Chapter 22: Helping Hands
Leia:
"Do you know why we're here," Matt asks, leaning to the side.
"No," I say with a shake of my head, "But I hope it's really important. I was in the middle of something when Alfred called me."
"It should be," Matt says, leaning back. "We normally don't call group meetings unless it's life or death."
"So last month when you called a group meeting, that was life or death."
Matt pulls back his head and looks at me.
"Yes. It was. I almost died."
"You didn't almost die," I correct.
"Yes, I did."
"You ate expired chocolates and got a stomach ache. It wasn't that bad."
"I had to go to the hospital. You were there. So were Alfred and Alieen. You all heard the doctor."
"We all heard the doctor ask why you ate chocolates from last year."
"Chocolates had a long expiration date."
"No. What was long was waiting for the doctors to pump your stomach."
Matt lets out a chuckle.
"Yeah. You know, I thought it would hurt for a while after getting my stomach pumped, but surprisingly, it wasn't. Right after we left, my stomach felt better."
"No kidding," I say, playing with my short hair.
"Hey guys," Alfred says, waving at Matt and me as he walks in.
"Hey Alfred," we both reply.
"Hello Matt," Alieen greets, walking in after Alfred. "Hello, Leia."
"Hey Alieen," we both reply.
"Uhh, hello," A starts as he walks in after Alieen.
"Hey A," Matt replies. "Wait, A!"
"Oh come on," I shout, getting up. "What are you here? Why are you?"
No one answers my questions. Instead, Alieen walks over to me and hits me in the arm.
"Leia," she whispers. "You're being rude."
"I'm being rude," I repeat, looking at the guys as they all stare at us. "Private conversation here. Please don't listen."
The guys all look at each other before they shrug their shoulders. They then all gather in a circle and talk among themselves.
"Alieen," I say, "Why do you keep bringing A back here? I mean, come on! Where's your common sense? Where's your stranger danger alert sense?"
"My what?"
"Your common sense and stranger danger alert sense. Okay, yeah, that last one sounds dumb but still. You don't have to look at me like that."
Alieen shakes her head and crosses her arms.
"Leia," she says while sighing. "I still have my common sense and my stranger danger alert senses."
"You don't have to say that," I add.
"Nevertheless," Alieen says with a chuckle. "Both of them are telling me A is fine. They're telling me he's not a threat. In fact, he needs our help."
"He needs our help," I repeat, "With what exactly? Oh no. Alieen, I'm telling you this now, and keep in that I'm normally not this rude, but A cannot stay here. It's already crowded enough with the four of us."
"That's not what A needs," Alieen says, "And besides. He could always sleep on the couch."
"There goes movie night," I say. "Aww, and just when we were really getting into the Tremor Series."
"Again, A does not need a place to live. He already had one. Sort of. Anyway."
Alieen lends to the side and claps her hands. Immediately, Alfred, Matt, and unfortunately, A too, all raise their heads.
"Okay," she says, walking to the center of the living room. All eyes are now on her.
"Thanks to Alfred for calling this group meeting, I guess there's really no point in hiding this anymore. Also, apparently, most of us already know."
"Know what," I say, sitting back down.
"Wait, you know now too," Matt asks, looking at Alfred.
"Yeah," Alfred answers with a nod of his head. "I, uhh, I learned about A earlier this afternoon."
"What happened?"
"He made me pastrami french fries."
"That's it? He hit me with his mind and knocked me down the stairs."
"What," we all yell, looking at A.
"Hey, hey, hey," Matt says, raising his hand. "It's okay. It's okay. Afterward, he healed me and we talked for a while."
"Wait," I say, now raising my own hand. "He blasted you with his mind and then healed you? What does that even mean?"
"A had powers," Alieen yells, now taking over. "A had superpowers."
"They are not superpowers," A correct. "At least, I do not think they are superpowers. They are just powers."
I stare at A for a while, before moving on to Matt, Alfred, and Alieen.
"I'm sorry, what?"
"A had powers," Alieen repeats. She turns to A and draws a circle with her finger.
"What does that means," A asks.
"It means, you know, show Leia. Show Leia your powers."
"Yeah," Matt says, joining in. "Use your mind. Lift the sofa with your telekinesis."
"Don't lift our sofa," Alfred interrupts. "Go with something small. Something that won't be so expensive to replace."
"We brought that sofa at a thrift store. It wasn't that expensive. Besides, are you saying A can't handle it? I beg to differ."
"I'm not saying A can't handle it. I'm saying please don't lift our sofa. Go with something smaller. Like the lamp over there."
Alfred points to a tall and thin black lamp stand.
"Hey," Alieen says, "Don't. I like that lamp. It was a gift from my aunt."
"Alieen, it's not even plugged in. Even from here, I can see the tip of the cord laying on the ground."
"It's not plugged in," Alieen shouts, running over to see for herself. "Who unplugged it?"
Matt, Alfred, and I all shrug our shoulders.
"Okay," A says after Alieen plugs her aunt's lamp into the wall. "So am I raising the lamp or no?"
"No," Alieen answers. "It's plugged in now anywhere. Here. Lift these."
She disappears into the kitchen for a bit before coming back out with some plastic dishes. Placing them on the floor in front of me, she then steps to the side. Now with a clear target, A being the show. He breathes in and out before spreading out his hands. As he does, the dishes start to float.
Seeing this, I scout back.
"Oh wow," I say, my eyes still on the floating dishes. "That--That's something. That is something alright."
A nods his head before using his telekinesis power to carry the dishes back into the kitchen. The whole time without once even touching them.
"And the three of you already know about this," I ask.
The three all answer, saying yes and yeah.
"This is only one of my many powers," A says. "I can do many more things."
"He can," Alieen says, "Trust me about this. The problem is, A had amnesia."
"He had what?"
"Amnesia. For some reason, A can't seem to remember who he is or where he even came from."
"You can't," I shout. "You don't remember anything. Not at all."
"No," A says, lowering his head. "I cannot remember anything about myself. Every time I try, I get these horrible headaches."
"Horrible headaches?"
"Yes. My head starts to hurt to the point where I will faint from the pain."
"Wow," I say. "That's sucks."
"Yes, it does suck. Having no memory does indeed suck."
"That's where we come in," Alfred says.
"We?"
"Yeah. We. We're all going to try and help A remember his past."
"Oh yeah," Matt shouts, jumping up and joining in. "Let's do this. Yeah!"
He cheers and raises both his arms. I, on the other hand, still sitting.
"Okay," I say, "Just one slight question. How exactly are we supposed to do that? How do we restore A's memory?"
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