Remind Me

Chapter Thirty-Six

"Brinley, wake up," Clarin whispers in my ear.

My eyes open, and for a moment I'm confused where I am. The ceiling is a salmon color, and the walls match. Who paints their ceilings? That's weird. Oh, right, I'm at Owen's family's house. Ah, and he has a secret twin brother that I didn't know about until yesterday. Everyone lied to me. Sounds about right.

"Clarin?" I ask, stretching my arms over my head. "Why'd you wake me up?"

"You were crying," she says. Then she settles down on the bed instead of hovering over my face. "What were you dreaming about?"

I look back up at the ugly ceiling. What was I dreaming about? I don't really remember- An image of Jonathan holding a knife pops into my mind and I know immediately that it was him. He was cutting into my arm again. I look down at my stitches and frown.

"Jonathan," I reply. "Ugh, I'm never going to stop having nightmares, am I?"

Clarin looks sad to hear me say this. Her eyebrows furrow, and she looks like she wants to cry just hearing me say that. "I wish I could do something to help."

"I wish you could too," I sigh. "But hey, thanks for worrying. That's pretty comforting."

"Is that sarcastic?" Clarin asks me.

"No," I reply, my eyebrows raised.

"Oh," she says. "Good. I never really know with you."

"Hm," I hum. "I guess I should work on that."

"No, I like it," Clarin replies with a small smile.

I sigh, looking her over. She's dressed already, wearing a sundress and a little cardigan over it. She looks like she's ready to go out and have some fun. That might be nice for me too. But first, I need to know something. "If I ask you something will you answer honesty?"

Clarin looks confused and a little nervous. "Sure."

"Why didn't you tell me either?" I ask slowly. "You knew all this time, yet you said nothing either."

"I wanted to, I swear," Clarin bites her lip. "I actually confronted mom about it many times, but she forced me not to say a word. You know, because of what Owen's family knows about her. You heard about the whole issue, right?"

The image of my mom copying down Mrs. Michaels' credit card number comes into my mind, making me feel sick to my stomach. I nod.

"Yeah, well, apparently having you know anything would get both Ian and mom put in jail so... But hey! You know now and neither has happened. Luckily," Clarin sighs. "I'm so sorry, though. I know this is probably very hard for you. You probably feel so betrayed right now. And I'm part of the reason. But listen, I swear to you, I will never keep anything from you again. I already know how crappy that feels."

I smile a little. I don't know what it is about her tone that makes me believe her and feel empathy. "I forgive you, Clarin. I know you were forced to keep it a secret."

"Thank you for understanding," Clarin seems very relieved. "But hey, give Owen a break, okay? He's in the same boat I just got out of."

I frown again. "I know... But it's just different, you know? He's the one that gave me the entire fake story. He's the one that walked into my room knowing he was about to lie to my face and made it so convincing."

"I get it," Clarin assures me. "Just... Please remember that he's always been in it for you. He has always done what's best for you."

"Best for me?" I quirk am eyebrow.