Amnesia

I.

It was winter, it was cold, and Remy wanted nothing more than to get into her car and drive home. As it was, she was stuck walking through a forest outside her college, in the snow, to go work on a damn Plant Biology project.

"You're leaving tonight?" Emmett said for the fifth time since the two students had left the university hub and began their hike to the field house, the last word accented with a yelp as he nearly tripped over a snow-covered tree branch.

"That's the idea," Remy answered, a bit of a distance ahead of her classmate-slash-friend.

"To go to Los Angeles?"

Remy finally stopped walking and turned to Emmett so he could get the full extent of her theatrics. "Not just to Los Angeles, silly boy." She dramatically clutched her hands to her heart. "I'm going to see the world-famous K-pop boy group BTS perform live at an exclusive concert." She then feigned falling before catching herself.

Emmett rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I know, you haven't shut up about it for months."

Remy turned back forward with a laugh that caused her breath to be visible in front of her. "Just making sure you know how much I love them. Besides, I am downright shocked that I'm even going. Who decided letting me go was a good idea?"

Her friend huffed, pulling his long hair away from his face despite the cold winter breeze that messed it up immediately. "Jesus, I know how much you like them. But you didn't even wait until finals season is over to leave."

She rolled her eyes. She was a highest honors student and a high-ranking member of the Phi Theta Kappa Society, she knew when exam season was. Of course, so did Emmett. "I had my last final this morning. And the concert is tomorrow, of course I'm going to leave today." She looked around the forest they were in. During the warmer months, the forest was always dark and comforting. In the stark winter light, it was bright and eerie.

Remy hated it.

"And you're seriously not joking?" Emmett asked, still struggling to keep up with Remy. "Your parents are actually paying for all of it?"

"Every cent. Including the price tag on the dress I'll be wearing to the concert."

Emmett made a strange coughing noise. "Oh, so now even your parents are bankrupt?" he said, this time slipping on icy snow. Remy couldn't find it in herself to feel bad for him, his comment leaving a rather bitter taste in her mouth.

"Hey, it's part of a reward for getting a full-ride for my transfer school. That's two years of college free. The cost of a round-trip flight to Los Angeles, a ticket to a BTS concert, and a dress ain't nothing compared to the cost of two years of college." She watched Emmett try to pick himself off the snow before promptly slipping again. "Now c'mon, Em, we haven't got all day."

Emmett yelled loudly.

Remy tried to fight the grin on her face, she couldn't help but think about how much she was enjoying watching this. "Oh, you're just jealous that I'm going to L.A."

He threw a snowball at her, which made her laugh and dodge the projectile. "Seriously, hurry up! We gotta finish this project so I can get home!"

"You always say that when we're going to work on the project," Emmett said, getting up and brushing the snow off his clothes. " I get the feeling you don't like forests in general."

"If you don't start walking, I swear I will tie you to a tree and leave you here."

The two friends made their way through the snow-covered trees, Emmett grumbling at how fast they were walking. ("I don't think your parents are going to leave for the airport without you."