AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He extended the papers between us. I reached out and took them, sliding them into my bag without more than a cursory glance. “Thank you.”
“Is everything okay?” he asked.
“I’m having some trouble with my memory,” I explained. “I hit my head when I fell.”
His eyes widened. “You don’t know me.” Surprise laced his tone.
“I guess my memory wipe hasn’t gotten around,” I mused.
“Uh, no. I just thought you broke your leg,” he said, gesturing toward it.
I zipped up my bag, pushed out of my seat, and reached for my crutches. He moved to help me, then snagged my bag off the table, swinging it over his shoulder.
“Oh, you don’t need to do that,” I said.
“I don’t mind,” he replied, gesturing for me to go ahead of him.
I hesitated. “What’s your name?”
“I’ve never met anyone with amnesia before.”
“I can’t remember if I have.”
He laughed. “Arsen,” he said, gesturing to himself. “You offered me your notes a few weeks ago when I was out sick.”
“Jess,” I said, then grimaced. “But I guess you already knew that.”
“The piano player,” he said, nodding.
Pausing midstride, I glanced around. “You know I play piano?”
“I know your major too,” he mused.
Wariness skittered down my spine, a feeling I didn’t much care for. I realized then that the classroom was empty except for us. Even the professor had already left. Arsen seemed innocent enough, but what did I know?
Suddenly, I felt woefully unprepared for daily life, for being around so many people I didn’t know. If I had been pushed down those stairs, that meant someone had done it. Someone I couldn’t remember. It could have been anyone. They could have approached me, pretending to be a friend, and I wouldn’t know any better. How could I trust anyone? How could I trust myself?
The urge to flee was astounding, hitting me all at once with the force of a bus. My limbs trembled with adrenaline, mind screaming for me to get out.
Gripping the crutches, I turned away from Arsen, back to the door. My palms were sweating, and it weakened my grip on the crutches, but I hurried forward, planting the wooden sticks into the floor, and swung my hurt leg forward. My fingers slipped, and I stumbled a bit, which caused my weight to fall on the cast and me to cry out against the sudden pain.
Arsen rushed forward, wrapping an arm around my waist and lifting to try and relieve the pressure on my foot.
“No!” I said, heart slamming into my ribs. I scrambled up, but my balance was off, and one of the crutches clattered onto the floor. Arsen’s grip tightened on me instead of releasing, and my throat started to close in.
“What the fuck is going on in here?” a new voice roared.
The body against mine stiffened, and my head whipped up as Ben stalked forward, all traces of his baby face hidden beneath a granite jaw and flashing eyes.
“Bro, you’d better get your hands off my girl before I yank them off your body and beat you with them,” he intoned.
Despite the clear ire in his tone, his arms were gentle when they slipped around me, pushed Arsen’s arm away, and pulled me in. The other crutch I’d been clinging to clattered onto the floor as well, but I didn’t fall because the security of his body was there and better than any crutch could ever be.
“Ben,” I said, relief making me sag.
He bent, sweeping me up bridal style. My arms looped around his neck, and my cheek lay against his shoulder. The fear pummeling me just seconds ago abated sort of like a rising tide being pulled back out to sea.
A sense of calm-safe-trust enveloped me like a blanket. But it wasn’t a blanket. It was Ben.
