Erased

I wake up to the sun shining on my face. I still feel tired even though I probably slept for a good ten hours. I get up, put on my black-framed glasses, and walk to the window. People are already up, walking around their front yards and talking to their neighbors.

“Loveleen? Are you awake?” my mom yells.

I open my door to respond. “Yes, I am!”

“Hurry and get ready! We’re going to the charity bake sale event in a few minutes!” I pull myself away from the window and head to the bathroom. I look at my reflection in the mirror. Staring back at me is an average-looking girl with olive skin, dark brown hair, brown eyes, and glasses on her face.

I touch the scar on my chin. It’s a medium-sized scar and is noticeable. It starts at the middle of my chin and makes a jagged line to the right. I first noticed it a few months ago; I don’t even know how it got there.

I take a quick shower and put on a long-sleeved red blouse, which was a hand-me-down from my mom, with a pair of dark blue jeans. I quickly tie my hair back into a ponytail and rush down the stairs.

“There you are! Hurry up and eat!” my mom sets down a plate of waffles in front of me. I pour syrup all over the waffles, ensuring I fill every square. My mom shakes her head. “So much sugar! All you need is a small amount.”

“It doesn’t taste good with a small amount!” Amar, my younger brother, mumbles through a mouthful of waffles. Just like me, he drowned his waffles in syrup. My mom just keeps shaking her head.

“Hurry up you two. We’re going to be late if we don’t get going soon,” my mom says. I finish up my waffles and put my plate in the sink. I start walking away but my mom stops me. “Who’s going to wash your dishes, huh? Loveleen you are 17 years old! Clean up after yourself!”

Amar laughs. “Ha! You have to wash the dishes!”

My mom gives him a stern look. “You too mister! You’re 15 years old. You can also clean up after yourself!” My brother stops laughing and starts pouting. I laugh as I put dish soap on the plate and start scrubbing with the green and yellow sponge. I hear loud footsteps come down the stairs and I look up from washing the dishes. My dad runs down in a rush, fixing his dark red tie. My mom shakes her head. “It’s about time! You take so long to get ready! You take longer than Loveleen!”

“Hey! I don’t take long!” I protest. I may take more than five minutes in the shower, but I don’t take that long. My dad takes almost two hours to get ready.

“Well I’m here now aren’t I? Let’s go,” My dad says, rushing to get his black coat from the rack. Though the sun shines outside, the cold, wispy airs of winter are starting to blow. I look out the window above the sink. The fall leaves blow in the wind, scattering them across everyone’s lawns. The pile of leaves that our neighbor had raked now covers our front yard.

I pick up the hand towel that we have hanging on a hook and dry off my hands. Amar steps up to the sink to wash his syrup-covered plate. I walk over to the rack to pick up my dark green coat. I look up and realize that the tie that my dad is wearing matches his turban; it’s the same shade of elegant red.

“Amar! Hurry up! We’re going to be late!” My mom yells.

Amar rolls his eyes as he washes his plate. “How can we be late to a bake sale?”

My mom grabs her black coat, which looks almost exactly like dad’s and gives Amar a glare. “Well, the bake sale won’t be going on for that long! It’s only going on until twelve and it’s eleven! Hurry up!”

Amar finishes up and then runs to grab his dark red coat. “Okay, I’m ready, let’s go.”

We all pile into our five-seater car. There’s no exact name for the car; we just call it model 980. I’ve read history books where people used to name their cars. There was a Ferrari, SUV, Rolls-Royce, and so many more, but now they just name them based on the model number. Model 980 is a slick, black car with five seats. Nothing really special.

“Can I sit in the front?” Amar asks. My mom shakes his head as she heads to the front seat. Amar frowns. “I never get to sit in the front!”

“Amarjot Singh Deol! Stop complaining!” My mom snaps.

“Ooh, Mom said your full name!” I whisper. “You’re in trouble!”

Amar looks at me for a long time then rolls his eyes. He scoots into the backseat and buckles his seatbelt. I sit next to him in the middle seat. I fix my glasses on my face and lean back. “Ready to go?” My dad asks. We all nod and we’re off.

I look out the window at the rows of houses. All the houses are identical; they’re two stories tall with beige walls on the outside. The brown door is placed at the center with a window on each side and a window on top of the door. There’s nothing special about our house from our neighbor’s. The city council doesn’t let anybody put anything special on their houses. The only way we can distinguish our house from the others is the address. Our address is 3422.

My head feels weird; a foggy feeling fills my head. There’s another feeling too; like someone is trying to push something into my head, which makes my head throb. I put two fingers on my head and rub it. I’ve been having this feeling, along with the headaches, for months now. I have no idea why they come but they just do.

“Loveleen, are you okay?” My mom asks, looking at me through the rearview mirror.

“I’m fine. It’s just a small headache,” I reply. My mom looks at me for a little longer then turns her attention back to the world outside. A few minutes later, the feeling, and the headache, go away. I sigh with relief.

We arrive at City Park, where the bake sale is taking place. I watch children running around the dark green field full of grass as I step out of the car. A table is set up for the bake sale by the pearl-white gazebo in the middle of the park. Two kids, who look to be about twelve years old, stand behind the table, selling cookies, cakes, and other baked goods. Inside the gazebo, a table is set up with refreshments for those who buy a baked good.

“Loveleen? Finally!” I turn around to see my friend who I’ve known since I was a toddler, Akari. She runs toward me and wraps her arms around me into a bear hug. “You guys took forever!”

“This time it isn’t my fault,” I reply. “My dad took forever.”

“Whatever! Let’s go look at the food,” Akari grabs my arms and shakes me. “Do you know how long I waited for you to come? I didn’t buy a single thing yet! And you know how hard it is for me to not pig out on sweet food!”

I laugh and we walk over to the table. I look around to see where my family went. My parents already found their friends and are talking to them by the refreshments stand. My brother is laughing loudly with his friends by one of the benches at the corner of the park. We reach the table and Akari takes a wad of cash out from her pocket and looks at the boy standing behind the table. The boy has straight, blonde hair that goes up to his shoulders and is tied back in a ponytail. He smiles at me with his teeth and asks, “What would you like?”

“A chocolate cupcake,” Akari says as she hands over five dollars. The boy hands her a cupcake and I notice something. Actually, someone. Behind the boy is another boy. He looks to be about my brother’s age and has the same skin color as me but his hair is a different color than mine; his hair is black and wavy. He’s talking to people, who I assume are his friends. I’ve never seen him before but I feel like I have.

“Hello? Loveleen?” Akari snaps her fingers in front of my face and I look up at her. She gives me a look. “Where are you lost?”

“Nowhere,” I look back at the blonde-haired boy and hand him four dollars. “I’ll have a chocolate chip cookie.” He hands me my cookie. I take a huge bite. The taste of the chocolate chips fills my mouth. It is so good.

“Why can’t vegetables taste like this?” Akari mumbles through a mouthful of her cupcake.

I roll my eyes. “You wish everything could taste like cupcakes.”

“No, I don’t!” Akari protests. She looks up, her eyes widening, and then elbows me. “Oh my gosh. Look!”

I look up and follow Akari’s gaze to see Daniel Adler standing by the gazebo not too far from us. He’s looking out at the line of buildings that surround the park. “Daniel? What about him?”

Akari sighs, “Look how hot he looks.”

“Do you want me to smack you?” I ask. Akari has always been crazy about boys but has never actually been with any; apart from Henry Thomas who she “married” in kindergarten but that doesn’t count. “He does not look hot. He looks the same as he did last school year.”

“No! He had a glow-up! Can’t you see?” Akari whispers. I look back at Daniel. He looks exactly as I remember him: unruly blonde hair, pale skin, dark brown eyes, and a tall, lean figure. The only different thing I see is that he has a dark purple bruise on his chin.

I shake my head. “Akari, you are going crazy! He looks the same.” I finish up my cookie and clean my mouth with the napkin that had come with the cookie.

Akari glares at me. “You’re the crazy one.” She licks some frosting off her half-eaten cupcake. “Maybe-” She stops abruptly and stares at something. I raise my eyebrows as I follow my gaze to where she is looking.

On one of the red brick walls of the buildings surrounding the park are large, blue letters that have been spray painted on the wall. The letters form three words that make up a question: REMEMBER THE WAR?