Chapter Ten: Memory Lane

The morning I met her for the first time was stupidly hot, enough that the power grid was flickering. I think it was a few weeks before my sixth birthday at that point, though it was easy enough to lose track of time in the situation I was in. I’m not entirely certain. The important part was that it was the middle of summer, and I was fucking miserable most of the time.

There were no clouds in the vast blue sky to block out the incessant sun, and I had taken to sheltering beneath a specific awning on the outside of the huge public library in downtown. (I still don’t know how it hasn’t been privatized yet.) There was a flaw in the construction of the building that allowed for some of the chilled air to escape there, and it was the only spot I had found at the time that I wouldn’t get yelled at for loitering in. Probably a benefit of it being tucked into a little cubbyhole on a sidestreet that barely anyone ever used because of the odd signage.

At this point I hadn’t realized that a library card was free, so I was bored out of my fucking mind as I sat there against the wall, enjoying the feeling of the cold air pressing against my back. I actually think that was one of the days where I had managed to get my grubby little fingers on breakfast for once. Restaurants didn’t throw food out that early so it was rare for me to eat in the mornings, though whether it was because of the kindness of a stranger or because I stole it is beyond me now.

It all goes to say, I was in a rare great mood at the time, which is maybe the only reason what happened next even occurred.

The first thing that I heard was a set of footsteps, someone was walking down the street that barely anyone ever did. Determined and steady, I tensed a bit expecting a cop or something to appear and chase me away. Instead I had to do a double take as a girl barely older than me appeared to loom over me.

She was, to put it lightly, obviously a corpo kid. Her cute pleated plaid dress looked like it had been worn out of the store, which in hindsight might have actually been the case considering what I learned later. Her ebony hair was in a messy braid over her shoulder, as if the person who had done it up didn’t know exactly what they were doing but still had a decent enough grasp on it to get it done. She glared at me over a pair of crossed arms, her blue eyes deeply unimpressed at what they saw.

I felt smaller than I had ever felt before at that moment.

“Why are you out here, dirtying the library’s walls like they belong to you?”

For a moment, I stared up at her, my mind playing her words on repeat. It’s a miracle I held back my scoff at that moment, to be honest, but my response was far more generous than I had any right to give, and more than she deserved for what she said.

“I-I’m waiting for my dad to get done with work, he’s inside.” Blatant lie. Still not sure entirely why I said that. Something in my mind at that moment declared that I had to be better than I truly was.

Her eyes softened at that for some reason. “Oh. Then why aren’t you inside?”

“They don’t like me in there, they say that I’m an annoyance that isn’t using the library for what it’s meant for.” True, though actually a misunderstanding. I’d fix that problem later when I got a library card.

She scoffed loudly at that. “They don’t know what they’re talking about, but it might have something to do with what you’re wearing.”

I looked down at myself, then back up at her. “What’s wrong with this?”

To a nearly six year old me who hadn’t ever had much, I was actually wearing something more decent then I normally did, namely a giant souvenir t-shirt I stole and wore as a dress. It was comfy, practical for someone who didn’t need much else, and best of all wasn’t too hot in the damn sun. It also helped that it didn't look like I was a street kid, rather more like a girl wearing her dads clothes and not caring about opinions.

“Everything.”

I tilted my head at her, which for some reason made her giggle, before she held out a hand to me.

“I can prove it, if you come with me.”

Staring dumbly at her hand, I hesitated for a couple of seconds. This was a huge risk even to me at the time, the knowledge of kidnapping and such having been beaten hard into me by the older kids in similar situations. I was already breaking their rules by being here though, so what was the risk of taking an offer from a girl the same age as me? (She was not, she was two years older, but I wouldn’t learn this until much later.)

In the end I didn’t even get a chance to choose, as she rolled her eyes before reaching down and grabbing my wrist regardless before pulling me to my feet. I didn’t even try to fight back I was so surprised, but the girl seriously didn’t give a fuck about my opinion at this point. I was an eyesore that needed to be fixed in the best way she knew how.

She pulled me into the sun and into contact with a type of life I didn’t even know existed at that point. The first place she dragged me was one of those humansized carwashes, where she ripped my shirt off, grimaced at the dirt covering my skin, then pushed me into the cleaning line. All things considered, slight embarrassment over the naked part aside, I’m glad she did this because it made the rest of this waaaay better than it could have gone.

When I got out (I spent a bit of extra time standing in the comfortable warm water until she yelled at me to get moving), she threw a brand new actual dress over my head. It was a pastel yellow sundress of sorts, comfortable but pretty and I had no idea where she had gotten it. Easily the most expensive thing I’ve ever worn, and probably still remains that way. I really fucking wish that I still had that thing but there is no way that it would fit me anymore and it was straight up destroyed when…

Moving on past that thought.

The next place conveniently was right next door, namely an autosalon capsule that efficiently fixed the ratsnest that I called my hair. It went from stretching down to my knees to just my upper back, something I wasn’t too convinced about at the time because I liked my hair. She obviously liked it though, considering the light smile on her face afterwards as she braided it for me.

The last thing on her list was funnily enough, a pair of dollar store flipflops, to shut up my whining about the ground being hot without the nice layered dirt coverage I had before. I wore those things until they broke, and then bought a second pair with my own money. Surprisingly good investment.

When that was done, she put me in front of her and spun around me, a hand on her chin. I nervously shifted under examination, before she nodded in approval and grabbed my hand to pull me behind her once again. Returning to the library took little to no time at all, and I don’t even get a chance to argue as she pulls me inside.

To my surprise however, not only does the guard at the front of the lobby not immediately yell at me to leave, he salutes the girl as well as she walks up to him.

“Greetings again, Miss Colton. Is there anything I can do to help you today?”

She shakes her head, then boldly states, “I’m here with my friend, don’t bother us okay?”

I slightly gaped at her, but the guard simply nodded. “If that is what you wish. Enjoy your time reading.”

Then we walked past him, just like that. We walked through the hallways until we reached the children's section, where the girl took me to a table and sat me down. She went and grabbed some books, laid them out in front of us, then silently took one and began to read without a word. I did the same, and hours passed with us reading through whatever she decided we should. I was admittedly too afraid of offending her at this point to go and get anything myself.

“I have to go,” She muttered with a deep annoyance on her face. “I have to ask, what is your name? I’m Olivia.”

It had been a while since she had said anything, so I blinked as I looked up from my book.

“Um.” I hesitated, then ended up responding anyway. “Minea.”

She nods, then stands up. “Meet me here in the morning this time next week. See you then.”

And then… she was gone, and I was alone. I waited for a couple minutes, just to see if I was going to be kicked out, then left myself. It was almost disconcerting to see the guard do a little salute to me as well, but I did my best to not react to it. Back out on the streets, I quickly made my way south, down to a somewhat more rundown part of town.

I only breathed a sigh of relief when the abandoned house I called home came into view. I walked around to the backyard, where I vaulted through the broken window. As I landed I froze – someone was sitting in the shadows at the back of the room, and I wasn’t sure if they were friendly.

“What the hell?” They stood up, and I relaxed a bit when I saw who it was. “What happened to you, Minea?”

Jill was one of the street kids that had sort of taken me in as one of their own after mom died. I think she was three or four years older than me, which showed in the fact that she was probably two or three heads taller than me. She had a rather deep tan from her time in the sun at this point, her hair in her typical ponytail as well. Green eyes full of concern, she had a hand on her hip as she looked at me with a deep frown.

“You scared me Jill…” I sighed a breath of relief. “Some rich girl used me as a doll.”

Her frown just deepened at that. “Did you walk here looking like that?”

Hesitantly I nodded, and Jill groaned. “You look like some corpo kid, you can’t just walk around this area like that, you’ll get kidnapped or something.”

Deflating, I nod. “I-I know, but I didn’t have any other clothes on me and I didn’t want to just throw this away.”

She sighed. “Go change, and don’t let the boys see that dress. They’ll totally sell it if they have a chance.”

I nod quickly, then run into the room I shared with Jill where I pulled the nice dress over my head and changed into another large tshirt. Then carefully I folded the dress up before putting it beneath a box in our little closet. Better than nothing, and the boys were lazy so they probably wouldn’t bother checking under it if they actually raided our stuff. When I walk back out, Jill is standing in the hallway, where she looms above me.

“If you’re trying to keep the dress, you’re going to meet her again?”

I pale a bit then look down at my feet as I mutter, “Is that bad? She seemed lonely.”

Jill looked at me for a second with an unreadable emotion on her face, then reached out and patted me on my head. Not wanting her to mess up my braid I tried and fail to push her hand away

She giggled lightly as I continued to attempt to escape her hand. “No, having a friend is okay, you just need to be safe about it. Don’t walk around this area in that dress, change when you get close to the place you meet her at.”

“Fine!” I gave up, crossed my arms and pouted. “I’ll be careful.”

“Mhm, good girl.” Jill smiled, then nodded towards the kitchen. “Want some food? I got my hands on some cheap stuff.”

I immediately lit up. “Please!”

We walked into the kitchen and–

Brrrt. Brrrrt.

Groaning, I fumble blindly for my phone on the bed beside me. I find it not long after, then click it on to check why the hell it’s vibrating.

[Train is pulling into a depot within the vicinity of Oklahoma City for a break and engine refueling, please be prepared and ready to go out and patrol the area to ensure the safety of the vehicle.]

Oklahoma City? How long was I out?

A quick check tells me I’ve been in here about an hour and a half, apparently having lost track of time. Stiff from sitting still for so long, my bones creak as I stand up, an uncomfortable sensation to say the least. Haa. Time to get back to work. My memories will be there whenever I return, anyways.

Well, I hope at least. I wonder if Extradimensionals can steal memories?

I sure fucking hope not.

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