The Amnesiac

Secrets Never Last Long

"Alright. Let's talk."

Leslie sits quietly to your right, chewing her lip. Her forehead carries small creases of tension, and you quickly point it out.

"Leslie? Are you ok?"

"Yeah!" She instantly responds. "I just... found out what happened. With everyone." She looks down awkwardly.

"Oh. Right."

You look around the circle, feeling uneasy at the sight of four tense, anxious faces.

"Maybe we should start eating first? That should help lift the mood," you suggest.

Rae heartily agrees with a nod and pulls off the lid of her takeout container.

"Wow..." You sigh as you take in the aroma. "I like this. Sitting with you all and eating dinner together. Despite everything that's happened, it's nice to be able to do this," you sigh contentedly.

The girls watch in adoration as your eyes light up, smiles growing on their lips.

You dig into your food, quickly scarfing down the first few bites before Rae puts her hand on your back.

"Relax, baby, the food's not going anywhere."

Leslie snorts at her comment, making the rest of you giggle.

"Hehe, alright. I'll take it easy," you say.

Silence fills the room again as you all slowly eat. Every instance of small talk dies out in seconds, as everyone was too focused on the inevitable conversation. Their eyes slowly drifted back to you whenever you were looking at your food, and suddenly shot back up whenever you looked up.

"Alright," you say, setting down your half-eaten bowl. "Let's get started."

The girls put down their forks with varying degrees of dread.

"I want to start by saying that I'm not mad or upset at any of you. Miyoung, I really don't like what you did, but I'm not mad. We need to talk about what happened afterward, though..."

She briefly nods.

"And I want to get something straight. Rae, you confirmed to me that I once dated both Aria and Miyoung. Can you give me a sense of when that was, and for how long?"

Aria and Miyoung's cheeks turn pinker than normal.

"Yes," she hesitantly says. She sighs, and her shoulders drop for the first time throughout the whole dinner. "Alright." She takes in a deep breath. "Let's get this over with."

"Rae..." Miyoung suddenly cuts in. "Um... maybe... we... shouldn't..." She whispers.

Rae looks up at her, seemingly unsurprised at her intrusion. "Miyoung..." She sighs again.

The two girls exchange various looks that you knew you'd be able to understand if you could remember the years of interactions you'd had with them but were now lost on you.

They silently mouth words to each other as if you weren't there, and your failed attempts at understanding finally make you snap.

"Hey! What's going on?!?" You finally butt in. "What is this about? Why can't you tell me?"

"Hey," Rae's soothing voice finally turns away from Miyoung. She places her hand on your knee.

"Listen. Here's the truth."

Miyoung and Aria turn pink, but they don't rebut this time. They put their heads down, awaiting Rae's words.

What could the truth possibly be? Why would they want to hide this from me?