Hidden Motives

Changed, But All The Same

The next morning I woke up with every memory I had seemed to have forgotten fresh in my mind. I remembered everything.

The fire.

The fight.

The uneasy feeling I got when I was being followed by the car.

Everything was back.

I bolted up and ran to Max's room.

"Max! I remember everything! Someone's after me and I need you to help!" I yelled knocking on his door.

The door immediately opened and a shirtless Max stood before me. I scanned his strong chest and beautiful tanned abs before making contact with his mesmerizing eyes.

He looked confused. "What Zara? You...got your memory back...or is something wrong right now?"

"No..no, it's back. It's all back..and...and that night someone was following me in a car. When I left your house after our argument a car followed me. I ran off to the hill in hope that I would lose them and that's when the fire started. Max someone started the fire." I quickly explained.

He scanned me for a while before saying. "Well, that explains a lot. I'm glad your memory's back, but, we are going to have to discuss this with an FBI agent or something. This is serious Zara. Someone tried to hurt you." Max said with concern visible on his face.

"I have an Agent on the case and I need to go talk to him now. It's Agent Simmons. Can you please take me to him now?" I asked.

Max sighed "I would love to Zara, but you gotta understand that you can't miss any more school. I don't even know how Kailyn has managed to make sure her dad doesn't drop you. At this point, it's hard to believe that you'll graduate. I really want to help you, but you know that stuff isn't really my forte."

I smiled at him. "Max I don't know if you've noticed this but school isn't exactly my priority. I'm really not trying to have some random hitman trying to kill me at all times. Or whatever it is that's trying to hurt me."

"Whoever" Max corrected. "It's a person connected to your father for sure, and as far as safety, you do realize you have the whole FBI watching over you. Including me. You aren't going anywhere."

"Max that's what you tell me, but do you not remember what happened to me the night of the fire? I was hurt and no one was there to save me. No one from the FBI was there then! How do I know that won't be the case next time they try to hurt me." I angrily voiced.

Max put his hands on my shoulders and looked me in the eyes. Calmness swept through my body. "Zara now that we are aware of what is happening to you, we will make sure it never happens again. We won't overlook your safety and I'm sorry that we did. That I did." he said gently.

He was doing a surprisingly good job at staying calm and not lashing out even though I was angry. Maybe Max had changed.

"How about this Zara. How about I take you to school today and right after we head to Agent Simmons's office so you can talk to him. Then we can come back here and try to catch up on at least some of your work. I can call Dylan over to help. He's good with that type of stuff. After that, I'll take you back home so you can fill Adyline and Mrs. Walsh in on your situation with your memory and stuff. Tomorrow I'll pick you up in the morning for school and breakfast. Sound good?" Max proposed.

I smiled "That sounds perfect."

"Great." Max laughed. "It's surprising that you agreed. Now go get dressed and I'll have some sort of breakfast ready. I'll warn you that it probably won't be the best though."

"Max you really don't have to. I can just have some yogurt and oats from the school lunchroom." I giggled. "No need to be extra."

Max looked offended. "Oh, so you don't want my food. I see how it is."

We both broke into a giggle and I said "Fine, let's see what you can do."