Chapter two - Leaving Normal

“What do you mean, I appeared out of nowhere.” Gina asked.

“No one had ever heard of you, you weren’t lost. No one was looking for you. It’s like you just showed up.” Gina’s mom answered.

“Why haven’t you told me this before?” Gina asked.

“I have” Gina’s mom answered, “we had this same conversation yesterday.”

“I think I would have remembered.” Gina shot back.

“We have this conversation every morning. You wake up with having the same dream. You tell me about it. You ask me what’s wrong. I tell you about how we found you and then you forget the entire conversation like it never happened.” Gina’s mom explained.

“Why don’t I remember?” Gina asked.

“I don’t know. You seem to remember everything else that happens to you just fine but when we talk about where you came from, you forget.” Gina’s mom continued.

“I don’t want to forget!” Gina said almost frantic.

“I know, you tell me that every morning.” Gina’s mom sympathized, “Get your things and get to school. I don’t want you to be late.”

Gina collected her thoughts and collected her things once she finished eating. On her way to school her tried not to forget. She didn’t want to forget. Where did she come from? Was she the princess in her dream? Why does she keep forgetting?

Gina entered a dilapidated old building that masquerades as a school. Once, a long time ago, the building was new and modern, but it is clear to anyone who looks at it that time passed this building by ages ago. The school district still uses it because the school board is corrupt and is more interested in its own fortunes than those of the children it is supposed to serve.

As Gina enters, she feels a wave of despair wash over her and a shiver goes down her spine. She passes by several students, which she knows by name, and they exchange pleasantries while they hustle to get to class on time. While Gina stops momentarily at her locker, her boyfriend Mark comes up from behind her and startles her by pressing his fingers into her waist in an attempt to tickle her. Gina gives him an involuntary smile. The smile fades away quicker.

“Hey babe,” Mark starts off, “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know. I had this dream last night, but I can’t seem to remember it and it’s driving me crazy.” Gina explains.

“That happens to you a lot” Mark sympathized, “Maybe it’s something you’re eating. I heard that food can cause nightmares.”

“I’ve never heard of that. Besides, I don’t eat the same thing every night.” Gina answered a bit irritated.

“Okay, okay. You don’t have to get mad. I’m just trying to help” Mark explained.

“You should just stop trying, you’re not very good at it.” Gina shot back, clearly upset.

Mark wasn’t sure how to respond. His experience with Gina is that she could become quite disagreeable if pushed in the wrong direction. Mark’s experience with girls is that they can become irrationally emotional at any given moment, and it seemed to him that he spent a lot of time managing her emotions, or at least trying to.

While Mark stood there deciding if it would be better to just cut his losses. Gina gave him one of those looks and headed for class. Mark shrugged his shoulders and headed for his own class.

Gina’s first class was an Algebraic math class. She was doing poorly in this class due to the fact that her assigned seat was next to the assigned seat of her BFF Carla. They spent the entire time gossiping as quietly as the could to each and thus when it came time to apply the proper steps to the math problems they were confronted with, they couldn’t do it.

Carla had heard news that the star Quarterback and the head Cheerleader were having relationship problems. They were not the only ones having relationship problems but they were the most popular couple in school so anything that happened between them spread through the school like some kind of wildfire.

Normally Gina would have welcomed the juicy tidbits that Carla had somehow gotten wind of, but something was bothering her. Something she couldn’t quite put her finger on. Carla had been talking for some time but stopped when she noticed that Gina didn’t quite seem herself.

“Hey girl, what’s wrong?” Carla inquired.

“I don’t know. I just don’t feel like myself. I had a fight with my mother this morning and for the life of me I can’t remember what it was about.” Gina said.

“Don’t worry about it, your mom isn’t going to stay mad at you. You know how those things blow over.” Carla reassured.

“I know, but there’s something else. Something I just can’t put my finger on. I know it’s something important. I just know it is” Gina explained.

Carla looked Gina straight in the eye, “Whatever it is, it will be fine. You will be fine.” Carla was getting a bit worried now. This wasn’t like Gina at all. “Maybe you need to go to the nurse and lie down for a bit.”

Gina thought about it for a moment. “Yeah, maybe I do.” Carla took Gina by the hand up to the teachers desk.

“Mr. Walters, Gina isn’t feeling well, can she go to the nurse?” Carla asked. Mr. Walters looked at Gina.

“Well, she does look a little pekid. Here’s a pass.” Mr. Walters takes a piece of paper and writes something on it and hands it to Carla.

“Make sure Gina gets to the nurses office.” Mr. Walters orders.

Carla continues taking Gina by the hand and leads her toward the nurse’s office. When she gets there, she hands the nurse the piece of paper that Mr. Walkers had given her. The nurse tells Gina to sit down, and she tells Carla to go back to class.

As Gina is sitting, waiting for the nurse, there is a young man there who looks kind of familiar to her. She is sure she has seen him before, but she is not quite sure where. She is sure she has never seen him at school.

As she is staring at him, images flood her mind. There is a cauldron, There are ropes. There is a man in a flowing robe and this young man is also there.

Gina stand up and points toward the young man “It’s you!” The young man looks at Gina for what seems like the first time and there is a look of horror on his face, like he had just seen a ghost.