing the living room.He walked circles around the living room waiting for Hayley to return from detention.

Hayley was a complete creature a habit. Every morning, from 6:30 to 7, she would sit on the couch and watch King of Queens reruns while eating Coco Pebbles while waiting for the bus to arrive. Every morning. School. No school. Before church. What have you. She is so use to this routine she had a panic attack one morning when the channel showed Everybody Loves Raymond instead of King of Queens. Suffice to say, breaking her daily routine to include detention made Alan very nervous. His only comfort was that Aubrey Marie received the same punishment.

Finally, at 4:30, the doors opened, and Hayley walked.

“Holy crap!” Alan exclaimed. “Hayley, are you alright? Did detention go okay?”

Hayley ignored him for a minute, instead opting to sit on the couch in silence. She remained there until deciding to finally respond.

“I need to tell you something.” She said. “It’s important.”

Alan nodded and sat down next to her. “Whatever you need.”

Hayley took a deep breath before beginning. “It was not you who survived the blast and saved the school, Alan. It was me.”

“Then, why does everyone think I did?”

“Because I forced them to.” Hayley responded. “I… I changed their memories.”

Alan just looked at her with a confused look.

“When the machine first crashed into the room, it evaporated everyone around me, including Michael Anthony.” She explained. “When it was all over, everyone treated me like a hero… even Aubrey Marie. But I couldn’t deal with it. I had failed to save Michael, and it was too much.”

“But how did you change everyone’s memories?”

“When the first wave hit, I realized I could hear everyone’s thoughts, somehow. Everyone’s dying thoughts of agony and pain.” She explained. “As the weeks went on, I experimented with my powers more and more, until I soon realized I could change people’s memories. Yesterday, that’s what I did. I stopped everyone form thinking of me as a hero, and I made them think it was you, and that I am nothing more than a fat freak.”

“But you’re not that, Hayley.” Alan argued. “You did save the school.”

“But I didn’t save Michael Anthony.” Hayley refuted. “I couldn’t save him.”

To Hayley, this logic made sense. She watched as the one person who cared for her, not for familial reasons, but just because, died in front of her, as she was forced to live on with the memory of her inability to save his.

Alan and Hayley sat on the couch quietly for the remainder of the afternoon. Both knowing that whatever happened could not be the end. Where did the machine come from? Why did Hayley develop those powers? They both knew whatever had happened was no end; it was a beginning.