Seven years later.
As soon as she was done with her two drafts, Julie closed her laptop and rubbed her dry eyes. She grabbed the glass of water by the side of her laptop and gulped them all.
As soon as she was done with her routine, she closed her laptop and stood up from her study table. Looking at the time on her watch, she grabbed the keys on the table and headed to the garage.
02:03pm.
She boarded the four-by-four jeep and readjusted her makeup. She stared at herself in the mirror and sighed softly. She was already seeing white hairs scattered among her brown hair.
"Stress, right?" She mumbled under her breath and started the engines. She zoomed away from her garage and drove across the street.
* * * * * * * * * *
Inside an eighth-grade class, Hawking tore another piece of paper from his school book and continue scribbling something on it. He closed his eyes and smacked his head twice.
Come on, come on!
Then, his eyes glowed, like he suddenly remembered something, and quickly, he wrote his full name on the piece of paper.
He took the paper up and began saying his name loudly. "Hawking Daniel Williams… Hawking Daniels William…".
"Hawking!" The physics teacher called his name as he stopped his earlier explanation. Hawking stopped abruptly and stared straight at the teacher.
Then, he looked around and saw his classmates, all looking at him strangely. "I—I am sorry Mr Thomas", Hawking apologized and felt cringed inside.
This was the twentieth time this episode had occurred. He has been struggling with amnesia for like forever. It started when he was three when he won't even follow his mother home because he didn't know who she was.
This action worried Julie so much that she had to take him to the hospital, where the doctor diagnosed his condition as Temporary Forgetfulness Syndrome or TFS for short.
This was a rare condition, so it wasn't known much by many people, but it was a real thing, and the sufferers usually have a hard time coping. That's not even the worst thing yet.
There was no cure for this ailment. So he had to endure this shameful disease.
Like right now. Hawking found it hard to be friends with his classmates. Everyone thought he was strange. He couldn't blame them though.
Mr Thomas looked at him for a second before continuing his previous explanation. Hawking closed his eyes with exhaustion.
Packing all the papers that were scattered around him, he walked to the bin in the front of the class and dumped them, before returning to his seat.
Only twenty minutes to closing. He stared at the clock and simply wished to drag down the long hand to six.
"Hawking", Mr Thomas called, jolting him out of his thought. "Sir?" Hawking answered. "Can you tell me the three states of matter?" He suddenly asked.
Hawking frowned a little. "Mr Thomas, that question is for fourth graders", he said. "Answer my question Williams", Mr Thomas insisted. "You have trouble remembering that too?" He asked, and the whole class burst into laughter.
Hawking's mouth dried up immediately. "Solid, liquid, and gas", he said dejectedly.
"Good", Mr Thomas said, looking at him with some form of hostility, before continuing his explanation.
Twenty minutes later, the bell rang, and the class was dismissed. Hawking grabbed his bag and walked out of the class, hoping Julie was waiting before he walked out of the school.
He was deep in thought that he didn't realize when someone stretched a leg in his path, and before he snapped back to reality, he was already kissing the floor.
Then, there were three voices laughing. "Did you forget how to walk, Hawking?"
Hawking staggered up and turned back towards the exit. He knew who they were.
Nine graders picked on weak students like him and bully them. They have been a thorn in the flesh since sixth grade. But what could he do? He was just a nerd with no friends.
He reached the parking lot and saw Julie waiting for him in the parking lot.
He boarded the car and hugged his mum. "How was school today, honey?" Julie asked. Hawking removed the bag from his back and threw it at the back, without saying anything.
Julie understood the silence and sighed. "Bad day, huh?" She said in a low voice. "Yeah", Hawking answered.
Hawking stared at the window as his mum started the engine and left the school's parking lot to the road.
"Ms Mary called this morning", she began. "She said she didn't see you in her office yesterday", she added.
Hawking didn't say anything. Julie glanced at him for a second before facing the road. "Come on, talk to me, baby. Is there anything you want to tell me, tell me now", she said with concern.
"Nothing mum. I simply don't have the desire to go there", he said with mild exasperation. "You know, the therapist has done a great job in improving--"
"You see mum, that's the reason I don't like going there. I don't want people to see me like the freak that I am", Hawking snapped. "My classmates don't have to go to a therapist, or perform regular checks with the doctor", he said and stopped mid-sentence as his eyes were already welling up.
Julie sighed deeply and didn't say anything. The vehicle then fell silent.
* * * * * * * * * *
As soon as his watch beeped for the eleventh time, Richard took the last bite from his sandwich and climbed down from the scaffolding. He took off his safety helmet and placed it among the stacks of other helmets, before walking to his 2021 Mini Cooper and driving off.
He reached home thirty minutes later and drove to the garage. He saw the four-by-four SUV parked inside, which meant that Julie was home.
He walked to the door and opened it. Julie was in the kitchen preparing dinner, and Tammy and Elsa were sitting on the couch, watching the TV.
"Evening dad", Elsa greeted him. "Evening honey", Richard replied and looked at Tammy with a raised brow.
Tammy glanced at him, before leaving the sitting room and heading to her room. Richard wanted to sternly call her back, but he was too exhausted to even speak any further, so he watched her leave.
"Honeypot", Julie came out of the kitchen with a spoon in her hand. "Honeypot", Richard replied and kissed her. "You looked stressed", Julie said with a frown and told him to sit, as dinner was already done.
"Uhm, honey?" Richard stopped her. "Another episode?" Richard asked. Julie nodded sadly.