If I Forget You Read Online Free PDF Page A

halfway up Avery’s throat, but it lodged there as she took in the rest of the face — a very familiar face.
    “Tam,” Avery whispered. It came out forced and croaky, making its way past the apology.
    Tam’s thick lips pulled into a frown when she turned to face Avery head-on, as if they were in some sort of standoff. All Avery needed was a weapon. She wished she had Jordan’s cactus. She’d push it right into Tam’s face.
     

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    Even though Tam’s hair was the same as Avery remembered — an unruly mess of black curls — everything else about her was different. Her lime green glasses were gone, replaced by contacts, her clothes a different style, her makeup heavier, her eyes rimmed with smoky black eyeliner. She was no longer Miss Innocent Hawaiian Beauty. She was harder, rebellious. Angry.
    Tam looked Avery up and down as if inspecting a piece of merchandise, and then everything about her softened: the steeliness in her eyes, the tensed muscles in her jaw. Her lips curved into a smile that almost knocked Avery down the steps again.
    “Avery,” she said in a tender voice, clearly unsurprised.
    Avery wasn’t quite as prepared and stumbled over a thousand words on the tip of her tongue. Her flash of anger melted and slid to the floor in a puddle of guilt. What could she say after everything that had happened? Sorry I stole your chance with the one true love of your life? Sorry you couldn’t forgive me and decided to turn me into a pariah? Sorry that I feel guilty and pissed off at the same time?
    “Tam,” Avery finally managed to whisper again. She couldn’t say any of the stuff floating around her head. “I thought — ”
    “They offered me a scholarship here,” Tam cut in with a bubbly voice. “Isn’t that great? I did get offers from a few bigger schools, but this one is giving me a full ride. I couldn’t turn it down.”
    Avery studied her impossibly long eyelashes — much longer than Avery remembered them. Probably extensions. Tam blinked and the smile stayed on her lips. It looked genuine, but Avery wasn’t sure if she could trust it. In fact, she was sure she couldn’t.
    “It’s nice to see you, Ave.” Tam looked down at her phone and sucked in her breath. “I’m so late for my next class, but hey, let’s get together. Let’s … do you think we can … maybe start over? I’m going to a party tonight. You want to come?”
    Party. Tonight. Avery’s memory whirred for a second and then it finally clicked as she looked down at the Post-it in her hand. Jordan’s party. She looked back up. “Did a guy named Jordan invite you?”
    Tam’s smile widened. “Yeah, he did. You’re already going?”
    “I was thinking about it.”
    “Well, great!” Tam leaned forward and gave Avery a loose hug. She smelled like mint. That hadn’t changed. Avery stood as still as a statue, too shocked to do anything else. “So glad you’re going here too, Ave. I’ll see you tonight.” She pulled away and looked Avery in the eyes. “And don’t worry — I’m not attached to anyone this time.” She skipped down the steps and disappeared around the corner.
    When Avery finally made it up to her class, she was ten minutes late. The professor didn’t say anything and she couldn’t remember if tardiness affected her grade in the class or not. It probably did, but she didn’t care.
    All she could think about was Tam. They had met each other when Tam was sixteen and Avery was seventeen. They may not have known each other their whole lives, but sometimes it felt like they had. Their birthdays were two weeks apart, although Avery was a year older. They used to have sleepovers every weekend, share each other’s clothes and shoes, and do each other’s hair. They both loved mint-flavored anything. Tam was the first friend of Avery’s who’d lasted longer than six months, the one who tirelessly tried to set Avery up with guys and always failed, the one who taught Avery that people are never what