Please Let Me Remember You

“So what do you think about the apartment?”, I started so she would forget about the “mystery guy".

She looked around my room for a while and then said, “Well it exceeded my expectations.”

“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”, I asked worriedly.

She chuckled and said, “Don’t worry. It’s good.”

I let out a sigh of relief. She mustn’t suspect anything out of the ordinary while she’s here.

Pffft! Like anything is ordinary in this apartment, I thought sarcastically.

“So tell me more about the people here. I’m sure the two guys we’ve met aren’t the only ones here.”

“Well, there’s Luke. He’s sort of the leader in here. He can be annoying sometimes but then again, he’s really nice. Then, there’s Harold. He’s my guardian, by the way. He really takes care of me and even teaches me stuff about managing the apartment. Next are the siblings, namely Tyler and his twin sisters, Denise and Therese. If you could see Tyler now, you would be surprised by..umm..let’s just say, his size. But think of him as a big, huggable, lovable teddy bear. Well, that’s what he is for me. Then, the twins..hmm..they’re strange that’s for sure. But they’re the sweetest girls you’ll ever meet. I’ll introduce you to them sometime. Well, I think that’s all of them.”

“Wow, that’s a lot of people. I hope to meet them some time.”

“Oh, you will. I mean, you will visit again right?”, I said unsure.

She smiled and said, “Of course, I will. Now I know that the rumors aren’t true. I mean, look at this place, this doesn’t look like some cult house or something. It’s old kind of like a haunted house but it’s really comfortable and homey if you ask me.”

“I’m glad you like it. Oh, do you want to stay for dinner?”, I said realizing that the sun had just set.

“Umm..sure. Just let me call my mom. I think she’s worried now since it’s starting to get dark.”, she said while taking out her cellphone.

I was waiting for her by the door while she talked to her mom. For privacy and all that.

I looked out of the hallway and noticed Jake and Rick’s room. I started to feel a bit guilty.

Is it right if I just ignore Jake like that? I mean he didn’t do anything wrong but I just can’t help myself. I’m not even sure if what I’m feeling is real.

But then again, he had always protected me. From all the memories that I remembered, his are the only ones that are vivid to me.

Arrghhh!!! I can’t think straight. I am so confused.

“Hey! You okay? You look troubled or something.”, somebody said behind me. It was May.

“Don’t worry. I’m fine. Just hungry, I guess. Come on! I think Harold made dinner already.”, I said so that she wouldn’t ask more questions.

I ushered her to the dining room and I was right. Harold had already made dinner and was waiting for us.

“Hello girls! I hope you like the food. I made them personally.”, he announced.

“Thank you, Harold. By the way, May this Harold. He’s the best!”, I grinned at him.

“Hahaha! I don’t think I’m the best but thanks for the compliment. So, enjoy the meal.”, he said as we settled down the table.

“Hey, Lhia, are we the only ones who are gonna eat? What about the others?”, May asked.

I didn’t know what to answer first when Harold instantly said,

“They already ate actually.” Nice save!, I thought.

“Well, okay then. Thank you for the meal.”, she said as she ate. I glanced at Harold and smiled. He nodded back.

When we finished, I gave a tour around the apartment for May so that she could be more comfortable about the place. Along the way, we met up with Tyler and the twins.

It was funny how May look so surprised not to mention kind of scared because of Tyler’s intimidated size but she relaxed a bit as they talked. And as usual, the twins are doing their finishing-each-other-sentences thing but it didn’t bother May even one bit and that’s good. We didn’t get to see Luke along the way so maybe he was out or something.

As we walked, I can’t help but to look out for Jake. I don’t want to meet him unexpectedly because if I did I would just..sighs..I’m not even sure what I’ll do. I just have to stay away from him for now.

But, since when does everything go my way? Never! Not even if I wish really, really hard. And it really sucks!

“Lhia...”, somebody whispered behind me. I closed my eyes and asked quietly why God hate me so.

I turned around slowly and saw Jake looking at me sadly.

“Can I talk to you?”, he asked. I bit my lip for a while and glanced at May. She looked at Jake and then back at me and smiled. I smiled weakly at her.

“May, can you go back to my room? I’ll be back in a minute okay.”

“Okay.”, then she walked passed us but gave my hand an encouraging squeeze as she left.
I sighed heavily as I looked back at Jake. I know I can’t ignore him much longer. I’m just prolonging it I guess.

“So..w-what do you w-want to talk about?”, I stuttered while looking at the floor. Keep it together Lhia! You can do this!

He was silent for a moment that I can’t help but bit my lip to hide my nervousness. Just say something already! So I can go and die from all this tension!

“Lhia, look at me.”, he finally said using that firm, cold voice of his. I cringed a bit. I know he’s angry but I need to do this.

I shook my head reluctantly. I know we won’t get to have a proper conversation if I did so I stayed firm.

I heard a sigh of frustration and then he said, “Fine. But why are you ignoring me? Are you angry with me? Come on, talk to me. I can’t take this anymore.”

He thought I was angry at him but in fact, it was a total opposite of it. I may not be sure what my feelings are right now but I’m sure it’s not hate. For all the things that he did to me, I know I can’t hate him because deep in my heart, I know he cared for me.

“Lhia, please, talk to me..say something.”, he pleaded. I can’t stand it when he’s like that so I finally looked at him.

“I-I’m not mad Jake. I just..I just...”

“What?”

“I-I’ts c-complicated. I just..I..I’m so sorry if I’ve been ignoring you..or..or been rude to you. It’s bad and I’m so sorry. But I’m not mad Jake. I’m not.”, I don’t even hate you, I added to myself.

“Then, why? Why have you been ignoring me? Was it something I said? Something I did?”, he asked as he stepped closer to me.

“You didn’t say anything wrong or did anything bad to me. I just..I-I think I need some time alone, that’s all.”

“Do you have a problem? You know, you can always tell it me. Please, Lhia, what’s wrong? I can help you.”, he said as he took a step forward again.

I took an involuntary step back as I said, “Y-you can’t help me. Not in this. J-just please, Jake, please understand.”

“Understand? Understand what?”, he said as he finally started walking towards me. His arm is raised again as though he was reaching out for me and I can’t help but feel even sadder.

He almost reached me when I heard a scream.