Page 55 of Forget Me Not
“Hi, Cy.” Syve rolled her eyes playfully. “Hi Mama,” she added, turning to Soriah.
Something about her calling his mother that made his chest feel tight in a not-exactly-uncomfortable kind of way.
“Mija, it’s always so good to see you! You know you should come inside and eat after you go off running with my son, it’s not fair that he’s keeping you all to himself.” Soriah swooped in to hug her.
Bastien left the women to catch up, leading Cyrus to the side and speaking low, “Aimi doesn’t know you’re here. Can you please, for Del’s sake,behave?”
As it turned out, the ‘espresso baptism’ had not been the only altercation between Cyrus and Aimi—the former seemed incapable of leaving the latter alone.
“Aw, come on, pup, you know me! I’m always on my best behavior.”
Bastien scrubbed a hand down his face. “That’s exactly why I’m asking you to be good. Just today, just for Del.”
Cyrus heaved an exasperated sigh, rolling his eyes dramatically.
“Fine, fun sucker. I’ll be a good boy.” He threw his hands up in defeat then turned and retreated into the auditorium.
When Bastien turned back around he found his mother and Syve hugging, tears sneaking down both of their faces.What the hell?
“Syve? Mama?”
“Worry about yourself,Mijo.” Soriah waved a hand in the air dismissing him. “Where did that trouble makingositogo?”
Gesturing with his head toward the door, Bas said, “He went in to find Aimi, Syve’s friend. You remember me telling you about her?”
Soriah’s eyes went wide.
“I should go in and make sure he doesn’t do something to get us kicked out.”
She swiped her hands across her cheeks once and dashed through the door with more grace than anyone would ever assign to a woman her age, though Bastien knew better.
Turning back to Syve, he took in her face. The only evidence of her emotional encounter was one stray tear still sitting at her jaw line. Without thinking he reached up and brushed it away with his thumb.
“Are you okay? What happened?”
“It was nothing, really. You mentioned your mom was in a mood, so I wanted to see if there was anything I could do to help. I don’t think either of us realized how much we had in common before...I just told hersomething Aimi said to me once, that’s all.” She didn’t give him a chance to ask any more questions before she grabbed his hand, interlacing their fingers as she started walking. “We better go catch up; it’ll be starting soon.”
Bas looked at their intertwined hands and smiled as he followed her into the auditorium.
When it was her turn, Delanira walked confidently across the stage to shake the principal’s hand and accept her diploma. Before she made her way off the stage, she stopped, looked right up to where they were all standing, and blew a kiss. Bastien could not think of a single moment in his entire life where he had been prouder of his baby sister.
Directly after, the new graduates filed into the gymnasium for a celebration, where they would be surrounded with games, raffles, fountain drinks, and junk food until the sun came up.
After hugging Syve goodbye, Bastien’s mother went with Cyrus to bring the car around, leaving the two of them a minute alone.
The longer the night had worn on, the more solemn Syve had become and Bastien was concerned. At the risk of being annoying, he asked for the third time, “Bambi? Are yousureyou’re okay?”
She sighed covering her face with her hands.
“I’m sorry, Bastien. I feel selfish. This is supposed to be Del’s big day and I’m over here making it about me. This was just a lot harder for me than I thought it would be.”
He stepped closer, pulled her hands from her face and ducked down to be eye level with her.
“You are the least selfish person I have ever met, Syve.”
She laughed, then sniffled, blinking back tears.
“Thanks.” She took a steadying breath. “It probably doesn’t help that Noah’s birthday is next week—” Her voice broke, cutting the sentence short. She stared at the ceiling, her throat bobbing as she swallowed hard.
