I Can't Forget What You've Forgotten

I continued to stare on at him queerly with one of my eyebrows frowning downwards. I kept my gaze on the boy with the bright green eyes and jet black hair; I couldn't help but notice the bags and dark circles underneath his eyes though. I switched my gaze back over to the girl. She looked normal enough, though a bit red-eyed from all the crying she did just minutes prior to this.

I hesitated, my eyes diverting between them. "What's happening?" I asked them in a small voice, afraid of their answers.

The girl (Cassie was her name?) threw a nervous glance at the Zack character, before speaking, "Uh-" she let out a nervous chuckle. "You're awake so now you can go home and everything would be back to normal--"

"No no," I interrupted her. "I mean... what are you guys doing?" I didn't mean to sound so rude, but what other way could I have phrased it?

The male took a step forward towards me and I recoiled my hand as he reached out to touch it. "We're celebrating that you're awake..." he glanced hesitantly over to the girl. "What's happening to you?" he asked me back and I shrugged.

"I don't know... all I know is that I wake up and some two strangers are in my room?" I shrugged again and looked ahead of me at the white wall, not bothering to see my guests' reactions. I really don't understand what's going on, at all. These weird interactions... it's like a whole new world to me.

I heard rushing footsteps and then the quiet click of the door. I'm pretty sure that it would have qualified for a 'door slam' if it wasn't for the fact that this was a hospital- or at least, I think this is a hospital... There was a pair of rushed footsteps coming over to my side and I shifted my eyes over to the person that they belonged to.

"What is going on with you?" Zack asked me in a hush whisper, though his tone of voice was audible. He roughly pulled a chair directly behind him and sat down, scooting in dangerously close to my bedside.

I leaned a little ways to my right side, trying not to get so close to him. "I don't know!" I replied back in the same hushed whisper, my hands gathering enough energy to come up in a jerky movement- it was like I was strangling some invisible life form. "Is this not normal?" Was it part of the abnormal to react this way to strangers who act like they've known you for years?

"Uh, yeah," he said smartly and brought his hand up to his forehead. He shook his head and brushed the hair out of his tired face. "I'm sorry but- don't you remember anything?" His voice died back down to a whisper that held so much emotion.

I shook my head slowly. "What am I supposed to remember?"

He looked appalled for a moment, struck with shock as he looked out the window, speechless. His mouth began to move but nothing came out; he then began to stutter. "Uh... me?" he stated more than asked, and I tilted my head to the side, giving him a confused look.

'Why?" I may have just begun to start feeling bad about the way I treated him. Maybe I really should have remembered him.

His face fell and I could now clearly see the exhaustion in his face. He looked down and a pang of guilt struck my chest. "We used to go out," he said softly and I frowned, raising an eyebrow at him. He used to be my boyfriend? Since when? Unless this was all just some scam on getting a girl who doesn't remember anything to follow him. He shifted in his seat and reached into the back pockets of his jeans, pulling out his wallet. He opened it and went through a few items in it, before pulling a piece of paper out- not a flimsy piece of paper.

He handed me the photo and I began to study it, my face freezing at the image. Though not much different from today, surely this Zack character was in the picture, and he looked a somewhat younger, yet still the same nonetheless. He wore a traditional black and white suit with a black tie, standing in a well-lit room. Next to him was a girl, whom I recognized was me, wearing a dark, maroon coloured dress.

It looked like one of those high school prom pictures. He was holding me closely to him, one arm around me and the other holding my hand, our fingers laced to our chests. A smile was plastered on my face as his lips were pressed to my cheek, smiling as well and his eyes staring into the camera.

He must be telling the truth, right? Oh, well, obviously. The photograph is enough proof for anyone.

I glanced over at him to see him staring down at the old photo in my hand, a slight smile playing upon his lips. Feeling my eyes on him, he glanced up at me with a shy smile and sat back. I handed him back the photo and folded my hands in my lap, staring down at them. They were thin and pale- almost sickeningly to my own eyes.

"I'm so sorry," I whispered and I didn't dare to look up into his eyes, ex-boyfriend or not. I just couldn't do it.

I could hear him sigh. "You've got nothing to be sorry about. I should be," I heard him mumble the last sentence. I wanted to look up and question what he said but I couldn't.

There was an awkward silence that fell on us as neither one of us spoke. I didn't know what to say- and I bet he didn't either. Either that or, he just doesn't want to say anything or was thinking about what to say. But either way, I know I didn't want to be the first one to talk. My mind began to wonder off as the silence became eerie and still, as though he wasn't in the room with me.

Why don't I remember anything and why is he here in the first place? How special was this 'bond' that we had? How did we meet? Why was he sill here? I didn't see why he still by my side, and I don't understand why he even stuck with me the entire time- or at least it seems like it. Why else would he be so exhausted and was already there the moment my eyes opened for the first time? Where was the Cassie girl?

Some shuffling broke me out of my thoughts as I automatically turned my head to look at him. He sat up straighter in his seat, his eyes still glued to the tiled floor before they lifted and met with mines. I didn't bother to look away as he looked around, his mouth stammering to say something. Overtime, he just sighed and settled on just looking back at me.

"I don't like this," he stated and I raised an eyebrow at him.

"What do you mean?" I questioned and he shrugged.

"I mean that, I think I'd just like to start over- new and fresh," he said, and in my head, it was a suggestion, so I gladly agree with it.

"I'd love that." I realized that there was a hint of sarcasm in my voice but that only caused him to chuckle.

"Alright." He stuck his hand out in front of me and I took it in my own, shaking it. "I'm Zachary Baker, and who, may I ask, are you?"

I had to laugh at his behavior. "Krystal Hail." I released his hand and placed them back in my lap. There were so many thoughts running through my head- so many questions that were bothering me, and I wanted answers. I needed answers. "Zack..." I hesitated on asking him, "What happened to me?" He stared at me with a certain expression, pursing his lips. "Why don't I remember anything?" I whispered.

He fidgeted around with his fingers, all the while still keeping his attention on me. He seemed to be contemplating- having an internal battle with himself before he sighed through his nose. "Nothing," he replied and I shook my head.

"Tell me," I demanded. "You want to be my first, great friend, don't you?" I tried to bribe him with an innocent smile that only caused him to throw me a lopsided smile, before shaking his head again.

"It's nothing that you need to worry about. It's not worth knowing and definitely not worth remembering," he said, and I knew by the tone of his voice that that was the end of that topic; forever possibly.