Free Forget Me Not by Sarah Daltry Page A

leave, I run
into Jack, of course, who appears to be just coming back from work.
I almost knock him over on my way out the door.
    “ Hey, where are you
running off to? Lose your glass slipper?”
    “ Fuck you.”
    “ Ouch. What
happened?”
    “ Get out of my way,” I
growl and push past him but he reaches for my arm.
    “ Hey. Hold on. Let me take
a quick shower and we can go for a ride. You look like you need to
get a little wild.”
    “ You have no idea,” I tell
him.
    “ I’ll be down in like ten
minutes.”
    It is actually twenty and I am ready
to jump out the window by the time he makes it downstairs. He leads
me to his bike and neither of us speaks during the walk. I get on
behind him without asking where we are going or what the plan is;
it is starting to get late and I have a midterm tomorrow at ten
thirty and a paper due next week, but right now, nothing
matters.
    Jack brings me to a rundown bar on the
edge of town. I’m not old enough to drink and I doubt he is either,
but it doesn’t stop them from letting us in, or stop Jack from
ordering two beers. I sip at mine, because I’m not much of a
drinker, and I see him smirking while I do.
    “ What?” I ask. It comes
across bitchy, which isn’t my intention. However, I don’t have the
energy to care. If he thinks I’m a bitch, so be it.
    “ You’re looking like you
need to disappear. It ain’t gonna happen if you nurse
that.”
    “ What do you
mean?”
    “ Drink faster,” he
says.
    “ I don’t really
drink.”
    “ Well, I’d suggest you
start. Whatever shit you’re dealing with – it’s still gonna be
there in the morning. Maybe tonight – let it go.”
    He’s right. I didn’t come here to act
the same as I always do. I came here to be someone else for a few
hours. I drink the glass quickly, although it’s gross, and slam it
down on the table. He laughs, but he looks a little impressed. I
have to admit that I feel pretty proud of myself. Now let’s see him
call me a princess.
    “ Problems
gone?”
    “ Nope. My life still
sucks.”
    “ How about something
harder?”
    “ Bring me whatever you
think will make tonight have never happened.”
    He comes back with two shots of
whiskey, and I drink them both. The burning liquid tears my throat
apart, but I keep up the straight face. I don’t feel any different
yet.
    “ Anything?” I know he’s
amused, but I’m not.
    “ Two more. I don’t want to
feel anything,”
    Shrugging, he goes to the bar and
brings back two more. I realize he’s had nothing but the first
beer, but he’s driving, so that’s a good thing. I, on the other
hand, am ready to keep going. With a beer and four shots of whiskey
in me, I feel like I should be forgetting what happened with Derek,
but I’m not. I feel nothing. How many shots will it take for the
hurt to go away?
    “ Do you do this a lot?” I
ask.
    “ When I need to forget.
Which I guess is a lot by most people’s standards.”
    “ What do you need to
forget?”
    “ Nothing that is going to
help you disappear.”
    “ But this
works?”
    “ Sometimes,” he admits.
“Sometimes, I just wake up feeling like shit. And then I remember.
And feel like shit some more.”
    “ Why are you even talking
to me? I thought you hated me.”
    “ I don’t hate you. I just
thought I hated your type.”
    “ So you don’t hate my
type? Or I’m not the type you thought?”
    Jack shrugs. “Good
question.”
    “ Why did you invite me
out?”
    “ Seemed like the right
thing to do. You can’t seem to stop running into me,
princess.”
    “ I’m not a princess. I’m
nothing.” I start getting really depressed, thinking about how
little I mean to Derek, how easily he moved on, and how stupid it
all is.
    “ Yeah, I really doubt
that.” Jack actually smiles – a genuine smile. It’s not mocking or
cold and the result is just strange.
    “ It’s true. I…” I stop
speaking, because I don’t know what to say.
    “ Princess, you’re more
than you think