The Forget-Me-Not Chapter 3: I Don't Know Any Mylene

"I don't know any Mylene"

"I've never seen any Mylene"

"No one knows that girl"

"You're probably just tired"

"You must be dreaming"

"There's no one like that here"

At first, I thought that everyone must be playing a trick on me…

… But they weren't

Marinette's mind was reeling.

She was standing outside the recreation center, where Kim and Alix were doing another one of their ridiculous dares out of boredom. This time, they were trying to climb up the outside wall of the recreation center, a crowd of akuma standing outside watching. It was incredibly stupid and life threatening, especially out in the rain. Watching it was really unsettling and gave Marinette a horrible feeling in her gut.

But Kim and Alix's stunt wasn't why she was so surprised.

Marinette blinked incredulously at a confused Max, both of them in their rain jackets with the hood pulled up due to the pouring rain, and said, "Wait, you seriously don't remember Mylene at all?"

Max shook his head, a perturbed expression on his face as raindrops splattered onto their rain jackets, "Not at all. Or, at least not the Mylene that you're speaking of. I know there's a Miranda among the eight-year-olds, a Lena among the ten-year-olds, and a Miles among the thirteen-year-olds, but I don't know anyone with the name Mylene."

Marinette grabbed at the hood of her rain jacket in frustration as she exclaimed, "Why doesn't anyone remember her? She was short, a little curvy, a little shy I think, and she had colorful dreadlocks and a pink headband… or was it a bandana?" She paused to think for a bit before adding, "She was in our age group, and she was in our friend group, too. She was Ivan's girlfriend."

Max's eyes widened in surprise as he replied, "I would've remembered Ivan having a girlfriend, and no one here has colorful dreadlocks. In fact, I think the only one here with dreadlocks in our age group is Ranae, but her dreadlocks are not colorful, and she is certainly not short."

"No, it wasn't Ranae," Marinette shook her head. "You're not joking, right? You seriously don't know Mylene? She was our friend."

Max pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose as he replied, "Are you sure Mylene's not just a figment of your imagination? Something from a dream? If Mylene were truly our friend, wouldn't she be here with us now? Wouldn't we have remembered her?"

Marinette sighed and said firmly, "No, she's not just from a dream, I wouldn't have remembered her at all if that were the case. I know that she used to be with us, I can feel it, but I don't know where she is or why everyone doesn't know her."

"Know who?"

Marinette and Max turned to see Ivan approaching them, holding a plain black umbrella over his head in addition to wearing his raincoat.

Max pointed at Marinette with his thumb as he replied matter-of-factly, "Marinette seems to be thinking that a young woman named Mylene was in our friend group and your former girlfriend."

Ivan furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, "Girlfriend?" He then scoffed and said sarcastically, "Yeah, right, like I could get a girlfriend." He then looked curiously at the pigtailed girl and asked, "What's got you thinking that?"

Marinette sighed and replied, "Ever since that day we woke up on the roof, I've been having this weird feeling that I've been forgetting something… And then, a few meals ago, I remembered Mylene, but, no one else seems to know her."

Just then, there was a shout, and the three of them turned to see Kim falling off the side of the building, landing on the ground on his back with a loud thud. Marinette, Ivan, and Max cringed and winced, Marinette in particular exchanging an uneasy look with Ivan. That feeling that she was forgetting something returned, and a feeling of dread hit Marinette. There was still something that she was forgetting. Maybe Max was right after all?

What threw Marinette off again, however, was that Ivan had a similar look in his eye. Was he remembering Mylene? But then, he murmured just loud enough for Marinette and Max to hear, "I don't remember Mylene, I really don't. But, I guess I-"

Just then, the crowd burst into cheers and boos. Alix was sitting triumphantly on a windowsill three stories up, pumping her fist with a smug look on her face despite being drenched from the rain.

Alya's voice then rang out as she announced, "And, there you have it! Alix wins the bet! Kim now owes her his dessert next meal." Kim simply groaned from where he lay on the ground.

"No one will be owing anyone anything if you don't come down from that windowsill, Alix," Juleka said sternly as she and Rose approached. While Alix couldn't hear Juleka's low voice from up on the windowsill, the fact that the two of them had appeared at all was enough for her to sober up and start climbing down.

The crowd immediately began dispersing as well, not wanting to incur Juleka's wrath. Alya moved to stand beside Marinette, Max, and Ivan, the four of them taking a step back away from the scene as they watched in concern.

Juleka pulled out a folded-up whip from her rain jacket as Rose helped a sore Kim up to his feet and said, "Kim, please report to the infirmary immediately."

Kim paled at the sight of Juleka's whip and took a look back at Alix, who was still making her way down the wall, before giving Rose a nervous laugh and saying, "Uh, I'm fine, really. This wasn't anything that bad, you know? No need to, uh, bring out the big guns." His wince as he got up to his feet, however, gave away that he had injured himself.

Juleka pointed to the mess hall with her whip and said sharply, "Now. You could've died from that stunt if you hadn't landed on your back. You'll be excused from punishment this time due to injury, but if we see you doing another stunt like this you'll definitely be getting punished. Report to the infirmary, NOW."

Kim nodded vigorously, fearful of how mad Juleka was, before giving Alix an apologetic look and hobbling towards the mess hall to the infirmary.

Rose turned to Marinette's group and called over to Max, "Max, follow Kim, please. Make sure he gets to the infirmary."

"Yes, of course," with that, Max ran off to follow Kim, tense and worried.

Rose then sighed and turned to Alix, grabbing the pink-haired girl's wrist, as she said gravely, "Follow me, and give us your word that you won't do this again."

Alix looked over to the whip in Juleka's hand and cringed, having been on the receiving end of it before, no thanks to the dares she did with Kim. She met the eyes of both prefects, however, and noticed the haunted look in both of their eyes. Knowing that they genuinely worried for their health, Alix bowed her head with a sigh and said, "Yeah, I promise."

Rose gave a sigh in relief and said softly, "Thank you." She then led Alix away, Juleka following with a brief shudder, the whip in her hand.

Marinette watched as Felix walked past them, and she heard him say to Juleka, "Don't be too hard on her." When Juleka nodded, Felix turned around to go to the mess hall, giving Marinette, Alya, and Ivan a brief wave as he did so.

An awkward silence ensued and Marinette felt compelled to break it as she said, "That-that bet might've been a bad idea."

Ivan and Alya nodded in agreement.

Alix was led to a room in the basement of the girls dorm, the walls and the floor both utterly blank. The only furnishing the room had at all was the cabinet in the far corner. Rose approached this cabinet and pulled out a few items, tossing a towel over to Alix.

Alix wordlessly caught the towel, and stripped off her rain jacket, customized black shirt, and sports bra and left them in a pile by the door. She then used the towel to dry herself off as Rose put a solution on her back.

Juleka stood against one of the walls, waiting, before Rose walked away to stand by the cabinet as Alix knelt down in the center of the room, her back to Juleka.

Juleka then spoke, her voice entirely serious, "How many can you take this time?"

Alix shot back, "How many were you going to give me?"

"A stunt like this deserves fifteen." Upon hearing that Alix's eyes widened. Never before had one of Kim's dares resulted in that many lashes, but Alix didn't let her panic show as Juleka added, "But how does six sound?"

She was going to go easy on her. Alix balled her hands up into fists on her lap, and she would've been furious at the thought had she not heard what Felix said earlier about not being as harsh on her. Instead, the skater girl said firmly, "Don't go easy for my sake. Just give me however many you're willing to give."

Juleka gave a monotone "fine," and readied her whip.

Alix braced herself.

Max was in the mess hall, sitting on a chair outside the infirmary as Kim was getting looked at inside. He straightened up upon seeing Felix approach, and said, "Hey, Felix. What are you doing here?"

Felix ignored the question and asked gently instead, "Hi Max, is Kim inside?"

Max nodded, "Yeah, he is." Deducing that Felix was there to address the stunt Kim pulled with Alix, the gamer added, "I sincerely apologize on behalf of both Kim and Alix for worrying you and the other prefects with this stunt. I'll ensure that they won't do anything like this again."

Felix shook his head and replied with a reassuring smile, "Oh its fine, I wouldn't want to prevent Kim and Alix from having any competitions at all, I know things can get boring around here." His smile gave way to a serious look as he added, "Just make sure its not anything like climbing up the side of the building. Stunts like this are life-threatening, and no one wants to die, right?"

Max was quick to nod in agreement as he replied, "Yes, of course."

With that, Felix walked away with a, "Thank you, Max. I'll see you later."

Marinette, Alya, and Ivan sat in armchairs in the recreation center lobby. their rain jackets draped over the backs of the chairs.

Marinette bit her lip, thinking about Kim and Alix's stunt from earlier, and said, "I hope Kim and Alix are ok."

Alya winced and added, "Yeah, I can't remember the last time one of Kim's dares got them in enough trouble for Juleka to pull out her whip."

Ivan huffed, "I do. But Juleka wasn't nearly as mad."

Alya furrowed her eyebrows, not remembering the incident. But then it dawned on her and Alya said, "Oh yeah, I remember that." She shuddered and added, "Rose was actually the mad one back then. I feel like she would've taken Juleka's whip and dished out a few more lashes if Juleka hadn't held her back."

Ivan shook his head and said, "Even this dare wasn't as stupid as that one."

Marinette seemed distant, deep in thought as she stared at her lap and absentmindedly said, "Yeah..."

Alya raised an eyebrow and asked her friend, "Girl, you ok?" Ivan turned his head to look at Marinette, he and Alya watching the pig-tailed girl closely.

Marinette nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine."

The truth was, however, that she was thinking about the moment when Kim fell. Seeing that made the nagging feeling return, which deeply confused Marinette. She remembered Mylene, what more to it was there? There was more that she was forgetting, and more that everyone else was forgetting.

Marinette was scared to find out what it was.

But she had to know. Was it really just a dream, like Max said? Maybe she was remembering it wrong, maybe Mylene was just a false memory. But if that was the case, how did they come to mind at all?

Marinette sighed and addressed Alya and Ivan both as she asked, "Are-are you guys sure you don't remember Mylene?"

Alya sighed, too, just the slightest bit annoyed that Marinette kept asking that question, and replied, "Yes. Girl, don't you think we'd remember all our friends? And Ivan said himself that he doesn't have a girlfriend, and I've never seen anyone like Mylene in my life. Girl doesn't exist. I'd know."

Marinette drew her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on them as she sighed and said, "Yeah, you're into the gossip around campus, I know, but... Don't you have this feeling that you're forgetting something? I remember that Mylene existed, but no one knows her..." Marinette hugged her knees a little tighter as she added, "I don't even think I know her."

Alya softened up and placed a comforting hand on her friend's shoulder as she began, "Marinette..."

Just then, Nino walked into the recreation center, and his arrival garnered the attention of the three. Upon seeing them, he waved and said casually, "Hey guys, what's up?"

Ivan shrugged and replied, "Nothing much."

Marinette straightened up, letting her feet rest on the floor again as Alya added, "You just missed Kim's most recent dare. He and Alix were scaling the outside of this building, it was insane."

Nino's eyes widened in shock as he asked incredulously, "They what?"

Marinette shot Alya a glare and nudged the girl's knee, Alya giving Marinette a sheepish look.

She'd completely forgotten that Nino was a prefect, and that he'd get angry over this sort of stunt. Nevertheless Alya added, "Kim fell off and lost, but Alix made it up to the third floor window. Being small really benefited Alix this time."

Nino groaned in exasperation as he said, "I can't believe them. They could've gotten themselves killed! I'll need to talk to them."

Ivan then spoke up, "Juleka and Rose are already doing that."

At that, Nino calmed down, giving a nod as he said, "Right, they'll make sure they won't do this again."

Marinette watched Nino carefully. He was usually more easygoing when it came to Kim's dare's so long as he wasn't on the receiving end. This time, however, he was furious, and Marinette couldn't help but wonder if he was just as unsettled by the prospect of falling off the side of the building. She met Ivan's eye, and remembered that he, too, had been unsettled by the sight of Kim falling.

Ivan didn't remember Mylene, but maybe Nino did?

Marinette met Nino's eyes and asked him, "Hey, Nino, can I ask you something?"

Nino nodded casually and said, "Sure, what's up?"

This time, Alya nudged Marinette, shaking her head. But, Marinette ignored her in favor of asking Nino, "Do you know Mylene?"

Nino froze. Marinette noticed, and exchanged a look with Alya, who seemed suspicious. Ivan, too, was watching Nino carefully as the prefect replied stiffly, "No. I don't know Mylene. Why'd you ask?"

Marinette was disheartened that Nino had said, "no," but knew that Nino's hesitation was a clue. A clue that Nino knew something, knew whether or not Mylene was real or a figment of her imagination.

Ivan looked down, deep in thought, wondering if Mylene had actually existed, and why he didn't remember her if she did. Alya looked between Nino and Marinette curiously, denying Mylene's existence yet curious to get to the bottom of things.

Marinette shook her head in response to Nino's question, "No reason."

Nino nodded curtly and said, "Good, because it'd be best if you'd dropped this."

Marinette was confused at how serious Nino sounded, at how serious he was in making sure that Marinette dropped the issue. Ivan scrunched his face up in thought, wondering if he should listen to Nino's advice, or if there really was something that he was missing.

Alya wearily leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms. The girl would've normally wanted to investigate more, but pushed the thought out of her mind. If Nino wanted Marinette to drop it, then Alya would make sure that she'd drop it. No matter how suspicious the whole situation was.

It was Marinette that asked in confusion, "Why?"

Nino's response was, "Some things aren't worth pursuing." He backed away and moved to leave the recreation center again, "I'll see you guys later, I'm gonna go find Felix."

Marinette balled her hands up into fists and said in determination, "He knows something."

Alya put a hand on Marinette's arm and said, "Girl, maybe you should just take a breather. Not everything's shady, you know. Maybe Nino's right."

Marinette raised an eyebrow at Alya and asked, "Since when were you one to turn down an investigation?"

Alya replied in exasperation, "Girl, Mylene isn't real! I would've remembered her if she was!" She looked around to see if anyone was watching them before adding in a low voice, "Besides, this is a little too weird, promise me you'll drop it?"

Alya held out her pinky, and Marinette stared at it before making eye contact with Alya. Marinette realized then that Alya was just trying to look out for her.

But, she couldn't just ignore that feeling, she couldn't just ignore her memory of Mylene.

And so she held out her pinky, too. And the two made a pinky promise.

Marinette's other hand was behind her back, her fingers crossed.