Page 51 of Never Forget
The TV in the corner was playing local news. A reporter was standing in front of City Hall, talking about the upcoming election.
"Montgomery's got it locked up," someone on the screen said. "Polls show him ahead by double digits."
Sean snorted. "Montgomery." He shook his head, his expression souring. "I heard a rumor about him and Jack Donovan's sister. The shit he spread about her when they were in high school." His jaw tightened. "A man who does that to a girl doesn't deserve to run for dogcatcher, let alone Solicitor."
Sean could be crude sometimes, but that didn't mean he lacked a conscience.
"So what's the deal with this proposal she's putting together?” Sean shifted in his chair. “Danny says she's got half the dispatchers talking."
"She's thorough." I was staring at the TV without seeing it.
"Didn’t she work on this series that helped pass legislation in New York?" Sean shook his head, almost impressed. "If I were her, I'd expose Montgomery's bullshit before Havensworth elects him into the wrong office."
I nodded but my mind was already drifting back to a different time.
Ten years ago. I was on the football team with Bryce Montgomery. He was a year older, the quarterback, the golden boy. He was the kind of guy who made everything lookeffortless. Charm came to him like breathing, and everyone wanted to be near him, as if some of that shine might rub off.
Jamie was the quiet girl with auburn hair and sharp blue eyes who didn't seem to notice how many boys watched her walk down the hallway. She was smart and beautiful. Guys talked about her like she was a prize to be won.
I hated how they talked about her, but I never said a word because I was afraid of how I'd come off if I told them to shut up. I couldn’t draw attention to the feelings I wasn't supposed to have. So I stayed silent.
When Jamie started dating Bryce, I told myself it was fine. I'd see them together in the hallways between classes, his arm slung around her shoulders, her smile bright in a way that made my chest tight. She looked happy. That was what mattered. I had no right to want anything different.
Then one afternoon in the locker room, I heard Bryce talking about Jamie. He was holding court the way he always did, surrounded by guys who hung on his every word. I was at my locker, close enough to hear but not close enough to be part of the circle.
He talked about her first time, about what she let him do, about the sounds she made. He painted a picture with words that made me want to put my fist through the metal door in front of me.
The other guys laughed. They asked questions. They wanted details.
And I stood there and said nothing.
The rumors spread fast after that. Through the school first, then through Havensworth. Jamie went from the quiet girl with admirers to the girl everyone whispered about. The girl who had given herself to Bryce Montgomery and gotten burned for it.
I went looking for her a few days after the rumors started. I don't know what I thought I could do. I just knew I couldn't stay away.
I found her in a hidden corner behind the library stacks, curled into herself with her back against the wall and her knees pulled to her chest. She was crying in that way people cry when they don't want to be heard, her hand pressed over her mouth, her whole body shaking with the effort of staying silent.
She looked up when she saw me. Her eyes were red and swollen, and there was something broken in them that I'd never seen before.
I didn't say anything. I just sat down beside her and pulled her into my arms.
She let me hold her while she cried. I don't know how long we stayed like that. Long enough for my shirt to soak through. Long enough for the light coming through the windows to shift and fade.
I couldn't undo what Bryce had done. I couldn't take back the words he'd spread or erase the way her name now sounded in everyone's mouth.
All I could say was "I'm sorry."
Two words. They felt like nothing. They were nothing.
And now Bryce was back. Running for Solicitor. Smiling at Jamie in a grocery store like he had every right. Touching her arm like nothing had ever happened.
My jaw tightened.
"Sam?"
Tyler's voice cut through the fog. I blinked and found both of them watching me.
"Yeah." I cleared my throat. "Sorry. What?"
