better get going,” he says, standing up quickly.
I want to ask him if he’s remembered something but I’m too scared.
I walk him to the door and he leans down to peck my cheek.
“Bye,” I say.
“Bye.” And then he walks into the stagnant night air, leaving me alone.
He is going to remember and soon! I have to think of a way to buy myself some more time.
Duchess thinks about getting drunk, but calls Cammie instead.
“Well it’s about time!” her voice sounds far away.
“Sorry, Cam, I’ve been busy.”
“Busy with what? And I thought you gave up eating chips.”
My crunching stops. I hold my half eaten Dorito in my cheek and say nothing.
“You’re up to something,” Cammie says after a minute. “Tell me what it is…”
“Hmmm…uhhh…” I mumble. I can hide nothing from this girl. She has gossip radar.
“I saw Caleb, Cammie,” I blurt out, biting my nail, nervously.
There is silence on the other end of the line. She knows I wouldn’t joke about something like that.
“He has amnesia and doesn’t know who I am.”
I hear her sigh.
“Olivia…..tell me you didn’t.”
“I did.”
“ARE YOU INSANE?” I hold the phone away from my ear.
“Cammie, when I saw him, I felt things just as strongly as I did when we were together. It’s like everything is still the same and the past three years didn’t happen.”
“You have a right to love him, that’s not something you can control. What you do not have the right to do is take advantage of him…. AGAIN!” Where has this mature little monster come from?
“I liked you better as a freshman.”
“Yeah, well, some of us grow up, Olivia, and some of us play the same tired games forever. Have you ever thought that maybe you are not together because you aren’t supposed to be? Let go!”
“I can’t,” I say softly. Cammie’s voice is gentler this time.
“Olivia, you can have any man you want. Why him? Why is it always about Caleb?”
“Because….because I didn’t need anyone until I met him.”
“You know he’s going to find out.”
“I have to go,” I say. I don’t want to think about that. Tears start oozing from my eyes.
“I love you Olivia, be careful.” I hang up feeling like my stomach is full of rocks. He forgot me. I can make him remember not what I did to him, but what he felt for me.
I wander to my closet, reach up to the top shelf and pull down a dusty box. Laying it on the carpet, I gently remove the lid and stare at its contents. There are a couple of envelopes stuffed with letters, some pictures, and a small wooden box with a flower painted on its lid. I reach for the box and open it. My hand sifts through the jumble of memories, a keychain, a CD, and a frayed book of matches. My hand stills when it brushes against the most important keepsake. I jiggle the box until everything moves aside and I can see the shiny oval penny.
“You,” I say accusingly, picking it up and rolling it between my fingers. "This is all your fault."
Chapter Six
The Past
“I’m not getting in the pool! It is freezing!”
“It’s November in Florida, Olivia. It’s seventy degrees out. Besides, it’s a heated pool. Man up.” Caleb was wading around in his boxers in the turquoise water of the campus swimming pool. I was trying to avoid looking at his muscles.
“You can’t manipulate me into the pool by making a sexist comment,” I said, leaning down to splash him in the face. He grabbed my wrist before I had time to withdraw.
Our eyes locked.
“Don’t,” I warned. For second I didn’t think he’d have the guts. Next thing I know I was tumbling headfirst into the freezing water.
I came up gasping for air, my hair wrapped unbecomingly around my face. Caleb peeled it away laughing.
“I can’t believe you did that!” I gasped, shoving him on the chest. It felt like I was pushing on hot rocks.
“You look
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