I'm officially the worst. you don't need to tell me. A lot of stuff was going on. BUT! I returneth. I love you guys. Her's a brand new chapter for you.
Amelie walked down the sidewalk, the plastic wheels of her luggage case clacking on every crack. She didn't bring much back from the trip, except for a new wardrobe. It wasn't much different from her old wardrobe. Jeans, jeans with holes, sandals, new tops that weren't flashy or super feminine in a flashy sense, even though Mom had stuffed a couple in there. They were subtle. Her favorite was the dark grey crop top that was tight around the chest. Another favorite was the black halter top.
"Check out that tan!" exclaimed that familiar excitable voice of Kate.
Amelie stopped and turned.
"You got one too," Amelie said with a smirk.
"My grandmother conned me and Sarah into orange picking, but we got to ride the horses and go to the state's largest flea market. I found a really cute pair of boots."
Amelie chuckled. Of course she did.
"Sarah and Caleb are down at the dining hall. I'm about to go meet them. Want to come? I can wait," Kate said.
"No, that's okay. I have to make a call to Rebel Records. I'll see you guys later."
Kate waved and hurried down the hall, excitement in each bouncing step. Amelie got settled in her room and sat at her laptop. She had to check her mailbox later. Finals were always a busy time of the year and they were approaching fast. There were a few e-mails. One was from Chase. Amelie rolled her eyes even though it was pointless. Nobody was around. Chase had written her, saying that he was glad to have met her and hoped that their paths would cross again one day. As crude as she had been to him, she didn't think that he'd want anything to do with her. She didn't delete the e-mail but didn't reply either.
After making the call to Rebel Records, she went to the mailboxes. Like she thought, hers was filled with people who still wanted her services. Some of them were people who at one point had cornered her.
She started working on a few of them. With the amount of requests she'd received, it would only take a few days. She fell asleep after an hour or so. Papers and books were scattered about. Her earbuds were in her ears, blasting Breaking Benjamin's latest album.
"Hey," came a soft whisper.
Amelie took a deep breath, smiling as she woke. Arms wound around her waist as she sat up and blinked, trying to pull out of her grogginess.
Reid grinned down at her and pulled her onto his lap. She snuggled into him still tired.
"Mmmm, sleep," she grumbled. Her hands were limp. Her fingers twitched at feeling his hand in hers.
"Okay," he chuckled.
She blinked, each one making her eye lids heavier and heavier. She heard Reid moving the papers around. Feeling her head on the pillow sent her back into her slumber. Reid's arms never left her.
Amelie smacked for her alarm that buzzed loudly, but hit a solid form instead, resulting in a loud smack.
"Ow." The low grumble rumbled under hand.
Amelie groaned and sat up. Reaching over Reid, she slapped her clock hard, causing it to fall to the floor. I'll pick it up later.
Reid snaked his arms around her waist, tugging her down on top of him. His skin was hot and suffocating, but she was okay with that. He stared up at her, lazily.
"I missed you," he said.
"Not what Pogue told me," she replied, grinning mischievously.
Pogue and her never spoke once during break. Reid blanched. Amelie's eyebrow arched curiously. Reid scowled at her through groggy eyes.
"Stalking me?" he said critically.
"No," she answered simply. "But seeing you grumpy is delightful for some reason."
Her grin fledged into a white smile, showing her canine teeth. His scowl faded and he shook his head, realizing she was kidding. She tapped the end of her nails on his collarbone.
"You're conniving," he said.
"Yeah…" she sighed. "It happens and now I have to get up."
Amelie stared at her uniform disgruntled. The loose, grey t-shirt she had climbed into last night hung down past her hips, nearly covering her shorts. Classes were back in session and she didn't want to go. She suddenly regretted not graduating sooner. Looking back at Reid who was struggling to stay awake, she was also happy.
"How was Spring Break?" he asked.
"It was good. Went out on a boat. Visited a few museums. Nothing all that special," she said.
She was careful not to mention Chase. There was nothing to be worried about. He was just irrelevant. Why bring him up?
"What about you," she asked as she pulled out a few necklaces that she could overlay, one of which was chunky with a cameo. A zombie was in the center of it. She chose an enlarged set of studs to go with them then pulled her t-shirt off and tossed it aside and got dressed. She sat on the edge off the bed and put on black strappy heels that showed off her toes. They shimmered sky blue.
"Hung out by the lake," he replied. "Nothing all that special."
She smirked at his mimicking tone.
"Why are you helping these idiots again," he asked nodding toward the books and papers he'd set aside last night.
"Because it brings me joy to know that they will fail college because of all their dependency," she responded simply.
She gathered her school books and put them in her messenger bag. She shuffled around the messiness of her desk searching for her brown leather clad book. A tower of research material toppled over before she found it.
"Why are you leaving?"
"Class. It's in twenty minutes." She hurried over and kissed him on the lips chastely. "I'll see you in a bit."
Class was a drag. There was no getting around that. Amelie wished that she would've skipped. She mostly doodled around her lyrics in her song book. Reid made it to class. Tyler came in late, earning a glare from the teacher that made them both laugh.
"Three weeks," Kate said, looking down at her tray.
"I can't wait," Amelie said. She had pushed her tray away, disturbed by how grey the chicken was.
Amelie noticed Sarah look at Caleb, her eyebrows etched with concern. Just silence between them-Caleb's brave face and her intense stare at her food was putting the entire table in awkward territory. Was it like this when she and Reid were in a war zone territory?
"I hate you two," Kate said. "You're going to be going to the same college."
Amelie snorted.
"Did you forget you'll be going too?" she said. "Oh, you forgot about how you wrote me down as roommate choice and then didn't tell me. That surprise was nice."
Kate's eyes widened.
"I was going to tell you," she snapped, avoiding eye contact. "I just didn't figure out when."
Amelie shook her head.
"I wanted to room with somebody I knew," she replied, slouching little by little.
"Am I in the twilight zone? You and I aren't that close," Amelie said. "Plus, I thought you were going to NYU."
"Well…" Kate started but didn't finish. She struggled for a moment to find words but there weren't really any. Amelie shook her head and then set her fork aside and pulled out her laptop, going into work mode.
Kate looked at Pogue. He didn't hide his own concern. A lot of that had been going around. The grounds felt like a wake. People were breaking up and hooking up like it was the end of the world. And that party wasn't until after graduation. Amelie found it very entertaining.
Even Reid was getting antsy. One evening, he came to visit her while she was in the music building, working on a new composition piece. The sound reminded her of OneRepublic. The lack of instrumental in music these days was sad. Reid had pulled her away from the keys and placed her on top of the piano, not removing his hands from her thighs.
Everyone was going crazy.
After a few more hours by the piano, Amelie made her way back to the dorm building. She met Sarah and Kate who were coming from the library. They all stopped at her room. The girls relaxed on Amelie's bed and turned on the TV. Amelie settled at the desk and pulled out her laptop. She was nearly finished with the requests for study guides/cheat sheets and essays. The study guides were easier than the essays. Some of the requests were for the same tests.
Caleb stared at the blank screen of his laptop. This valedictorian speech was not working out. Not a single word. That little black bar up in the corner of his document just blinked. He sighed and opened up his messenger.
Prez-swich: So how is it that I became valedictorian when you have an average of 4.3 GPA and I have 4.1 GPA?
Virus89: …
Virus89: I didn't want to.
Prez-swich: if you were writing the speech what would you say?"
Virus89: I would be telling everyone how much I hated them. Also another reason I decided to pass on the opportunity.
Prez-swich: I see.
Caleb could hear the bored tone perfectly as he read the message.
Virus89: Don't think to hard about it. It's just high school and you're more than likely not going to see most of these morons past the Grad Party.
Virus89 logged off.
Oddly, that was helpful.
Amelie's lips pursed at the strange text from Reid that she'd received after dinner. He didn't even show up. Something about having things to do. He wasn't specific.
She made her way toward the music building like he asked. When she got there, he was nowhere in sight. But she couldn't resist. She sat down at the grand piano, stroking the wooden cover over the keys. Lifting the cover, she stroked a key. Her heart panged and she closed her eyes. Though Monte Carlo had been nice, her fingers itched the whole time, dying to play. Her head tilted as her worries were quickly carried away.
The arms of the one proclaimed boyfriend slid around her waist.
"Play for me?" He slid onto the bench beside her.
She smiled and set her fingers to play her favorite song. After the first couple of notes a key went dead. She pressed a couple of times. Nothing.
"What's wrong?" he asked, he eyebrows pressing together.
"A string might've broke. Let me look," she mumbled.
Moving her hair to one side, she lifted the large lid, propping it up. She leaned in.
"Find anything?"
Very lightly, Amelie stroked her finger along the strings, stopping near the middle. There was an orange Lily entwined with the string. She plucked it out carefully, confused. What the hell was a flower doing in the…
Amelie's eyes found a white envelope stuck to the lid and plucked off. It looked like the same ones that she found in her mailbox. Opening it, she froze all over again. It was two tickets completely embossed in elegant gold for The Equinox.
"I said I had a couple things to take care of," he said, suddenly beside her. "If you don't want to go, it's fine. I'm not going to lie though. It would be nice to show up Aaron."
Amelie scoffed, closing her eyes. It would be nice, but she knew what he meant. He did want to go. Grabbing a fistful of his shirt, she pulled him down to her level, meeting his lips with her own.
She still had trouble believing they'd come this far. Then she cringed.
"What?" Reid asked.
"I have to find a dress."
Reid chuckled at how disgusted she was about it.
"Usually that is a girl's favorite part or so I hear."
"I hate it," she said so matter-of-factly. "I hate it so much."
"Well, Sarah and Kate still have to find their dresses according to Caleb and Pogue," he told her.
The wrinkle still didn't leave her nose. He leaned in, touching his nose to hers, and then pressed his forehead to hers right before kissing her.
"How about this one?"
Amelie's face had fallen past boredom and straight to hell. Kate spun around in the poofy dress. She looked over at Sarah who was somehow still upbeat about this trip. Mom almost ended up coming, but Amelie managed to convince her not to, saying that she was going with her friends to gain all of the memories and crap. In all honesty? She just needed a quick opinion. That was, of course, when she found a dress worth asking an opinion of.
She stood, stretching her arms over her head.
"I like it," Sarah said.
"It makes you look like an eggplant. The jokes would keep going all night," Amelie said.
Sarah shot her a side glare.
"What? She asked opinions," Amelie said. "If anything, that crystalline one was the best. You looked like a fucking fairy. An actual one I mean."
That was closest she was going to get to a compliment. But it was enough because that's what Kate settled on. Sarah went with a mermaid style in red. The sleeves were bare shoulder and snug around her upper arms. She picked out a diamond choker that spanned up most of her throat.
This dress shop didn't have Amelie's dress though. She ended up finding hers online in a shop over in Paris. The dress was a one-shoulder and strappy across the back down to the fabric at her lower back. The hem that pooled at her feet was deep green and climbed upward, fading into black. The ribbing of the straps on the side and the bottom of the shoulder one were sprinkled in crystal gems.
She was beyond glad that the hard part was over. Now all she needed to do was make it past the remaining obstacles, but weirdly enough they weren't feeling like that anymore. She'd planned it all out, leaving this place, flipping everybody off as she drove off into her very own sunset. Obviously, that had changed. She didn't really want to flip them off...well she wanted to flip some of them off.
People were starting to move out of their dorms. Less hassle after finals. The major countdown had started.
The Equinox
Graduation
End of the World Graduation Party
Spenser was about to seriously crazy.
Review! I insist!