Chapter 3: The Invitation
It's been practically a week since then.
With the alarm clock ringing in her ear, she reached out to snooze it off, only to drowsily knock it over from her nightstand. She swore beneath her breath, reaching down for her clock from under her bed and finally clicked it off.
She arose from her bed and walked towards the bathroom, where she stood in front of her reflection: for the longest time, she had lost all vibrancy. Her long pink quills that bounced with each movement she did were now tied in a messy ponytail, her pajamas replaced with sweats and a simple spaghetti-strap that have not been replaced in days.
She sighed tiredly, reached for the tap and turned on her sink, resuming her daily morning rituals. She just couldn't handle being alone in this apartment, knowing that Shadow had left her with a letter of goodbye.
A completely cryptic one, at that.
Despite making her way to the kitchen for breakfast, she felt so drained. She closed her eyes tightly, waiting for tears to rush out, but it seemed that she was all out of tears.
It was Saturday: the weekend.
She felt aimless; she had been unemployed for some time, but it was just hard to even find the motivation to find any work.
Hell, forget responsibilities- she could've gone to the mall to buy new clothes, where she could've gone out with Rouge to go eat, where she could take Cream to look at prom dresses, but there she was, sulking in a lonely apartment.
Amy's eyes finally began to blur, but before her tears made an appearance, a knock came from her door. She paused, then wiping the tears away from her eyes, she opened the door.
"Rouge..." she muttered.
There before her was a familiar moonlit-skinned bat; her eyes were painted with her usual mauve eyeshadow, complimented by a simple white T-shirt and jeans. Despite being so casual, she looked as lovely as a lily.
Her expression soured at the sight of Amy.
"...You're still in bed?" she questioned as she entered her apartment.
"I don't want to talk about it, Rouge." Amy replied, her voice trembling.
Rouge grasped Amy's chin and pulled her to view eye-to-eye.
She saw Amy's grassy hues pale from tears, "Amy... You can't just sit here and do nothing! You're so much better than this, girl... What happened to you? There are lots of guys out there! Shadow is just... some guy—"
"No, he isn't just 'some guy'! Something must've happened to make him change his mind...!" yelled Amy, her eyes turning to daggers.
Rouge stayed silent.
Amy stared down at her, tears overflowing her eyes; she carelessly wiped the away.
"Listen..." she said quietly, walking back to her bed. "I'm not going to meet any other guys. Shadow will always be the one for me, no matter what."
"So... you're just going to wait for Shadow to come back?"
Amy's gaze lowered. "... He just needs time."
Rouge's mouth hung in disbelief, "... Are you fucking serious?"
Amy nodded, but before she could reply, Rouge gripped both of her hands onto Amy's shoulders.
"What happened to Amy that knew what she was doing?" questioned Rouge. "What happened to that Amy who always chased after whatever she wanted? Remember that time when we fought over the same shirt? You ended up winning at the end 'cuz you took out your hammer, and threatened me with it! Remember that time Knuckles started making fun of you because the hair dye didn't work on your hair and it turned out purple? You ended up smacking him until the doctors came to take him away! And also..."
Rouge stopped, and rested her eyes on her friend, "And also...remember Sonic—"
"Rouge..." Amy interrupted. "Don't you think it's time you left? I'm sure Cream called you to be her ride to the mall since I haven't been answering my calls."
Rouge eyed Amy annoyingly, but sighed, "...You're right. I should go. Feel better soon, just... go get some fresh air. Can you at least do that for me?"
Amy smiled halfheartedly, "... Sure."
Although she and her old boyfriend Sonic had been long over, she couldn't help but think about him as she processed the conclusion to her relationship to Shadow. Being alone gave her a lot of time to process things between the two, despite the fact that it wasn't fair to compare two completely different people.
She knew Shadow to be someone so sweet and considerate, but a complete mystery sometimes. Even after a week since their breakup, she's still been hung up on the details. She wished she knew what he was thinking. She knew there was something more to eat than what he let on, and she desperately wished to talk to him again. She's left dozens of messages on his voicemail and inbox, but nothing.
She's only spoken to Rouge on and off since their last conversation regarding her relationship, but she wasn't much in the mood to do so.
She found herself in her kitchen, eating at leftover pie that she had brought home from her job a while ago. She knew she hit an all-new low, and knew it wasn't healthy to stay in her stuffy apartment.
After a change of clothes, she found herself out the door, and as she walked around the park that surrounded the apartment complex, breathed in then exhaled.
She needed this.
She needed to get away from all that crying! She shook her head, and smiled.
Rouge was right... she thought as she walked towards the ice cream stand.
What happened to me? What happened to the cheerful me? Then again... It IS in the past...
She continued to walk around the park some more, noticing all the small stores she was yet to discover. She watched people pass by her, some going to work, some high school students giggling away, even to children wining to their mothers. There was a sense of life where she walked, and she envied it. She felt as though life stayed still for her, and she wanted to be part of the flow.
"I should go home. Having too much air can kill me," she joked.
As she made her way past the crowd, she caught sight of a heavily golden-glared building. It's exterior was that of a Gothic structure, equipped with high spires and circular windows. She stopped dead in her tracks and just gawked at the amazing architecture.
"HEY! MOVE IT!" shouted a voice from behind her.
Amy jumped at the volume of voice and did as she was told; two men carrying a table on either end entered the building.
To her observation, she saw that the majority of transportation that was parked in front of the building were trucks upon trucks, each of them releasing a worker carrying something of some sort.
"... Are they having some sort of party?" Amy thought aloud as she resumed her walking.
"Hm... So, it's called La Luna? Looks like a pretty ritzy place..."
After her walk in the park, Amy made her way back to her apartment. She pulled out her keys, but before she unlocked the door, she caught sight of another letter. Her heart sped relentlessly, Shadow...?
She knelt over and grabbed the letter, tearing it open quickly. Her eyes widened at what was written inside:
To Ms. Amy Rose,
You are cordially invited to attend La Luna's 30th Anniversary Dinner.
It would be a pleasure to have you attend; directions to the restaurant and further information is withheld in this invitation.
Solo admission only.
"What... the hell?" La Luna? That restaurant?
She turned the letter back to front and saw that it had no return address. She reached for her phone and dialed a number. On the other line, she heard someone answer, "Hello?"
"Rouge. Come over. I need to talk to you about something."
- End of Chapter 3 -
