Everybody Loves Me But You

You wander onto the Main Street and begin to explore Greenvale further. You are pleased to discover that Primrose Lane is far from an anomaly within this town - everywhere else is much the same. These people must take huge pride in their surroundings to keep them so clean and immaculately preserved. No fence is missing a lick of paint, every hedge looks freshly trimmed. It's such a lovely looking space to walk around in. And, oh man, the women! Each one of them you pass is a knockout beauty in her own right, while their husbands, boyfriends or fathers all seem like the stand up type you would be more than happy to have a beer with. The men all nod warmly as you walk by while the women smile prettily, preen their hair self consciously and, in the case of the bolder ones, shoot you a wink or even blow you a kiss.

Yes, something about Greenvale still strikes you as inherently unusual, but so what? Why do you have to question living in this utopia? The other residents here don't. Maybe that's why they are all so happy, and you should take a leaf out of their book. And as for so many women suddenly reacting to you in an overwhelmingly positive manner, which you are sure they never did before, why the fuck would you want to find a way to disprove that as being genuine?

As far as the town goes for somewhere to live, it's not the biggest place and isn't jam packed with dazzling amenities, but it has a ton of charm and everything you could reasonably need - a basic but serviceable range of shops, a cinema, a couple of nice looking restaurants, an inviting bar and, of course, Dr Jensen's clinic. You could easily see yourself staying here long term and potentially being very happy. So perhaps the best thing is to just accept you have landed on your feet and start enjoying the experience without constantly finding ways to cast doubt on every nice thing that happens to you.

You make your way towards a bus stop where you see a striking young woman with long dark hair and glasses reading a book.

She immediately catches your eye, not because she is beautiful - she is, but that is so commonplace here that the novelty of seeing a highly attractive woman has practically worn off already - but because, unlike anyone else in this town, she seems oddly familiar to you. That doesn't necessarily mean anything of course and, even if you had met her before, you have no idea where, when or in what capacity. Nonetheless, something about her intrigues you.

The girl looks up from her book, notices you staring at her and nods politely before returning to it. That is a remarkably reserved reaction by this town's standards, particularly from a female. Maybe she is a little shy. Certainly she doesn't seem to recognise you. Nonetheless, you decide to go and join her.

As you walk over to the apparent stranger she shifts across to make room for you but doesn't look up from her book, let alone say hello. Perhaps you were being a little presumptuous, but based on your other interactions with local women you half expected her to be dry humping you right there on the bench already.

"Hi, I'm Chuck"

"Hi Chuck, I'm Michelle"

She smiles at you for just long enough to be polite then returns to her novel once more.

"What bus are you catching?"

"I'm not"

She places her book down next to her in a manner that suggests she can't find any reasonable way of avoiding the conversation you are determined to have. She keeps it spread open at the page she was on though, a subtle sign she plans to get back to reading it soon.

"I only ever come here for a bit of peace and quiet" she tells you almost pointedly "Greenvale hasn't been on any bus routes for as long as I can remember."

"Huh? then how does anyone leave town?"

She laughs a little darkly at that comment, as if she is in on a joke that you aren't.

"Why would anyone ever want to leave Greenvale? It's perfect. Anyone here will tell you that."

"But you don't think so?" you note, picking up on her ironic tone.

She pauses for a moment, as if deciding whether to answer that or not.

"It hardly matters what I think. I'm sorry, I don't mean to be rude, but I'd really like to get back to my book."

Damn. You have a vague sense that this is how most of your attempts at trying to pick up women went before you arrived here. You decide to just be honest with her. Even if you don't get Michelle into bed, she somehow feels like someone who could be a valuable friend for you.

"Look, I'm sorry I disturbed you and I know I still am. It's just that I woke up here yesterday with literally no memory of anything and, as lovely as everyone in this town is, you're the first person I've spoken to who seems, well, normal."

Michelle puts her book down again, but this time she closes it and looks at you more sympathetically.

"I heard about your situation. It's good that you're feeling better again, but I'm sorry your memory has gone.That must be tough to deal with. Hopefully you get it back over time. As for Greenvale, it's a nice town, if a little constricting, and most of the people here are lovely and genuine as far as I can tell. I just find them a bit odd. There are only one or two folk in town who seem to me to be putting on a facade, for example.." she stops herself "Actually, forget my paranoid ramblings. I'd honestly better get going. I've been dawdling here for long enough"

She gets up and places her book in her bag.

"It was nice to meet you Chuck. I'm sure we'll run into each other plenty. This is a small town after all."

As Michelle walks away, you sit for a while still trying to get your head around that conversation. It was the first time that someone else seemed to hint they might be feeling the same nagging misgivings about this place that you have been. You feel like you need to make an effort to get to know Michelle better so she is prepared to open up to you more.

Also, maybe it comes down to that typically human psychological trait of wanting the only one you can't have, but if there is a particular girl in this town you are absolutely determined to sleep with, it's now her.