Page 57 of Forget Me Not

I step off of the counter, bringing myself down to solid ground. The lock screen is a picture of what looks like a younger version of Kade and his mom. My gut sinks at what an invasion of privacy this is as I slide open the phone. It has no password, so it opens easily.

I don’t even know what I’m looking for as I scroll through the phone, something in me just telling me there’s something here. I hear the shower turn off and I’m about to close the phone and put it back where it belongs, but then I see it. An app that catches my eye. An app that I know.

I recognize it because it’s the same app I saw on Lennox’s phone after she died. I looked it up, so I know what it is, what it’s for. I never opened it though. There was a good chance she was talking about me on there, and that was something I didn’t want to know.

I don’t know what urges me to click on the app, but I do. The app automatically opens to a thread of messages with QueenL3N. There are a dozen messages reaching out to her, asking where she is, asking if she’s okay, but no response. I scroll up, finding the last message the user sent and my heart sinks to the bottom of my stomach as I stare at the words in front of me.

QueenL3N: Logan Hart. Find her. Look after her. I’m sorry.

“Logan,” Kade says my name. I can hear the guilt and unsaid apology in his voice, but none of that matters right now.

“What the fuck is this, Kaden?” I look back and forth from him to the screen, hoping my eyes are playing tricks on me. Between the words staring back at me through the screen and the look on his face, I know they’re not.

“Let’s just sit down. Just let me explain, Lo, please.” He takes a step toward me, and I instinctively take a step back.

“No, Kaden. I’m not going to sit down. You’re going to tell me right fucking now why my name is in this phone.” I’m not yelling, my voice eerily calm, but everything inside me feels like it’s about to explode. I’m gripping my last shred of control with everything in me. “Is QueenL3N my sister?”

“Yes.”

“How?” I say immediately.

“It was my mom’s phone. Your sister had been talking to her. After she died, I saw the messages. They talked practically every day. I messaged her to tell her what had happened, and we just kept talking.”

“Were you in love with my sister?”

“Fuck no, Lo. She was just someone who knew the shit I was dealing with but didn’t really know me. She was easy to talk to. That was it.”

“And then she tasked you to look after me before she killed herself.” Anger floods my voice. “Is that what this was, Kaden? You found me and were fulfilling orders she left you? Fuck, did Demi know about this?”

“No, fuck. No, baby girl. Demi has no idea about any of this. And I never looked for you. I never looked up your name. I didn’tknow anything about you until you came into my life completely by chance.” His face begs me to believe him, but any trust I had for him was shattered the second I opened that phone. Maybe it wasn’t as strong as I thought it was to begin with, considering I’m the one who picked up the phone in the first place. Although clearly, I had a reason to worry. I look down at the message again and a thought pops into my head, panic immediately starting to rise.

“That message. The one with my name. Do you remember what day she sent that?” My voice shakes as I ask.

“July fourth.”

I feel the tears cloud my vision as soon as the words leave his mouth. That message on that date. He was probably the last person she talked to. Ever. I feel the tears drip down my face and my body begins to shake. I let the panic take over, knowing there was nothing I could do to stop it. Kade tries to take another step closer to me again, but I take another backward.

“When?” I ask. “When did you figure out who I was? Was it before you kissed me or after?” He stays quiet and I already know the answer. “Fucking when, Kaden?” I’m yelling now.

“When I came into the hospital with the cut on my hand,” he finally admits.

“I can’t do this right now.” I speed walk toward the door. I grab my jacket and bag, not bothering with the hoodie. I open the door and sprint down the stairs, sliding the jacket over my shoulders as I go.

I hear Kade calling after me, but I am in too much of a panic to make out what he’s saying. I keep moving, walking through the shop that’s still open toward the front door. I normally park in the back, but since I was early, I parked up front, figuring I’d move my car once the shop closed. It probably wasn’t the best idea to do that today, but I push through, keeping my head down as I walk through the shop.

I push through the front door and am immediately pelted by the rain. Lennox was wrong about the fucking rain. Right now, I’m back to hating it. The cold droplets mixed with my tears make the world blur in front of me to where I can barely see a thing. I move anyway, jogging across the parking lot to my car. But I don’t make it there.

I feel the car before I see it. The impact as the front of it slams into my body. My head as it bounces against the windshield. The wind as my body essentially flies over the car. And then I’m on the ground, and I feel nothing at all.

I hear muffled screaming and can vaguely see the chaos surrounding me. People gathering in the parking lot to witness the tragedy. It reminds me of the last time, eight years ago, when I was surrounded by another chaos I couldn’t control. I think about how the blood is probably on much more than my shoes this time. It also occurs to me that this time, the blood is mine.

“Logan. Lo. Fuck. Please, baby girl. Please stay with me.” I hear Kade’s voice, but it sounds far away. “King, where’s the fucking ambulance?”

It’s only now that I realize he even chased after me. All the way to my car. He was never going to let me walk away. I try to form words, but I don’t think anything is coming out of my mouth.

“The ambulance is almost here, baby girl. It’s going to be okay. You’re going to be just fine. You hear me, Logan? You’re going to be okay. You’re going to be better than okay. You’re going to be fucking perfect. Like you always are. My perfect girl.” I’m not sure if he’s trying to convince me or himself, but either way, it feels like a losing fight. I think I even see him crying, but that can’t be right. Kade never cries.

I feel my eyes getting heavy, and suddenly, I can’t hear anything at all. Kade’s face and the pain covering every inch of it is the last thing I see before it all fades to black. Imagesflash through my head of shattered glass, flying bullets, blood, and lost lives. My sister’s childhood bedroom, her blood-stained sheets, and her lifeless body on top of them. Images of me failing to save the ones who needed me. Failing to save everyone I loved. And now finally, when it’s come down to it, I officially can’t even save myself.

---