Amnesia Chapter 1

Bill Forester was just your average kid. He went to school like he was supposed to, he kept his grades under control, he hung out with his friends, and lived a simple life that suited him just fine. If he had known that on that September night that his life would be ripped away from him, maybe he wouldn't have gotten in that car, maybe he would have noticed when the traffic light turned suddenly from green to red in a freak electrical surge, and maybe he wouldn't have been T-boned by the semi truck that nearly took his life.





Bill moaned as the alarm clock on his bedside table erupted waking him from his pleasant dreaming. "Why can't it be Saturday?" he groaned to himself slowly sliding out of bed. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and pushed his dark black hair out of his face. He did his routine as usual, not stopping for breakfast before walking out the door to his truck. He tossed his backpack in the passenger seat and started the truck, much to it's groans of protest. He figured it was only a matter of time before the 1991 Chevy finally crapped out on him. He checked his rear view mirror and saw his dark brown eyes looking back at him.He wasn't quite sure, but something seemed different about him that morning, like his eyes has somehow changed during the night. He shook his head and grinned. Always gotta turn this into something don't you Bill, he thought, you can't just chalk it up to growing up can you. It's always got to be philosophical. He backed the Chevy out of his driveway leaving his small red and brown brick house bathed in the light of his headlights until he turned onto the street and started driving. He made it to school with time to spare as he always did, pulling into the Junior parking lot while it was still pretty much empty. He turned off his radio cutting of Motley Crue in mid-guitar solo. He stepped out of the truck making sure to lock it behind him and made his way onto campus. Donald P. Morris High School had been around since his parents had gone there, and in fact it had been how the two of them had met. His mother Cassidy had been taking a creative writing course Sophomore year and his father Dean was taking it to end his Senior year. The two hit it off quickly and a relationship formed easily. It was only a few years later that Bill had been born and according to his mom, that was when Dean had decided to split town. Bill had never heard so much as a word from his father. The only reason he even cared that the man was alive was so that he could send child support and support his mother and younger sister. The economy was tight and Bill found it all but impossible to find a job, which left the one income family stressed for money on a daily basis. He popped his headphones in his ears and put it on shuffle as he always did in the mornings. Now instead of Motley Crue, he was greeted by the tribal growl of David Draiman filled his ears as Disturbed's "Down With The Sickness" started. His mom had never really approved of his music choices, but as long as the Internet existed there really wasn't much she could do about it. He walked down the cemented walkways that wound their way through the entire campus until he came to his usual spot. In the middle of the five buildings that made up the school a large courtyard had been built. Off to the right of the courtyard was a small outdoor stage that hadn't been used in quite some time, but that Bill found nice and quiet. He tossed his things onto the stage and plopped down right next to them and stared up at the sky that was finally beginning to lighten as the sun slowly rose. After a little while of this he closed his eyes and tried to catch some sleep before classes started, but right before he could drift off into sleep he felt a leg kick him in the side. He smiled as a familiar voice rose over his headphones. "You know you really shouldn't sleep out here in the open like that." It said, "You're gonna get mugged one of these days." Bill opened his eyes and saw his friend Alice standing over him. Alice was a short dirty blond that had dyed her hair every shade but blond as if trying to get it to change completely. Her eyes had a habit of changing color when she got mad or upset, but this morning they where a brilliant shade of blue-gray. Bill popped his left headphone out of his ear as he always did when someone talked to him with his headphones on, he could hear better with his left ear then his right. "Well," he said sitting up with a sigh, "it's already happened to me once. Freshman year a guy mugged my MP3. So, if someone wants this one they can try and take it from me." Alice grinned and helped him off the ground. "You know, your not as cool as you try to sound sometimes." she said still grinning. Bill grabbed his things off the ground and grinned back at her. "So then why do you bother hanging out with me?" he asked. She shrugged and started walking off. "Because no one else will be my bitch." Bill laughed and put an arm around her shoulder. "Sure you just keep telling yourself that." he said, "I only do things for you when they're convenient for me." She raised an eyebrow at him and smiled, "So it's always convenient for you then?" she asked. Bill shrugged and smiled as well. "Maybe." he said. Just then the bell for first period rang and Bill and Alice cursed simultaneously. "Well, I guess I'll talk to you later then." Bill said slightly annoyed. he started walking away when Alice called him back. "Hey, Bill" she called, "Your going to the party tonight aren't you?" Bill sighed and shrugged. "I dunno Alice, I'm not really a party person." he said. Alice rolled her eyes and grabbed his shoulders and shook him. "I'm not going to let you be an anti-social loser. You're coming to that party." she said. Bill grinned and nodded his head. "Alright, I'll see if my mom will let me out of the house." he said. Alice sighed. "Alright, I guess it's a start." Then she turned and walked away. Bill rubbed the bridge of his nose like he always did when he was stressed. Why can't my life be simple for one day, he thought to himself before walking off to class.



Bill had gone all day listening to his teachers ramble on about whatever it was they felt like that day and by the end of the day he was ready to go home. His English teacher Mr. Palmer was ranting again about how the work of Shakespeare influenced the modern world. Bill had heard the speech so many times that he could practically recite it word for word, although at the moment he was staring off into space and blocking out all incoming sound. It was only at the sound of the bell that he awoke from his semi-conscious state. He grabbed his things together and made a dash for the door following the mob of students that had already swarmed the hallways. He pushed his way through until he made it to the doors that would take him to the staircase and out to the parking lot. The crowd surged down the stairs until they came to the bottom of the stairs and the crowd thinned as all of the students went their separate ways. Bill found a small hole to slip through and made a bee line for the parking lot. He managed to get out and onto the road before the massive swarm of bad drivers started to make their way out texting and talking up a storm on their phones. He slipped a CD that he had titled "Friday" into his trucks CD drive. Then Steppenwolf's song "Born To Be Wild" started playing out of his speakers. He rolled down his windows and took a deep breath of fresh air just glad that the week was finally over. He could go home and relax for a while, and maybe see if he could somehow talk his mom into letting him go out to the party. He looked down at his backpack and saw his notebook sticking out of it and his mind went right back to the story he had been writing. It hadn't been until recently that he had started writing, but ever since he had started he had been obsessed with it. It had been on his mind every time he had down time or a single moment to think. He sighed and figured that maybe going to the party might be good for him, so that he could finally get his mind off his damn story. He didn't particularly enjoy writing, but something had been screaming at him to do it and his mom had accidentally read it and and her high praises of it only fueled the screaming urge even more. He quickly slammed on the brakes as the car to his left swerved in front of him. He laid on the horn and shoved up his middle finger at the man and shook his head. "Why do I have to share the road with these idiots?!" he said angrily to himself. He pressed the gas peddle and drove on down the road, not knowing that if he had rear-ended that car in front of him, then maybe his life could have been salvaged.



"But Mom why can't I go? I've got my own car you won't even have to worry about me!" Bill pleaded with his mother. Cassidy Forester was a tall woman with dark black hair much like her son. her deep green eyes where closed in set determination. "No Bill I told you, I've got a meeting tonight and I need someone to stay behind and keep an eye and Kathy." Bill looked over at his 14 year old sister sitting at the table looking over her math homework with an obvious distaste. Kathy was the result of Cassidy's second failed boyfriend who had also skipped out, except this on had dropped off the face of the earth and they had no idea where he was. Bill still had the scar on his back from where the man had smashed a beer bottle on his back when he had been young. It didn't take long for his mom to kick boyfriend #2 out of the house. "Mom, Kathy will be fine, she's a big girl now and she can take care of herself, can't you Kath'?" he asked. Kathy looked up from her homework and realized that she might be able to get the house all to herself. "Yeah mom," she said now suddenly on her brother's side of the argument, "I'll be fine. I can do all of my homework and I can make my own dinner." Cassidy shook her head and continued to put on her make-up. "Guys, I said no and that's all there is to it. Now if either one of you asks again I'll make sure your grounded all weekend." she said. Kathy quickly shut up realizing that his was a losing fight and that she no longer had anything to gain. "This is ridiculous!" Bill growled under his breath. Cassidy looked up from her hand held mirror anger showing in her eyes. "What was that?" she snapped. Bill turned back towards her, hands clenched and jaw line set. "I said this is ridiculous! You act like we're both the most incompetent people in the world. What have I ever done for you not to trust me?" he yelled, "I keep up with my grades, I've never once gotten into a car accident, I've never even gotten into so much as a argument with anyone else! Why is it that your so scared to just let me live my fucking life?!" Cassidy just sat there for a moment just looking at him. The anger that had been in her eyes a few moments before had been replaced with shock and hurt. She turned away from him for a moment and chocked back the tears that she knew would be coming soon. "I don't expect you to understand why I do these things, but I just don't want you to get hurt. You and Kathy are all I've got left in this world." she said. Instead of feeling sorry, Bill just felt angrier. "Then stop smothering us!" he yelled. Then he turned and quickly stormed off to his room and slammed the door shut.



He didn't come out until he heard his Mom's car pull out of the driveway. He walked back into the kitchen where Kathy was still sitting trying to do her homework. When she noticed he was in the room she turned to him and sighed. "You know that was really harsh Bill." she said. "You actually made Mom cry; I've never seen her cry before." Bill shook his head in disgust. "Well good, maybe she'll actually think about a reason for me not to go. Hell maybe she'll even realize that she's been slowly choking the the life out of us." Kathy sighed again. "Look if you really want to go to that party that bad then just go. Mom won't be back for another few hours, that'll give you plenty of time for you to go there and be back before she gets home." she said. Bill looked over at his sister in disbelief. This was Kathy, the girl that had tattled on him for years about the stupidest things and now she was just telling him to disobey their Mom? "Kath' are you serious, you mean you won't tell Mom?" he asked. she nodded. "Yeah, like you said I can take care of myself. Besides I could go for some peace and quite for a change." Bill just looked at her for another second. Then he rushed over to the table and grabbed his jacket and his keys off the hook next to the fridge. He quickly walked over to his sister and kissed her on the head. "I knew you were good on the inside Sis'." he said. She rubbed vigorously on the spot where he had kissed her as if trying to wipe it off. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, just get out of here before I change my mind." she said. Bill was out the door and into his truck faster than a NASCAR driver heading for the finish line. He revved his truck and was on the road in a matter of seconds.



The party was on the north side of town so it took Bill a while to get there, but he still had more than enough time. He pulled up to the large two story house where kids from his school where crowding inside and around. He could hear music playing from the stereo inside the house and he parked off to the side away from the other cars. He stepped out of his truck and made his way to the front door. he opened it and was struck by the intensity of the music. he could feel the beat of the music's bass in the pit of his stomach and scanned the crowd for Alice and found her of to the side of the living room. He quickly cut his way through the room to her. She quickly hopped off the table she was sitting on and rushed over to him. "Well what do you know," she yelled over the roar of the music, "look who finally came out of his cave." Bill smiled and shrugged. "How'd you talk your Mom into letting you out of the house?" she asked. Bill cocked his head to the side in an arrogant pose. "Well, let's just say she doesn't know I'm here." he said yelling over the music. Alice smiled in shock and pulled him outside. "Are you telling me that you snuck out?" she said in disbelief. "When did you get to be such a rebel?" she said. Bill shook his head grinning. "Let's worry less about why I'm here and more about what we're going to do. I've got about an hour before I've got to bail out so let's make it count." he said. Alice nodded and pulled him back inside.



After an hour had passed the party had begun to die down and Bill decided that he should probably start heading home. he was walking towards his truck when Alice ran after him and stopped him. She grabbed him and turned him around to face her. "Well, hi there." Bill said chuckling. Alice smiled and let go of him. "Listen Bill I had a really good time tonight. Thanks for coming, I really mean that. This party would have sucked without you." Bill smiled a little confused. "I don't see how, I told you I'm not a party person." Alice shook her head. "Nah, you did good for your first time rookie." she said. Then quickly and without thought she leaned forward and kissed him lightly on the lips. Bill flushed and closed his eyes a few times shocked. "Well," he said still in shock, "What was that for?" Alice shrugged and felt herself blush. "I dunno." she said quickly and then she hurried away to her car. Bill watched her go before turning around and smiling. "What a night." he mumbled to himself. Then he got in his truck and closed the door just as a light rain had begun to fall. He revved the truck and drove onto the road.



As he drove the light rain had turned into a full blown storm. His windshield wipers where working overtime just to keep the rain off the window. He sighed and looked back over at the notebook in his backpack that he hadn't taken out of the truck. he shook his head and smiled. "Alright, you win." he said, "When we get home I'll write okay?" Then he turned back to the road and saw that the light in front of him was green. He sped up trying to make the light before it turned yellow not wanting to lose any time getting home. Then he saw a bright light off to his right and heard the honking of a horn. Then it all went black as a massive crash filled his senses.