4

“That’s great, sweetheart. I’ll tell her you’re ready for visitors.”

“Jeez, Dad. Don’t make it sound so weird.”

He smiled but it slipped. “You’ll get through this, Ashleigh. I know you will.”

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. Because there was no guarantee. Even if my memory returned, the doctor said I might have permanent gaps.

Parts of my life… vanished.

Forever.

It was a lot to wrap my head around.

But what choice did I have?

 

   

“Ashleigh?” My cousin peeked around the door, and I smiled.

“You’re here.”

“I am.” She came over, pulling a stuffed toy from behind her back. “For you.”

“Thank you.” I took the bear from her, running my hands over its soft fur.

“How are you feeling?” Lily sat down in one of the chairs beside my bed.

“I feel okay. The whole memory loss thing is weird but I’m dealing.”

“I’m so sorry.” Tears glittered in her eyes. “I can’t even imagine—”

“Please, don’t. I just want to talk. Mom said you and Kaiden are getting ready to move to Penn State. I can’t believe you’re going to college… with a boy.”

“If you’d have told me this time last year I’d be here, I wouldn’t have believed it either.”

“I’m happy for you. Even if I want to tell you not to jump so quickly into anything with him.”

I had memories of Lily and Kaiden’s early relationship, when everything was new and shiny, and they were both trying hard to fight the inevitable.

Ten months had passed since then.

God, I’d missed so much.

“What’s wrong?” Lily asked.

“Nothing.” My smile was strained. “Did I miss anything exciting at prom?”

“Nothing worth mentioning. Although Bryan and Carrie-Anne finally got together.”

“Bryan Hughes and Carrie-Anne. Wow, I did not see that coming. In my mind, he’s still hung up on Peyton.”

This was so weird.

“That ship has long sailed.” Lily shook her head. “You know Xander and Peyton are like a thing now, right?”

“What?” My eyes almost bugged out of my head. “Peyton and… Uncle Xander?”

“Crap, your parents didn’t tell you?” Guilt flashed in her eyes.

“No. No they did not. When? How?”

Holy crap. I had so many questions.

“Last year over the holidays. It went sour for a while, but they figured it out.”

“What did my dad say? And Uncle Jase?”

She grimaced. “Things got bad for a while. Xander moved to Halston, and we didn’t see him for like two months. But everyone is cool about it now they’ve had time to adjust. Peyton lives with him. She graduated early and got a job.”

“Wow… that’s just… wow.”

Peyton was our age, and Uncle Xander was ten years our senior. Part of me was surprised he was still breathing knowing how protective my dad and Uncle Jason could be.

“I feel like I’ve missed so much.”

“You didn’t really.” Lily gave me a sad smile. “You were right there with us, Leigh. You just…”

“Can’t remember, yeah.” A heavy sigh slipped from my lips. It didn’t feel like much of a consolation.

In fact, it felt like a double blow.

To know you experienced something and not be able to remember a single second of it.

“Poppy and Sofia didn’t fall in love and run away with their boyfriends or anything, did they?” I asked, referring to Lily’s younger sister and her best friend.

“No.” Lily chuckled. “Although Poppy is ready to take senior year by storm. She has big plans, apparently.”

“The boys of Rixon High better watch out.”

“Indeed. Dad is already dreading it.”

“Poppy is definitely going to give him a run for his money.”

“I’m almost upset I won’t be around to see it.” Lily grinned but it immediately dropped when the reality of her words hit.

She wouldn’t be here because she would be off at college, living her life and chasing her dreams.

And me… I’d be stuck here, trying to recover the last year of my life.

“I’m sorry.” Guilt washed over her. “I didn’t think.”

“It’s okay. I’ve got to get used to the fact that everyone’s lives are moving on.” Even if mine was stuck ten months in the past.

Then a thought struck me.

“Me and Ezra, did we…?”

For the first time since waking up, I felt a seed of hope.

I’d been focusing so much on what I couldn’t remember that I hadn’t stopped to think about all the good things that might have happened to me.

Like say for example, the boy I’d wanted since eighth grade finally noticing me.

Something flashed in Lily’s eyes that made my stomach drop. But it was gone so quickly I wondered if I’d imagined it.

Strangled laughter bubbled in my chest. “Of course we didn’t.”

“Leigh, I’m sor—”

“It’s okay, really.” I inhaled a deep breath and asked the question on the tip of my tongue. “Has he… asked about me?”

Ezra Jackson wasn’t like his adopted siblings, Sofía and Aaron Bennet. He was a lone wolf, preferring to hang out in the shadows than do all the normal teenage stuff most kids did.

I’d tried so hard to pull him into our group, but the more I’d pulled, the more he’d pushed back.

“You know Ezra,” Lily said. “He doesn’t exactly talk to the rest of us.”

I did. But it didn’t stop the slight sting when she didn’t give me the answer I hoped for.

“He’s a Bennet now though.”

“I know, my mom and dad told me.” I could barely contain my smile. We all knew Asher and Mya had wanted to adopt Ezra for some time.