You Forgot The Funny Novels & Stories

“I’ve called you that since we were little! You get to call me A, but I can’t call you Z? We are Z to A. It’s always been Z to A. I’m married and I’m happy now. My happy ass gets dragged around by your sad sorry ass because you can’t stick up for yourself. You use me as a scapegoat when there is nothing to back you up. I’ve already been out. Since I married Nicole, I’ve been out of Dad’s game. You’re still playing it like a god damn idiot and sitting here drinking your ass off and locking out everyone.” He shook his head and ran his hand through his hair. “When was the last time you saw anyone outside of Stace or Jay? When was the last time you went out? Took a few days on the jet? You used

Shocked, I finish bandaging my burnt arm and creep closer to the exit, opening the door just a crack to hear what is being said about me. “Oh, I heard all about it. Especially how that slut asked my brother what she was to him as she cried. What a pathetic whore she is.” Serena cackled back. I try my best to calm my breathing as I listen in to three other girls laughing at her remark, noticing Anna’s voice in particular.

“Oh sis, you forget, you were always the messy one,” Right. I returned her smile, my cheeks hurting. I didn't bother giving her a reply, seeing that pink on her cheeks was already enough satisfaction for me. “Oh, Trenton, we need to get that stuff done!” I suddenly said, acting like I'd completely forgotten about something important. Trenton momentarily looked confused before his eyes lit up with realization, “Oh, yes, miss Amelia,” He quickly said, “We can't forget to do that today,” He nodded in agreement, giving me a grateful look.

"Fuck memory loss right now. I know what I didn't do!" What?

The room was empty, except for the note lying quietly beside the pillow. Kane picked it up with shaking hands. The last words escaped him. "The game is over."

She walked half a block and then stopped to check her bag for her keys and found them immediately but stood there anyway because she was thinking about what he had said and how he had said it and the particular way he had not laughed when she laughed. She had said that thing about Helena before. To other people. In other contexts. They had always laughed with her because that was what you did when someone said something with a laugh. You laughed back and moved on. Marcus had not moved on. He had just looked at her and heard it properly and then said something true back without making it a moment. She was still thinking about that when her phone rang. It was Marcus. She picked up. He said I f

She forced me into the only escape route, leaving herself behind. As her voice gradually faded into the rubble, her final words to me were, "We're even now. I owe you nothing." I knew she had done all that just to make amends for forgetting me and falling for someone else, not because she still loved me. Tamping down the bitterness welling up in my chest, I uttered softly, "There's no going back for Eleanor and me." In this life, I would never repeat that mistake. Leaving the Ashby residence, I headed to the village clinic to find Dylan.

Warm and loose and completely unguarded, the kind that doesn't happen when you're managing yourself, when you're performing calmly, when you're being careful. The kind that just comes out because something is actually funny and you've forgotten to hold anything back. Dominic's laughter. And underneath it, threading through it, Celeste's voice. I lay completely still. I thought about the video I'd sent at noon. About the hour I'd waited. About three words delivered hours later by a man who couldn't remember, sitting two feet away from me on the same sofa, that the video had existed at all. He forgot, but he wasn't forgetting this.

“Five years of me flying to Amsterdam, making time, trying to make it work, while she always had excuses. Work. Deals. Emergencies. It's finally over.” The ring in my pocket felt heavy. I pulled it out and turned it over in my hand. I had planned a whole proposal today. I had pictured her face when I got down on one knee. Instead, she hung up on me. "I guess it’s time to forget Jasmine. Or what do you think?" I waited for an answer I knew wasn't gonna come. Then, I slipped the ring back into my pocket. I didn’t know who this ring would go to now. Maybe no one.