A Young Man Named Jack

"Maybe it's because we played around that house a lot before you moved to New York." Heriet said while sipping a cup of latte.

Melisa frowned, no matter how hard she tried to remember the moment they had played around the house, the result was still the same. She doesn't remember anything.

"But when? And why are we playing there?" She asked.

Heriet sighed, she didn't understand how her childhood friend could forget the things they once did. Even though she should still be able to remember a little about what happened when she was eight to ten years old.

"Maybe because of your illness at that time, you lost your childhood memories."

"Is there really a disease that makes someone forget the events of their childhood?"

"I'm not smart enough to know that, Melisa. I think Kevin knows, he's a genius." Heriet said sarcastically. Melisa laughed a little, seeing Heriet's behavior when talking about Kevin made her think that her two friends still often fought.

"Did you fight with Kevin again?"

"No, we didn't fight. Why would I fight with a guy like him? It's just a waste of time. Speaking of Jack Louis, did you know he's in our class?"

"Jack Louis? Really? He majored in music too?"

"Oh my gosh, Lisa. That's why you had to come to the new student acceptance ceremony. He's in the same major as us and he's also in the same class as us. Oh gosh, I can't believe that after graduating from elementary school we'll be in the same class as him again. "

"We were in the same class with him? With Jack Louis? Are you kidding me?'

"You're the one who's kidding, Lisa! We were in the same class as him, Kevin and I were even with him until the graduation ceremony. Unfortunately, you moved when we went to fifth grade, so maybe you forgot about that."

Melisa was stunned, she had studied in the same class as the legend Jack Louis for almost five years and she couldn't remember anything about those times. Strange, she didn't know why this strangeness seemed to only happen to her.

"Have you asked your parents, what exactly were you sick with?"

"I've asked them maybe 100 times. But my dad's answer is still the same, I have quite serious typhus and inflammation in the lungs."

"But can this disease make someone lose their memory to that extent?"

"I don't know either, since I came back to this city and lived with my parents again, they always avoided questions about the illness I suffered from in the past. My dad would change the topic and my mom tried to avoid it as much as possible and Max-"

"Max, why?"

"I feel like he knows something, but he just doesn't want to tell me."

"Just force him to tell you!"

"Heri, you know how Max is? He's very stubborn and annoying. Talking to him only makes me annoyed and what's even more annoying, my mom always defends him."

"Hahaha...maybe Max is your mom's favorite child!"

"Not a possibility, but a fact and-"

Melisa's sentence stopped when her eyes saw the strange crowd in the middle of the corridor. People suddenly gathered around something and that made Melisa's curiosity arouse.

She immediately got up from her chair and intended to approach the crowd to see what was happening. Three young men were seen trying to bully a tall and athletic young man wearing a black t-shirt and jeans.

"You're mute, aren't you? Hurry, tell me where you saw it?” One of them shouted harshly while trying to pull off the clothes the young man was wearing. The young man just stared coldly, he didn't say anything. His eyes are dark brown to almost black.

Melisa was one of the spectators among the dozens of people crowding the corridor, she didn't know what was really happening. However, after she observed it, the young man who was being bullied was the mysterious young man she met this morning near the Louis Family residence.

"He?" She thought. Even though she was very sure that this young man was the same person as the young man who emerged from the forest this morning, there was something different. The color of his eyes looked different, he was sure the young man had amber eyes this morning.

"What happened?" Heriet asked after finally deciding to join the crowd.

"I-I don't know," answered Melisa, her mind still racing.

"Sebastian's gang is at it again, huh?"

"Sebastian's gang?"

"The arrogant young man's name is Sebastian, he is a member of the football team and the one in black is the Jack Louis we told you about earlier."

"H-he's Jack Louis?" Melisa asked as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

Her eyes widened at the figure of the mysterious young man she met this morning and disappeared like a gust of wind. Suddenly, the young man's eyes turned towards her and stared at her with a cold gaze. Melisa was shocked, she swallowed hard.

"That's what they often do, bad boys. They're annoyed because Jack is too popular."

“Say it quickly, asshole...!” Sebastian shouted, even more excited to brag after realizing that many people had seen his action. He thought that he would look cooler if he was a bully like this.

“Hey, stop it...!” Melisa screamed spontaneously when she saw Sebastian about to hit Jack Louis in the face.

"Who are you? What do you want?” Sebastian asked, feeling annoyed because there was a woman who was trying to be a hero.

"How dare you play gangs like this, aren't the three of you embarrassed?" She said that even though she looked brave, she actually felt scared too. She didn't know why she was trying to defend this strange young man named Jack Louis, who was a former elementary school friend she never remembered. Even though it would be safer if she just pretended not to know.

"Lisa, what are you doing?" Heriet panicked. She could only bite her finger, but did not dare to go forward to help Melisa, who had already walked several steps forward.

“You want to be the hero here, huh? Stupid woman, you better get out of the way...!”

“Are you guys still kids? You are students, right? Do students still do childish creations like this?"

“This bitch, what are you actually saying?”

"This is a criminal act, if you don't stop right now,  I will write a news in the newspaper about your disgusting actions with the title 'THREE THUGS WITH BULLDOG FACES BULLYING A HANDSOME YOUNG MAN' how about that? Do you want it?" She said threateningly. The atmosphere, which had been quiet, immediately became chaotic due to the laughter of the crowd of students watching.

“Who are you calling a bulldog? How dare you. Don't you know who-" right before Sebastian threw out his fist at Melisa, Jack Louis immediately grabbed his hand, twisted his hands behind his back and pressed his firmly with his feet.

Kreeeekkk...

There was a sound of bones being crushed, Sebastian's eyes immediately widened and his face turned red.

"Aaagh...it hurts...! Stop it...!" He screamed in pain when he felt his arm bones were broken. Everyone who had been in chaos suddenly fell silent with the same thought.

The gathered students slowly backed away after realizing that the problem was much bigger than it seemed. Jack Louis is definitely very strange, he breaks someone's hand so easily and with that flat expression on his face.

Sebastian was still screaming, making everyone who saw him feel horrified, including Melisa, who was at a loss for words. A few moments later, the crowd began to disperse as a lecturer appeared to see what was going on.

Sebastian lay on the floor with his arms immovable. He looked in great pain, while his two friends tried to help him and were afraid that Jack would do the same to them.

Melisa remained silent and didn't move to look at Jack Louis' figure. They stared at each other for a few seconds until Jack finally started to leave.

"W-wait...!" Once again, Melisa did something stupid, namely calling someone who had already left just to wait until she would feel scared too.

Jack turned his head slightly as if he wasn't interested in serving her. However, Melisa felt even more curious about him.

"What?"

"Y-you were the one this morning, right? You don't remember me? We met this morning on the road near the forest entrance." She said. Jack didn't budge, without answering anything he continued his steps.

Melisa was confused, she couldn't believe there were people like that in this world. But one thing still left a big question mark in her head. How can his eye color change?

---