The Crystal 3, Jones M [fox in socks read aloud TXT] 📗

Zane's P.O.V

I stared at the new girl, Emery, as she rushed out of the store with Ashley. I thought of the exchange that had happened between us, and it was then that I noticed how she had looked at me. Emery showed shock, and surprisingly, fear. I could tell she was not expecting to see me, and I wondered why. 

Did I know her? And if I did, what did I do to gain the look she had given me when she saw me?

It seemed impossible to know her. I was sure that if I did, I wouldn't have let her out of my sight. We would have been in my bed...

Zane, focus, I chastised myself. 

At that moment, the emotions I was feeling towards Emery seemed so sudden and very familiar. 

Too familiar.

My mind went back to how Ashley had greeted me before practically running away from me with Emery. I realized she was hiding something about Emery that involved me. I could visit Ashley later and find out more about the mysterious girl.

Whatever it was, I hoped it wasn't something bad.

I turned my attention back to the grocery list. A few things were left uncrossed before I could check out. I pushed the trolley as I moved around the store, looking for the items I had not obtained. 

My mind went back to the conversation I had with the gorgeous girl. Particularly, I remembered her features. Emery was the most beautiful girl to cross my path. I had dated others, but something I couldn't identify made her stand out. She was like a rare flower in a valley of weeds. Her irregular blue eyes with dark streaks around her pupil just accentuated her beauty; they reminded me of the ocean. Her skin looked smooth and creamy. I recalled the smell of her perfume from where I stood, and as weird as it sounds, I wanted to sniff her. 

Just like that, I found myself wanting her.

That was weird. I didn't even know the girl well enough to make plans of dating her. I hoped the thoughts I had would stop and not make me some kind of stalker.

I shook my head, turning to look at my list. Having gotten everything, I went towards the cashier. 

Emery. It was quite a beautiful name for a gorgeous woman. 

Crap. I did it again!

I had a feeling it would be hard to stop thinking about her. 

I wanted to know more about Emery. Ashley was a friend of hers, and so I had to visit her to get more info about her. Maybe Emery had traits I wouldn't like, and they could stop me from thinking about her.

"Sir, your items are packed," the cashier told me with a bored look. That brought my mind back to my surroundings. I smiled apologetically to him, gave him the cash and quickly went to get my things.

The good thing about Crystalia was that we did not have to pay much for anything. The price of a US-dollar item sold on earth would be a hundredth of it in Crystalia, and people did not have to worry about costs. In fact, the King was working on making everything free for everyone.

I left the grocery store and headed for my home. It was located inside the Joshalia forest. It wasn't that far in the woods; it was near the end that was close to the castle.

Living in a forest may seem scary to others, but I found it relaxing. I got the view of the trees and the Crystalia Mountains as a bonus. In fact, my home was a few meters from one of the rivers that flowed past the city.

After walking for a while and finding that the goods I had purchased were getting heavier to carry with every step, I decided to teleport away to my house. I went to the kitchen to arrange the groceries before spending the rest of my day watching movies.

I had just watched two movies when I heard a ringing sound. I took out my iPhone 14 that I had unconsciously placed under one of the couch cushions and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Zane! The Queen wants us to see her now," Ethan had called. He spoke with a voice that told me something was wrong. Without wasting time, I switched off the TV and teleported to the entrance of the castle.

"Hey, Joe!" I greeted one of the guards as I entered the massive structure. He just nodded, not turning to face me. I looked around the hallways, searching for the door that led to the main study room. It was open, and I found myself entering it.

The Queen, Erick, Selena, Ashley, Justin and my former bandmates were there. Unexpectedly, so was Emery.

I hadn't moved since I had spotted her because I was busy staring at her. Emery met my eyes for a second before quickly looking away. I wanted to smile because she blushed when I caught her looking at me.

Stop it, Zane!

"Zane, sit down," Liam said. I turned to him, noticing that he had sat with the rest of my former bandmates on the couch. Selena, Justin, Erick, Ashley and the Queen had occupied the other sofa, and Emery was standing in the middle of the room. I furrowed my eyebrows, wondering what was wrong.

"There is something I have to tell all of you," Elizabeth said as I took a spot on the couch where Liam and my former bandmates were sitting.

Elizabeth went to speak, but she stopped herself. Instead, she began chanting a spell as she waved a hand around in the air. I was more confused. 

In an instant, specks of orange stardust were emitted from her hands, and they were coming towards us at a fast pace. A few of them hit me. It brought a headache that was strong enough to have me collapse onto the floor, and suddenly, I began seeing videos of me with Emery and the others.

Not videos. Memories.

I knew that I had seen Emery in my past. It was then that I was able to focus on the memories quickly flashing in my mind. I recalled spending time with her and the rest of my bandmates. I also saw parts of me that I didn't like and actions that I wished I never did. 

Seconds later, the memories stopped. 

I was confused at first, not knowing what to do. It took me a couple of seconds for me to feel shocked and angry.

"What was that?" Selena asked, voicing out the question that we all wanted to be answered.

"All of you knew Emery. Nine years ago, I had wiped out your memories of her," Elizabeth said.

Emery.

In the past nine years, I felt like I had been missing something. However, I never paid too much attention to it. It did not seem very important then. My mind had blanks, but at the moment, those blanks had been filled. 

I could remember every memory I had shared with Emery. I recalled all the good things we did together, the heat-scorching kiss, and the bad things I had done to her. I also remembered moping about Emery having gone after Eva was captured. It went on for a while until it suddenly stopped.

"Mother! Why did you do that to us?" Erick asked the Queen with a loud voice. His mother looked taken aback by the loudness of his voice. Erick was angry, and I was sure he was not the only one.

"Erick, you don't have to yell at your mother," Emery spoke, and we all turned our attention to her.

The memories of the last time we talked came to mind. I remembered how she felt in my arms. I remembered the addiction that was her lips...

So that was why I felt like I knew her. That was why my mind was conjuring up thoughts of dating her.

I was in love with her.

"Emery..." I called out to her, trailing off with no idea of what to say to her. She met my eyes, and then she swiftly turned her attention to something on my side. I couldn't believe it had been eleven years ever since we last talked; eleven long years that I was without her.

I wondered how I could have survived without her, but then I recalled that the Queen had wiped out the memories we had of Emery.

"She told me how you guys were when I was gone, and she told me she did it because she couldn't handle seeing all of you depressed," Emery continued.

"Emery, I don't care! I don't think we all do." Justin spoke. "We were sad that you were gone, but it didn't give my mother the right to wipe our memories of you."

"I'm sorry," Elizabeth decided to apologize. "I knew it was not a good idea, but I wanted to see all of you happy. I did it for all of you!"

"Guys, don't take it out on her. She was right to do so," Ashley added, shocking the rest of us.

"You knew?" Selena yelled at Ashley. Now everyone turned to the blonde. "You knew and you didn't freaking tell us?"

It was suddenly a lot to take in. Eleven whole years...

"Some friend you are," Ethan said in anger, making Ashley drop her jaw in shock.

"Shut up, Ethan. It had to be done!" Ashley replied.

"Seriously?" Harry joined in. "Who the hell are you to control our lives and memories like that?"

"We care about all of you! You were all sad that Emery was gone. Honestly, no amount of begging or apologizing could have made things better years ago. You had your lives ahead of you, and you could have lost your jobs!"

"We wouldn't have minded if we lost our fucking jobs!" Ethan yelled. "How the fuck could we have continued with them if we had not made up for every wrong thing we did to Emery?"

"Okay, enough!" Emery shouted. "Shouting at each other is not going to make things any better. It isn't going to change what happened. You guys should know that Ashley is right. I was still angry with all of you, and I definitely wouldn't have listened to whatever apologies you were brewing in your minds at that time. I was hurt, and as selfish as it is, I wanted all of you to hurt the same way I did."

"Emery, ever since you tried to kill yourself, we had been hurting," Logan spoke softly.

"You don't get it," Emery interjected. "I wanted you to experience all the pain I went through; the humiliation, the emotional abuse, the betrayal, everything. Your sadness seemed like a grain of sand to what I went through."

"You were gone, Emery," I responded, choosing to ignore the words she had just said. "You were gone for so long. Why did you stay away for all these years?"

"I couldn't allow myself to be around you," she replied. "I was still angry with you, and I didn't want you to break my resolve."

"We told you we were sorry," Selena said with a hurt expression.

"It wasn't enough. I was still hurt, and I wasn't planning to see all of you again. That was until yesterday," Emery huffed.

"Emery, we are so sorry for what we did to you," Logan spoke. "I know we should have listened to you. Maybe we wouldn't have wasted a decade if only we had believed you."

"We wouldn't have wasted a lot of time if only we had believed you," Liam deadpanned, making the truth sink in all of us.

"It's okay, Logan. That is particularly why I'm here. I know that