Cursive - By Phoebe Lane Page 0,9

anything related to books, she desperately looked for a distraction. It was five in the afternoon, and the pool at the gym was going to be crowded with the after-work crowd. It was too late to drink coffee and expect decent sleep that night, and she was still full from her late lunch. Her CBGB wasn't working in her favor.

So, of course, Aislynn got curious about the boxes and dug right into them. Inside the first box she found old photo albums, her favorite college sweater, and some jewelry. A huge smile spread across her face as she browsed through some of her favorite books she hadn’t read in ages.

The second box was equally as big but peculiarly lighter in weight. She opened it and peeked inside, only to feel her breath leave her, her muscles tense up, and hot tears spring to her eyes.

I should've just gone to the gym.

Aislynn tried to shield her eyes from the bright light of her cell phone screen as she sent a quick text to Ellie.

Hey. Not feeling well. Going to bed early, just FYI. I'll see you tomorrow morning.

R U OK? Do you need anything?

Got a migraine. Took a sleeping pill so I can rest, just in case u hear me snoring ;-)

K, I'll be home soon. Get me if you need anything.

Aislynn woke up to Ellie shaking her shoulder. She felt completely disoriented and her muscles ached.

"Wake up, Aislynn," Ellie said, and she forced her eyes, trying to situate herself.

Ugh, I'm never taking sleeping pills again.

"Are you okay?" Ellie asked with a worried expression on her face. "What the hell happened to you last night?"

"What do you mean?" Aislynn asked, still confused.

She sat up in bed and took in her surroundings. Her room was a disaster. There were things thrown everywhere and Ellie looked utterly panicked.

Then Aislynn looked down at herself and finally noticed it. Oh my God. This can't be happening, she repeated to herself over and over. She started gasping for air, her pulse raced, and she felt like someone was sitting on her chest.

Aislynn was sitting up in bed wearing a wedding dress.

"What the hell happened to you?" Ellie asked.

"I don't know," she said, feeling her heart beat a million miles an hour. "I can't remember anything. Just…I'm…Just help me get out of this thing."

Ellie quickly helped her undress and put her robe on. Aislynn sat back on the bed, tried to catch her breath, and watched as Ellie packed the wedding dress back into the box sitting by the closet door. She also took note of the mess around her room—there was a spilled glass over by the bedroom door, clothes thrown across the floor, and a dozen books lying behind a chair.

Did I do all this?

"Do you feel okay? Do you want me to get you something to drink?"

"No, I think I'll just go take a hot shower. I need to try and think about what the hell happened," Aislynn said.

She sat on the shower floor for half an hour, letting the hot water fall on her back, when suddenly the memories started coming back to her. Along with the memories came the anger.

She was now very upset with herself and extremely angry at her mother.

"Mom, I got your boxes in the mail yesterday," Aislynn said on the phone, not even bothering to say hello when she answered.

"Oh, good! They got there faster than I expected," Pam said casually.

"Did you happen to go through the boxes before sending them?"

"I went through one of them. There were some books inside and other small things, I think. But I didn't have time to go through the other box. I figured they were clothes. Why? Was something broken?"

Aislynn paused and forced herself to take deep breaths, trying to get a handle on her ire.

She didn't do this on purpose. She couldn't have been this malicious.

"No, nothing was broken," she finally said with a clipped tone.

"What is it then? You sound upset," Pam said.

"Just…Nothing. Forget it."

"Please, talk to me, Aislynn. What happened?" Pam asked with obvious concern.

"That second box…It was the wedding dress."

"Oh…the dress," Pam said nervously, but Aislynn could pick up on her attempt at composing herself. "Well, it's good that you have it then. It's not something you want to let go of, right?"

"Excuse me?" Aislynn asked, now starting to lose her self-control.

"It's your wedding dress."

"No, it's not my wedding dress. It never was. I never got to wear it, remember?" Aislynn's tone of voice was now several