CHAPTER ONE:...too farmiliar to be ignored.

OF course, she knew she was stupid. Her pretty head was lacking a brain for crying out loud! Yes, her skull was empty inside like a coconut. Those who called her coconut head were not wrong either. After all, everything about her screamed stupid! stupid! and stupid!

Cyrene couldn't agree less about that. They were just too right about everything to be proved wrong.

Her gym wear stuck to her body like a second skin as she jogged down the street by the sidewalk. Ushering the taunting little voices she was hearing inside her head to the back of her mind, she plugged in her earpiece as she jogged.

The wind swooshed through her loose ponytail, sending her wavy black hair in a continuous side-to-side dance. She liked jogging through that route because of the trees surrounding the area. One of the best feelings she got while jogging was the touch of the wind on the exposed part of her body, the way it caressed her skin in a gentle touch, sending pleasant shivers down her spine and leaving her delicate skin to relish in the aftereffect of the touch.

It felt so good, the wind simply gave her the tip of the iceberg of how sweet and addicting the kind of freedom and happiness she sought tasted. But She wanted more than just a tip of it. She wanted all of it despite knowing that she wasn't going to get it no matter how hard she tried.

She didn't even know if she'd be able to lead a normal life. Her world was too peculiar. It was very different from the worlds of every other human being as far as she was concerned. It got very noisy at times, and at other times it became extremely quiet. It equally got very lonely at times, and it was becoming her favorite feeling. The quietness was becoming her favorite sound too, and she was loving it.

She had one reason for choosing to be alone all the time.

It was simply because of every single person around her. It wasn't like she was blaming anyone for her predicament, she just envied them.

She envied them so much, that she became very self-conscious around them. She was jealous of them because they all had what she could never have no matter how hard she tried. She'd done everything within her power, but nothing worked out. They all had a healthy memory, and she didn't.

Oh, she had a coconut head, which none of them had. Maybe, they should have been the ones envious of her, not the other way round.

Her memory played way too many painful tricks on her. How could she keep forgetting the faces and the most important facts regarding every person she'd met just within a night's sleep?

The last time she met her therapist, he told her that the willpower to overcome her demons lay within her. That she had the key to her cure.

And that was the most ridiculous medical advice she had ever received.

How was she the cure to her amnesia? How was she supposed to cure herself? She wasn't born that way either. She just became like that, after a traumatic experience, which she couldn't even remember!

That morning, after she woke up in a hospital bed and couldn't remember many things, they told her that she sustained a Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). She was a frequent visitor to the hospital until the MRI showed no abnormalities in her brain.

She was healthy but not fully, she was barely holding unto the little fragments of her memories.

What was she supposed to do? The damage occurred, when she was fifteen and she'd lived with that predicament for a complete nine years and nothing had changed since then.

Most times she thought of convincing herself to accept her condition and try to live with it. Often when things were just beyond her control, the best solution was to leave them alone until time solved them.

But how was she supposed to accept such a horrible fate, when she just got to terms with the idea that she was her cure? Time was supposed to make everything better but nine years was like a static motion in her life. Her condition neither got worse nor better. It was just there.

Morning jogs were also about to give up hope on her too, anyways. It became obvious after all she could do during her jogs was to listen to the little voices whispering at the back of her mind about how stupid and weak she was.

What in the world had happened to her nine years ago that her subconscious was choosing to keep messing with her brain? What type of memories was she subconsciously trying to protect herself from?

As she was about to complete her laps that morning, she managed to suppress the voices in her head, and then the sweet melody of the song she was playing slowly crept up into her mind.

...I don't say a word still, you take my breath and steal the things I know...

The lyrics of the song she was playing gradually took over her head instead of the damned voices. That was a good sign.

"I'm so sorry," she heard a deep smooth voice say over the song, only that it wasn't possible. She wasn't supposed to hear that voice over the loud music because the volume was up to the highest.

She stopped her jog unexpectedly and looked at the man standing before her and said, "what are you sorry for?" She focused her piercing eyes on his trying to make out his facial features. It wasn't clear enough due to the foggy atmospheric condition that early morning.

"I'm asking you what__" Her sentence trailed off as she looked down at his palms. Her newly purchased ear pod was lying shattered in his hands.

"It wasn't intentional. You were just jogging so straight and I tried to avoid bumping into you," he tried to explain, "I didn't mean for it to come to this." He looked down at his palms before looking up at her again with apologetic regard.

Cyrene wanted to yell at him. It was an accident, yes but the earpiece was newly purchased as well. Should she ask for the money? She needed it. Should she leave it? No way. But it was either she screamed at him and ask him to pay or leave it. She wanted to scream though.

She was a broke university student. Doing favors like that was not just in her dictionary at that moment.

Besides, it was a good opportunity for her to vent the anger brewing at the back of her mind since she got up from bed that morning. The tiny voices at the back of her mind also needed an avenue to crawl out.

"Sorry isn't going to fucking bring back the shattered earpiece. It's still new, so you either hand me the damn money or we go to the store behind that building to purchase a new one!" She shoved his chest with her index finger as she yelled at him...

The only problem was that all those tempers she threw at him were in her head.

Shaking her head slightly, she sighed and continued her jog without saying anything else to the man. It was better than wasting her precious time over some silly earpiece. She was almost late for school anyways.

******

Cyrene arrived in class that morning just in time to take her normal spot beside the wall. Her seat wasn't in the front nor was it at the back, it was just at the right spot to prevent as many human interactions as possible.

Within a few minutes, the entire class was filled up with students, and just a little while longer the professor walked in.

" I heard that we're getting a new professor for the rest of the year," Cyrene heard someone say beside her. I hope she isn't talking to me, she thought without turning her head.

"Yes, the rumor was true. He's handsome though," Someone else responded. Good, she wasn't talking to me.

"I would have asked about your summer break but I'm guessing that it was splendid," The new professor said with a smile. "My name is Professor Jason Roman and I will be your new teacher for the rest of your time at this university." He introduced himself and quickly dived into the main issue for the day.

Cyrene was stunned, as she heard his smooth deep voice. It was too familiar to be ignored. She heard that same voice before. And then it downed on her...

Their new professor was the one that broke her earpiece earlier that morning.

Was it just a coincidence? Cyrene didn't think so because never in her pathetic life had she ever believed in coincidences.

"Hello,"

"Hey," Cyrene felt a nudge on her lower arm and turned her attention to the direction of the movement.

"What?" She inquired in a quiet tone while staring at the gorgeous lady standing beside her.

"I was just saying hi," the lady replied with a smile. "He's handsome, isn't he? You were so engrossed looking at him that you didn't even notice me," she nudged Cyrene again.

What's she saying? Cyrene thought and shifted a little from the clueless lady to avoid another unwanted nudge.

"You're beautiful... And quiet" the lady whispered the last part as she took the empty seat beside Cyrene.

"Why are you talking to me? Do you know me?" Cyrene spoke again, turning her attention to the lady.

"What? I mean. Is talking to you a bad thing? You just looked cool and you were the only one I felt connected to at first sight. My name is June, nice to meet you." She smiled at Cyrene again.

Was it nice to meet June as well? Cyrene had no idea. It's just been so long since anyone noticed her.

She wasn't desperate for friendships but having someone to just be there no matter what she was going through wasn't such a bad idea too.

"I'm Cyrene," she responded, almost in a whisper.

"Cyrene is such a sweet name,"

"So is June," Cyrene responded but this time she lifted her head to look at June.

She was a gorgeous brunette. Her light brown eyes were looking so fierce as though they held the world's secret in them. June was tall and slender, her body curves were just in the right proportion and it made her not so easy to not notice by anyone.

"I just transferred to Beckharn from my old school. I heard that the best accountants these days are from this school. You can't blame me for wanting to be among the best." June laughed and threw Cyrene a little side glance.

"Attending the best school doesn't make you the best,"

"What makes you the best Rene?" June asked with keen interest.

Rene? Cyrene wondered. June was behaving too friendly. Maybe they met before and she knew exactly what condition she was in or maybe, it was just the way she behaved towards everyone

"What makes you the best Cyrene? Or do you think you are not the best?" June continued pressing for an answer. "Why accounting?"

Because when it comes to numbers, my brain doesn't mess with me. For the past fifteen years, the only thing I have never been bad at is numbers.

Cyrene thought to herself before looking up at June again. "I think you should try and befriend other people. You'll gain nothing from getting close to me June," She said as she picked up her stuff from the desk.

"I want to be..." June tried to say.

"Have a nice day," Cyrene interrupted and started leaving the classroom.

As she walked up the stairs towards the exit, she couldn't help the feeling that someone was watching her. It wasn't June.

The students were roaming around trying to get to their next class. No one had the time to focus on the invisible her but the discomfort of being watched was still there. Looking in a random direction to search for the piercing gaze, her hazel eyes clashed with his.

The new professor, Jason Roman. He was watching her. To a normal person, the kind of day Cyrene was having was supposed to be probably normal.

But because she was Cyrene, her day was far from normal. It was more like... Weird.