The Dead Travel Fast

Chapter 8

8

It took some courage just to approach the door. What would Gigi do when she saw me standing there, all cut up and smudged with dirt? I stood there for a few minutes, wondering what I was even going to say. But this was my best chance at getting help, so I steeled myself and knocked on that door.

I waited, my heart beating hard in my chest. I could hear footsteps within the house, and conversational voices. I noticed that my hands were starting to shake. Finally, the door swung open, and I braced myself for a very strange conversation.

Gigi herself was standing there, looking like she had only just rolled out of bed in her t-shirt and Christmas sweatpants. Her appearance was completely normal, but there was something in her expression that bothered me. Her face was completely uninterested, and there was no recognition in her eyes.

“Um…hi,” I said.

“Hi?” Gigi’s voice rose a little, like she was asking a question.

This was already not going well, so I charged into it. “I need your help, Gigi. There was a fire last night, and my family didn’t make it out. Now I don’t have a home, and I don’t know where to go. The police forgot about me, so I can’t just go to them, and—”

“Wait.” Gigi held up a hand, and my voice trailed off. She looked at me oddly, her eyes wide. “How do you know my name?” she asked.

“I know your name,” I said stupidly. “Why wouldn’t I know your name?”

“Because I’ve never met you in my life!” Gigi spat. “You’ve obviously got the wrong house.”

“But Gigi, I’m your friend,” I cried. “It’s me, Abbie. Don’t you remember me?”

“I don’t know you. I don’t know anyone named Abbie.” She was looking at me like I was a freak.

“I know I look really bad right now, but it’s me! I’m your friend!”

“I already told you!” Gigi rolled her eyes. “I have no idea who you are.”

My head was really starting to spin. “Come on, is this a joke?” I demanded. “How can you not know who I am? We were together at school yesterday, remember? Your boyfriend broke up with you, and you were crying, and Audrey and Katie and Maya were there, too.”

“Did someone say my name?”

I recognized Audrey’s voice. Together with Katie and Maya, she appeared behind Gigi in the doorway. They, too, were wearing pajamas, like they had just had a sleepover.

“Ew!” Maya wrinkled her nose. “Why are you talking to a homeless person?”

“I don’t know, she’s super weird, she knows all of our names and it’s really creepy.”

“I know all of your names because I’m your friend!” I was almost shouting now with desperation. I turned to Audrey, Katie, and Maya. “Don’t you recognize me? I’m Abbie! Abbie Matsuda-Walsh, your friend!”

They stared back at me blankly.

“She’s nuts,” said Katie.

This had to be a joke. It had to be.

“Is this a joke?” I said again. “You need to stop making fun of me, it isn’t funny! I really need your help!”

Audrey said coldly, “This isn’t a joke, you’re just crazy.”

“Please!” All pride forgotten, I threw myself onto the step of the house, hands reaching toward Gigi. She stepped away, her face full of revulsion. I started to cry. “Please help me! My family is all dead, and no one remembers me, please just help….”

Gigi aimed a kick at me, and I dove away, rolling away down her doorstep and hitting my nose on the cold pavement. They all burst out laughing.

“I have no clue who you are,” Gigi told me. “I don’t know if you’re trying to get money out of me, or if you’re just a stoner, but I’m not helping you. I think you should just GO AWAY.”

The door slammed.

I sat there on the ground by her step for a while, rocking back and forth and weeping into my hands. But then I looked up and realized that the girls were still watching me through the window. When I met their eyes, they gave me their middle fingers.

Sitting there, helpless, I felt a strong sense of hurt. These girls had once been my friends, and here they were now, kicking me to the curb. It didn’t matter if they could remember me or not. It still hurt.

I thought savagely, Well, I never liked you that much, anyway.

I got up with as much dignity as I could muster and strode away from that stupid house and those stupid people. As soon as I turned a corner, I broke into a run.

So I had really been forgotten by everyone. It wasn’t that the police had ignored me, or the authorities had forgotten about me. It was as if I had been suddenly erased from history. Sure, my mark on history had been tiny and feeble, but now it was gone, like I had never existed.

This meant that I was alone, with no family, no friends, and no record that I even existed. I truly had nowhere to go, and there was no one who could help me. I would have to survive on my own. Maybe those girls had been right. I was just a crazy, homeless girl now.

I remembered how blank Gigi’s face had been, how her eyes had had absolutely no recognition in them, how coldly she had looked down at me. The image would haunt me as long as I lived.