Lunch was fortunately uneventful.
I hadn't had any time to prepare anything from my almost empty cupboard so I chose to spend it in the only decent fast-food chain in town that served dry looking burgers and limp fries. It was still more edible than soggy and bland seafood delicacies that the city had to offer so folks crowded the place at noon time. It wasn't that many people, but a crowd's a crowd.
With all these strangers in every corner, Patient 01 here (temporarily as I haven't picked out a name yet) got trapped and was all awkward in his seat.
He tried to hide the fiddling of his fingers under the table as he tapped his feet repeatedly. No one could see that he was currently having a nervous breakdown. But with me sitting in front of him, it was so obvious. I had to contain my laughter. Our knees would accidentally bump from time to time and I had to pretend it didn't happen.
The waitress soon arrived, a chirpy lady who threw a single glance at me before giving her full attention to Patient 01.
"Here's your order; two medium burgers, two colas and a small fry. Can I get you anything else?" She fluttered her eyelids like a freaking moth.
But unfortunately for her, the patient's brain is still out of order.
I cleared my throat to catch her attention.
"I'd like some napkins," I said, smiling at her innocently.
The corner of her lips twitched before confirming and walked out with a hidden glare. I snorted at how her hips bobbed from side to side like a duck.
Women are so complicated.
I shook my head with a smile and decided to tap Patient 01's arms to grab his attention after the waitress left.
"Hey," I said and he looked away from the ground. "Eat up."
Unsure at first, he only stared at his burger as I took a bite of mine. It wasn't the best, but it was still food, so I'm fine with it. He glanced up at me and I motioned for him to do the same, my mouth full so I couldn't speak up.
He picked the burger with two hands, like what I did, and took a small bite, cautiously chewing the bits of grilled meat and bread between his teeth. He swallowed, eyes wide, and I laughed with such a sight. He looked like those kids I saw from tv commercials, but more authentic and believable. I'm sure his eyes would pop if he gets to eat the real deal, with that thick saucy beef and ketchup. Not this thin bland wannabe.
"So," I said out of the blue, dragging the word so I wouldn't have to start without him looking at me. When he did, I continued. "What's your name?"
The bomb drop was probably massive. I could see the explosion in his eyes. I had no choice though. It's this or rambling, which doesn't sound any better. It's draining too.
He stared at his burger again, grabbing it tight enough to squeeze a few ketchup out the edge. He sighed then took a bite.
"I don't even know if I have one," he confessed after he swallowed the chunk, slightly bigger than the earlier bite.
I tapped my fingers on the table, creating this certain rhythm I make when I dwell on awkward conversations.
"Well, do you at least remember anything? Like a town, a building or people perhaps? We don't really have much in the neighborhood so we knew almost everyone here. It'll be easy to tell who's who." I didn't point out that I was referring to most folks, like my dad or Boss, and that I actually have no idea who my neighbors are. That's a danger zone for admitting that I'm a total loner. He didn't look like the type to hang out with losers.
I gave him time to think things through. He wrinkled his forehead and seemed to be in a deep thought as I sipped my cola, the soda biting my tongue at the same time that my impatience kicked in.
After a moment, he looked like he wanted to tell me something, but his mouth only opened just so he could close it again. Clearly, it was painful for him to word things out.
"Don't force it if it doesn't sit well with you." I tried to look away from him, a chilling uneasiness settling at the tip of my tongue. "We could think it through. Ask some police officers or any one in town who can help. It's not like you're not from here."
I stopped and realized that maybe that's it. I found him by the border. Though it wasn't actually the most welcoming gate to use since after the new street was made, it's not that impossible for me to cross out.
"Could it be that you're from downtown?"
He wrinkled his forehead again, and this time while furrowing his eyebrows. "Downtown? Where is that?"
"It's across town, a city a few miles below from here. It's where most tourists go for the summer especially at this time of the year."
He could really be from there. And judging by his built and aura, he could even be a tourist! But then he quickly dismissed the idea with a much helpful comeback than just opening and closing his mouth.
"I don't think I'm from the city. The buildings at this place are somewhat familiar to me. It's like I've seen them before but I can't pinpoint how."
I smiled at the progress we got. With this information, maybe we're not that far away from answers such as his name.
"I think I know a place that can help."
Hopefully, I'm right.
*
The fast-food chain, which I now recall to be known as Burger Stacks, was only a walk away from my apartment. Like I said, everything in this town are only a few blocks away apart from another that you would rarely see a vehicle on the streets. Mostly, people use cars to go to the city or if people from there wanted to pay us a visit, which almost never happens. So the roads stay barren except from a handful of people by the sidewalk.
And as per usual, me and Patient 01 walked to my second most favorite spot in this place.
"That is The Cliff Towards Home, or as everyone knew and everyone said so. But we usually call it The Cliff Home or simply The Cliff to make it shorter and easier for the tongue."
We were only at the base and we still have to climb but I was a bit enthusiastic to tell him at least of what its named. As we climb up, I talked and talked that I wasn't even able to notice if he's still listening.
"Even if you shorten the name, you must never remove the 'the' in front of its title or it'll lose it's grandiosity. It's way more special than just a random cliff you see anywhere up on the mountains."
Midway to our climb, I was so out of breath that I stopped rambling altogether. I felt like a soggy cereal drenched in milk. But in my case, it was in sweat that smelled sour and sticky. When we reached the edge, I collapsed immediately, trying to regain my strength as I breath a lot of air.
I looked like I was dead meat. But Patient 01 didn't even seemed tired. I know he could've walked on without me with that athletic built of his, but he chose to slow down his pace so we could walk together. I didn't know if I should find it sweet and be thankful or annoyed because it felt like he was mocking me.
"Aren't you gonna sit?" I asked him, still with a ragged breathing and my whole face so oily you could've fried eggs on it as the sunlight took its toll. I suddenly felt conscious about it, knowing that even though he might have a loose screw, he's still technically-and gorgeously-a boy.
He shook his head, wiping his forehead with the back of his palm after. "I'd prefer to take everything in with a better view.'
I grinned.
He wasn't looking at me at all, and I knew why. I had that same look on my face when I first came here. In so much awe and amazement, I couldn't put anything in words just to describe what I saw. Everything is just too breathtaking that the word beautiful or mesmerizing didn't took the cut to represent it. It's beyond what adjectives can offer.
"Just, wow! Isn't it?" I giggled and he nodded. He couldn't pull away from the view. He just couldn't.
I followed his gaze and looked over at the plains of a town I grew in, walked the very streets and roamed to everyday that I felt I could go through it with my eyes closed, not looking anywhere. I'm already sick of it.
But here, above everything else; the boring silent stores, the bland and uninterested faces of everyone, the existence of a drive to change never entering their minds and of everything else I found distasteful, was this. A map of the whole thing, real life and 3d, straight out of a Renaissance painting. I drank every ounce of it, never getting enough. Never stopping to breathe as I take in huge gulps.
"Does it remind you of something," I finally asked. I was too caught up and entranced as well that I wasn't able to stick to the original reason why we came here.
He didn't answer me. He only stared, longer, harder, more intense that I ever were. It felt wrong to distract him.
I pulled away from the scenery before I get trapped. I looked away so I wouldn't have to endure reaching the point where not only visuals of now but of the past as well would swung through me.
I reached over the zipper of my bag, struggling with its broken handle, till I got to open it and hear that satisfying sound. I rummaged through my things, a little nervous and shaky. But when I found what I was looking for, panic gave me a different effect.
The notebook was still here and was still painfully worn. I thought that if I would just leave it without looking, it'll go back to what it used to be. But I guess there's just no way to mend what was already broken, or bring back the things that had been.
"What's that?" I snapped my head towards him, startled.
He was finally crouching down, his legs spread in front of him. And he was also near-so near, but not quite. The distance between us, though not that small and not overstepping any boundaries, was still too close. I knew that that was all on me.
But it wasn't just that. It was his eyes, ever so green and ever so deep. I'm falling into them. Tripping clumsily down, at the same time that they cause the piercing feeling inside my chest, like he was staring right at my soul.
"It's just a notebook," I blurted out. I stopped myself before I could say anything else. It felt wrong to put it that way. It's not just a notebook. "I mean, it's like this little guidebook I have whenever I found the need to name something-or someone for this case," I explained.
I gave a nervous laugh.
Flipping through it's small pages, letting my hands touch the crunchy paper, I smiled. It was more of pain than joy. The scribbles still looked the same, curly, rounded and short letters chained together, pricking me of its familiarity.
He inched closer, making my skin tingle. He drew his face closer to my lap as I unravel the insides of the notebook, slowly and reminiscing.
"Have you chosen anything for me?"
"Not yet, but I'm on it."
I flipped to one more page, stopping at the name I was initially looking for.
"Does Diggory sound good to you?" I asked him, but I was also the one who shut down the idea just as it came. "That doesn't sound right..."
"I guess not." He smiled at me, briefly before gazing up at the sky. It was starting to get dark. "Is there any way to get up there?"
I squinted my eyes at him realizing he was talking about flying. "There is, but why do you ask?"
"I-" He hitched his breath and stopped, like he'd get hurt if he continues. Looking down at his hands, he pulled out the grass as if to transfer the frustration inside him towards it. "I don't exactly understand, but I just want to, like I have this urge to reach that higher place. Awhile ago, when we were at this place you called hospital and inside that moving carriage, I can't stop looking at it. It's driving me crazy. I just want to reach it but I also wanna know why."
He looked at me.
"Why is that?" he asked.
He seemed so pained-so lost.
I didn't know that. I was too focused on the part that he didn't know anything, forgetting that he may have wanted to know something, so much more than I did. It was his life, not mine. His head and his memories which I don't hold.
I suddenly wanted to make it up for him. I wanted to help get his past back and not just because I wanted him out of my apartment.
I flipped over the pages of the notebook again, trying to find another name that would match up the word I had in mind. A trip to the sky doesn't actually sound practical, but this would make do for now. It suited him too.
I knew it was here somewhere. If I remembered it correctly, there were a lot of them, huddled up in a group. It's here somewhere.
I stood up as I yelled, "Found it!"
"Found what?"
"This!" I pointed at the word, written among those that were decorated with glitter, specially made only for those with that flare. "Rigel! I'd call you Rigel from now on!"