smitten | h.hart

Chapter Four

C H A P T E R   F O U R

THE elevator ride was scarily fast, causing Juliette to feel as if she were plummeting to her death. Her hand had been locked with Henry's out of fear, the blonde fighting a smile at the fearful gesture; he found it cute.

Henry Hart had no clue what he was going to do if Ray made the decision to wipe Juliette's memory; he didn't know if he'd be able to continue working with Ray, knowing he'd taken one of the most important people from him.

He was hoping that he'd be able to save her memory just as he'd done for Charlotte and Jasper, but there were no guarantees considering Ray had already developed an opinion on her due to her moronic twin brother.

Despite the elevator ride only lasting a mere few seconds, the sixteen year old couldn't help but reminisce on every memory he'd made with Juliette Dunlop.

He'd never known life without her, ultimately deciding to full on fight Ray if he tried to erase her memories.

The elevator stopped, but her grip on his hand hadn't faltered. She was nervous, fearful that Captain Man was going to kill her for knowing Henry's secret — but the moment the doors opened, she found herself staring at the lair with amazed eyes.

The four of them exited the elevator, eyes landing on Captain Man with a large ray gun in his hands. He wore a falsified smile, one that Juliette could see right through with no effort.

"Hey there!" He greeted, the false cheer in his tone making her want to roll her eyes. "I remember you from that night in the park. Well, this is quite the awkward situation isn't it?"

Juliette removed her hand from Henry's, the boy frowning slightly at the loss of contact. She crossed her arms over her chest, "So, let me guess. That's a memory erasing gun, and even though you're employing my imbecile of a brother — no offense, Jasp — you're gonna wipe all of my memories to avoid any more liabilities. Did I get it right?"

Ray widened his eyes at the sass of the girl, surprised that she was so composed in the face of the situation. He shrugged, nodding, "Yeah, that's about it. Sorry, kid."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." She sighed, turning to her friends. She tossed her keys to Charlotte, "You get my car and clothes, Jasper gets my room at Granny's, and Henry gets my stuffed animals."

Jasper frowned, "Why does he get the stuffies?"

"Cause he bought most of them," she fired back, her tone mocking his, before turning to face Captain Man. "Alright, let's—"

"Nope." Henry interrupted, "Not happening. Nuh-uh."

"What'dya mean nuh-uh?" Captain Man questioned, "You knew the risks, kid—"

"Dude, no!" He shouted, gently pulling Juliette behind him. "She's really smart! And super good at hiding things from people! I mean, did you not hear the things we listed off of her hiding stuff from us?"

"I don't care!" Ray firmly said, "Two is enough, but three is too high of a risk!"

"I don't care." Henry challenged, stepping closer to the man in defiance. "You are not wiping her memory... not without losing me, you're not."

"What?" Ray laughed, believing that his sidekick was just bluffing. But when he'd looked into Henry's eyes, he'd recognized that emotion all too well. "You're serious?"

"Dead."

The two heroes stared at each other in silence, challenging one another to defy, before Ray finally broke. He slammed the memory eraser onto the shelf beside him before yelling, "Fine! Fine! She can keep her memory!"