163.)

"So, what now?" Blossom asked. She had gotten through Amy's malaise, but she didn't even expect to get that far.

"I guess we try to go through some dialogue?" I shrugged.

"How does it start?"

"Introductions, I guess." Roleplay without the roleplay? It was an interesting experiment...

"Whenever you're ready," Blossom prompted.

I took a deep breath and tried to get in the headspace of Maria. Essentially, she was a babysitter. Judith was her charge, and keeping her happy was the goal. No bad reports.

Here goes nothing...

"Hey, um... hello." Wrong character voice. I started again. "Hello, I'm Maria. You're Judith, correct?"

"Yes, that's me. Maria, was it? Why am I here? Or... how did I get here? The last thing I remember was eating ice cream by the shore." Blossom decided to start with a mixture of hostility and distrust, with a healthy portion of helpless confusion. It's what she would wanna read.

Yeah, the first thing Judith would ask about was why she was here. That made sense. And the first thing Maria should ask is what Judith remembered. Thankfully, Blossom answered that for me.

"Ice cream, hm? Yeah..." Maybe Maria should write something down at that moment. A note, like she was keeping track of something. But I didn't have a notebook right there.

What next? An explanation. Right? Judith needed an answer or it would breed more distrust between them.

"You were in an accident. Do you remember that?" Was that lazy writing? An accident? But it was a lie anyway, so maybe that vagueness was a good thing.

"An accident?" Blossom asked. "When I was eating ice-cream?" Blossom narrowed her eyes and gave a good and earnest look of confusion. She was taking this role very seriously. "I don't remember anything after ice cream..."

"That's okay," I said warmly. Or, that's how I would have described it when Maria said it. "There were some... mysterious circumstances surrounding your accident. But we'll get to the bottom of it. Together. Okay?"

Mysterious circumstances! Again, using that vagueness to my advantage. I really should have thought of that earlier...

"I wanna call my Dad. He's going to be worried about me."

Not an agreement, not an acceptance. But also not an argument, either. A perfectly human response.

"Oh..." Of course Judith would want to contact her family. But there was no way Maria could let her do that. Saying "no" would cause problems, more strife between the two of them. And Maria would have thought ahead. I bit my lip.

"This would be easier if I had time to think," I mumbled, out of character.

"Put your hand up like this," Blossom demonstrated, holding up her hand, "and I'll know to pause while you think it through. And we can rewind if you say something you don't like."

"Okay..." I put my hand up like Blossom said. I had to think. Maria would try to use this as an opportunity, but there was no way she could fake a phone call with Judith's dad. Even if she could, he wouldn't remember her. Hm...

I put my hand down.

"I'm sorry, but... right now, given some of the circumstances, we can't let you use the phone. It's too risky. But we have our ways of getting things done. If you write him a letter, I promise he'll get it. Is that alright?"

It was more mysterious than I wanted it to be, and it would only bring up more questions. But Judith's uncertainty meant Maria would get the upper hand.

Blossom - as Judith - narrowed her eyes with skepticism. When it came to manipulation, elevated emotions only increased vulnerability. Judith would be, in Blossom's mind, confused and suspicious, but also completely uncertain and helpless.

"What circumstances? Why can't I call my Dad?"

"I can't say too much," I said, as Maria, and faked sympathy as she would. "The truth is, the accident... what happened with you... a lot of people got hurt, and you are the only one who is conscious. We think it was an attack of some kind, something intentional. But our psychologists advise us that giving you too much information might prime you to create false memories. We need you to remember on your own, for everyone's safety."

Woah. That was a really good lie!

"False memories...?"

Wow that was a great angle!

"So I have like… amnesia? And that's why I don't remember anything after the ice cream?"

"That's correct," I said happily. "Very good! I truly wish I could give you more information, but I can't right now. You understand that, right? This is a lot bigger than you... than all of us."

The praise was excellent, and Blossom could say that with authority because it actually gave her a warm little feeling inside. She decided that Judith would be quiet for a moment, digesting things, and try to figure out if Maria was telling the truth. But she didn't have an alternative, so she had to believe that woman. Not knowing anything was so much worse.

"You said... I can write a letter?" Blossom as Judith asked.

"Yes. I'll get you paper and an envelope. If you seal it yourself, I'll make sure no one reads it. Since you don't know anything, I don't feel like it's a security risk."

Before Blossom could reply - before Judith could reply - I took advantage of the silence.

"Are you hungry? I can find something for you to eat?"

"I guess? I mean, I think I just ate ice cream, but if stuff happened after that..." Question time! "How long has it been?"

"Since the accident?" I asked. I could choose any length of time - it didn't matter. But it had only been a couple of days since they'd brought Judith in. And a smaller time frame meant she would be more at ease. So I smiled and did something Maria rarely did: told the truth.

"Three days."

"Three days..." Blossom mulled over those words in the warm soup of her mind and looked down at her hands, and then back up at the woman - at Maria - whom Amy was playing with aplomb! "Then I guess I'm hungry..."

"I'll get you some food then," I said brightly. "Do you have any preferences? I might recommend something simple at first, since you've been on an IV for a while. Crackers, some fruits perhaps...?"

"I've been on an IV?" Blossom looked at her arms for signs, and imagined she saw something. Her words were slower; a mixture of confusion and doubt, a layered cake of worry and fear with a frosting made of pure helplessness. That's what she imagined it would feel like to be Judith.

"Whatever you say is best, I guess, you're the... uh... doctor?"

"Nurse," I corrected. Because nurses historically had better rapport with the patients. "Pardon my attire though; this isn't your average hospital, you see." Yeah, my attire of jeans and a t-shirt. Maria probably wore something more formal.

"I'm... in a hospital. That makes sense. I was on an IV, you're a nurse...it just doesn't look very much like a hospital."

Maybe it did, and Blossom was directing the narrative in too specific a manner; but if she was, Amy would correct her.

Didn't look much like a hospital was an understatement, but it worked with the scene. Blossom was really good at this!

"I'll get you some crackers."

Then, a pause. Why couldn't Judith come with her? Well, that was a complicated question...

"I'm really sorry for this, but you have to wait here. You understand, don't you?"

"I guess so. Just..." Blossom paused; that word had been louder and more panicked than the others. "You won't be long, right?"

Interesting. Judith didn't want to be alone... I guess when you wake up in a strange place, any face can be a friendly one. Hm.

"I won't be long," I promised.

But I didn't go anywhere. I just sat there, watching Blossom. Then, after a moment, I nodded.

"I think that helped, actually..." I admitted. I'd been trying too hard.

"I'm so glad!" Blossom beamed! "Did I do okay? I was trying not to overthink it, because I wanted to come across naturally."

"No, you did a really good job. I guess... I dunno. I don't think I had a good cover story for Maria. And Judith was a little too combative, maybe..." I was trying to figure out why our roleplay went so much smoother than my writing. It felt more real.

"Do you want to get back to writing now?" Blossom asked. Amy seemed lost in thought.

"I think so..." I said sheepishly. "If that's okay?"

"Absolutely!" And then, after a short pause. "Hey Amy? I love you. Just in case you needed reminding."

I rolled my eyes and opened up my laptop.

***

[Academy M: Chapter 2]

(If you are following Academy Works, please read Ch.2 [linked above] and return here to continue the story. If Ch.3 has been released, it is recommended that you DO NOT read it at this time.)