There's a ringing in my ears, and it's loud.

"... Huff..."

It is the only thing I can hear.

"Huff..."

There's light.

A bright light.

Glazing the world around me.

"Huff... Huff..."

Like a haze.

Or a cloud?

"...Huff,"

I can't see much,

but I can feel it.

"Huff,"

The world spinning.

Seesawing.

'I think I'm gonna be sick.'

"... Huff... f-forty..."

But I can't forget.

"forty... two..."

I shouldn't stop.

"thousand..."

The counting.

"...Huff,"

Shadows?

In the light, they grow.

"... Huff..."

Getting closer.

"Huff..."

Hovering around me.

"... Huff..."

Touching me.

"... times,"

Crushing me.

"...Huff..."

Burning me.

"S-six..."

It's making me forget.

"... Teen..."

And I can't forget.

The count.

"Million..."

Now the ringing is softening.

"... Huff,"

And I can hear audible noise.

"...Huff..."

Whispers from the shadows.

"Huff..."

They still linger.

I reach for the shadow.

"You are ..."

Stop hurting me!

"Y-you... are,"

Don't touch me!

"... an enemy."

Whispers again.

I can't make them out.

"You are...

But I can feel the shadows.

Crushing me.

"trying... to kill me..."

Their touch searing my skin.

"No!"

What?

"I'm your friend!"

A friend?

"..."

I can see it,

"I'm trying to save you!"

The face in the shadow...

 

"This is Teresa."

 

What?

 

************

 

 

"Tess!" Carrie exclaims. "Doll, how long have you been standing there?" she asks, making her way to her friend.

Somewhat wary that Teresa may have heard a part of their conversation, a debate about her, Carrie decides to dump the issue altogether. She does not need to put her friend in an awkward place after her amazing win.

As with Logan, he is just as sympathetic toward her, making the debate not worth continuing, and so decides to congratulate Teresa instead,

"We saw your battle, you were on fire... as always," he says with a smile.

"Ha. Ha. Ha. That's cute," Carrie mocks Logan's ironic statement.

"And I knew you would win. And you did," he says with confidence.

"He's right. We were never worried!" Carrie wearing a gleeful smile. "You looked completely at ease."

They both shower her performance with praise, but her attention is elsewhere. Her focus fixed on Sam who is standing in a daze while staring right back at her. Perhaps through her? She senses that something is wrong, but as she takes a step toward Sam, she realizes that she has not acknowledge the two ranting right next to her. So, she turns to them, "... Carrie... Logan... You guys are here?" she says slowly.

Logan chuckles and runs his hand down his face. At this point, a formality when speaking with Teresa. "Hey! Did you hear a word of what we just said?!" he barks.

"Thank you," she says with slight bow.

"If you heard you should've responded sooner," he grumbles, resisting the urge to smack her head. "You know what? Don't ever get behind the wheel of a car, what with you spacing out all the time..."

"Quiet you," Carrie scolds him. "Don't listen to this idiotic brat, you're perfect the way you are, doll," she says, pulling Teresa in for a hug, and gently patting her head. "Oh, and I almost forgot!" Carrie exclaims, realizing "we brought someone else along, the transfer student. You remember Sam Holt?" she gestures toward his direction.

"...Yeah," Teresa replies.

"He still needs to go through his assessment. That's where we're heading now," Logan adds.

"Sam, this is Teresa," Carrie introduces her with a line that acts like a shock back to reality.

"What?" Sam reacts, before realizing that is not the right thing to say. "I-I mean... It is."

"Yes, it is," Carrie responds with a slightly puzzled look.

"I'm sorry. I have something on my mind," Sam tries to compose himself. His thoughts still lingering about like a translucent image blurring the world in front of him. Hallucinating. "I dunno. It's something," he says as the gleaming light, the foggy background, and the shadows slowly fade away in the background. His eyes are drawn to the only clear image, the face of the shadow in the center, "... someone."

Carrie and Logan exchange quick looks, wondering what Sam is mumbling about. They can only shrug in confusion. They notice Teresa's unmoving stare toward Sam. Carrie and Logan pan over to see his glued on her, and then a stillness befalls the group. Neither Carrie or Logan understand what is happening, and they begin to feel somewhat out of place.

Teresa makes her way toward Sam. "You're here too," she says on approach.

"I am," he responds calmly.

"... Okay," she nods and briskly passes by him.

This is a strange introduction, even by Teresa's standards of weird, or so Logan thinks. But standing there with his mouth open while scratching the back of his head is not going to give him an explanation, and he just has to know- "Whoa, whoa, wait a second," he cuts in, "what is happening? Do you two know each other?"

"I'm wondering the same thing too," Sam turns to Teresa behind him. 

His memories of the incident are fuzzy, so he cannot be sure if what little he remembers is entirely true. But when Teresa turns to face him, that same moment rushes back to him again: That look. That face in the shadows. The words ringing in his ears - "I'm your friend."

"Do we know each other?" he redirects Logan's question to her. 

Sam can't shake the feeling that Teresa was there when he nearly died, and it is the same face he saw on the day he woke up. It feels like it needs an explanation.

"No... we don't," she says calmly.

Sam's eyes nearly waiver as he tries to keep himself from appearing surprised by her answer. She is not wrong, per se, since meeting once or twice does not necessarily mean they know one another. At least, that is the rationale Sam gives himself, and he scoffs at it.

"Right," he nods. "We don't."