This morning was a rush to get my chores done, mostly laundry. There were a few things, like hitting the gym, that I didn't worry about. But some stops I needed to make, and so when Max was ready she came by and helped me get around so I wasn't waiting on buses. But I got together an overnight bag, and made sure I had warm clothes. After we made my stops, Max brought me to pick up Robert before meeting the others at Candace's.
Something seems up and I'm a little worried about Max. We were doing fine, but as soon as Robert joined us the car went silent. It made me anxious, and I wanted to break the tension, but I couldn't bring myself to speak. I'm not sure what's going on, and I haven't had a chance all day to talk to Max alone. Either way, once we arrived at Candace's, Max was out the door and happy as ever.
Sam did borrow his parents SUV, and it had enough room for all six of us and our things. I hate to admit it, but I expected Candace to have a ton of luggage. I was surprised to find she had fewer things than me. Hal was already there and had been helping Sam get everything together. Those two seem to have really hit things off lately, and despite them going behind my back to spend all this money on us, it's nice to see them working together.
Once we were loaded up, Sam called out a last bathroom break before we hit the road. It seemed reasonable enough to me, but Robert scoffed and remarked that we weren't children. Max told him to stuff the attitude or he could walk home. It shut him up, but they didn't talk all the way here.
Hal made sure they didn't drag down the trip though and made sure to keep everyone's spirits up. He had asked me to make sure to bring music, which I was all too happy to do. He asked Sam a lot of questions about smithing and especially what he's done with the Renaissance Fair. He even got Max talking about her studies and working toward becoming a nurse. He tried asking Candace about herself, and I noticed Sam look toward her. I realized suddenly that Hal didn't know Candace had amnesia. But whatever worry Sam had, Candace turned on her charm and got Hal talking about himself instead.
Not to suggest Hal is a narcissist, but he does enjoy talking about his area of study and what he does at the museum. But he also enjoys working for the Illuminati, so I paid close attention for when his story would turn in that direction. It inevitably did, and knowing it was coming I used the chance to change the subject. It was a risk, but at the moment I was too worried about how Sam would react to Hal's secret society. Instead, I asked Robert about what he was studying for at the University. I wanted to avoid him feeling like a fifth wheel or something, and was hoping to ease the tension between him and Max. Fortunately Robert is a bit of a narcissist and was all too happy to talk about how great a soccer player he is and how he's going to go on to lead the US to victory in the World Cup.
We drove in to Fraser with most of the afternoon to spare. So after checking in at the hotel we asked about local things to do. The clerk recommended a few things, but we latched on to The Foundry. It's a movie theater, bowling alley, and pizza joint all in one. So we went there, watched a movie, had dinner, and tried to knock down a bunch of pins. It was a lot of fun and even got Robert to lighten up.
We eventually had to head back to the hotel though, and each of us went to our rooms. I don't know about the others, but I've been enjoying my time with Hal. It's nice not feeling the pressure to call off our conversation so he can get me home. We've been talking this whole time while I've been trying to write, which means this is taking me a lot longer than it normally would.
Hal's been telling me about a news story from the other day. A trucker picked up a woman walking down the highway as he was coming to Denver. He delivered her to a hospital and they called in the authorities. She fits the description of many of the other people who have mysteriously shown up: unique clothing, wandering aimlessly, and speaking little to no English. There's a few things that peak Hal's interest. Firstly that her clothes are definitely a different style from the others, characterized as being of a higher class. Even more interesting is that she actually does speak some English, which leads to the final note of interest. Not only does she not know where she is, it seems she has complete amnesia, not even knowing who she is. As I already mentioned, Hal isn't aware that Candace also has amnesia, so he's not finding this interesting in the same way I am. I'm finding it difficult not to think maybe there's a pattern with the amnesia. I can't talk to Hal about it, cause it's not my place, but I'll have to find time to talk to Candace about it.
I'm starting to drag this out, and I think I'm feeling a little nervous about tonight. But tomorrow's not going to be any fun if I don't get any sleep.
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