"Hey, Karyn," Lucy said, "can I ask you a favor?"
"Sure," Karyn replied.
"Can I use your phone? We're staying a bit later than I thought we would, so I need to call my mom."
Karyn gave Lucy a look. "What's wrong with your phone?"
"Oh! I didn't tell you? I dropped my phone yesterday and it fell down a sewer drain. My parents are pissed and they don't want to get me a new one."
"Wait, then how did you get my message to come over?"
"Because I can also get messenger on my computer?"
Karyn thought a moment. That made sense. But it prompted a nagging at the back of her head. Instead of reaching for her own phone, Karyn's eyes drifted around the room. There was something, the phantom murmurings of an idea, and she knew that once she saw a particular object, everything would click.
The phone! Karyn's old LG phone! Karyn was using one of the new ones, one of the ones with the pink cases, but she could totally give Lucy her old phone, and then it would be getting used, too.
"Melody," she called over to the girl at the desk, "toss me the LG phone by you, it's next to the cheerleader figurine."
Melody did so, and upon receiving it, Karyn turned back to Lucy. "I'm not using this one any more. You can have it."
"Really?"
"Yeah, let me just do a factory reset first."
Karyn navigated through some settings and ended up on a screen with a set of checkboxes.
First checkbox: "Erase conversations? Yes."
Karyn blinked. "Hey, what were we just talking about?"
"You said you were going to reset your phone for me," Lucy offered.
Karyn looked down at the phone in her hands. "Right."
Next checkbox: "Erase contacts? Yes."
Karyn looked up from the screen. Who were these people around her? She tried to think, but none of their names came to mind. She tried to think about anyone, but for some reason, she was drawing a blank. She couldn't recall a single face or a single name she had ever seen or heard before. Certainly that wasn't possible. She knew what a name was, so everyone must have one.
"You okay, Karyn?"
"Huh? Oh. Right, I was resetting the phone."
Last checkbox: "Erase memories? Yes."
Wait, memories? Not "memory"? Before the thought could process, the screen on the phone went blank, and Karyn's body went stock still, her eyes staring blankly out into space.
All other eyes were on Karyn. A mass of panic erupted, as the four other girls tried to maneuver their way closer to her. Words jumbled, Arms flew. Shouts of Karyn's name rang out arrhythmically.
But after about ten seconds, the screen on the phone lit back up, and Karyn returned to a more natural posture.
"Where am I? Who are you?" Karyn asked, as the newly-reset phone looped a loading animation.
Melody at this point was at Karyn's side, arm across her shoulders. "Your name is Karyn Black. This is your bedroom. We're all your friends. I'm Melody, that's Lucy, that's Tiffany, and that's Melissa," she said, pointing to each girl in turn.
Karyn slowly swiveled her head, taking in all of the faces, taking in all of the room. Okay. This was her bedroom. Everything here was hers. These were her friends. The people she would stick by no matter what. Those two facts were the only pieces of information she knew, and they stood as the foundation of anything else that might be built up.
Melissa, who was closest to the door at this point, announced that she was going to get a glass of water for Karyn, and left to do just that.
Meanwhile, the loading screen on the phone completed itself, and buzzed in Karyn's hand. She looked down at it, and it seemed to almost speak to her. Almost like a memory, but it wasn't hers.
"Oh right, here Lucy, you can have this." And she dropped the phone in the smaller girl's hand, just as Melissa returned with water.
Karyn took a drink, amid a renewed chorus of concern. "I'm okay, I'm okay. I think I was just a little dizzy for a few seconds there."
She took a deep breath.
"I'm glad you all came by. You're my best friends." Karyn didn't say this out loud, but it felt in her head like they were her only friends. "But I think I just need to lie down."
Lucy picked up Karyn's phone, the one with the pink case, and put it in Karyn's hand. "I think we should go, then, but if you need anything, if you start feeling worse, you call one of us, okay?"
Karyn nodded, accepting the phone, and the girls said their goodbyes, taking with them the items that Karyn had promised them.
