Remember to Forget

Chapter 7

Delilah's POV

Ever since what happened at the park with Luke, I haven't seen him again. Considering I live only a few houses down, I thought I'd see him daily. It's perfectly fine that I haven't seen him though. He was extremely rude, and I'm not sure I want to deal with his harsh attitude again.

But I haven't stopped thinking about him.

I want to know why he doesn't speak and why he seems so angry at the whole world. I wonder what happened to him. Something must have happened to make him this way.

So when I'm at work and see his folder lying open on the front desk, I debate whether or not to take a quick look inside. I glance quickly at the paper on top, but look away after a second. I shouldn't do this. I can't look into Luke's personal information. But I want to so badly.

I look again, a little longer this time. I quickly read the heading.

Luke Robert Hemmings. 17 years old. Birthday July 16, 1996.

He's my age? He seemed to be 19 years old. He definitely doesn't look, or act, 17 years old.

I look quickly again, this time at the diagnosis section.

Severe depression. Violent mood swings. Anx-

“Luke, you can come in now,” someone says, which causes me to look up quickly.

Is Luke here?

I see him walk across the waiting room, his hands shoved deep into his pockets and his head down. He's dressed in all black like the last time I saw him, except this time he's not covered in sand.

How did I not notice he was here? What if he saw me looking at his file?

My heart rate speeds up as I realize that Luke may have seen me reading his information. I could get into so much trouble. I didn't read much though, it's not a big deal, right?

Even though I know I shouldn't, I still want to learn more about Luke. I didn't get to finish reading his diagnosis. What if there's reasons for his mental health in his files? There has to be. He can't be a giant secret to everyone.

“Delilah?” I hear Candace ask.

Oh, no. I'm caught. She knows I was reading Luke's files. I'm going to be fired. What if I end up going to jail? Did I violate the law? All I did was look at his birthday and some of his diagnosis. I'm not a criminal.

“Can you come here please?” she says with same cheery smile she always has.

Here it comes.

My stomach gets queasy as I walk over to Candace, and I rub my sweaty palms on my jeans. I never should have looked in that file.

“Y-Yes? What do you need?” I say, trying not to sound as nervous as I feel.

“Luke's folder,” she says.

Oh, my God. She knows. She saw.

I am going to die.

Tell my parents I love them.

“I seem to have misplaced it,” she says. “Would you happen to know where it is?”

I feel my heart rate slow down, and I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding.

She doesn't know.

“It's on-” I start to say. But this is my chance to find out about Luke. “No, I haven't seen it. Do you want me to look in your room?”