The memory of me hanging out with Lily and Alexandra had to be fake. Something must have happened, but I don't know what.

I am interrupted from my thoughts by the sound of my holo-watch telling me I have to read.

I guess I should forget this all. I should pretend I never learned any of this...

I force myself to read and to try to forget what I learned. Since it is too hard to forget, I focus on reading.

"Finally! Reading time is over!" I say to myself once I hear my holo-watch going off to tell me that I have to start typing.

For some activities, the holo-watch goes off 15 minutes before. With most activities you can set whether it goes off 15 minutes before and when it starts or just when it starts.

Eventually I leave my room to get ready for bed. I do my normal nighttime routine—I brush my teeth, use the bathroom, and I take a shower. After I do everything else I need to before my holo-watch goes off telling me I have to go to sleep.

The next day I while eating breakfast wonder why I imagined hanging out with Lily and Alexandra.

Why would I ever do such a thing? What happened that led me to this? There had to be something. Think, Rin. Think. What happened recently that could have caused it...? Let's see... The only thing I can think of is Akiko, since I imagined I hung out with Lily and Alexandra the day I actually went to the café because Akiko wanted me to. Akiko... That's it! I should ask Akiko! I'm sure she would know what it is. She would know what we talked about. When was it she said to come if I wanted to talk? I don't remember... I think she said not to talk about what we talked about though. Damn, if only I hadn't imagined hanging out with Lily and Alexandra!

I finish my breakfast and check the time. It is getting close to when I should leave.

"Bye Dad!" I say once I am leaving.

Today Mom had to go to work a little early. This is unusual, as usually dad does and his work hasn't started yet.

"Hi Lily!" I say waving to her as I see she is at the bus stop.

"Hi Rin. You seem to have a lot of energy today," says Lily once I reach the bus stop.

"Yeah, I guess I do," I reply.

"That's good," says Lily.

"I guess," I reply.

"There's the bus. It seems I left a little late today," I say, scratching the back of my head.

"It seems so. I'm glad you didn't miss the bus, Rin," says Lily.

Talking to Lily right now makes me feel that I had to of imagined Akiko, but I know otherwise.

There's no way that Akiko was all a dream. I will confirm it all when I go to the café.

"I wouldn't miss the bus!" I say.

"Let's hope so, Rin. It would be pretty bad if you did," says Lily getting on the bus.

I open my mouth to speak, but I decide against it. I was going to ask if her if she remembered hanging out on Friday, but it's best that have decided against it. It would be weird I asked and she had no idea what I was talking about.

Why am I still doubting going to the café on Day 6? I know that it happened... I guess I still can't believe it. I guess I will believe it when I meet her at the café again.

"Rin, what did you do with your family during family time?" asks Lily.

"We played the game of asking questions 3. We haven't played any of those games in forever! I learned some things about my family that I didn't know! I never knew my brother liked games so much! He even loves games that aren't on the computer. Then my mom. I learned that since she gets distracted easily. My dad! He..." I start to say.

"It seems you had a lot of fun," says Lily.

"Yeah, I did," I say.

I think back to how Akiko told me that I have been forgetting something. What was it that I forgot?

I know... what I should do. I have to investigate this! Figure out what I have forgotten.

Lily and I continue to talk as the bus gets closer and closer to school until it reaches the school awhile later.

"Bye Lily. I'm going to do some things before school starts," I say.

"Alright," says Lily.

Now how should I start investigating? Maybe I should read in the library...

I go to the library and I take out a book about the history of the community. I don't think it will help me remember what I am forgetting, but it would be a good idea to do some studying on the community anyway.

"Let's see... Chapter 1: The community. Chapter 2: The beginning of the community. Chapter 3: The community now," I read out loud to myself.

I skim through the 3 chapters of the book and find that it isn't at all what I'm looking for.

"Ugh..." I say to myself.

I pick up more books about the community until I realize that none of the books have to do with forgetting.

"Let's see..." I say looking for books that have to do with forgetting.

"Here!" I exclaim.

Just then I hear the sound of the bell.

"Oh. That's the bell. I'll just read this later then..." I say to myself leaving the library and walking to class.

Once my first break starts, I go back to the library and I read the book on forgetting. Since its quiet in the library, I can read easily. The classroom might not be as easy.

Let me see... Chapter 1: Forget... I'll start here.

I start to read what is in the book to myself.

While reading the fourth chapter, I cannot believe what I am reading, so I read it out loud to myself.

"It is possible that you are not forgetting anything. It could be that you are remembering something wrong. Another possible reason to thinking you are forgetting something is how stressed out you have been. You could have imagined it all. There's the possibility that you never forgot anything in the first place. You should think back to what has happened recently before being sure that you are not forgetting anything. If you think you are forgetting something but you have concluded that there is nothing you could have forgotten, you should contact your doctor immediately as this can be life-threating," I read out loud.

"What? Life... threating?" I say in shock.

Well... I guess something like that might be an illness that could a threat to the entire society... It's just a little surprising.

I hear the bell and head to my next class.

After school during my break, I go to the café.

"It's closed..." I say to myself.

I should of thought of that! Anyway, Akiko told me she would be at the café... after school on Saturdays!

The rest of the week, I continue to investigate what I have forgotten. I don't find many other books about forgetting, but the ones I do find say the same type of things as the first one I found.

On Friday, I am thinking about giving up researching.

"I should just give up... I'm getting nowhere," I say to myself.

Oh right. I'm going to meet Akiko again tomorrow. Maybe I should read something else right now since I may get my answers tomorrow.

"Hi Rin. You've been spending a lot of time in the library this week," says Lily.

"Yeah, I guess," I say.

"What are you reading?" she asks.

"Not much. Just some things I've found," I say.

"Can I see?" she asks.

"I guess... I've been studying though" I say.

"Oh."

"Well... I guess you aren't that interesting in looking at what I'm studying."

"I would love to see what you're reading any time, but I don't feel like reading that much right now."

"I have to use the bathroom... I'll be back, if break hasn't ended by the time I'm done," I say walking to the bathroom.

I really don't want Lily to see what I was reading. It's a little embarrassing. Not only that, but what I'm doing is private research!

On Saturday, I find that it is a little hard to concentrate as the day gets farther in.

"The day is finally over," I say, stretching, after I hear the final bell.

After I have left school, I walk to the café I went to last time so I can talk to Akiko.

While walking, I realize that Lily and Alexandra are going to be wondering where I am. I guess if one of them texts me to ask where I am, I will say I'm going to the café.

I hope they don't come themselves...

When I walk in, I scan the room for Akiko.

"Hi Akiko," I say once I reach her.

"Hello. I see you decided to come back," she says.

"Yeah. I have some questions to ask you."

"I would love to hear your questions," she responds in an interested voice.

"About last week.... You said I was forget—" I start to say but Akiko cuts me off.

"That never happened."

"What?"

"It never happened, whatever you are talking about. Anyway, come to the park with me."

"Um... Alright."

I follow Akiko out of the café and down an alleyway.

"This... isn't the park.... The community only has one."

"Just come."

"Fine..."

"Well," says Akiko going into an area of the alleyway that is covered, "Get under.

I slowly walk under. I could easily walk faster or even run under it if I wanted, but I am scared right now.

"What did you need? What is this place? This isn't a park... it's an alleyway. People don't go down alleyways often...."

"People are allowed to go in alleyways. It's just uncommon and shops have a back door leading into an alleyway. Most do, anyway. Really the only ones who do so are people who have a job that has to do with the alleyways. This place has the most privacy," she says.

"What are you saying?" I ask.

"You asked about forgetting."

"I did... but you said it never happened."

"I told you not to talk about it."

"I forgot."

"I see. I told you that I thought you were forgetting something and that a secret is being kept from all of us. You said you didn't remember that man. Remember?"

"Yeah, I do."

I don't exactly trust Akiko, but I need to know for my research.

"That's all I said," she says.

"I was wondering if you knew anything else... I was investigating..."

"Hmm... You're investigating... Let me think of something else I know. I don't think you're the only one."

"What?"

"Rin, you may not be the only one who is forgetting things."

"Uh? I'm not...?"

"No."

"How do you know?" I ask.

"One day I was walking to the café. I saw a man talking to someone else. One man asked if they remembered something and the other man said no. I didn't think much of it then, but I think that man was forgetting, too."

"Is that the secret? That we are forgetting?" I ask.

"Maybe, I never thought of that. How much research did you do, anyway?"

"Research on forgetting, mainly. The books said if you're forgetting something but you've concluded that you're not forgetting anything, you should contact your doctor. It also gave some reasons to why you could be forgetting, such as that you are remembering things wrong, you didn't forget anything in the first place, or you are stressed out."

"Have you been stressed out lately?"

"No."

"That man I saw didn't seem stressed out either. Those two used to go to the café often, or so I've heard. They stopped coming soon after I started. I don't know what happened."

"They just stopped coming? Was it connected to him forgetting?"

"That's a possibility, but the man who wasn't forgetting once came back. His friend wasn't with him. I asked him where his friend was, and he looked at me weird. I guess he didn't want to talk about it."

"Do you think his friend faded away or something like that? Or maybe he doesn't remember his friend?"

"I have never told anyone that I knew him. I don't remember the two of them coming to the café, it's a vague memory, but I know they did."

"Then you're forgetting too?" I ask.

"It's just a vague memory!"

"I should get going."

"Yeah, you probably should."

I leave the alleyway to go to the nearest bus stop.

What exactly is happening? I'm not the only one who is forgetting. I think the forgetting has to do with the secret. I think Akiko agrees with me. If I do some more investigating, then maybe I'll get my answer.

AN: I start school tomorrow and I've decided to have chapters at least once a month on Friday's if possible (I've heard I'll be getting a lot of homework in 2 of my classes). I am going to do the same with my other story, the test subject one.

Words: 2197

Total words: 25644