𝐁𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐅𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐃'𝐒 𝐁𝐎𝐘𝐅𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐃

twenty-five

𝑻𝑾𝑬𝑵𝑻𝒀-𝑭𝑰𝑽𝑬

—

lauren and johnny sat quietly in their couch and waited for their friends to come. mer made snacks as everyone comes one by one. once they all finally came, other than zane, johnny sighed. he opened his mouth before he was interrupted by nadia. "are you both sure you are okay? you guys need rest, we can come over tomorrow." she says, but johnny shakes his head. "we're fine. we had plenty of rest." lauren nods in agreement and it was silent.

"so is mackenzie okay?" jayden says, breaking the silence. joey reaches for the bowl of chips as everybody stare at him. "what?" he says with his mouth full of potato chips, "i'm hungry." the group laughs softly before frowning again in realization that three of their friends have gotten into an accident. "okay, uhm," johnny finally starts. "she is fine. she's awake and in one peice. there's only one problem." he continued, and the group swallowed the lump in their throats, all feeling sick.

"she has amnesia." johnny finally choked out, and they all felt even more sick than before. "she remembers nadia, but she doesn't remember starting high school. so she has no memory of the dance, of most of us, or even that nadia and i dated." he explained. the group fell silent, but all were thinking the same thing. johnny's phone rang from across the room to break the loud silence that were made from the friends who had tears in their eyes. johnny walked over to see that it was maddie and pressed the green button.

"hey maddie," he answered. "i'm with the group, i'm going to put you on speaker." he did so, and everyone said hi. "are you, mommy mel, and kenzie okay?" nadia asks. "yes, we're fine. so johnny told you guys, huh?" maddie responds from the other line. the group faintly responded "yes." "so zane is done talking to mackenzie. unfortunately, no memory yet. can you guys try?" she asks. "yes! of course." jules faintly smiles as the rest agrees. "great, i'll see you then, bye." maddie hangs up, and the group run out the door to drive for the hospital.

𝒌𝒆𝒏𝒛𝒊𝒆

"i'm so so so sorry, zane. you don't know how sorry i am. i just can't remember." i frown, fidgeting with my finger and watch zane frown. "it's okay. not your fault. just," he checks his phone, "shit !i have to leave. just- just know that i love you. and i'm really sorry- if you do remember me, once. i'm really sorry." i smile faintly at him, knowing i wont be able to say it back. he starts to leave as i open my mouth. shit, say something! i thought. "zane!" he looks back at me. "i'm sorry, again. and i hope the best for you." i say, and he smiles before leavingme alone in the room.

i shove my head into my hands. "fuck, fuck, fuck!" i curse to myself, getting so frustrated, and feeling my eyes getting teary. "woah, chill there girly." a guy chuckles and i look up. "oh, uhm, i didn't hear you come in. may i ask who you are?" i ask. "wow, you really don't remember. i'm austin. we use to be friends." he responds. "used to?" i question. "yeah, we kind of fell off. i came to check on you." he says, and i smile. "i'm fine."

"doesn't seem like it." he chuckles, and i stare at him, not knowing what to say next. "what's wrong, mackenzie?" he sits on the bed, and i was hesitant. "you may not remember but there came a time where we would tell each other everything." i still sat quietly, "including our experiences? like sexual assault." he says and looks down to his lap. "oh." i respond, and sigh. that's one way on convincing me to tell you something.

"i just really hate this." i sigh. "i hate seeing zane so disappointed because i don't have a memory of us dating. i can't even say 'i love you' back. now i'm expecting a lot of people i apparently met during high school and imagine the look on their faces when i tell them i won't remember them. it's just," i hesitate. "so difficult." my eyes get teary again, and i ball my fists out of anger. "damn, kenzie." austin frowns, and wraps his arms around me. i cry into his shoulder as he rubs my back.

after a good minute, he breaks the hug, and wipe away my tears. "listen, i might not remember you, but can we still be friends? you seem really trust worthy. if i really told you my exp-" i stop, realizing the topic of this forgotten conversation. "wait, did i really tell you about my dad?" i start to panic, but he just laughs. "yeah, don't worry about it." he pulls out his phone, and shows me messages when we talked about it. "and, yes, we can still be friends." we both smile at each other before he checks his phone once more. "uhm, i have to leave. i'll see you when you come back." he smiles again, before leaving.

[863]