Forget Me Not

Chapter 9

CHAPTER

NINE

BERLYNN

Packing went quickly since we decided to let the men do the hard lifting. Basically all we had to pack were our personal belongings and any knick knacks that we wanted in remembrance of our family—i.e., mine and Berkley’s accomplishments throughout the years. Trophies, medals, photographs of both the two of us as well as the four of us in our younger years, you name it and if it was special, it went into boxes to accompany us to Aris’s house. But only the things we couldn’t stand to see destroyed in a convoy of men rushing around to get our things boxed up.

“You still have that ratty thing?” Aris asks me.

“Sure ‘nuff,” I tease, packing the very first stuffed animal, which happens to be a giraffe, that Aris got me when I turned five.

“It's definitely seen better days,” he snorts, shaking his head with a smile plastered along his face.

“That's because she sleeps with it every night,” Berkley tattles.

“Mind your business,” I playfully scold him, placing Mr. G into my suitcase. “Besides, he was my first present from you. Do you really think he’d be anywhere but at my side?”

“I suppose not,” he says in response, raking his fingers through the overgrown scruff on his jaw.

“When’s the last time you shaved?” I question him, thinking that a beard may make him look hotter than he already is and the last thing he needs is something else to add to his overly inflated ego.

He shrugs his shoulders saying, “A few days ago give or take. It hasn’t been on my top ten most important things to do in a day. What about you?” he jokingly asks, running the tip of his finger across my exposed thigh, causing goosebumps to erupt on my flesh. “When was the last time you picked up your razor?”

“The last time I shaved was on my cardio day.” I laugh followed by a snort.

“You shave based on what day of the week you do your cardio?” he asks, trying and failing to hold back a smirk.

“That’s the jest of it,” I answer, slapping my case closed and zipping it up.

“This may be a stupid question, but why?” he inquires, tilting his head sideways.

“Do you have any idea how complicated it is for a woman to shave compared to a man, Aris?”

“Can’t say that I do, Berlynn,” he returns, before saying, “but inquiring minds want to know.”

“This may go against girl code and all of that, but here’s a question for you. When you shave your face, do you have to contort yourself into a pretzel to get all of the patches?”

“Negative,” he gruffly claims, side eyeing me like I’ve lost my damn mind. Which when it comes to him, that’s not outside of the realm of possibilities. “That’d be a big, fat, hell-to-the-no.” That saying temporarily takes me back to another time in our lives when he’d use that exact phrase when he didn’t want to do something that I did. Which usually included me egging my arch nemesis car with a dozen of shelled eggs. The bitch, Crissy, always tried to outdo me no matter what my accomplishments were.

I start ticking off the ways she tried to beat me in my mind.

One.

I was ranked number two in our graduating class, falling one point behind Rosemary Gonzales the first day of our senior year—something I was damn proud of at the time. What did the bitch do in retaliation? She slept her way to number one, which is the only way she’d have gotten that slot because she was one crayon shy of filling the box. Anyway, that pushed me to number three, which ticked me off. At least Rosemary and I did it with hard work, ethics, and morals unlike the she-bitch that rose from hell. Finally, when it was proven after the four of us enacted our own version of spy games that she didn’t earn her points the legit way, she amped up our competition.

Two.

I was offered the position of receptionist at Callam Automotive after applying for a weekend job, and what did the twat do? She ran and cried to her daddy who, unbeknownst to me, was the chief executive officer of the car lot and I was shoved out on my ass. She started on what was supposed to be my shift and all but stuck her tongue out at me and sang nananana booboo. Then she got really pissed when I was offered another job at the gym making twice the amount of money she was. All in all, that was a good day because I spread that news like wildfire through the halls of Crawford High.

Three.

And this is the one that began the egging in the first place. I finally climbed my way to the top of the class due to Rosemary flunking her Spanish test and was awarded a check in the amount of five hundred dollars for my hard work. Somehow, the skank managed to figure out my locker combination and stole my motherfucking money. We only discovered that because we found the shredded remnants of it in the bottom of her book bag after Aris ripped it out of her arms and emptied the contents.

That’s when I saw red. Not because I needed the money, but because it was a harsh slap in the face. It degraded the principle of my reward by turning it into confetti.

“Berlynn! Snap out of it, where the hell did you go just now? And what the hell put that evil ass smirk on your face anyhow?” Aris asks, clicking his fingers together in front of my face.

“Nothing,” I answer quickly before adding, “just lost in the past.”

“Well, let's stay out of memory lane until we're done getting this shit together,” he advises, scrutinizing me. “Bad things need to stay where they are, in the past.”

“There’s a reason we relive things, Aris. They’re all valuable lessons that follow us through life,” I rebuke. “Especially when it comes to who has your back and who doesn’t.”

“I’ve always had your back,” he reminds me. “You may not have seen me lurking in the shadows cheering you on, but I’ve always been there.”

“Are y’all gonna kiss now or can we leave? I want to be gone before the ghosts come back,” Berkley says, scooting more into the room and hovering behind Aris.

“Why were you going to ask if we were gonna kiss, buddy?” Aris questions my brother. Although his voice sounds appalled, there’s a tinge of hunger dancing behind his eyes. That has me thinking about things I most certainly shouldn’t.

Aris’ lips on mine.

Aris naked.

Me and Aris naked—together.

Yeah, so not going there. I just got him back in my life and fantasies I’ve had about him both in the past and recently need to stay buried in the depths of fantasyland because they make me feel vulnerable.

“This’ll be your room, Berkley,” Aris announces as he opens the last door on the left for my brother. I harrumph underneath my breath because I can tell this room has been specifically designed with Berkley in mind. It’s an aspiring architect’s dream come true. The walls are like blueprints of a skyscraper’s new build. Which means, this has been planned way before now.

What has Aris been up to?

Posturing myself and getting ready for a verbal beat down, I place my hands on my hips, and thump my foot against the floor, scowling at Aris. However, the beaming smile Berkley sends my way ruins my impending tirade, dousing the fire that was quickly building inside.

“You and I are gonna talk about this,” I hiss at Aris.

“Looking forward to it,” he replies, not looking scared in the least. Looks like I need to amp up my game. My frown deepens, causing him to roar in laughter.

Aris unbridled is a glorious thing to witness. His eyes shine, his smile is infectious, and his teasing smile could cause a woman to swoon.

Damn him!

“Where am I staying?” I ask, disengaging my eyes from him so that I don’t catch those drastic emotions that have me feeling things I most assuredly shouldn’t.

“You’re in the room next to mine,” he tells me, waving his hand further up the hallway.

“If my room was first, why did we keep going?” I inquire.

“Because I’m more important than you are,” Berkley answers in a sickly sweet voice, sticking his tongue out at me.

“Careful, brother, wouldn’t want to catch any flies with that trap of yours,” I say, directing my finger at his open chatterbox.

“Don’t be jealous, sis. We all know I’m the man.”

“You’re something,” I mumble. “Now that ‘the man’ has been taken care of.” I air quote the moniker he gave himself. “Could you show me to my temporary quarters please, Aris?” And yes, I absolutely emphasized the temporary portion of it.

“Temporary, huh? We’ll see about that, Berlynn,” Aris grumbles.

“Was that a declaration of war, Aris?”

“The gauntlet has been thrown, Berlynn.”

“Oh, yeah!” Berkley screams, dancing around the two of us. “That’s my favorite part!”

“What’s that, bud?” Aris asks, chuckling.

“Foreplay,” Berkley giggles, causing my chin to drop to my chest.

Flabbergasted—unsure of how to respond, I start sputtering before my brain comes back on line and I bellow, “It most certainly is not foreplay, you little shit!”

“Yes it is,” he rebukes, nodding his head emphatically. “Y’all are so gonna do it.”

“What?” I ask, dumbfounded.

Aris clears his throat, shifting from one foot to the other. He may appear uneasy on the outside, but the steamy glance he sends me has my synapses misfiring and my mind coming up blank. All I can see are rapid scrolling scenes from a porno that hasn’t been filmed yet featuring him and me.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

Then the thoughts of— “oh, my God, Aris wants to do me!” start plaguing my mind and all other ideas vanish without a trace.

I walk out of the room, squealing and slapping my forehead when Berkley begins singing, “Aris and Berlynn sitting in a tree. K.I.S.S.I.N.G.”

“Why me?” I cry to myself.

“Because when you get out of your head and admit defeat, I’m gonna do you,” Aris whispers in my ear, causing all of the hair on my body to stand up on end.

I stop in my tracks, my feet suddenly immobile as I quietly ask, “What?”

“Get out of your head, Berlynn,” he suggests. “It’s time to stop existing and begin living.”

“With you?” I squeak.

“It’s always been me for you and you for me, and you know it, Berlynn.”

I gulp. “Where’s the pod, Aris?”

“What pod, Berlynn?”

“The one that held the alien that has stuffed himself inside of your mind and body,” I say.

“Nobody else is inhabiting my body nor my mind, Berlynn. This is me. Always has been and always will be. Now, stop with your stalling tactics and let me show you to your ‘temporary’ quarters. Because the next time you pack your belongings, it’s gonna be because you’re moving into my room.”

“What. The. Fuck?” I ask myself.

“Next comes love, then comes marriage.” I hear sung from down the hallway.

My jaw snaps shut and I growl, “Shut it, Berkley.”