Harley sighed, setting up the streamers. She was almost done with the decorations when Ayla walked in. "Hey," she said, setting a present on the table. "Need any help?"
Harley started hanging up another streamer, "not from you." As she said that the ladder she was standing on started to wobble. Ayla rushed over and steadied it. "Thanks." Harley muttered, finishing hanging up the streamer before climbing down.
Ayla smiled, "no problem." There was a moment of tense silence. "I'm sorry."
Harley raised an eyebrow, "you are?"
"Yeah. I was being a jackass. I want to make it up to you." She got her present from the table and handed it to Harley. "Open it."
"But it's not time for that yet."
Ayla shrugged, "so what? I want to know what you think of it. I'm... kinda nervous." Harley sighed and opened it, pulling out a framed photo of her, Ayla, Merissa, and Lukas. "So... what do you think?" She asked, a hopeful glint in her eyes.
Harley hugged her, "I love it!" After she pulled away, it seemed like she was in thought, staring at the picture. There was a small smile on her face. "I missed this."
Ayla hugged her again, "me too. I'm sorry for being such a terrible friend."
"I am too. I should have been happy for you when West took an interest in you."
"I shouldn't have gone out with him that night or Robbie. Then none of this would've happened."
"Don't beat yourself up. We all made mistakes."
After a couple minutes of silence, Ayla started shifting nervously. "Harley..."
"Yeah?"
"Is it okay that I may have invited someone that you didn't necessarily have on your guest list?"
"Is it someone I hate?"
"Probably." Robbie said, walking in through the front door. He set a present on the table. "Happy Birthday?" He looked at her and smirked a little when he saw her glaring at him.
Then she turned her glare to Ayla, making her involuntarily flinch. "Ayla!" Harley said.
"Sorry!" Ayla said. "I figured if I kept you guys apart it would be fine!"
Harley glared at Robbie, who was still smirking. She took a quick glance at Ayla again before relenting. "Fine. As long as you don't do anything."
He gave her an innocent look, "what would I do?"
"Robbie!" Harley yelled, seeing him hanging out with some of her friends.
"What?" He asked, standing up from his place on the couch. "Can I not talk to anybody now?"
"No, you can't. If you want to talk to someone, go talk to Ayla." She looked over and saw Ayla standing in the kitchen by herself. "She's all alone, now go!"
"Okay," he sighed walking over to Ayla. When she saw him, she instantly smiled and motioned him over.
"Happy birthday!" Harley heared someone yell from behind before getting enveloped in a hug.
"Hey Merissa," she chuckled. She turned around and hugged her back. "How is he?"
Merissa became more serious. "Better. Well, not better but he's not dying either."
Harley sighed in relief, "good."
"Open my present." Merissa demanded, shoving the present into Harley's hands. I have no idea where that came from.
"There's a certain time set for them." Harley said, setting the present on the table. "Besides, I like building up the suspense." Merissa rolled her eyes but smiled.
"Harley!" Merissa said, running up to her. It was the middle of the party, they were about to cut the cake. She had tears in her eyes.
"What is it?" Harley asked, already fearing the worst.
It took Merissa a second to calm down. "Lukas. He's awake. I have to go."
"No. We have to go. Let me get Ayla and we'll meet you at the car." Merissa nodded and went to start the car.
Harley went over to Ayla and Robbie and told them the news. "Really?" Ayla asked, hurriedly getting out of her chair. She pulled Robbie up with her. "Okay. Robbie and I'll take his car. You and Merissa can take her's." Harley nodded, letting Ayla lead the way to the exit.
They rushed into the hospital and to Lukas' room. The doctor walked out as they got there. He smiled sadly at them, "you must be Lukas' friends."
"Yeah." Merissa said breathlessley. "We are."
"I'm sorry." He said, letting them in before walking away.
"What's he talking about?" West asked, walking in after them.
"What're you doing here?" Robbie snapped looking at his brother.
West stared at him for a moment. "Lukas is my friend. Can't say the same for you though. So, what're you doing here?"
While they were bickering, Merissa went over to Lukas and his mom. "Hey Lukas. How're you feeling?"
"Good." He said akwardly. "Um," he looked over at his mom, biting his lip.
His mom sucked in a breath, "it's okay, Lukas. It's not your fault." She got out of her chair. "Let me talk to you kids outside real quick."
They all filed out of the room and into the bustling hallway. "What's wrong?" Harley asked, wringing her hands together.
His mom was about to say something when she burst into sobs. Merissa held her, trying to soothe her. After a couple of minutes, she composed herself. She let out a shaky breath. "He has really bad brain damage, he doesn't remember anything. I shouldn't be so sad, it's a miracle he woke up at all. But-" another sob racked her body.
Ayla and Harley looked at each other. "He remembers nothing? Not even us?" Harley asked hesitantly, not wanting to upset her further.
His mom shook her head, wiping the tears off her cheek. "Oh my God." Ayla whispered.
"C-can we see him?" Merissa asked, tear tracks on her face.
His mom smiled slightly, "of course. I'm going to go get a coffee."
They silently walked back into the room. Lukas was on his phone when he looked up. "Oh, it's you guys again. Who're you?"
Merissa sat next to him, taking his hand in hers. He looked shocked but didn't pull away. "I'm Merissa. I was- am- your best friend, we live next to each other."
"Oh," was all he said. "What about you guys?" He indicated Harley and Ayla.
"I'm Ayla, that's Harley." She said, pointing at herself, then Harley. "We're your other best friends. We all go to school together."
"And I'm also your friend, West. We met this year and we were starting to get pretty close." West said, sitting in a chair by the wall.
The only one who hadn't said anything was Robbie. "Um, I'm here for the moral support." Ayla and Harley rolled their eyes.
"So, I'm part of a clique?" Lukas asked.
They chuckled. "Yeah, pretty much dude." West said. "A really messed up one."
"So, you don't remember anything? At all?" Merissa asked.
Lukas shook his head, "sorry. I want to, but it's like there's a wall there, blocking my memories."
"Well," West smirked. "Even when he can't remember anything, he's still the most dramatic out of all of us."
"Sure." Robbie said, exaggerating it. He smirked when West narrowed his eyes at him.
"What was that?" West asked.
"You know what that was."
Merissa rolled her eyes. "Can you guys give us a second?" She looked back at Lukas.
"Yeah, of course." Harley said, pulling Robbie out of the room while Ayla and West follwed. He let her go first. Before closing the door, he looked back at Merissa and Lukas and smirked. Then he walked out, shutting the door.
Merissa sighed, looking back at Lukas. "Is it okay if I show you some pictures? Maybe they'll jog some sort of memory."
Lukas nodded, "yeah sure. I don't think it'll work though. That lady tried to show me some, nothings worked."
"Well, I haven't tried. And that lady is your mom."
"Right."
She pulled out her phone and showed him a picture of them together at her sixteenth birthday party. "That's us at my birthday a couple of months ago."
He took the phone from her hand and stared intently at it. "That's what I look like?"
She looked at him, shocked. "You don't remember what you look like?"
He shook his head, "no. I have a vague idea because I've seen my drivers license but that's it."
She stood out of the chair quickly, catching a tear on her cheek. She took her phone from his hand. "I'm sorry," she said before exiting the room.
"What happened?" Harley asked, looking concerned.
"I just thought it would be different." She started crying and Harley pulled her into a hug.
"I know. I don't think anyone expected this to happen. But we'll get through it, we always do."
Merissa pulled away from her and sniffed. "I think I'm going to go home. Maybe I'll think of ideas to get his memory jogged."
Harley nodded, "okay. We'll go back to the party and tell everyone its off. Most people have probably left already since I'm not there."
"No," Merissa said. "Don't call it off. It's your sweet sixteen. Go enjoy it."
"Okay..." Harley said hesitantly as Merissa started to leave.
Merissa sighed, walking into her house. "Hey, darling." Her dad called from the kitchen. Without even looking at him, she could tell he was drunk. It was the smell.
She walked into the room and saw him lazily leaning against the counter with a bottle of beer in his hand. "Why are you drinking? It's not even one." She said, glancing at the clock on the microwave.
His smile faded, "I can do whatever I want, whenever I want. You understand that, girl?"
"Yeah, whatever." She got herself a cup of water and leaned against the counter opposite of him. He stalked over to her and slapped the cup of water out of her hand. "What the hell?!"
"Don't you ever talk back to me again!" He screamed, spitting in her face.
She wiped the spit off, disgusted. "I think I have a right to be angry. My best friend is in the hospital and you don't even care!" She started picking up the cup and cleaned up the spilled water off the floor.
"You have a best friend?"
"Yes, Lukas! You know that! You've even met him before."
"Oh, that dick. He deserved it."
She looked back at him, slowly standing up. "He deserved what? Dad, what did you do?!"
"He was in our house. I had to teach him a lesson. He was in your room, I was defending my daughter from boys like that."
"Boys like what? Lukas is the sweetest, most caring person I have ever met. He's a much better person than you!" Tears streamed down her face as she ran upstairs and locked the door to her bedroom. She pulled out her phone and took a deep breath, dialing the number. Here goes nothing.
Twenty minutes later the police were there. Merissa walked back down the stairs and opened the door for them. "Merissa, what is going on here?!" Her dad yelled when the police men filed in and clutched him in their grasp.
"John Graves, you have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. Do you understand?" Her dad grunted in response.
An officer walked up to her. "Merissa?" She nodded. "Thank you for calling us. We will be notifying your mother and the parents of the victim, Lukas Hart. For now, come with us back to the station. We have some questions we would like to ask you." She nodded and let them escort her into one of the police cars as she saw her dad struggling to break free of the handcuffs.
He spotted her. "You'll pay for this Merissa! You and that boy!"
The police officer shoved him into the car and slammed the door shut. The police officer who was escorting her to his car smiled reassuringly at her. "He will never hurt you, or anyone else, ever again. You're safe now."
A couple hours later, Merissa's mom rushed into the police station. When she saw Merissa, she ran over and hugged her. "I'm so sorry. I am so, so sorry." She said it like a mantra.
"It's okay." Merissa said, hugging her back. "It's not your fault."
"It is. I shouldn't have left you alone with someone so unstable."
"You didn't know how bad the drinking was, and I wasn't the one who was hurt."
Her mom looked at her, confused. "What're you talking about?"
"Ms. Graves?" Her mom turned and shook hands with a police officer. "May I speak to you for a moment?" She nodded and was led into a sound proof room.
A couple minutes later, she came out and hugged Merissa again. "I'm so sorry about Lukas. If I'd have known he did that, I would have brought him here myself." She sat down beside Merissa. "On good news, you're going to be moving in with me." They both laughed. "But, I'm going to be moving to California."
It took her a second to process that. "California?! That's halfway across the country!"
"I know, I know. But it would be better for us that way. We could have a fresh start, meet new people."
She stood up, furious with her mom. "I don'twant to have a fresh start! Or meet new people! I like the life I have now, it may not be perfect but it's still my life!" She started to walk out, not sure where she was going.
"Honey, wait!" Her mom said, catching up to her and stopping her. "I know this is a lot to take in. But, it's better this way. You'll see. Just give it a chance."
"Give it a chance and then what? It's not like I have anywhere to go."
"Okay, then you have no choice-"
"Mom!"
She shrugged, exasperated. "I don't know what you want me to do, Merissa."
"Don't move. That's what I want you to do. It's not fair!"
"Life isn't fair, Merissa! Life isn't fair..." Her mom paused for a second, letting that sink in. "Now, get in the car. We're going home."
A couple days later, Merissa went to Lukas' house. She had already said goodbye to everyone else, except for him. How am I gonna say this? I've been in love with you since forever but you don't remember anything so it doesn't matter but I'm going to say it anyway because I'm leaving?
Merissa sighed, thinking about what to say. Then the door opened and Lukas walked out. "Hey, you've been standing there for a couple minutes and it's starting to freak my dog out."
"Sorry."
He closed the door behind him and put his hands in his pockets. "Is everything okay?"
Tears filled her eyes and she couldn't hold them in anymore. She lunged and hugged him forcefully. "No. It's not."
"O-oh," he said, akwardly hugging her back.
She let go of him and told him about moving to California. "So, that's why I had to say this. Even if your memory is all jacked up."
"Okay..."
She took a deep breath before looking at his eyes and smiled. "Lukas, I love you. I've loved you since- well, forever, and I don't want to leave you. Especially not like this. But... I have to." And then she kissed him. He pulled back, suprised. She sighed, disapointed. "I love you, Lukas. Goodbye." She kissed him on the cheek one last time and walked back to her car.
Lukas woke up, groaning at his pounding head. "Mom," he called getting out of bed and starting down the stairs.
"What's up honey?" His mom called, walking into the kitchen the same time he did.
"My head hurts. I need some Advil." She handed him the bottle and some water. "Thanks." He took the Advil then glanced at the date on his phone. "Mom, it's past Harley's birthday."
She looked at him suprised and he looked back, equally suprised. "You can remember?" She asked, daring to get her hopes up.
He nodded slowly, "I think so. I remember Harley, Ayla, West, and all their drama." He paused before saying, "Merissa," and everything that happened yesterday came flooding back. She loves me! But she's leaving. "Mom, I gotta go." He said, grabbing his coat.
"Where are you going?!"
"To see Merissa!" He ran across their yards and pounded on her door. No one answered. He tried again, hoping they hadn't already left. He groaned and tried calling her, to no avail. He tried a couple more times before giving up and called West.
"Lukas?" West asked after picking up.
"Yeah. Look, do you know anything about Merissa? She's not home or picking up my calls."
"Uh, no. We're not friends. Wait, you remember?"
Lukas chuckled, "yeah dude. I remember everything!"
"Seriously?! Why didn't I know sooner?!"
"...Because it just happened this morning."
"Well, you should come over. I'll tell you everything that happened while you were sleeping for three months."
Lukas shook his head, though West wouldn't be able to see. "No, I need to find Merissa. Yesterday she told me something, and I need to tell her something back."
West laughed, "oh you guys are in love."
"No we're not!" There was no conviction behind it.
"Mhm," West said. Lukas could feel him smirking. "I think we've had this conversation before."
"Yep, in a bathroom."
"Dude, not okay."
Lukas chuckled, "I'm gonna go find the girls. Wanna come?"
Turns out, it wasn't that hard to find them. Of course they would be together at Harley's house. Lukas knocked on her door and she answered, looking suprised to see him and even more suprised to see West behind him.
"What're you guys doing here?" She asked, letting them in.
"I remember everything." Lukas said, not wasting any time.
"That's great!" Ayla said, coming out of the kitchen with Pizza Rolls on a plate. Robbie and West each got one. "Hey! Those are mine!"
"Do you guys know where Merissa is?"
The girls froze and looked at each other, "she said she talked to you." Ayla said, looking uncomfortable. "She said some things that were pretty personal."
"I know what she said. Before she leaves I need to tell her some things that are personal to me, if you understand what I'm saying."
Harley smiled, "I always hoped you guys got your shit together and realized your feelings."
Lukas smiled, "yeah, yeah. Where is she?"
Harley checked the time, "her flights leaving in an hour. They're probably at the airport."
Lukas started going toward the door, nodding. He stopped before the door, "can I borrow your car?" He asked Harley.
"Uh, yeah, I guess." She said, tossing him the keys. "But it better be in better conditon that I got it!"
"Okay, so just fill up the gas tank?"
She smiled sweetly, "yes please."
He nodded, "got it," then dashed out toward the car.
"They are so in love." Ayla said, sitting down on the couch.
"And I am in love with these Pizza Rolls," West sat down next to her, getting another one off her plate, causing Ayla to hit him on the shoulder before moving the plate out of his reach.