But I’d already paid. Now, I just had to wait and see what it would be. I glanced at the posters of drinks behind the counter. None of them looked good.
Dang it.
This coffee shop was huge with plenty of tables, and since it was attached to a bookstore, I loved studying here. My friend—Georgine—was meeting me here to study for our exam tomorrow. I’d been so distracted by going over my list of things to memorize before morning that I bumped into a girl on the street.
It was my fault. I totally got that, but she freaked out. She called me by a different name. Talked about my husband.
Husband?!
I wasn’t married.
But there was something about her that kept nagging at me. This little spot in the back of my mind that couldn’t brush off the encounter. There was something in her brown eyes, in the way she recognized me. It was making me question everything.
I wasn’t married.
Was I?
No. I would remember that. My mother would’ve told me if I was married.
Wouldn’t she?
Of course she would. I was being insane. There was no way she’d keep something like that from me.
And I wasn’t even dating anyone. Georgine kept trying to set me up with guys in our classes. After three really bad dates—and one completely horrible one—I was done with being set up entirely. I had better things to worry about than finding a boyfriend.
Like the girl who nearly knocked me down, and then freaked out—screaming in my face, asking where had I been, and then ranting how people had been looking for me.
What people? No one was looking for me. It was one of the first things I checked when I woke up in the hospital.
That girl was clearly nuts. I hugged myself as I scanned the place for her, but she hadn’t followed me. Thank God.
“Cassie!” The barista called out.
I stepped up to the counter. “That’s me,” I said, but the barista was already gone, busy filling another order.
God. Why was I always so awkward?
I grabbed the drink. Dang it. It was iced and way too pink.
It had to be one of those new caffeine-infused tea things. This was definitely going to be gross. I took a sip.
Yep. Gross, overly sweetened tea. I hated tea.
Whatever. I wasn’t that thirsty anyway. I just felt like I had to buy something if I was going to spend the next few hours studying. The line was too long to get back in it now, but if I stayed for more than an hour and a half, I’d buy something else. Maybe some food, too.
Definitely some food.
I just ate an hour ago—so I shouldn’t need to eat again—but I was hungry. It seemed like I was always eating, and yet I was still too thin. My weight had worried my doctor for a while, but he saw me eat, and I wasn’t sick. So, he figured I just had a superfast metabolism.
I wove my way through the crowd waiting for their drinks to the wooden table where my friend was sitting. Georgine was beautiful. Like the kind of beautiful that made everyone stop and look at her. She had blonde hair like mine, but a glossier, longer, curling mane. She didn’t wear makeup, but she didn’t need it. Her skin practically glowed. Her small nose, big ice-blue eyes, and full red lips made all the guys in class fall over themselves to get near her. It was almost funny to watch. Almost.
I wished I was as pretty as her, but my blond hair and blue eyes were as plain as plain could get. And that was fine. Maybe not all the way fine, but I was working on that being fine.
I just didn’t feel like myself most days. I wasn’t sure if it was the amnesia or the brain injury or the fact that I was always hungry. I kept losing weight, no matter how much I ate. Some days I thought that my body was slowly committing suicide.
“Hey. Are you okay?” Georgine’s voice sounded like little wind chimes ringing softly in the air.
Shit. Wind chimes? Maybe the doctor was right. Maybe I was a little bit crazy.