Mind Wipe; Part One

Marilyn knew she wasn’t the average girl. She knew average girls weren't shoved into their lockers each time they were seen. She knew average girls weren't harassed, bullied, and called names all through sixth grade. But today was nothing less than different. First day of seventh grade, and it was like summer never happened. She felt as if she never changed, never grew.

Marilyn loved to read. This was probably why people bullied her, nobody in her school, The Wolfhard Middle School, read. All but two people, Clara and Eddy. They were frequent readers just like Marilyn, they read the same books together at the same time. And today, the first day of seventh grade, they started their day off as usual, in the cafeteria. At the farthest table, in the corner.

“Hello ladies,” said Eddy as he grabbed a seat to sit down at the table. The girls were already reading Fahrenheit 451, a classic. “Shhh,” the girls whispered in unison. There was usually no discussions while they were reading, they were just so lost in their books they had no words to talk. Eddy quietly sat down at the table, opened his book, and began reading as well. After a few minutes, the bell rang and all three got up to go to their classes.

Marilyn’s locker was next to the popular kids’ lockers, so she was an easy target for their harassments. And just like every time, she was shoved down. Although she had gotten used to being thrown to the ground, it still hurt, an she was on the verge of tears. Her lip quivered and her eyes began to water. Clara and Eddy knew she had been bullied, but have never been around to witness it. Marilyn insisted that she was fine, so the two never steppen in.

Today was different. Eddy’s first period class was close to Marilyn's locker, and today, he saw her. Eddy wasn’t strong, but he had to try to be to protect his friend. Eddy shoved past the crowd of laughing students, to find Marilyn in the center, badly bruised. He helped her up and ran back through the crowd. He didn’t know where to run, but he just kept going. Until he was faced by the bullies who hurt Marilyn.

Eddy ran backwards into a class that was currently in the middle of a lesson. The teacher didn’t need an explanation, the two of them were both given detentions. After a long talk in the office, and a call home, the two were put in in-school suspension. During this time, they were put in a locked room to write an essay apologizing to the class for interrupting, and to do the school work that they would miss that day.

Marilyn and Eddy could write essays in a flash, and with no teacher observing them, they could talk about whatever they wanted. The first few minutes they were put in the room, they sat in silence. Then Marilyn leaned over and hugged Eddy and cried for a little while, Eddy cried with her. They didn’t have the power to speak up, so they just had to accept whatever punishment they were given. They both knew this wasn’t right, no one would believe them anyway. They both wrote their essays and finished school work, in the time they were given, and they had a lot of time to talk.

“I-I-” Marilyn stuttered. Eddy felt the same way. “It’s ok,” he assured her. A way Marilyn calmed down was to control her breathing and clenched her fists. Eddy usually thought that this was silly, but today, he considered it. It worked. After enough time, they were calm enough to talk. “I should transfer,” Marilyn suggested. “No way,” Eddy responded, “My mom won’t let me leave, and I’m not staying here without you.”

Marilyn thought, and thought. She couldn’t leave her friends, and couldn’t stay with the bullies. She sank into her chair, and started shaking in frustration. Eddy hugged her again, but it was no use. This was a dilemma that Marilyn couldn’t get out of. And after a while, detention was over.

Marilyn and Eddy walked home together in silence. Both sets of parents would not like to hear that their children had been put in detention, piling the stress on both of them. Marilyn’s house approached and she began to get worried. The closer she got, her heart rate increased. And when she was just a few steps away from her driveway, she took off running. She ran to the neighborhood park and hid behind a bench in a pavilion.

Eddy caught up to her, “What the hell are you thinking! Are you trying to get us killed!?” Eddy realised what he had said and backed down, Marilyn began to cry. Eddy kneeled down next to her and put his hand on her shoulder, “We’ll get through this.” They both hugged one last time before getting up and walking home.

Marilyn’s parents were furious, Her dad was threatening to send her to a behavior camp, while her mom was considering moving to a new state. Marilyn kept her composure as she clenched her fists, and nodded with a straight face. Eddy’s parents were calling the school demanding an explanation, and threatening to move him to. Eddy used the same tactic as Marilyn and clenched his fists, and nodded with a straight face.

After both sets of parents completed their lecture, they both went up to their rooms and lie on their beds, numb. Eddy was the first to text, “Come on, we have to come up with ideas,” “Not now,” replied Marilyn. Eddy understood, and didn’t text her again that night. Eddy lied awake on his bed, every time he closed his eyes he saw the image of Marilyn crying and shook himself awake. “This is my fault,” he said before going to bed.

The next day, Clara sat alone in the cafeteria wondering where Eddy and Marilyn were. They were sitting in the office getting lectured by the principal about behavior. All they could do was nod. After a few permission slips were signed, and a few warnings were given, they were on their way. “Can I put my books in your locker today?” Marilyn asked. “Y-Your not mad at me?” Eddy questioned. “What? No of course not! You saved me from a bully beat down yesterday! Why would I be mad at you?” She playfully punched him on the shoulder. Eddy smiled.

Classes went by like nothing happened. Some people barely noticed they were gone. Besides the glares from teachers, the day came and went just as soon as it started. At the end of the day, the whole school went outside to wait for the busses. This was the most dangerous time at school because bullies and geeks roamed free. Eddy, Marilyn, and Clara would wait behind the glass doors of the building to wait for their busses.

“Where the hell were you guys yesterday?” Clara announced. “In-school suspension!” replied Eddy. Clara’s mouth dropped, “What?” Marilyn stared out the glass door, not hearing their conversation. Looking at the popular kids, wishing she could be normal. A minute into her staring, Eddy brought her back to reality to tell her that the buss had come. Marilyn shook her head and walked to the other side of the building to walk home.

Eddy didn’t follow, he knew she needed some alone time to think and calm down, so we walked out the glass door onto the bus, where he sat alone. Marilyn wanted Eddy to come, she just didn’t want to make Clara feel left out. So when she looked behind her expecting to see Eddy, the sight of no one made her stop. She turned around to look back at the school. A salty tear ran down her cheek.

Marilyn ran home as rain clouds formed above her. When the rain started to fall, she couldn’t tell the difference between tears or rain. She thought Eddy had her back, but today wasn’t the case. He wasn’t there for her when she walked home, soaking wet. She banged on her front door, and to her parents surprise, she wasn’t with Eddy. They wrapped her in a towel, and gave her a nice warm meal. They ate in solace, not forgetting the events of yesterday.

After dinner, Marilyn didn’t bother to text Eddy. She was alone. She went onto her computer to check for any messages, when she saw an ad, “Life struggles getting you down? Try Mind Wipe today!” The ad caught Marilyn’s attention. “Life struggles,” she thought. “I have those.” She clicked on the ad hoping it wasn’t a virus when an article by the company Mindwipe.inc so she knew it wasn’t fake. She read the article and became interested.

“With the help of modern technological advances, scientists have been able to identify where bad, unwanted memories, are stored in the brain. Luckily, we can remove this part, without causing any damages to any part of the brain!” Marilyn read, and read at first she thought it was a joke, but now she sees it’s real! “Get yours today!” Marilyn sat back in her chair. She had found her escape. The key to a happy life.

She scrolled to the bottom of the page to read the fine print, “For the small price of 3,000 dollars, you can have a clean mind in no time!” Marilyn sat back again and sighed. She stood up, and walked to her piggy bank  in the corner of the room, smashed it, and retrieved the money. “Six hundred dollars,” she said with a sigh. Normally this would be a good thing, but it was not enough.

Marilyn’s birthday was approaching in about a month, she could only ask  for money, but that wasn’t a guarantee she would get enough. She could mow lawns, tutor, volunteer at the local pet store. All were good ideas, but could she get it before the end of the year? Immediately, Marilyn went downstairs, “Hey mom, I’m trying to earn money for collage. Can I only get money for my birthday?” she lied.

“Great idea honey, I’ll call the grandparents,” she replied. Marilyn went upstairs and sat back down in her chair, she was shaking with excitement now. It was late, so she had to go to sleep, but she knew that would be impossible. She paced around the room a few times, re-read the article, and finally, used her fist clenching technique to calm down. She laid in her bed, and fell asleep, smiling the entire night.

The next day, Eddy awoke groggily, he checked his phone, no text messages from Marilyn. He got dressed, and went downstairs to grab a bite to eat. His parents were not there. This was a usual occasion, he packed his book bag and walked down the street to Marilyn’s for breakfast. He saw Marilyn halfway down the road already walking to school. Eddy caught up to her, “Marilyn? We have like an hour ‘till school starts!” Marilyn turned around, saw Eddy, and kept walking.

Eddy ran up to her, “Marilyn?” he touched her shoulder, “Everything alright?” Marilyn nudged him off. “Is this about monday? I’m sorry I yelled at you I…” “I walked home alone yesterday! Alone! You broke one rule, our only rule! ‘Friends never walk alone’” Marilyn ran to school, Eddy walked slowly behind her, until he couldn't see her anymore.

Marilyn sat down at the cafeteria table with Clara. “Woah, Woah, Woah, where is Eddy?” He walked through the door and sat down at another table. Clara got up and walked to his table. “Eddy, what’s up?” Eddy put his head down. Clara glared at Marilyn, and she walked over to Eddy’s table. “I have something to tell you guys,” she said quietly. Their eyes went to Marilyn. She opened her computer and brought up the website. They scrolled through the article.

Clara hugged Marilyn, and Eddy lowered his head. Marilyn walked over to him, “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “It’s ok” Eddy whispered back. They hugged. Clara was in front of Eddy giving a thumbs up. Eddy winked. The bell rang. Eddy and Marilyn shared a locker again. “I’ll give you 200 dollars, if it will help,” said Eddy. “You don’t need to do that,” said Marilyn. Clara tapped her on the back, she was holding 200 dollars already. Marilyn stepped back

“I don’t want to take your money!” she laughed. Clara put the money in her hands and walked away. Marilyn rolled her eyes and put the money in her book bag. Eddy and Marilyn grabbed their books from the locker and began to walk to class. They talked for a while until they reached their two separate classes. “Come to my house after school, I’ll give you my share,” Eddy smiled. “Ok,” Marilyn replied.

When the day was over, Marilyn and Eddy walked together again. They talked a while about what would happen after the mind wipe, and how the science behind it worked. They arrived at the house and went up to Eddy’s room. Eddy dug in his drawer and pulled out a wad of cash, and handed it to Marilyn.

Marilyn thanked Eddy a thousand times. She gave him a hug. They talked a while about the book they were reading and how it was going. After a while, Marilyn decided to go home. And before she left, she kissed Eddy on the cheek, and skipped home. Eddy blushed for a long time, his hand touching his cheek.

Marilyn had 1,000 dollars. She was �" of the way there. She put all of her cash in her jewelry box so her brother wouldn’t steal it. She still needed a way to make more money. Thinking of ideas while walking on her street, she came across a sign, “25 dollars an hour, MOW MY LAWN!” she looked up at the house hosting that sign. An old dirty house with the longest grass ever seen.

She knocked on the door of the house and was greeted by a grumpy old man. “Front and back, there’s the mower.” He shut the door. Marilyn shrugged, and walked to the rusty old machine. With a few pulls of the starter, the machine roared, and took off. Marilyn mowed the front and backyard in about two hours, therefore making 50 dollars. The old man gave her 50 dollars, and she was on her way.

Marilyn came come 50 dollars closer to her goal. She still had a long way to come, but every penny counted. She texted Carla and Eddy a second thanks, and started to get ready for bed. Marilyn stayed awake, shaking with excitement. But after a few minutes of her calming technique, Marilyn was fast asleep.

Three weeks had passed since Marilyn first started mowing lawns. Since the beginning, she had earned 700 dollars, her total now 1,700. Today was Marilyn’s birthday party. 10 people came, including Eddy and Carla of course, the rest were family. The three spent time in Marilyn’s room reading books and playing games. The only thing Marilyn got for her birthday was cash, 800 dollars, 100 from each person. She was 500 dollars away from her new life.

After everyone at the party left, it was just Marilyn, Eddy, and Carla. The three talked about Marilyn’s mindwipe and how they would get to know her when she came back to school. “What if you won’t like us anymore?” Eddy said, worried. “Don’t worry, they only take out the bad memories, not the good ones.” Marilyn assured.

“Actually, it says in the fine print that the surgery causes lost memory to all of those who were involved. Wasn’t Eddy involved in the ‘incident’?” Clara added. The room went quiet. “It’s ok,” Marilyn said, “We’ll get to know each other!” The room filled with laughter, and the three knew that it was going to be ok.

Marilyn went to bed calmly this time, she had learned to control herself. That didn’t stop her from being excited every day. And the monday after her birthday, for the first time in her life, she went to school with a smile on her face. Eddy and Clara were amazed when they saw Marilyn smiling. “Woah,” Eddy said, “I’ve never seen that here.” Marilyn laughed, but the two were serious, they couldn’t believe what they saw. “You really are excited aren’t you!” Clara added. “Of course I’m excited! For once in my life I’ll be normal!” Marilyn exclaimed.

The bell rang and all three went to their separate classes. The only class all three had together was study hall, so when they saw each other, they all sat at the same table. Carla always had something new to discuss. “Ok, so I was thinking-” “That’s not good,” Eddy interrupted. “Shut up!” Anyway I was thinking why don’t we have a goodbye party for Marilyn before her surgery.”

“That-that sounds like a great idea!” Marilyn replied. The three wrote down dates, times, and essentials needed for the three person party. The date was set the night before the surgery. Until then, Marilyn had lots of lawns to mow, and bullies to fight, but she still couldn’t wait.

For the next three weeks, Marilyn mowed many lawns, and collected as much money as possible. The night before her party, she collected the last 50 dollars needed to complete her surgery. She finally had it, 3,000 dollars. As she held it in her hands, her emotions overwhelmed her, and she began to cry. When she had no tears left, she went down and explained to her parents what she was really doing with her 3,000 dollars.

“Is this a joke?” Her dad said with a smirk. “No dad this is real I’m going through a lot right now and-“ “Absolutely not young lady! Go to your room!” Marilyn ran up the stairs crying. She was so close to reviving her life, and it was lost in a second. She cried through the whole night and blaming herself for not thinking this through. The next day, Marilyn couldn’t face her parents, she climbed out the window onto her roof and stared at the sunrise. She climbed onto the top of her playground and slid down the slide.

Walking to school, Eddy caught up behind her. “Hey, what’s up?” He said. “I can’t get the surgery, my parents won’t let me,” she said through sobs. “What? No. We are getting you that surgery! I’ll ask my parents to drive, they can’t say no!” Marilyn stopped crying, she smiled. “You are the best,” she said. Eddy smirked, “I know,”

Walking into school the day before her surgery felt amazing. She walked the halls with pride and even the bullies looked surprised. Eddy and Clara couldn’t be more happy for her. They got out of class as much as possible to spend the most time with her, because this is the last time they would see her like this. As the day slowly ended, Marilyn walked home with both of her friends. They had an hour before the party.

Eddy walked home with a contract for his parents to sign to agree to the surgery. “Marilyn is getting a surgery tomorrow and her parents will be out of town. She needs someone to drive her.” He lied. “Oh yes of course! Anything for Marilyn! He said while signing. Eddy sighed in comfort. He grabbed the contract and walked up to his room.

On his bed he had a teddy bear with a stuffed heart in its hands. Eddy grabbed a sharpie and on the heart he wrote, “Don’t forget me!” His alarm on his phone went off and that meant it was time to go to the party. Eddy put on a jacket and walked over to Marilyn’s house.

Clara had a nice handwritten note to give to Marilyn, she also had a box of chocolates, another stuffed animal, and a frown. Clara was nervous that Marilyn would forget her, if that was the case, what had she done? Despite this she was still happy for her friend and couldn’t be more excited to see a smile on her face.

Both arrived at Marilyn’s doorstep with their gifts. While they were waiting for Marilyn to answer the door, Eddy started to sniffle,”You ready?” Clara said patting his shoulder, “Honestly, no” he sniffed. They managed to prevent the tears when Marilyn opened the door, smiling more widely than ever. Both of her parents were at a meeting, so the house was theirs.

Marilyn had candy and popcorn laid out on the living room table. A movie ready to play on the t.v. Eddy and Clara laid their gifts on the table, and they shared a group hug. Marilyn brought blankets and pillows down to the living room, and they started the movie. Eddy didn’t pay attention, his eyes were on Marilyn the entire time. And when a sad part in the movie came, he was able to let his tears out, though they weren’t at the movie.

After the movie was over, Clara had to go home early, she had a curfew time. Marilyn said her last goodbye to her friend. And when the door closed behind her, two sets of tears were shed. Eddy and Marilyn ate the leftover candy on the table while talking about the book they were currently reading. Eddy felt if he were to talk about leaving Marilyn, he would start to cry again.

After the candy was gone, it was almost time for Eddy to go. “Marilyn, before I go, please don’t forget me,” he said with watery eyes. They hugged for a minute in tears. “It’s ok, I’m sure I’ll notice you right when I come out of surgery.” Marilyn added. Eddy wiped away his tears and stood up.

“Marilyn, I love you.” “I love you too Eddy,” she replied. “No Marilyn, I really love you,” “W-what,” Marilyn stuttered. “I knew that I loved you for a while now, I thought maybe if you reject me now, you’ll forget and we can start over,” Eddy explained. “Eddy I love you, as a friend, you’re like a brother to me,” Eddy nodded, walked out the door and shut it behind him. He was numb for the walk home, but as soon as he laid in bed, Eddy was the one crying.

Reviews

[Fae West]

Love the concept but I'm skimming to get to the action. Let the action tell the story and trust the reader to understand the emotions without you explaining them. Is this aimed at teens or a younger audience? I'm brand new here and don't know how to share feedback very well yet.

[Artsy11200]

Thank you so much for commenting! It is aimed at younger audiences like myself, and i'm not an experienced writer yet, but I do the best I can to write an exciting story. I appreciate your feedback!