“Explain to me why we’re having dinner with your grandmother? Isn’t it enough that I met your parents?” Ariel groaned as Aaron dragged her to his car. She could hear him sighed impatiently as he opened the door and gently shoved her inside. “Because she’s my grandmother.” He stated calmly as he turned the car ignition on. Ariel heaved a huge frustrated sigh and mumbled,

“Why do I have to see that old bat anyway? If I remember correctly she called me country farm trash every chance she gets not only in front of me but other people as well, and if that’s not insulting enough, she called my parents gold diggers.”

The girl crossed her arms and turned to the side window purposely avoiding her boyfriend’s apologetic face.

“Ariel, I want you and grandma to get along. She’s really important to me…please.”

Ariel avoided looking into her boyfriend’s eyes. She knew he was giving her the sad puppy eyes, pleading her to agree with what he wants. Aaron turned to face the girl sitting next to him. He patted her on the head waiting for her answer. Ariel groaned again but nodded reluctantly.

“Mom and dad really like you, so what if grandma’s a little picky? You’re so lovable I bet you’ll win her over in no time.” Aaron said optimistically.

“Haha, very funny Aaron. I’m only doing this because I like you.”

Ariel felt a little sad and relieved when Aaron didn’t respond with “and I like you too.”

It was true, she really like Aaron…maybe even love him. Ariel still remembered vividly his sleeping head and soft hands as he held her hand in his the morning she first woke up from her coma two years ago. Aaron was by her bedside day and night. Because he was always by her side, he became someone she depended on, someone who was familiar to her…even though she had no idea who he was or how they met.

He would caressed her face and whispered, “Don’t leave me Rainie.” The name ‘Rainie’ was hauntingly familiar but something deep inside Ariel’s heart knew that was not her name. The next morning an older couple came to visit her and told her they were her parents.

Just like the name was unfamiliar to her, so were the man and woman who claimed to be her parents. She tried desperately to remember their faces but couldn’t. The doctor said she lost her memories, amnesia…it may be short term, long term or forever.

She told her parents she didn’t want to be called “Rainie”, she told them the name felt wrong and that it belonged to someone else. Ariel still remembered the sad glances her parents gave each other before turning to her.

Mrs. Lin showed her a birth certificate with the name ‘ Rainie Ariel Lin”. Immediately she told her parents she wanted to be address as “Ariel”. The name felt right, she didn’t know how to explain it…except she felt the name was a part of her identity.

Aaron had a hard time with her name change, in the beginning he kept calling her ‘Rainie’, there was even a time he said she was like a different person. She was not the girl he fell in love with…yet for some odd reason he still held onto her.

For two long years she wanted to ask Aaron why he was still with her. It was obvious whatever feelings he had for her...for her when she used to be call "Rainie" those feelings were gone. But like a coward she was afraid to ask.

Ariel sneaks a glance at her boyfriend. He was frowning slightly, both hands on the steering wheel his mind intent on the road.

"Stop staring at me."

"Sorry, I'm just a little nervous about meeting your grandma."

"Don't be. Ariel...she's going to call you Rainie...do you mind?" Aaron asked softly not taking his eyes off the road.

"I told you that's not my name."

Aaron didn't answer. Ariel frowned. What was wrong with her? It seems she was only good at making him upset or worry. She closed her eyes and sighed again. It's just a name; let his batty grandma call you Rainie if it makes her happy! Why are you so stubborn? Ariel frowned again, every fiber in her body was against being call that name.. it felt wrong...a name that's not hers.

It was hard to explain...but what if Aaron was right? What if she is so different from the person she was before that she could never go back to being the person everybody knew and loved? What if she could never go back to being "Rainie" again? Ariel couldn't stop wondering who this...Rainie person was...why was the name so hauntingly familiar yet...not at all?

The pictures in her room suggest everybody was telling the truth. The girl in the picture grinning with her parents as she was poised to blow her eighteenth birthday candles...the prom night pictures with her friends and Aaron, the picture of her and Aaron holding hands leaning against what looked like a high school wall. The girl in all of those pictures looks identical to her, yet she empty as if all those events happened to someone else.

Unconsciously, Ariel covered her hand over the locket she had around her neck, for some odd reason the locket made her feel safe, familiar and sane. She noticed Aaron glancing at her locket; his mouth grimaced in a thin line but didn’t say anything.

It was as if Aaron did not like the old worn out locket. He asked her once why she didn’t take it off; he had even offered to buy her a new locket…but the thought of separating from her old worn out locket had Ariel in just a panic Aaron never mentioned it again.

After a long silence, she felt Aaron squeezed her hand gently in comfort. She tried to smile, hiding her anxiousness but knew he saw through her.

“I will remain grandma to call you Ariel, that’s your name now right?” Aaron whispered as if reminding himself. Ariel felt tightened and she nodded.

“That’s my name...now”