Page 48 of Into the Mountains
“So, that’s how you have so much knowledge crammed into that brain of yours.”
“My mom always said I had an eidetic memory and it wasn’t until later that I figured out it’s somewhat true. I can recall pages of texts days after I’ve seen them even if I’ve only seen them once.”
“That’s… really cool.”
She turns her head to look at me. “It is?”
“Yeah, I can’t believe I didn’t know about it.”
“A lot of kids did in grade school, but I was bullied a lot because they accused me of cheating. They always thought it was unfair that I could remember so much and assumed I only had the answers because I must have cheated somehow.”
“They were just jealous they weren’t as smart as you.”
She shrugs. “Probably. But it still sucked. And it quickly became really lonely. It wasn’t until seventh grade that I found a friend in Andy. She thought it was cool too how I could remember things.”
“Andy from the coffee shop?”
“Yeah, she didn’t want to seem like she knew me in case you thought she was there to spy on our date.”
“I never would have guessed. But she did spy a bit, didn’t she?” I accuse playfully.
Red spreads through her cheeks. “Yeah, she couldn’t help herself. She’s really protective of me. I was in the library oneday reading up on my newest mermaid fixation and some girls were whispering about how they thought I was weird and would probably grow a tail if they threw water on me.”
“They didn’t.” I exclaim, imagining a young girl just trying to read in the library and being accosted a cup of water she didn’t deserve.
“They did. Dumped a whole bottle of water on me and ruined one of the library books. Thankfully, the librarian saw the whole thing and put the damaged book fine on their accounts instead of mine. But Andy saw everything too and yelled at them, pushed them away from me before they could say anything else.”
“What did they do when she stepped in?”
“They tried to go after her too with their words, but she was different. So sure of herself like she really didn’t care what anyone else thought of her. She just laughed in their faces as the librarian carted them off to the principal’s office. Called them bitches on the way out.”
“They deserved it.”
She chuckles slightly. “They did.”
“We’ve been close ever since. She asks me obscure questions all the time just to see if I know the answer.”
“Do you care that she does that?”
“No. It challenges my brain. Makes me think.”
“So, what do you know about boating?”
We’re walking down the dock now, passing boat after boat, some people docking their boats, others getting them ready to go out on the water. I grab her hand and lace my fingers through hers.
“You’ll have to narrow down the question, because that one is too broad. I know a lot about boats. I did tons of research on them when my dad told me they bought ours.”
I think about it for a second before asking, “What’s the craziest thing to happen on a boat in recorded history?”
“It depends on your definition of crazy.” She pulls out a ring of keys from her pocket and stops in front of a large cabin cruiser withAnniescrawled on the side.
“What’s the meaning behind the name?”
“My dad was all sentimental when he bought the boat. He said it was something him and Mom always wanted to do. They just never did. And then all of a sudden, when I came home for spring break, here it was.” Her voice gets quieter near the end as she gets lost in her thoughts for a moment.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I just…” she hesitates. “They’ve been acting weirder since I’ve been home this time and I wonder if it’s actually been going on longer and I just haven’t realized it?” she says like she’s asking a question.
