If I Forget You (31 page)

Karma’s lips twitched and Avery knew she was fighting back a plea. “Only if you want to, of course,” she said softly. “I’ll see you in class on Monday.”

Avery nodded and turned to leave.

“Avery?”

“Yeah?”

Karma gave her a desperate look. “Jordan is planning to move once his casts come off and the doctor okays it. I just thought I’d warn you.”

Avery blinked. “Move? Where?”

“Chicago. I’ve tried to talk him out of it, but I think it’s probably the best thing for him at this point, considering …” She left the rest unsaid, but Avery knew it was along the lines of, “considering the fact that you won’t even make an effort.”

“Thanks for letting me know,” Avery replied. She breathed a sigh of relief once she was outside. Granted, it was raining, but at least it was fresh air. Digging in her bag, she found her umbrella.

With the rain pattering her umbrella, she passed the hot dog truck and tried to ignore the rumbling in her stomach. She had about an hour and a half before her last class of the day, but she was afraid to stop, especially since she’d been avoiding the food trucks for over a week now. Seeing Owen again would just be too weird.

She kept walking. For a long time, she stared at the ground as her mind rolled over her conversation with Ryan. It was good to have closure with him now. It was good to know Tam had told the truth when she said she was sorry for what she’d done, but Avery still didn’t know what Tam was doing with Owen or if she was going to break his heart. If that happened, Avery was sure she’d never be able to forgive her. As for Jordan moving, she couldn’t even let her mind go there. Maybe it was for the best that he was going to leave her life completely. She bit her bottom lip to keep her tears from falling. She couldn’t cry on campus.

Keep it together, Avery.

When she looked up she was at the medicinal gardens. She entered the little gray building and shook the rain off her umbrella. There were a few students waiting for buses, but none of them noticed Avery as she stared out at the gardens dripping in the rain.

“No hot dog today?”

She jumped at the sound of Owen’s voice.

“Nah,” she said, waving her hand. “Just trying to get my thoughts together before my next class.”

He had on a weatherproof parka. He pushed the hood off his head as he entered the building and sat next to her.

“You’re avoiding me, aren’t you?”

She nodded. There was no use lying to him.

“Just so you know, Tam isn’t trying to get back at you. When she found out you’re a friend of mine, she was surprised.”

“I find that hard to believe, but I trust you, so … okay.”

He laughed and leaned forward to look at her. Finally, she stopped staring at the garden to meet his eyes.

“I’m sorry if I hurt you,” he apologized.

She wrinkled her brow. “You didn’t hurt me. I just thought I’d lost you.”

He shrugged. “There’s a lot of history between you and Tam, and I respect that.” He leaned back on his hands and looked up at the ceiling. “But before we decide to call off our whole friendship because of Tam, there’s something I need you to see.” There was an almost gleeful bounce in his voice. “Do you think you could skip your next class?”

She looked at him closely, wondering what he could be talking about. “I suppose I could. I haven’t missed much of that one.”

“Good, then let’s go.” He stood and held out his hand. “We can hop on the next bus up to my neighborhood.”

“O-okay.” She took his hand and rainwater from his parka dripped onto her sleeves as she stood up. “What is it you’re going to show me?”

He grinned and pushed back some of his wet hair. “Something I’ll bet you’ve waited a long time to see.”

27

Avery couldn’t stop jiggling her knee on the bus ride. Owen, sitting next to her, clapped a hand on her thigh and squeezed. She stared down at his hand and stopped.

“Calm down,” he laughed. “You’d think I was taking you to your execution.” He lifted his hand and she let out a nervous giggle.

“Would you
please
tell me what’s going on? Does this have anything to do with Jordan?”

Fiddling with the zipper on his parka, he looked out the window. “In a way, I guess.”

“Oh, great. You do realize there’s no way to make him remember me, right?”

Owen turned back to her, his eyes filled with worry. “That’s not what this is about. This is something you’ve pushed aside that needs to be fixed.”

“Just tell me, please,” she whispered.

“Too late. We’re here.”

The bus pulled to a stop and Avery followed Owen down the aisle and out the doors. Her heart pounded in her throat, harder and harder as they reached his house and she forced herself up the front steps. This had something to do with Tam, she was sure of it. But if Owen thought he was going to force them to forgive each other, he was dead wrong.

“Owen, if this is about Tam,” she began as he opened the door and stood aside for her to enter, “I think you should know …”

She stepped inside and her thudding heart screeched to a halt. It took her a full thirty seconds to take in the scene in front of her. Her knees nearly bucked. This really wasn’t about Tam. Or Jordan.

A dining chair sat in the middle of the cleared living room. Sitting in it was Kent, his mouth gagged, his hands tied behind the chair. His face was purpled with bruises and cuts, some of them still bleeding. His bottom lip was split, oozing red. He looked up at her through the swollen, puffy flesh around his eyes.

“Owen, what is this?” her voice cracked. “What have you done?”

Surrounding Kent were Owen’s three housemates.

“Spencer, David, and Levi,” Owen said, pointing out each one. “I know how you forget names.”

She nodded, almost in a trance as she looked at their balled fists. Their knuckles were red. They all looked at her with triumphant expressions.

“We decided to give Kent some payback,” Owen said softly. “And if you want to give him some of your own payback, please be our guest. Kent Russell, correct? I hope we got the right guy.”

Avery nodded, even though she couldn’t remember if Russell was his last name or not. “How did you find him? I never told you his last name.”

“I tracked him down for you.”

Avery spun around to see Tam standing in the hallway, her arms folded as she leaned her hip against the wall. She stifled a yawn.

“How?” Avery asked. She wasn’t sure how to feel facing Tam at such a vulnerable moment. If she’d tracked Kent down, then she knew what had happened.
All
of them knew what had happened. Her face reddened.

“It wasn’t too hard,” Tam explained, unruffled. “You told Owen it was a friend of Jordan’s named Kent, so I talked to Professor Meadows after class. She told me his last name and his parents’ names. It wasn’t too hard to find him after that.”

Avery’s face reddened even more. “You didn’t tell her about …”

Tam shook her head. “Of course not. Your secret’s safe with us, Ave … until, of course, you press charges against the bastard.” She slid her eyes to Kent and contorted her face into a menacing glare.

“I-I don’t know,” Avery stuttered as she turned back to Kent. “I want to talk to him.”

“Sure thing,” Levi said. He grabbed the gag tied around Kent’s head and yanked it out of his mouth. Kent groaned as it rubbed against his split lip.

“Want us to leave you two alone?” Owen asked, touching her shoulder. “We’ll just be in the next room.”

“Yeah,” she replied as she stepped forward. “Yeah, that would be good.”

When they had all cleared the room, Avery stepped around the couch and stood in front of Kent. She saw that his feet were tied too. He wasn’t going anywhere.

“So,” she said in a trembling voice, “I really want to kill you right now.” She tried to look him confidently in the eyes, but she couldn’t do it. The memory of him on top of her, pushing her down on the bed, spun around her in circles. But she
had
to look in his eyes. He’d hurt her in so many ways and she needed to do something about it. If it hadn’t been for what he’d done, Jordan would be fine. If it hadn’t been for what he’d done, she wouldn’t feel so violated, so broken.

Finally, she met his eyes. He blinked. “I’m sorry, Avery,” he muttered. His voice was raspy, as if he’d gone hoarse from yelling.

“That’s all you have to say? That you’re sorry? Why did you do it, Kent? I trusted you. You were my friend.”

His eyes turned glassy with tears and he looked away, his expression filling with disgust. “When I took you home and your aunt wasn’t there and you kept talking about Jordan and I realized you were in love with him, I couldn’t … I … this guy at the party gave me something. He told me the drug messes with your memory. I guess I didn’t give you enough to make you forget. I’m sorry.”

She balled her fists at her sides. “You’re apologizing for not drugging me
enough
? Are you joking?”

He finally looked her in the eyes again. “No, that’s not what I meant.”

“Then what the hell did you mean? You’re just upset you got caught!” She gritted her teeth as she looked down at him. She didn’t know how long it would take her to get over what he’d done to her, but she was certain that it was possible now. No more pushing it aside. She nudged his foot with her toe, and he looked up at her again.

Without a second thought, she smashed a fist into his already bruised cheek. A short cry escaped her throat as pain flooded through her hand and up her arm.

Kent spit out some blood and looked up at her with a wounded expression as she rubbed her knuckles and took a step back.

“You’re going to turn yourself in,” she said in a gritty voice. “Say it.”

He choked on his words, and she kicked him in the shin, making him wince.

“Yes, I am,” he gasped. “I’m going to turn myself in.”

“I’ll make sure of it. In the meantime, I don’t think it will hurt you to sit here for a bit longer with my friends. I don’t think they’re quite finished.” She turned and walked out of the room, rushing into Owen’s open arms in the kitchen. He patted her on the back.

“Good job, Avery.”

“We’ll let him squirm for a while,” David said, chuckling as he shoved a fist into his palm. “Then we’ll finish up and take him to the police as soon as you’re ready.”

Avery nodded as Levi and Spencer followed David out.

“Sorry, Tam,” Avery muttered, stepping away from Owen. “Don’t mean to be hugging your boyfriend.”

Tam smiled. “Friends hug each other,” she said softly. “Don’t they?”

“I guess so.”

“Listen, Avery,” she said, stepping closer. “I’m really sorry about everything. If you don’t want to forgive me, I’m okay with that. You don’t have to. I’ve forgiven you and that’s what matters.”

Avery blinked. Her hand was throbbing and she wished someone would get her a bag of ice. Tam seemed different somehow. It wasn’t just that she was dressed in a pair of Owen’s sweats and one of his T-shirts that didn’t match, with her hair a mess and no makeup on. It was something else. Was it possible Avery hadn’t lost all her friends? She glanced at Owen, who was smiling at her, and then Tam who was waiting for a response. She looked so nervous, so worried. Her eyes were filled with tears, and as one rolled down her cheek Avery realized it was the first time she’d ever seen her cry.

“I forgive you,” Avery said. “I appreciate what you’ve done about Kent. You wouldn’t have done that if you didn’t care about me. And for what it’s worth, I’m really sorry I kissed Ryan and betrayed you.”

Tam nodded. “I don’t want you to lose your friendship with Owen, either. Can we start over? No judging, no remembering the past?”

Avery shook her head. “No, it’s good to remember. It’s what helps us get to where we’re going.”

Tam thought about that for a minute. “Yeah, you’re right. So, maybe you should get a certain someone to remember
you
, then.”

Avery turned away. “No.”

“Why not? Owen told me what happened. Are you really going to give up so fast?”

Avery looked at Tam, realizing how far they’d come. Was it possible to repair something so utterly broken? She’d never thought Tam would change, yet here she was. Then again, Avery realized as she looked down at her red knuckles, Tam wasn’t the only one who had changed.

* * *

Avery stirred ganache in one of Chloe’s pans on the stove. It smelled so good, just like Jordan’s house that time he’d baked the torte.

“That should be good enough,” Chloe said as she wiped her hands on her apron and opened the refrigerator. “The torte should be cooled enough by now. Oh, and don’t turn the sauce down yet. Let it burn just a little bit.”

Avery wasn’t sure why Chloe wanted it to burn, but after a moment she noticed the sauce thickening.

“Look at it closely,” Chloe ordered. “Does it have the consistency of caramel yet?”

“Yeah, it’s getting there.” The smell was rich and dark and sinful. Avery closed her eyes for a moment, remembering the taste of ganache on her finger, the feel of Jordan, the warmth of his mouth and hands.

Chloe finished removing the springform pan from the torte. “All right, stir in the cream,” she said.

Chloe hadn’t done much at all in the torte preparation. She’d really only given Avery directions and overseen everything. This was Avery’s project. She stirred in the cream until the ganache was perfect, then they both spooned it over the cooled torte.

“I don’t know if it’s the same as what he made,” Avery said as they both stood back to study the beautiful dessert, “but it should be good anyway.”

Chloe smiled at her. Avery smiled back, glancing at the framed picture of her and her mom and Chloe. She was glad her mom had come and they’d fought for hours on end. By the time it was all over, Avery realized it was exactly what they’d both needed. Her mom had left a few days ago, giving Chloe the longest hug in history, crying as she said goodbye. Things were different now. A good kind of different.

“This probably won’t make him magically remember you,” Chloe said.