Forgotten Memories

Chapter 21: Phone Calls

-Alex-

Once they walk over to sit on the now-soaked blanket and grab plates from the picnic basket, Dante starts shooting Aria with all of his questions, so I just start grilling.

"Where are you from?" he asks, plopping down on the blanket.

"Texas," Aria replies. "But I actually currently live in New York with a couple of friends."

"How many friends do you live with? What are their names? How old are they?"

Aria laughs. "I have 5 friends back home. Their names are Luke, Rue, Daniel, Hope, and Milo. They're all around 18."

"Luke!" he says excitedly. "I remember him! He was one of Alex's friends too. He wears glasses, right? And he has yellow hair and stuff. Anyway, they're old. Why are they in-"

"Dante!" I shout, laughing at Aria's reaction. Her face scrunches up adorably when Dante said yellow hair. "Let her breathe at least!"

Aria laughs and waves her hand dismissively. "It's okay. It's cute watching him talk."

After a while their of questions-filled conversation, Aria stands up and walks over to me. "Can you go any slower?"

Laughing, I smack her arm. "Ha ha. Very funny."

"Seriously!" she exclaims, throwing her hands in the air. "It's been quite a while since you started. . ."

Smirking, I lift the plate full of meat in my hand. "Actually, I'm done."

Immediately, she snatches the plate away and runs back to the blanket, where Dante is currently rolling around. He sits up when he sees what Aria is carrying and cheers.

We sit and each grab a piece, when suddenly, Aria turns to me. "What was it?"

I frown. "What was what?"

"The reason. Why did I faint?"

I carefully set my plate back down and cross my legs. "Don't you remember?"

She shakes her head. "Not really."

I shrug. "You seemed kinda pissed off that I knew Rue. It was weird. How could I not remember? It's like you didn't know. She was my friend too, in the first place."

She rolls her eyes. "Of course, although to be honest, you two were always more than just friends. I don't know why I reacted that way though. Weird."

I smirk. "I could say the same to you, sweetheart. Luke's attempts weren't so subtle."

Her gaze saddens. "I guess."

After a moment of silence, Dante speaks up. "Hey, why did you come here in the firer place?"

Suddenly, her plate drops from her hands and onto Dante's legs. He complains, but I can't really hear him. My whole attention is on Aria.

"Aria?"

She's frozen.

"Aria."

Suddenly, she stands up and starts walking away. "Aria!"

I sprint after her, but as soon as I grab hold of her arm, she whirls around and backhands me.

I can hear the whip-like sound crack against my cheek, and Dante's gasp. Slowly, I open my eyes. "What the hell was that?" I ask softly. I'm not really the type of person to speak loudly when I'm mad, because I feel like it makes the whole situation worse.

The emotions in her eyes confuse me, but if I didn't know any better, I'd almost say that she was apologetic.

Then again, I do know better.

"That," she spits out at me, "was what you deserved."

I don't even flinch. "For what, may I ask?"

Her face grows red. "For what? Are you freaking kidding me? I can't believe I almost forgot. For tricking me. You've been so nice lately, as if trying to get me to forget that you were the one that stole my memories in the first place!"

I scoff. "That was Mark. I had nothing to do-"

She breaks me off. "Do I need to remind you of the attack on the restaurant, where you turned your back on us for them? You're just as guilty as the rest!" she exclaims, throwing her hands into the air.

I can feel my fists clench, but I suppress my anger. "Do you know how they drugged you and made you forget everything? Do you know how they drugged Luke? They're experts on that, Aria, and they drugged me too."

Her expression doesn't change. "Sure they did."

I shake my head in disbelief. "Damn it, Aria. You're not their only victim. I've had to work with them for the past months because they threatened to-" I break off. Glancing behind my back, I see Dante sitting on the blanket looking for something on the blanket, out of earshot. "They threatened to kill Dante."

Her face pales. "Well, t-that's nice," she mutters sarcastically. "You're being held to a death threat, and I'm actually threateningly close to death."

I freeze. "What?"

She nods. "I don't have much time left, thanks to Mark. Not that I mind, anyway. I don't want Luke to see me die."

••••••••••

-Luke-

"What?"

She nods, tears flooding her eyes. "Her mom called me this morning. She's gone."

"But-"

"That's all I know, Luke."

I sit down carefully on the bed and sigh. "Maybe she went for a walk or something. Maybe she went back home! Did you-"

Riiing.

As soon as I hear my phone ring, I jump to grab it. Hope stares at me while I pick it up. Swiping at the screen, I lift it to my ear. "Rue?" I ask frantically.

"What the-" the voice says in a falsetto. "If I may ask, who's this?"

I don't recognize the voice. It sounds childish, even with the falsetto. I look back at the screen and see Aria's picture. My eyes widen. Turning to Hope, she mouths who is it?

I shrug. Don't know, Imouth back.

"What in the world? Who's this? Where's Aria?" I shoot back. "And drop the falsetto. It's lame."

"She's busy," the person replies with a sigh, in a normal voice. "She's with my brother in a grownup conversation."

••••••••••

Please comment! Sorry for such a short story. . .

😐 Didn't have enough "imagination" to do it. Mm-kay. Sorry for taking forever too.

Ttyl!

~Ash