Forget Me Not Read Online Free Page A

up with bruises or cuts as the result of an altercation with Dale, but his home life was so well concealed that rumors about a raucous social life sang around the school and he was soon labeled a bad boy. He was immune to the affects of his silent charm, never noticing the guys that hung from his every word or the girls that swooned around him. The reluctant alpha. He could never accept his appeal though. How could he when his confidence had been so badly beaten out of him?
    On the last page of the book my closest friends have written their parting words. Good luck, keep in touch, old sayings specific to our little click. Then, there it is, our song title written heavily amidst the scribbles of farewells. It reads, ‘ Wherever you will go’ and underneath it lays the signature of J.L.Jenner with a kiss. To the side reads our initials cocooned in a cartoon heart.
    My real heart doubles in size and I feel it rise to my throat. He may as well have whispered the words into my ear for the response I’m having. Our song. The Calling had released it around the time we became serious and it always seemed to be present at significant moments along the timeline of our relationship. It played during our first kiss, on our first date. It played at my sister’s wedding when he was officially introduced to my family as my boyfriend, a term that didn't begin to explain what he was to me. It also accompanied us to our prom, the last time we danced together.
    My heart shrinks as the happy nostalgia fades away and the once hidden pain raises its hideous head.
    Three weeks after our prom, I never saw Jesse again. One day he was there and we were rejoicing in the anticipation of our summer together and then the next day, he was gone. The plan was to meet at Mo's Diner on the first day of the school break, but he never showed. I waited for an hour before I was overcome with concern. I was worried in case he’d been fighting with Dale. He’d never left me waiting before. A million ugly scenarios haunted me as I ran to his house. Dale answered, the smell of whiskey emanating from his wretched breath. Through broken slurs he told me that Jesse had gone. I didn't believe him. It could easily have been one of his vicious games that he liked to play with Jesse, or worse, maybe he was so badly injured that he was hiding him from me.
    Normally, I would wither under Dales disturbing glare, but with the adrenaline pulsing through my body I found the strength to push past him and I ran to Jesse’s bedroom. His mom was at the top of the stairs, having eavesdropped on our conversation. She stepped reluctantly to the side as I edged closer to his bedroom door. Her Jesse-blue eyes were bloodshot with sorrow but the kindness she once held for me had morphed into anger and it radiated from her. It was clear that whatever had happened was my fault.
    The minimal contents of his room looked unchanged except for his wardrobe doors which hung open to reveal the emptiness inside. The photos that I’d lovingly taken of us had been removed from their usual home above his headboard. The bed was un-slept in and a crumpled note lay on the pillow.
    Mom, I have to go, I can’t pretend that this is okay anymore. Don’t wait for me. Don’t worry about me.
    Love you, Jesse.
    With the note still clasped in my hand I left his house with no words for his family. If I hadn’t been silenced with shock I’d have hammered them with hate and blame. I’d have cheered for him and the hell that he’d left behind. I was scared for him and anxious that I didn’t know where he was, but I was so happy that he had finally gotten out. 
    From the rare occasions that Jesse opened up about his relationship with Dale, I had managed to piece together that the war began almost immediately after Dale had moved in when Jesse was barely eight years old. I was told how Dale would beat his mother and when Jesse and Ted intercepted they would take on the punishment. The physical beatings