To the Mall with Nat

Jamie blinked a few more times, not really aware of what had happened. He felt his hand vibrate and it surprised him. He lowered his eyes to look at his lap saw that he had his phone out. On the screen said a simple message.

“Natalie: I'm outside!”

Jamie blinked again.

“Oh!” he said to no one as he got up and rushed to put on his shoes before leaving.

Natalie waved as Jamie closed the door behind himself. Quickly, he made his way to the car and hopped in.

“Hey, Natalie. How are you doing today?”

“Doing good...are you alright?” Natalie asked, concerned by the distant look that Jamie had.

“Sorry...I guess I'm just tired,” Jamie rubbed his eyes.

“Same. Want to grab a coffee on the way?”

“Oh, very much so.”

Along the way, Jamie's phone buzzed again, reminding him of the message Natalie had sent earlier. Opening it up to clear it out, he saw something strange. I looked like he had Nat had exchanged a few messages before she arrived.

“I don't remember this,” he thought to himself.

He scanned the text change quickly and a few words and phrases jumped out at him.

Nothing to wear

Going out with Mark tonight

Want the night to go well.

“Is that Mark?” Nat said with a grin.

“Oh, no...just, uh, thought I got a message,” Jamie didn't want to worry his friend but he was feeling a little uneasy with the fact that they had a whole conversation that he couldn't remember. He would need to read it later to figure out what they were talking abo-

“Here we are,” Nat announced, having pulled into a parking space.

Jamie was shaken from his his thoughts, allowing them and his worries to slip away. Natalie could tell that something was up with Jamie but jumped to the wrong conclusion, based on their text conversation. She leaned over and hugged Jamie, much to his surprise.

“Don't worry, I told you that I'd help. You trust me don't you?” she smiled disarmingly.

“Uh, yeah, of course.”

“Then stick with me and you are going to do great.”

Jamie didn't know what this was all about but he was happy that Nat was so supportive.