I tore a breath into my lungs.
The world lurched.
Cool grass pressed against my palms.
Rough bark dug into my back.
A warm hand rested gently on my shoulder.
Everything else was a blur.
"Hey..."
A soft voice drifted through the haze.
"Are you okay?"
I blinked.
Once.
Twice.
The world slowly came into focus.
The first thing I saw was a pair of eyes.
Blue.
Not simply blue.
They were the deep blue of the sea, touched with emerald where the sunlight caught them.
Behind her stretched the ocean itself.
For a strange moment, I couldn't tell where her eyes ended and the sea
began.
It almost looked as though she'd borrowed their color directly from the water.
An oversized straw hat framed her face.
Sunlight slipped through the woven straw, scattering tiny flecks of gold across her cheeks.
Tiny freckles rested beneath the light like stars.
Dark auburn hair spilled over her shoulders, dancing lazily with the sea breeze.
Even her pale linen sundress swayed with the wind.
She smiled.
She radiated kindness.
"I was starting to wonder if you were ever going to wake up."
Wake up...
Right.
I'd been dreaming.
The tree.
The fall.
The wheelchair.
...
The wheelchair.
My heart skipped.
I looked around the hill.
Nothing.
No wheelchair.
No tracks in the grass and dirt.
Nothing.
I stared at my legs.
Slowly...
I bent one knee.
Then the other.
They moved.
The dream.
It was only a dream...
Something lingered in the back of my mind.
Recognition.
As though this wasn't the first time I'd dreamed of falling from that tree.
"You've been asleep here for quite a while."
Her voice pulled me back.
"Oh..."
My throat felt dry.
"I'm... sorry."
She laughed.
"No need to apologize."
She held out her hand.
Without thinking, I took it.
Her grip surprised me.
Calloused.
Strong.
Not the delicate hands I expected from someone who looked so gentle.
With one effortless pull she brought me to my feet.
Pins and needles exploded through both of my legs and I stumbled.
"Whoa..."
The feeling raced down my calves like television static.
Then...
Almost as quickly as it came...
It faded.
Her hand was still wrapped around mine
I rubbed my eyes.
A yawn escaped me.
Tears blurred my vision.
No matter how many times I wiped them away...
More came.
I'd slept for so long my own eyes seemed to have forgotten how to stay open.
Wait...
How long had I been asleep?
More importantly...
How had I gotten here?
Without thinking, I brushed the dirt from my clothes.
A white shirt.
Dark trousers.
A navy jacket trimmed with silver thread.
It looked clean.
Not worn exactly.
Broken in.
The sleeves sat a little too high on my wrists.
The collar was loose against my neck.
The stitching around one cuff wandered ever so slightly.
"Come on."
She smiled.
"I thought you were another first-year who decided to nap before orientation."
Orientation?
"What's your name?" She asked
...
Nothing.
Strange.
I knew I had a name.
Right?
Say it.
...
Come on.
Say it.
...
Why couldn't I say it?
Something cold settled into my stomach.
No.
Think.
What...
What is my name?
My heart began pounding.
Had I hit my head?
Was I sick?
A memory surfaced.
Amnesia.
People could lose their memories after severe trauma.
...
Hold on.
How did I know that?
Where had I learned it?
If I couldn't remember my own name...
How could I remember psychology?
Questions piled on top of one another until—
Dong.
A great bell echoed across the sea.
The sound rolled across the harbor.
The girl's eyes widened.
"Oh no!"
She grabbed my hand.
"We're late!"
Before I could protest she was already pulling me downhill.
The grass became worn cobblestones.
The town bustled around us.
White stone buildings climbed the hillside.
Beyond them stretched an enormous bridge crossing the water.
Glass lanterns lined both sides.
At the far end stood a sprawling academy overlooking the sea.
Its white towers caught the morning sun until they almost seemed to glow.
Students hurried toward it from every direction.
Most wore uniforms.
White shirts.
Dark jackets.
Silver trim.
I glanced down.
Mine looked similar.
Close enough that no one gave me a second glance.
Yet...
Something about it felt slightly off.
Older.
As if someone had copied it from memory instead of making it themselves.
We reached the bridge.
Long tables stretched across its entrance.
Wooden boxes covered their tops.
Students searched frantically through them.
Name tags.
The girl released my hand.
"There!"
She smiled.
"Found mine."
She pinned it to her dress.
Victoria Lynne Daniels
Lynne.
So that was her name.
Maybe...
Maybe mine was here too.
Maybe seeing it would make everything come back.
I reached into another box.
Hannah.
Emily.
Sarah.
Charlotte.
Olivia.
Every card belonged to a girl.
The pile shrank.
Students laughed as they found their names.
One by one they crossed the bridge.
Soon...
Only one card remained.
Xu Xiaoxing.
I picked it up.
I waited.
Nothing.
No memory.
No recognition.
No feeling.
I looked down at my own hands.
Dark brown skin.
Strong hands
The name didn't feel like it belonged to me.
But...
What proof did I have?
I couldn't remember my own name.
I couldn't remember where I'd come from.
For all I knew...
Maybe I really was Xu Xiaoxing.
Instinctively I searched my pockets.
Nothing.
No wallet.
No keys
No coins.
No notebook.
No identification.
Nothing except the clothes I was wearing.
The elderly woman behind the table watched me.
Her eyes moved from the card...
To my face...
Then slowly the silver stitching on my jacket.
Her brow tightened.
She opened her mouth.
Paused.
Closed it again.
Without a word...
She stepped aside.
My fingers fastened the name tag
onto my jacket.
Xu Xiaoxing.
It wasn't my name.
At least...
I didn't think it was.
But it was the only one I had.
Lynne looked back and smiled.
"There you are."
She held out her hand again.
"Welcome! I'm glad you're here."
I took it.
Together we crossed the bridge.
Wearing a stranger's clothes.
A stranger's name.
And walking toward a life that wasn't mine.