Memories of a Starry Night

Neo woke up startled when one of the cats jumped on his belly.

"Is it time to wake up already?"

On his way to school, he found the ball he had hit, lying in a bush. Had he hit it that far?

He stored it in the same bag as his baseball bat.

The day at school was quite normal. The first class was chemistry, and the teacher ended up being unintentionally ignored again. Neo was starting to feel sorry for her; he had seen somewhere among her things that her name was Camila, and she hadn't even introduced herself the other day.

The next teacher to enter was familiar. Dark brown hair, wearing dark clothes. Were they going to have Portuguese class? What happened? She didn't seem as excited as she was the day before.

The first thing she did was write on the board, which was not like her at all, considering that the previous day she had come in smiling and chatting with the students. She wrote and wrote until the board was filled with words. When she finished, she turned to the class.

"My name is Mariana, I'm the English teacher, and we won't waste time. Open your books to page 6; the first few pages are just nonsense."

Neo was confused.

The English teacher? She looked a lot like the Portuguese teacher.

Her class was quite heavy. He hadn't seen all the subjects in school yet, but if he had to choose the worst among those he had seen, without a doubt, it was that one.

Neo walked through the halls feeling hungry, burdened with carrying the baseball bat he had won, and decided to stop by the courts hoping to see the baseball team.

They were practicing again. He picked up the ball he had found the day before; he could go talk to them, saying he found it.

Something stopped him, perhaps a lack of courage. Neo just watched them from afar.

The last class was math, and most of the students were feeling uninspired. Neo didn't understand why. The teacher was so nice, and his cat was a novelty.

Few students respected his class, and Neo thought the treatment he received was unfair. After all, he was so kind and genuinely cared about everyone, but they treated him that way because of his age and mainly because of the subject he taught.

Neo was bothered by his personal hygiene again. The previous day he hadn't had time to go to the river.

So, he didn't waste time and headed in that direction. He threw his bag and shoes on the riverbank and jumped in with his uniform still on.

The water soaked his uniform, his face, and he submerged his head so that his hair also got wet.

"Neo?!"

The boy was startled to hear his name, his hair covering his face, unable to see who it was. He looked toward the source of the voice and pushed his hair out of his eyes, becoming even more startled.

It was Saya.

"What happened? Did you fall?"

He didn't know how to explain what he was doing; he couldn't say he was bathing in the river to the girl he had an interest in. Desperate, he looked around and also glanced down, where he saw his blue necklace glowing, and found a solution.

"I dropped my necklace and was looking for it in the river."

Her face became more concerned.

"Wait a moment."

Saya made a call, but he was too far to hear clearly who she was calling or the content of the conversation. She seemed to ask something and nodded affirmatively upon receiving the answer.

The girl turned her attention back to the wet boy in the middle of the river.

"I live nearby, do you want to come to my house? That way, you can dry off."

He was nervous. He never thought he would go to a girl's house just like that, especially one who was special to him.

He nodded affirmatively.

The two walked side by side, not exchanging a word; the nervousness only increased with each step he took.

Once Saya opened the door, her mother came to greet them. A beautiful woman with long dark hair and blue eyes just like her daughter, her face showing only a hint of aging. Neo wondered if Saya would look like that when she grew older; he had heard somewhere that it was normal to happen.

"Ah! You're Mia's son, it's been a while." She said, going to hug the boy but stopped halfway, remembering something. "Oh, I forgot, you're all wet."

"Wait here; I'll bring you a towel," said Saya as she ran inside the house.

"And how did this happen?"

She looked at him with the look only mothers give when their child gets into trouble. It was extremely difficult to lie about those circumstances, but he couldn't tell the truth either.

"My necklace fell, and I was trying to retrieve it."

Saya's mother looked suspiciously at the boy's response. Saya arrived just in time, bringing some towels.

"I hope this helps a bit," Saya's mother said as she wrapped the boy in the towels. She put her hand on his arm and noticed how cold he was.

"Boy! You're freezing! You could get sick this way. Why don't you come in and take a bath? That way, you'll warm up."

"Can I, really?" Neo asked curiously as he looked into Saya's house.

"Yes, and then you can have dinner with us," Saya's mother assured him.

"I can dry your clothes in the meantime," Saya said as she led the boy to where the bathroom was.

He didn't have much time to see her house, but it was neat and tidy. Definitely better than sleeping on a bench in an abandoned square. It only lacked the company of the cats.

Neo stood facing the shower as Saya explained how to turn on the hot and cold water. She then left and closed the door. Neo started undressing when he heard a sound at the door.

"I forgot to ask for your clothes."

He opened a narrow gap so that only the clothes would fit through. She returned a pair of formal clothes in exchange.

"These are from my father; you can wear them while your clothes dry."

Neo had some difficulty with the shower, despite her explanation of how it worked. He left the water a little too hot.

As he showered, he looked curiously at the various shampoos and conditioners in front of him. Since they offered him a shower, it was only right to wash his hair too, right? He couldn't waste this opportunity; he didn't know when he would have another chance to take a warm bath.

Neo emerged from the bathroom a bit red, wearing Saya's father's formal clothes, and went to the living room.

Saya laughed when she saw the boy.

"It looks like you had a fight with the shower."

Neo didn't say anything and sat on the couch looking disgruntled. Saya continued laughing, saying, "I put your clothes in the washer; they were not only wet but also dirty. It's funny that even though you fell into the water, it's not enough to clean your clothes; you need soap too."

In these weeks when he had been bathing, he had never thought about that; that conclusion was quite clever.

Saya was curious about something.

"Who gave you that necklace? I don't remember seeing you with it before."

"Someone very important, a woman with short dark hair. I just can't remember her name. In fact, I don't remember anything beyond her face."

"Do you know where this woman might be?"

"No." Saya's smile disappeared upon hearing the answer. "Actually, there's very little from my past that I remember."

Saya's mother appeared to say that dinner was ready. Neo's uniform had finished washing, and Saya got up to put it in the dryer while Neo sat at the table.

"A nice hot vegetable soup is an excellent choice to warm up your body," said Saya's mother as she brought a large pot to the table.

Saya looked at her mother with sadness when she entered and saw that dinner was soup.

Saya's mother was truly warm and friendly. She began talking about her daughter's past, recalling stories from when she was a child, their funny moments.

Neo listened attentively, feeling a bit out of place. He was sad that he couldn't remember anything from his own life to share; amnesia weighed heavily on his heart.

Despite that, he disguised his sadness well, or at least he thought he did because Saya noticed that something was bothering Neo and connected the dots.

After dinner, Saya fetched his uniform, apparently already dry. Neo thanked her mother and Saya for the food and hospitality.

"It's getting late, so I better go."

Saya walked with him to the door, troubled by something. She tried to grab his arm before he left, but she couldn't.

She didn't give up, though, and when they were outside, she found the strength to bring up the subject.

"I noticed you weren't feeling so well when my mom was talking about the past."

"It's okay."

Although he assured her, he was fine, his face showed otherwise. Saya looked up at the sky full of stars, a beautiful night.

"Even though it's wonderful to have so many memories, I also had difficult moments that I would prefer to forget."

"But I don't remember anything, not even the good memories."

She looked at him with understanding and empathy.

"Don't be sad; even without memories, you're alive! And you have the chance to create new memories as special as the ones you forgot."

Gradually, he agreed with Saya; today had been a special day for him, and perhaps there would be more ahead.

"Thank you, Saya."

Saya smiled, which made Neo smile too. Her smile was as beautiful as the stars shining in the sky.