"Underwear?"
"Check."
"Chargers?"
"Check."
"Pictures?"
"For the thousandth time, check," Steph Hwang sighed, rolling her eyes. She waved her hands at the open suitcase on top of Amy Cahill's bed. "We've gone through your 'Basic Belongings' and 'Easily-Forgotten Things' checklists for like a thousand times! All your stuff is in there so just throw those checklists in the trash and enjoy your last moments here!"
Amy looked down at her wrinkled checklist, pursing her lips. After a few thoughtful seconds, she murmured, "These are not my last moments here. I'll be back after summer."
"That's almost eight months, Amy," Steph added in a broken voice. A few moments of silence followed. "I've gotten used to seeing you every day for as long as I remember. Now…"
"You'll see me every day through Skype," Amy replied, handing her best friend an assuring smile. She zipped her suitcase closed and sat down next to Steph.
"This was the semester we'd be getting Mrs. Schmitty for Chemistry," Steph continued, looking down at her feet. "Her craziness is a legend in our school… we were supposed to laugh at her crazy antics together!"
Amy remained silent, fidgeting with her fingers. She wished she could reply, but she was afraid that her voice would crack with unshed tears. She just sat there in silence, staring out the window. She could see St. Mary's Boarding School for Girl's forest unfold for miles and miles. Ever since she was young, she remembered the forest being infamous for the supposed satanic cult that would meet up there in the middle of the night. Now at seventeen, it was hard for Amy to believe all those things. However, she'd still miss the small inkling of fear she would feel at night whenever she heard a strange noise coming from the forest.
She would also miss the distant bells that could be heard from the nearby town, the bells that would wake her up every day at 8 AM. She would miss enjoying the school's beloved apple pies with her best friend, Steph, and her classmates. She would miss anticipating the Spring and Summer Dances with their brother school, and then, once there, feeling too shy to actually do all of the things she and her friends had promised themselves to do. She would even miss receiving the eye rolls from her classmates after getting a good grade on the difficult Literature essays.
It's only eight months, Amy, she told herself, swallowing down her tears. She smiled at Steph. "You'll have to tell me all about our new History professor. I heard he has actually been in archaeological sites."
"I'll try to pay attention to his probably boring tales about dusty, old trinkets," Steph mumbled, her face distorting with disgust. After a few seconds of silence, the color from her face drained out, and her dark eyes widened with a sudden realization. "Oh my God, who's gonna hand me the class notes whenever I fall asleep?"
Amy grinned as Steph begun to panic.
A knock at the door cut Steph's panic attack short. The door creaked open and in came a short brunette, her glossy lips pursed in an arrogant manner. "Amelia Cahill."
"My full name's just Amy, not Amelia," Amy whispered under her breath. "Hello, Jenny."
"I just came to say goodbye," she continued in her nasally voice. "And to tell you to pick up your bag and come downstairs to the main hall. The class has something for you."
Amy glanced at Steph, surprised. "Really?"
Steph shrugged, smiling knowingly as she dragged out her friend's suitcase. Amy followed closely behind.
"It's not such a big deal," Jenny commented as the girls walked down the spiral stairs.
Once below, the three were greeted by the thirty girls that made up eleventh grade, the girls Amy had shared most of her life with.
"She's here!" one of them exclaimed. Instantly, the girls got into a half-moon formation in front of Amy.
"We'll miss you so much!" they all begun to say, taking turns to hug her.
"We got you this," the class president, Samantha Raines, said, smiling as she handed Amy a package.
"Wow, thank you," Amy breathed out, still surprised by the gesture. She took the heavy package and gently opened it up. Her eyes sparkled in awe as she inspected the beautiful book in her hands. Its cover was engraved with golden details, making it look straight out of a fairytale. "Oh my goodness…"
"It's that compilation of 'lost' myths you kept rambling on about with Ms. Spencer," Jenny said, twirling a strand of hair around her finger.
"That town your aunt lives in is quite a long way from here, so we thought we'd provide you with some entertainment for the road," Steph explained, wrapping an arm around her best friend's shoulder.
"Oh my God!" Amy exclaimed, hugging the book close to her chest. She smiled at all the girls. "Thank you so much."
"We also got the cook to make you a few apple pies," Samantha continued, handing Amy a container filled with apple pie slices.
Amy's smile faltered. "Wow… thank you."
Steph's grip around her shoulder's weakened, as she worriedly glanced at her friend.
They really don't know why I'm leaving for a semester, Amy thought, feeling both surprised and relieved at the same time as she stared at the apple pies.
"Amy Cahill! Your cousins are here to pick you up!" a professor announced from the hall's entrance.
Amy's classmates begun lamenting this fact out loud as they accompanied her out the door.
"Seriously, how am I gonna survive without you?" Steph asked her once they were outside.
"I'm asking myself the same thing," Amy told her, her brows furrowed together as she tried to muster up a smile. Now that the moment of her departure had finally arrived, what was awaiting her became clearer and scarier: an unknown town, a new school, a new environment to adapt to. All that she'd known was inside St. Mary's, and now...
Her cousin honked from the car, prompting Amy to hurry.
"I've gotta go," Amy told everybody. "But thank you… for everything."
She hugged Steph and a couple of other girls before rushing towards her cousin's car. She just wanted to get over the goodbyes and get on with it. There was no use in extending that sad moment any longer.
"Welcome to the Starling car," Ted announced from the front seat, smirking at his cousin.
"You're late," Sinead muttered, handing a quick glance at Amy through the rear-view mirror. She impatiently patted her finger against the stirring wheel.
"Calm down, Sis," Ned said, before patting the empty spot on the backseat next to him. "Come here, Amy."
Amy smiled, getting into the car. "Thanks…"
"Finally," Sinead mumbled, before zooming out of her school's driveway.
Amy's heart begun to pound as she looked through the window, her school and home becoming smaller the farther away her cousin drove.
"Is that pie I see?" Ted asked, turning around and narrowing his eyes at the container.
"Yeah," Amy quietly replied. She handed him a small smile. "Would you like some?"
"Yes, please," Ted said, snatching away the container.
"Hey, I want some too!" Ned protested.
"Shut up and let me focus on my driving!" Sinead barked. "And get that stupid thing away from me, I'm on a diet for prom!"
Amy shrunk away in her seat, gripping the book in her hands. She did not know her cousins that well. They lived with her brother, Dan, in Green Meadows. She would see them for a few days when they would drop off Dan at her grandmother's house every summer and that was it. Now, she was supposed to live with them and interact with them on a daily basis. She took a look at Sinead's annoyed frown and at both Ted and Ned gulping down her pie. Well, let's see how it works out, she thought with a sigh.
She leaned her head against the window, looking out at the passing trees. The car was going so fast that they all looked like a blurred stripe of green and brown. As she got lost in the view, she couldn't help but wonder about all that had happened the past few months. You will get over it, you'll see, she remembered Steph's voice the day she told her everything.
"Want some pie?" Ted's voice interrupted her pie. She looked up to find him holding the container in front of her.
Amy gulped, looking at the caramelized apples, the golden-brown crust, and smelling the tangy aroma of the apple sauce. They don't know why I'm going to live with them either, she noted.
"S-sure," Amy stammered with uncertainty. She took a bite out of the pie, already feeling her stomach becoming bigger. She stopped.
"You'll love Green Meadows," Ned assured her. "We'll be dropping off a renewed Amy at your grandma's this summer."
Amy smiled to herself. I hope.
A note from your crazy author:
Hello, readers. First of all, thank you for taking your time to read through this experiment of mine. I hope you enjoyed it and are looking forward to see how it unfolds.
Now, as you might've already noticed, this is not really canon. And it won't because: a) I stopped reading the books after the first series (something I don't regret after hearing what happens from Day of Doom and onwards) and, b) Who the heck is Carrie/Cara and why is she blowing holes into my ship?! So yes, this is definitely going to be noncanon.
Also, I'm writing this not only because I absolutely love creating stories, but because I want to improve. So if you have anything to say about my writing, please share! I will greatly appreciate it.
Well, I don't really know how this story will go, but I do hope we all enjoy it. I certainly already am... I haven't written any FF for a loooong time and this brings back some nice memories.
Now, I'll go back to studying for my finals. Any of you readers going through exams as well? Or am I the only one suffering?
See you!