Don't Remember Me

“So, any leads?” Nia asked me the next day. I rolled my eyes at her and then looked around suspiciously.
“Yeah, I cut the list in half.” I stated. “Plus Brian hacked the guy’s account on the game and found out he lives outside the township.” I handed her the list and she scanned through it.
“Anything else?” After a few seconds of looking at the remaining names she looked up at me. “These are all guys.”
“Don’t remind me that I wasted my whole day yesterday.” I said dramatically, shutting my locker door. “He sent me another text today.” I opened my phone and cycled through the texts until I hit the one he’d sent me earlier this morning. I handed it to her. Her face screwed up as she tried to understand what it meant.
“Taylor is not my first name.” She read aloud. “Didn’t we already know that?”
“Scroll down.” I directed and her eyes went back to the screen. “He said it was part of his name though. So today I’m going through the people with the last name Taylor and whoever has ‘T’ for their middle initial.”
“Are you sure you want to do this by yourself? I’m sure I could help.” She said, placing my phone back into my jacket pocket.
“It’ll be fine. I’m taller than most of my peers.” I said. I’d already decided she wasn’t going to know anymore about this than she did. Besides, I wanted her to scurry off to Hayden to keep him busy.
I only told her what she needed to know and she helped me cross out whoever was on the list that didn’t have a ‘T’ for their initial or for their last name. Too bad ‘T’ is a popular starting letter for middle names.
As she skipped off, I took out my cell phone and concealed it inside my locker while I texted ‘Taylor’. You’re not going to lie to me if I find out who you are, right? I texted.
I was texted back almost instantly. No, I play fair.
I suppose that made me feel better, but not too much because that meant that if I lost (which I was absolutely not going to do) then he’d keep true to his word and tell everyone.
I swore under my breath at the revelation. “Daemyn.” I nearly jumped at the sudden sound of my brother’s voice. “Listen up, queer, I got you a list of names for the people who live outside of the township.”
He handed me the paper. I blinked at him disbelievingly. He wanted to help me? “Why-”
“Don’t ask any questions. Let’s just say I wanted to test my limits.“
“Can I ask how you got this?” I asked, waving the paper in front of his face.
He rolled his eyes and sighed. “Extensive research.”
“No. Really.” I probed.
“Hacked the school system. I always kinda wanted to try it.” He had this huge grin as he said it. But I suppose that, to him, it was an accomplishment.
I groaned at his stupidity. Did he know how serious and dangerous that was? But I wasn’t going to lecture him. Dad had already done that when he found out how Brian had gotten that new PC game without money. “How’d you do it?”
“Are you kidding? They have the most basic security system I’ve ever seen. I almost felt bad really. You know, ‘cause it was too easy.” He laughed.
“Thanks though. Really.” I said, changing the tone in my voice to express the seriousness.
“Yeah, whatever faggot.” He shoved his hands into his pockets as he said that and walked around me to get back to wherever he had been before.
I headed off to my first period class to begin marking off names using the clues I had already been given. I counted out thirty people on the entire list itself and grinned at the realization that this was going to be much easier than going through the entire student body.
If I haven’t said I really appreciate my little brother’s hacker abilities, I am now. I know it may seem like we don’t like each other but we do, trust me. It’s just a weird, complicated relationship we have. The truth is, I really care about the kid, I mean, I have to; he’s my brother.
I cut the list down to twenty people after I marked off all the girls and then cut that in half with the initials.
Ten people left.
I had to keep myself from laughing in the middle of the teacher’s lecture even though we were supposed to be taking finals this week and then Summer Break (thank fucking God).
“Hey, Daemyn, are you busy tonight?” Hayden asked after first period. I hardly turned to see him standing there, I was busy looking down the list to cross off Aiden T. Sparks, who I had tested for his handwriting but it had been much too messy to be ‘Taylor’s’.
“Hey, what’s that?” He asked. I quickly folded the list and shoved it in my pocket.
“Nothing.” I told him a complete lie which I never ever would’ve done before this so I silently cursed myself for doing that. I mean, I couldn’t have him knowing that.
“So are you busy? Tonight, I mean.”
I rubbed my eyes as I thought about it. Would I be done with this… hunt? I mean, this was the last day I had to find out who he was; tomorrow was Friday.
“Hey, if you’ve got something going on, then that’s fine. But I would like to read a new chapter.”
“Shit, I don’t know, man.” I said, frustrated.
“Is Ryan stressing you out or something?” He asked concernedly.
“Yeah… Ryan…” I said distractedly.
“What’s he doing?”
“Oh, you know, stalking me so that he can find an opening to rape me.” I rolled my eyes sarcastically because I knew that if Hayden thought I was serious about that then he’d try to get his friend Mark to beat the kid up.
“Dude, you seriously had me worried!” He cried, slinging his book bag onto his back.
“I have something I have to do tonight, sorry man.” I sighed. But, oddly, I wasn’t sad about not spending time with Hayden. I was much more interested in finding out who ‘Taylor’ was. And I hated myself for that thought. But it was nice to have a distraction.

By lunchtime I had cut down the list to seven people and I had to skip eating to find the rest. I had to give Nia and Hayden some bullshit story about changing my schedule again for next year.
Then another text came, the vibrations from the phone telling me so.
My heart nearly stopped beating in my chest as I took it out and opened it. Of course, it was from ‘Taylor’.
I summoned all the courage I had to open it, praying that he wasn’t shortening the time I had for it.
There was a huge sigh of relief from me as I realized it was another hint. I am in grade ten.
Okay, this kid couldn’t be that sadistic if he was spoiling me with hints like this. I took out the list and crossed off everyone that wasn’t a sophomore and that left only two people.
Kevin Billings and Brynden Kline. I went by them alphabetically and asked the first sophomore I saw in the gym where Kevin was.
“Really? You’re looking for him.” The boy I had asked commented.
“Just… tell me where the fuck he is.” I nearly growled. I was seriously losing my patience now.
“Whoa, take it easy man. Last time I saw him, he was…” He scanned the gym and then pointed up in the bleachers to a small group of people. “There. The one with the hat.”
Then I went through the options I could use. One: I could go straight up there and demand the truth from him, but then I realized that it might not even be ‘Taylor’. Or two: I could text him and see if he answers his cell phone.
I liked the second idea better; it was more devious. So I went up in the bleachers and sat behind the storage so that my body was obscured, but I could turn to see them.
So I whipped out my cell and texted a simple Hey. Then I waited, keeping my eyes on the kid across the gym. I bounced nervously in my seat, chewing my lip.
The boy was just sitting there, talking to his friends. Maybe the first message hadn’t gotten through. So I took out my phone again just as it went off. Fuck. ‘Taylor’…
Hey yourself. He wrote.
Okay, I was absolutely sure that the kid I was watching hadn’t taken out his phone or any device of the sort, so it wasn’t him.
Now I knew his name; Brynden Kline.
I charged down the steps of the bleachers and found my brother. “Brian!” I yelled to him; the high from winning the ‘game’ still with me.
He spun around to face me. “What is it, queer?” He asked, a smug grin on his face at one of his many nicknames he’d given me.
“Do you know who Brynden Kline is? Or where he is for that matter?”
He shot me a puzzled look. “Yeah, he’s one of my friends. I had him over once, but you were with Hayden so I guess you wouldn’t remember.”
My eyes widened at that. I didn’t remember the kid, but it was surprising that he was friends with my brother.
“Anyways, I saw him over by his locker. Why?”
“I just need him for a survey.” I chuckled at the lie.
He rolled his eyes. “Uh huh… three-thirteen.” He gave me the number. “He’s cleaning it so I wouldn’t expect him to have left it.”
I almost didn’t hear the last part of what he said because I had sped off in the direction of where the boy was supposed to be.
There was some clattering in the empty hall (which was a fitting setting for the showdown by the way) and I saw a black-haired boy grabbing an armful of papers and throwing them in the trash before diving back into the locker.
I snuck up behind him and I could feel the sick grin I had as I said, “Hey Brynden. Or should I say, Taylor?”