She’s not here yet. There is no way I could miss her. Hell, there’s no way anyone could miss her.
Ben ended up buying himself a rather unappetizing looking slice of pizza along with a plain salad. He remembered Rachel’s offer that morning to pack him a lunch and suddenly began to wish he’d taken her up on it. It wasn’t just pride keeping him from letting her take of him like that, not really. Rather, a strong sense of self-determination that he’d never been able to shake or ignore.
He elbowed his way through a group of people loitering around the lunchroom after getting his food. There was an empty table at the end of the row he was heading through, and he sat down at it. Ben scanned the lunchroom one more time. There was still no sign of her.
Maybe she was just kidding around? After all, why would she want to have lunch with-
“Ben.” Emma’s voice was unmistakable. Somehow, she had snuck up on him and was smiling broadly, as though it had been exactly what she’d intended.
“Uh, hey Emma,” said Ben. He glanced down and saw a pink lunchbox in her hands, and tried not to gawk too obviously at her body.
“I can sit with you, right?” Emma sat down before Ben could answer her question. She still had that same look in her eyes. It was unnerving, but also so intriguing, as though she had a secret and was just dying to share it with him.
A long moment of silence went by, the rest of the cafeteria around them buzzing with activity. Ben felt awkward, but Emma looked almost too comfortable. She opened her lunchbox and began to take out her food with cute, dexterous movements.
“So what’s your deal, anyway?” Ben glanced away after asking the question, feeling like it was almost rude for him to ask in the way that he had. “I mean, you just moved here. You’re a senior, right?”
Smooth, Ben. Real smooth.
“Yeah, I’m a senior,” said Emma. “I’m just like you, Ben. You’re a senior too, right?”
Ben nodded. Emma was still smiling at him in that strange, knowing way. He’d seen girls smile in that way before, but never at him.
“Where did you move from?” he asked. “And seriously, why? There isn’t much in Emerald Hills. Most people are trying to move away from the town, not into it.”
“There’s a lot here for me,” said Emma. “For me and my parents, I mean. I think I’m going to like it here.”
Her gaze lingered on him for just a moment too long. Ben coughed nervously into the crook of his elbow.
Why do I feel so strange? And more importantly, why doesn’t she?
“You still don’t talk a lot, do you, Ben?” asked Emma. The question caught Ben off guard, and for a moment he just stared at her, mouth agape.
“I mean, you didn’t say much in Ms. Thatcher’s class,” said Emma. “Earlier this morning.
Ben shrugged.
“Yeah, I guess I don’t,” he said. “I’ve been told that a couple of times before.”
“Only a couple of times?” Emma leaned a little closer into him. Ben couldn’t stop himself from smiling at her. Something about her was familiar, in a cheeky, down to earth kind of way.
“I’ve only been in Emerald Hills for a few years,” said Ben. “I was the new kid here as a freshman. Just like you.”
“And before that, you were super talkative?” asked Emma. Ben chuckled and shook his head.
“You know, I’m not sure what I was like before that.”
He didn’t say anything for a moment, and let the silence between them build. It was such an odd conversation that they were having, but part of him was beginning to accept it. Rather, a part of him was tuning into a level underneath the surface, and straining to hear just what was really being said
“Ben…” Emma began speaking in a soft, serious voice. “Where did you grow up? You said you moved here, so…”
Ben met Emma’s gaze for several long, eternal seconds.
“I don’t know,” he finally said. “I had an accident a couple of years ago. Four years ago, to be exact. I don’t remember anything that happened before that.”
Emma blinked a couple of times in quick succession. There was something in her eyes that pained Ben to see, but she glanced away, hiding it from him.
This doesn’t feel right. None of this feels right.
“Oh,” said Emma. “That’s terrible. I… I can’t imagine how hard that must be for you.”
Ben opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, a strong hand slapped down on the other side of the table.
“Hey there. How’s it going? I’m Cliff.”
Ben felt a strangely protective emotion well up within him as he watched his tormenter extend his arm forward to shake Emma’s hand. He was grinning, as though he’d finally found the ultimate humiliation, the one to outdo all of the others that he suffered through with gritted teeth.
“Uh, hello,” said Emma. “Do you need something, or…?”
Cliff laughed and sat down in the seat to the left of Emma. Ben shot him a cold look and felt one of his hands involuntarily clench up into a fist.
You aren’t just fucking with me right now, Cliff. This is going too far.
“I do need something,” said Cliff. “To introduce myself. You’re new here, right? I usually try to work new students like you into the fold as soon as possible.”
“I’m fine, thanks.” Emma turned away from him and rolled her eyes, smiling slightly.
“I’m not so sure if you are,” said Cliff. “Your name is Emma, right? The kid you’re sitting with is bad news, Emma. I’m just here to be a good samaritan.”
Emma turned back to Cliff and smiled at him for a second. What happened next caught Ben completely off guard.
The blonde girl leaned away from the jock and over to him, taking his cheek into her soft hand. Ben saw the confident, comfortable look in her big blue eyes for only a split second before her lips were against his.
What?
It was as though time had stopped. Emma’s kiss was beyond sweet, like biting into a perfectly ripened peach. He felt her tongue flick ever so slightly into his mouth as she committed even further and let his own tongue automatically push out in response.
“What the fuck?” yelled Cliff. He stood up as though somebody had thrown a drink in his face. Emma finally broke from the embrace, leaving one hand on Ben’s chest. It was impossible for Ben to keep from smiling as he looked at the wide-eyed, open mouthed wrestling captain.
“I don’t think you’re needed here, Cliff,” said Ben. “Why don’t you go back to your own table?”
Danny isn’t going to believe a word of this, but that’s okay.
Cliff looked like he was considering spitting on the ground, or possibly even in Ben’s face, but after a long moment he turned around and began stomping off back towards his own table. Ben shook his head slightly and looked at Emma, unable to stop the confusion from coming out in his face.
“Why… did you do that?” he asked. “You know, you could have just-“
“Just what, Ben?” she responded, repeating his name again and rolling her eyes once more. “Ben.”
Ben slowly shook his head and set his hands on the table. He was past the point of knowing what to do or what to say. There was being unpredictable, and then there was Emma, who acted like she operated totally outside of rhyme and reason.
“So… does this mean that you’re into me?” The question sounded foolish even as it left his mouth, but he couldn’t contain it or his massive grin.
“You said that you had an accident, before coming here,” said Emma, softly. “Do you remember… anything? From before the accident?”
Ben felt his state shift as he remembered the dream from that morning, and the many others he’d had like it over the course of the past four years. Suddenly, he felt strangely suspicious of the girl sitting next to him.
Something about this isn’t right…
“Only bits and pieces,” said Ben. “Bad dreams, mostly. I remember a bit of the night I washed up, the storm and the li
ghtening. I remember…”
His head began to hurt as he desperately tried to recall the other nightmares he’d had. It was like trying to remember any detail from a dreamscape, searching for something he’d lost without knowing exactly where or what it was. Emma nodded, pulled her lips up into a thin smile, and set a hand on his shoulder.
“It’s okay,” she said. “If you can’t remember, I guess you just can’t remember.”
There was more silence. This time, Ben felt comfortable, too.
She knows something, either about me, or about what I’m going through.
The bell signaling the end of the senior’s lunch rang, and most of the students at the tables around them started to leave. Ben set his hand on top of Emma’s and managed to look her directly in the eyes, as she had taken to doing with him.
“Do you… do you want to walk home after school today?” he asked. “I want to talk to you some more, if that’s okay.”
Emma smiled, her entire face coming alive, almost glowing.
“Yes, I do,” she said. “That sounds perfect, Ben.”
Lost Memories by Anya Merchant
SEXY CHEAT SHEET
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 15
TITLE PAGE
After the Fall: Human Underground (Taboo Erotica) (Eden Harem Book 3) Page 15
