Page 56 of Amnesia

The bell on the door jingled again, and a young woman stepped out. I glanced at her, then immediately away, turning my attention back to Maggie while I waited.

“There she is.” Maggie beamed. “It’s just perfect for you.” She went on.

My neck snapped back around. It took a moment for my brain to catch up with my eyes.

Holy shit.

“Do you like it?” Amnesia asked, her voice slightly unsure.

All I could do was stare at her. My mouth was dry, and my heart hammered erratically.

“Just beautiful,” Maggie said and threw out her arms to hug her.

Amnesia looked to me once Maggie stepped back, offering a tentative smile. I shuffled on my feet, suddenly feeling as if all the charm in my body somehow dried up in seconds and left behind an awkward boy with no vocabulary. Shoving my hands into my pockets, I made a sound kind of like a grunt.

“I’ve never seen this one speechless before!” Maggie exclaimed and then laughed.

Amnesia’s smile faded, her brown eyes drifting downward.

Speak!I commanded my brain. “I love it,” I said, low.

Am looked back at me. “Yeah?”

Um, yeah. Her hair was no longer uneven and choppy. It no longer fell past her shoulders. Instead, it had been cut into a style that just grazed over her collarbone. The ends were cut into layers so all the short, uneven pieces blended in. The style itself still looked like her (or at least the way I thought of her), the strands wavy, sort of uncontained. Some of the ends curled out and some flipped under. All of it was shiny beneath the sunlight and looked more golden out here than it ever did in the hospital.

She also had a fringe of bangs now, which I assumed blended a couple of the severely short pieces that had been around her face. The bangs fell slightly to the side, trying to conceal one eye.

The cut made her freckles stand out more, her cheekbones seem wider, and her eyes more of the focus of her face.

“You cut your hair,” I said, only realizing after the words came out it was a dumb thing to say.Way to point out the obvious, Eddie.Stepping close, I lifted a strand and rubbed it between my fingers.

She nodded, eyes bouncing between mine.

“And you got a new dress.” I continued.

Just call me Captain Obvious.

“Well, I’ll just leave you two to it. Eddie? You’ll make sure Amnesia gets home okay?”

I nodded but didn’t look away from Am.

“Amnesia, I’m assuming you won’t be home for dinner?”

Amnesia shook her head, her eyes still on mine.

Maggie laughed, reached out, and took the bag I didn’t even notice Am was carrying. Then she disappeared. Or maybe she walked away. I didn’t know. I wasn’t paying attention.

“You really do look beautiful,” I whispered. “Even more beautiful than you usually do.”

Amnesia smiled, and it felt I’d been given some kind of prize. “I mentioned to Maggie how much I didn’t like my hair, and she suggested we come here and get it fixed. On the way, we passed by this little store…” Her brows furrowed.

“The boutique at the end of the block?” I asked.

Her eyes lit up. “Yes! I saw this dress in the window, and I thought it was so beautiful.” She glanced down at the fabric, smoothing over it with her hands. The dress fell to about knee length and wasn’t tight or fitted, but loose and sort of flowy. It gathered around her waist, which kept it from swallowing her up, and had long sleeves that flared out a little around her wrists. The dress itself was multicolored with mossy green, yellow, and burgundy. Up at the neckline, two long strings tied together to make a bow, and the ends trailed down over her chest and fluttered every time the wind blew. “Maggie insisted,” she said, still glancing down at it. “She said I should have something I picked out for myself.”

“You should,” I said, unable to keep my hands to myself any longer, palming the side of her hip. “Waiting for you this morning was worth it,” I told her.

She smiled.

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