Remember Me

24

The rest of the week flies by and by Friday, on the way home from school, I was in a good mood. Today Reece is coming over to decorate, and I'm beyond excited. Who doesn't love Christmas decorating?

"You and Hess seem good," he says.

I nod. "Yeah, we talked. We're fine now."

"What happened in the first place?"

I laugh. "Just stupid stuff. We're over it."

He hums and we pull up to the houses, getting out of the car and walking into my house. Winter break begins today, and I could not be more ecstatic to have a break from that damn school. Seems like drama and bad luck follows me everywhere I go there.

Maybe misfortune just likes me.

We walk inside and I yell, "We're here!" to Mel, who is already in the kitchen on her phone.

She smiles at the two of us and says, "Hi, loveys. How was school?"

"Good," I respond. "I was wondering... is the Christmas stuff still in the basement?"

She nods and I groan. "Okay, we'll be right back with it."

"Hi, Reece," she smugly smiles at him.

My face scrunches up and Reece laughs and raises his eyebrows. He's about to say something back, but I gesture for him to follow me and we make our way to the basement.

We walk through the lit up rooms and make our way to the storage unit. I stare at it.

It's dark and scary in there. Maybe I should make Reece go?

"Are you scared of the dark?"

My eyes widen. "Huh? No." I barge through the door and try to squint to see even though I can barley see my own hands in front of me. Reece comes in behind me and closes the door, and my breath hitches in my throat.

So, uh... maybe I'm a little afraid of the dark.

"There's a box that says 'Christmas.' Tell me if you find it," I say breathily, trying not to sound freaking terrified.

I clench my eyes shut and stand still. I have a habit of closing my eyes when I'm in the dark. It makes me feel more secure, like it isn't dark. I'm just closing my eyes.

See? Logic.

"Ivy, why the fuck are you standing still?"

My eyes shoot open and I look around for Reece. "Huh? You can see?"

"No, but I can hear."

Oh.

I hear the shuffle around of boxes and footsteps that come close to me. I don't dare move because I'll probably trip or run into something, so I stay put.

I feel Reece's hand against the side of my ribs, and his hand trails down to my hip, and my heart is sent into overdrive. He pulls me close to him and he guides the two of us through the closet until he finds the door handle and he puts his hand on it.

He leans down and says close to my ear, "Very valuable lesson just learned: tell Reece everything."

And then we're out of the closet and I can see and can breathe again. I let out a huge sigh of relief and brushed my hair out of my face. "Christ, I'm never going in there again."

"You could've just waited out here," he laughs.

I'm momentarily shocked at his smile, but I scoff. "I would never willingly tell you I'm afraid of the dark."

He closes his mouth and tilts his head up. "You just did."

I roll my eyes. "I bet you're afraid of something stupid, too."