C I N: "Lynn, Lynn, the city of sin. You never come out the way you went in." (The C I N Series) (18 page)

      
“I can’t do this. Y-you have done nothing but lie to me and withhold the truth. Plus, I have Michael to worry about now. I told him nothing was going to happen with us tonight. He’s going to be very angry with me. Michael has been a great friend. I don’t want to change that.”

      
“You won’t have to worry about Michael anymore.”

      
“Oh, and why is that?”

      
“I’m going to make him forget all about you. He won’t be sad at all when he sees us together. I promise.”

      
“I’ll believe
that
when I see it.”

      
“Oh, you will, I’m certain.” Alex wrapped himself around me. “I’m never letting you go, Lisa Brown. I love you too much, now. You’re
my
addiction.”

      
Somehow that made me feel a whole lot better; to know that I wasn’t the only one who needed to touch him. He needed to touch me as well.

      
“Alex, you’ve destroyed my life.”

      
“No, I’ve saved it. You can do whatever you want, I’ll never stop you; ever. I want nothing but your happiness for always.”

      
“I want you to never lie to me again. Promise me that—if I ask you a question you’ll answer me with nothing but the truth.”

      
He kissed me on the nose. “I promise.”

      
“How can I know for sure that you aren’t lying just to get inside my pants?”

      
“I could’ve taken advantage of you a long time ago.”

      
“Yeah, right, as if I would’ve let you.”

      
“You’ve been begging me for days. I’m the one who has stayed in control.”

      
“What about today? You weren’t very controlled a few minutes ago.”

      
“I tried, but you seduced me.”

      
“Oh, yeah, blame it on me.”

      
“You can just feel my thoughts and know whether I’m genuine or not. Why do you fight knowing?”

      
“I guess I just don’t want to invade your privacy.”

      
“I have no privacy when it comes to you. I want you to know everything there is to know about me. I want to share my every thought, my every whim, with you. I really and truly do love you. You believe that at least, don’t you?”

      
I thought about how he’d orchestrated the school into wearing dorky uniforms and pretending to be a high school, how he saved me from drowning in the kayak and how he did not force me to come with him tonight. That had to mean
something
. Didn’t it?
  

      
“You’re trying to convince yourself that I’m good.”

      
“It would make loving you a lot easier.”

      
“No one is good. We have good moments and bad moments. We must never expect perfection from anybody.”

      
“Is that your way of pushing yourself; are you a salesman?”

      
“No.” He laughed, kissing my cheek. He kissed me softly, making his way down my neck and then he bit my shoulder.

      
“You punk!” I smacked him in his side. He chuckled in my ear. “You bit me.”

      
“Yeah, and I’m going to do it again.”

      
I wanted him to do more than just bite me. Alex sat up. I rolled onto my back. He tickled my stomach with his fingertips. They made their way up inside my shirt and then he just stopped.

      
“That’s enough ‘touching’ for one night, don’t you think?”

Twenty
Mysterious Happenings

  
I woke up, curled in Alex’s arms. My hair was a mess and I was sure my breath smelled bad. I crept out of the small bed and slipped my shoes on. I needed to take a shower before anyone saw me like this.

  
I tiptoed out the door, down the spiral staircase and snuck through the corridor. Michael leaned against the wall. His eyes watered when he saw me. “Hey, Lisa.”

  
“Hi; you’re always catching me looking a mess.”

  
“I don’t mind.”

  
“Look, about last night.” I stopped. What was I supposed to say? He broke the pool table out of rage. He scared me now. But so had Alex and look at me now, waking up in his bed. How shameful.

  
“No, I want to apologize for my behavior. If I hadn’t acted that way, you probably wouldn’t be waking up inside his room like this. I value our friendship and don’t want last night to interfere with that. You will forgive me, won’t you?”

  
His eyes were soft and his hands trembled when they touched my shoulders. I collapsed into his arms. My Michael was back! “Of course I forgive you. You were my first friend in Lynn and always will be.”

  
“Good, I’m glad we can always be good friends, if nothing else.” Michael kissed me on the top of my forehead and then released me. “You need to take a shower.”

  
“Same old Michael,” I teased, disappearing down the hall. I took the mahogany steps two at a time and snuck into my dorm room. Ally was past out with her arm hanging off the top bunk and Donna lay curled in a ball on her bed. I unzipped my bag, pulling out some clothes and toiletries. This would be my first co-ed bathroom experience. Hopefully it would be empty and I wouldn’t have to worry about anyone seeing me.

  
“Where were you all night?” Donna asked. She stretched her arms above her head and yawned. “Ally and I waited for hours but then we got too tired and fell asleep. There was a lot of ruckus upstairs. You weren’t part of that were you?”

  
“Let’s just say, you were right about Michael and Alex.”

  
“I knew it!”

  
“But having them fight over me was not very romantic at all.”

  
“Maybe not at the
moment
, but later when you think about it you’ll see.”

  
“I’m going to take a shower. I’ll talk to you when I get back.”

  
“You have some explaining to do.” Donna grinned, kicking her feet against the mattress.

  
I winked, disappearing down the hall. I took a deep breath and entered the washroom. It was a large room with shower stalls and toilet stalls. The showers had curtains for privacy and so did the toilets. There was a long string of sinks. So far, no one was in the bathroom. Good. At least I could shower without anyone seeing me. I undressed and laid my clothes in a plastic chair a few feet away from the showers.

The water felt nice against my skin. It seemed like a long time since I had this much privacy. I lathered my hair with shampoo and let the soap fall all around me. It collected at the drain and I watched as it fell through the tiny holes.

I turned off the water and peeked out the curtain, making sure I was still alone. (I didn’t want to walk out naked and expose myself to the whole school!) There wasn’t a soul in sight.
Good.
I tip toed out, grabbing my towel. I inched forward to the plastic chair where my clothes lay.

Just then, the door burst open and in walked Michael. I screamed. He jumped back. “Whoa, what is it? Who are you?” Michael covered his eyes.

“Don’t look!” I scrambled up, snatching my clothes. I ran to a bathroom stall and closed the curtain. “You knew I was coming in here. You did that on purpose, didn’t you?”

“Who are you?” Michael stammered.

“I’m Lisa Brown.
Michael
, you know who I am. Don’t play games.”
 

“Girl, I have never seen you in my life. Are you new? Are you the girl everyone keeps talking about?”

“Michael, stop playing around.” I peeked at him through the curtain, struggling to put on my clothes. “You and I were just talking in the hall. You told me I needed to take a shower. It’s not the first time you’ve told me I stunk.”

“I have never told you any such thing. Look, I’m outta here. I can take a shower later when you aren’t in here screaming at me.” He stormed out of the bathroom and I trembled. Why would he pretend to not know me anymore?

  
I went back to my room and stared at Ally. She still slept, almost like it was the first time in years that she got to do so. Donna was gone. “Ally.” I shook her. “Wake up; I need to talk to you.”

  
She grumbled, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. “This early?”

  
“Listen, last night Michael got mad when I went with Alex to his room. But this morning he told me he was sorry and wanted to always be my friend. Then, when I’m getting out of the shower, he comes in and acts like he doesn’t know who I am. It was as if he
really
didn’t remember me. What’s going on?”

  
“I’ll find out for you.” Ally climbed down. She tied up her hair and changed out of her nightgown. “I’m going to talk to Alex; I’ll be back. Stay here until I return.”

  
“Okay, but hurry.” I crawled into the bottom bunk, lying on my back. I stared at the mattress above my head. It had seen better days. How could Michael just forget all about me, just so instantly? Could Alex do that? He was waiting in the hall for something. The only room there was Alex’s which was up the spiral staircase. No one else lived up there. Was he waiting for him? Why would Michael wait for Alex? Maybe he wanted to apologize to him as well. He did lose it.

  
Donna entered the room with a look of horror on her face. “What’s wrong?” I asked, leaning up. I hit my head on the wood frame.

  
“Michael has truly forgotten who you are. He must’ve really upset Alex. Now we all have to introduce you as the new girl. No one is allowed to tell him that he knew you or else we will have our memories erased, too.” Donna scratched her head, “What is it with you? Why is Alex being so cutthroat now? It was always Ally that we needed to worry about but now; he’s become a fascist ruler. I don’t even feel like this place is my home anymore.”

  
“I’m sorry; I never meant to cause trouble.”

  
“It’s not your fault. I’m happy you’re here it’s just I’m beginning to agree with you. Watching Alex and Michael battle over you is not very romantic at all.”

  
I tossed my pillow at her and she giggled. “Want to go get some breakfast?”

  
“I do,” Donna admitted. “C’mon, and don’t talk to Michael, he thinks you’re a psycho for screaming at him in the bathroom.”

  
“I thought he did it on purpose. He told me I needed to take a shower and then the next thing I know, there he is inside the bathroom with me when I’m nearly naked.”

  
“Just keep away from him for a while.” Donna motioned for me to follow her to the kitchen. About ten others were sitting around in the provided tables. Pete and Marie were in the kitchen. They waved, motioning for us to come to them.

  
“Hi, Lisa, you’ve caused such an uproar.” Marie laughed, filling my plate with hash browns, sausage links and pancakes. “I’ve never seen Alex so crazy before. He usually stays away at his house and lets us alone. But no, you had to bring him to school.”

  
“She’s just teasing you,” Pete said, offering me scrambled eggs. I shook my head. He shrugged his shoulders and placed them on Donna’s plate. “This is the best year yet. I haven’t had this much fun since Frank lost his longevity.”

  
Frank leaned forward, glaring at the four of us. “I can’t wait till you lose yours. I’m going to laugh straight in your face.”

  
“Go drink something.” Marie flipped a pancake. “Stupid drunk.”

  
“Its okay, Marie.” Pete stood tall. “I can take care of myself. Frank would give himself a heart attack if he tried to take me on.”

  
I looked away.

  
They weren’t what bothered me, though. It was Alex. He was mean. He really was. Why would he make Michael forget me? Was he afraid of the competition? How in the world was it possible for him to erase his memory? Maybe with the lightning… Was it like electroshock therapy? Most people ended up coming out of that with a fried brain.

  
“What happened to you staying in your room till I got back?” Ally asked, sneaking up behind us. “I have looked everywhere for you.”

  
I jumped. “I got hungry, so me and Donna—”

  
“Yeah, you and Donna; your new best friend.”

  
“What’s your problem?”

  
“You sure go through friends fast.” Ally stomped away. She stood in front of Pete and Marie. “Aren’t you going to give me something to eat? Or am I chopped liver?”

  
“No, Ally, you know that you aren’t chopped liver,” Pete said. “I’ll make something extra special for you. Please, just calm down. We wouldn’t want anything bad to happen, would we?”

  
“No, I wouldn’t want that.” Ally narrowed her eyes at Donna.

  
“See, you’ve made everyone crazy,” Donna whispered in my ear. That sort of hurt my feelings. As if maybe she was making a jab at me. I focused on my meal.

We shoveled food into our mouths. Ally snatched her plate from Pete and I waved her forward. “Come sit with us, Ally.”

  
“I wouldn’t want to interfere.”

  
“Never.”

  
She sat down, slamming her plate. Eggs spilled over the side of her plate and onto the table. She didn’t seem to notice. Her fork jabbed into a sausage link. “So, Donna, what’s new?” She forced herself to speak.

  
“N-Nothing, I think the biggest news so far this morning is Lisa and Michael. He’s forgotten who she is.”

  
“Yeah, Alex erased his pain.”

  
“Has he ever done that to me?” I asked, leaning forward.

  
Ally dropped her fork. “If he had, what would you do?”

  
“I’d never forgive him for one, and two, I’d leave this town forever.”

  
“Well, I think that’s a question that’s best left for Alex to answer.”

  
“Yeah,” Donna stuttered. “You haven’t even been here long enough for him to erase your pain. So I wouldn’t worry about it.”

  
I glanced up at both Ally and Donna. Their eyes twitched nervously and they refused to make eye contact with me. Frank laughed. I turned sideways and watched him cram French toast into his mouth.

  
“What’s so funny,
Frank
?”

  
“You,” he answered. “You’ve brought life to this place. Everyone is scared of you now. Even that tyrant right there.” He pointed at Ally. “She’s afraid she’s losing her new friend, Alex’s loyalties have shifted, he’s done things he never would’ve dared do before your arrival and now, you’ve caused all out fear in us. For, if we upset
you
, we risk our memories and even our lives.”