Forget Me Not

Prologue

PROLOGUE

ARIS

SEVENTEEN YEARS OLD

Lifting up my knee, I slam my booted foot back into Perry’s head. “You gonna keep bullying and harassing Berlynn? Or have you learned your damn lesson?”

“Fuck you,” the motherfucker says, spitting out blood from his mouth. When the crimson-colored saliva lands beside my boot, I get pissed all over again.

“You trying to bathe me in your diseased phlegm, dipshit?” Canting my head to the side, I wait for him to answer. Not that anything he says will have me forgiving him, as far as I’m concerned, the moment he decided to make Berlynn a target of his, he lost his opportunity for absolution—nonetheless, I give him a chance.

“You think you’re the biggest, baddest motherfucker there is, don’t you? I’ve got news for you, asshole, you’re nothing but a goddamn wannabe!” Perry bellows, drawing a further audience than we already have.

“I am the biggest, baddest motherfucker you’ll ever cross, you piece of shit! Let this be a lesson to you all, anyone messes with Berlynn, I’ll take it as a slight against me! Y’all hear that?” Everyone robotically nods their heads.

They’re all pathetic and spineless. Unsatisfied that Perry is still conscious, I haul back and cold cock him with my clenched fist. When his eyes roll to the back of his head and he collapses on the ground, I begin to laugh. It’s maniacal, loaded with venom, but at least every one hears how batshit crazy I am. It’s what I want, to have them fear me so they leave Berlynn alone.

My best friend has been put through the wringer from these jackasses. She’s not the weakest link to walk the hallways of this high school, but she’s too damn sweet for her own good and that makes her easy prey in their eyes. She takes it and dismisses it, but I’ve never been the type of guy who sits back while someone he cares about is caught in the web of assholes.

“Aris,” Berlynn hisses behind me. “You're gonna get expelled again.”

“Worth it,” I mumble as I lean down and grab my backpack by its straps and lift it off the ground, hefting it over my shoulders and sliding it on. “Why do you let these jackasses run roughshod all over you? Where’s your damn sense of worth, Berlynn?”

“They’re not worth it to me, Aris. In the grand scheme of things, they’re nothing. They have no standing in my life,” she argues, giving me the stink eye.

“You can’t go through life ignoring these issues, Berlynn! You can’t brush it off and think that it’s gonna change if you pretend it didn’t happen.”

“And you can’t go through life resolving issues with your fist, Aris. One day, you’re going to come across someone who can fight back. Then what are you going to do?”

“What I always do. Find their weakness and use it against them,” I tell her. “Everyone has something that can take them out at the knees. You just have to find out what that is and expose it.”

“You’re ridiculous,” she says, clamping her teeth.

“So you say.” Shaking my head, I continue walking to my next class. “Catch you after the bell rings. I’m taking you home today. Addison has cheer practice so you’re with me.”

“I can catch a ride with Berkley if you have someplace to be,” she calls out.

Over my shoulder I reply, “Can’t. He’s got a date with Serenity. You know he’s been waiting to get a piece of that.”

A squeal of disgust travels down the hallway, causing me to smirk. “That’s my brother and it’s gross to hear about his endeavors!”

“Don’t be jealous because your twin is going to fuck Serenity. From what I hear, she knows what she’s doing and Berkley needs a little stress reliever.” When she gags, I laugh out loud. The both of us having a twin sibling is what bonded the four of us when we were younger. The girls commiserated over our pranks and us boys had a blast ganging up together.

The four of us have never had a dull moment.

EIGHTEEN YEARS OLD

GRADUATION DAY

I clap the loudest when Berlynn wraps up her valedictorian speech. As always, she has a way of using her words to make you feel inspired. I’ve always known what my future holds, as does Berkley. We’re to go to law school, get our degree and take over the firm for our fathers. The girls have less expectations on their shoulders, they’re allowed to follow their dreams and choose their own careers.

It’s a bit sexist if you ask me, the girls are encouraged to use their artistic talents to pursue their futures. Our folks don’t give a single damn that I want to be an architect and Berkley wants to be a doctor. We’re to follow our fathers’ directive without complaint and be the dutiful sons they expect us to be.

At least my dad’s not heavy handed about it, unlike Berkley’s. There have been times Berlynn, Addison, and myself have had to doctor a myriad of injuries from him standing up for himself. Needless to say, I hate the motherfucker with a passion.

My dad, he lays on the guilt trip. Telling me he’s disappointed that he’s worked so hard throughout the years to give me and my future kids a solid foundation so that we don’t struggle only for me to want to throw it away like garbage. Yeah, it works every goddamn time. He’s the only person in this universe who has the ability to make me feel small and insignificant. My dreams are just that, superficial and unimportant.

The second Berlynn’s ass hits the seat beside me, she starts in. “Are you ready for law school?”

“You know the answer to that,” I say, my tone berating.

“I wish I knew how to fix this for you, Aris.”

“I know. I wish you knew how to also. My mind is not my own,” I bristle, clicking my tongue on the roof of my mouth.

“Well… if you're gonna be a lawyer, be the best one you can be,” she says, squeezing my hand. “Show everyone that they may stand in your way of doing what you dreamt of, but what they’re forcing you to be, you’ll be better than they ever dreamed of being. You’ll put them all to shame, Aris. I know you will.”

“Wish I could be as chipper as you are about it all,” I say, sighing.

“You can do this Aris and still find happiness,” she argues, making me roll my eyes.

TWENTY YEARS OLD

“Come on, Aris. Come dance with me,” Angelica begs. She’s wasted, otherwise, she wouldn’t be pushing her luck. I don’t make a fool of myself and she knows it. She’s a good girl and isn’t usually so needy when it comes to me. We have a ‘friends with benefits’ type of relationship. However, I don’t do showmanship when it comes to those I bed. It leads to mixed messages and I’m all for making these things as clear as possible. I’m not ready to be tied down to one woman, and until that day comes, I don’t do public displays of… anything.

“No,” I snap. “Stop hanging off me, Angelica. It’s beginning to piss me the hell off. We don’t do this public thing, remember?” I point my finger between the small space she’s left between us.

“Why are you so grouchy? I just want to have a fun time.” She starts pouting, sticking out her bottom lip. “It’s just a dance, I’m not asking you to claim me as yours in front of everyone.”

“Angelica, leave him alone already,” Berkley berates. “Look, you’re being summoned by the rest of the bimbos.”

Her jaw drops at his putdown. “Are you just going to stand there and let him demean me like that? My friends and I are not bimbos!”

I’m still stuck on her use of ‘claim me as yours’ that she just spewed. Looks like it’s time to cut those strings and find someone else to fill my lonely nights.

TWENTY-THREE YEARS OLD

“Don’t do this, Berkley!” I holler, giving him chest compressions. I knew life was getting to be too damn much for him, but for him to stoop to drugs isn’t something I ever thought he’d ever contemplate doing.

“Duncan called 9-1-1. They’re five minutes out,” Bryson tells me as he communicates with the dispatcher. She’s giving me instructions through him while I continue to administer CPR—following her every directive as she hands out instructions.

“What’d he take?” I ask, my eyes roaming around the room, waiting for someone, anyone to answer.

“Angelica slipped him something in his drink to help him relax. He’s been so wound up lately that we’ve been worried that he was gonna snap,” Lakon answers, biting her bottom lip.

Bryson, still on the phone with the dispatcher, walks up to Angelica, who has tears streaming down her cheeks, and states through a growl, “Guess he’ll be nice and relaxed if he ends up six feet under, huh, bitch?” He’s so fucking angry that his entire body is vibrating.

“It was just a Valium,” Angelica wails.

“Fuck. Tell the lady that he’s had an adverse reaction to Diazepam in the past,” I instruct, shooting laser beams at Angelica. “He was hospitalized after going into shock the last time he was prescribed the medication to keep him calm .” I hiss the last word, my gaze steadily glued onto the cunt. Who the fuck does she think she is anyway?

TEN HOURS LATER

“He’s in a coma with a tube stuck down his throat to help him breathe!” Berlynn hollers. “Where were you? You two were supposed to have each other’s backs. What kind of friend are you?” she whispers, cupping her palms over her cheeks.

“One of our classmates crushed a Valium into his drink to help him ‘relax’ and let loose. None of us guys knew about it or we would’ve stopped it,” I exclaim, pissed beyond belief that they’d for one second think I’d stand back while this happened. Especially since I know his history. There’s no fucking way that I’d willingly let his life be in any sort of danger.

Shouting in the hallway has me and Berlynn ending our standoff and rushing out to the corridor. Security is standing between our dads, holding them back from pummeling each other. Both of our mothers' faces are reddened with tear streaks as they stand behind their husbands, trembling.

Needless to say, by the time the day ended, so did our family’s lifelong friendship.