Chapter Fourteen: Sam's Day with her Friends
Sam gasped as she saw Luke, Bridget and Estelle in the entryway. She couldn't believe they'd really come over. She'd been told that they were coming. But somewhere in her mind, she kept telling herself that they'd forgotten about her. Somewhere in her mind, she'd convinced herself that she didn't deserve friends as good as Luke, Estelle and Bridget. She ran down, hugging all three of them tightly, actually kissing them. Luna blushed slightly. Estelle chuckled. She could tell that Sam was surprised to see them.
Estelle kissed Sam on the cheek, smiling happily upon seeing the blonde. She noticed how short Sam's hair was. But she figured that maybe Sam just wanted a new look to go with her new home.
"It's great to see you, Sammy! Have you made a lot of friends here?" Bridget asked. Sam smiled.
"Well… Not a lot. But I made a few and they're really good to me. I'm a member of the music club now. They're a band that they call Moon Unit." Sam said. Luke seemed to recognize that name.
"Yeah. They put their songs on YouTube. They're pretty popular as an indie band. They have a that they advertise on YouTube as well. The keyboardist is pretty cute too." Luke chuckled.
"Oh, you mean Ruth." Sam said. Luke nodded. Sam had been invited to hang out with the Music Club. But now she was conflicted. What did she do? She would have loved to introduce her new friends to her old friends. But did Luke, Estelle and Bridget want that? Luke answered that for her.
"Do you think you could introduce us to them?" Luke asked. Sam chuckled as Bridget elbowed the young man, giving him an intense look.
"Luke, we're here with Sammy today!" She said. Luke nodded, realizing how insensitive he'd been.
"I don't mind. The club was getting together anyway to hang out. I'm sure they wouldn't mind having a few more to hang out with." Sam said. The group nodded and they went out towards the mall, going to the spot that Sam was going to meet up with Luna, Ruth, George and Finny.
They sat down at the fountain and waited until they saw Luna coming along.
"Hey, dude!" Luna said cheerfully, fist bumping Sam. Sam blushed slightly, smiling back at Luna.
"Hey, Lunes… Th-these are my friends from Columbus. This is Luke, Estelle and Bridget.
"They wanted to meet the band I was telling them about." Sam smiled.
"Hey, dudes! Good to meetcha! Any friend of Sam's is a friend of ours." She said.
"So, how did you guys meet?" Luna asked curiously. Sam smiled.
"Well, Luke and I met in kindergarten." Sam said. He was the first friend I made." Sam said.
"Sammy and me met in second grade. We connected over a school project." Bridget said.
"Sammy and I did a friend report. We had to interview each other and learn what we could about each other. We became friends pretty quickly after that." Bridget said. Luna smiled.
"And Sammy and I met only recently. We met in the sixth grade. I think in orchestra class." Estelle said.
"I quit orchestra in eighth grade… Well, this year." Estelle said.
"Really? What instrument did you play?" Luna asked.
"I played the Cello." Estelle said. Luna smiled. She'd always loved how the Cello sounded.
"Have you ever tried playing the bass guitar?" Luna asked.
"No… Well, once. I tried it, but it wasn't really my thing. Honestly, I was never that good at instruments. I'm okay at singing. But Cello was more something my mom wanted me to do. She said that I should play it for two years. If I didn't get into it, then I could quit. If you want it, you can have it." Estelle said.
Luna smiled.
"I appreciate that. I've considered learning some more instruments. But I can't ask you to just give it to me." Luna said. Estelle shrugged.
"Suit yourself." Sam's friend said. Luna nodded, looking up as George and Ruth came over.
"Hey! Lunes, Sam… Who are these guys?" George asked.
"Oh! These are Sam's friends. George, Ruth, this is Estelle, Bridget and Luke." Luna said. Luke was staring at Ruth. She was just as beautiful as she was in the music videos on YouTube.
"Hey, I'm a big fan of you guys' music." Luke said.
"Oh, thank you." Ruth said. They were just waiting for Finny now. Finny was known for being a little late sometimes. Ruth and George sat down with them.
"So, I didn't know that we were that well-known." George said, rubbing his head shyly.
"Yeah. Well, I subscribed to the account so that I would be notified of your new videos. I've always liked them. Do you have any new videos planned?" Luke asked.
"Yeah. We've got a new one coming out in a week or two. Sammy's gonna be in it, we hope." Ruth said.
"That's cool." Luke said, glancing up nervously at Ruth. Luna noticed that Luke seemed nervous.
"Hey, guys." Finny said.
"Sorry I'm late. Got lost in my Nintendo." Finny said with a chuckle. Luna laughed. Finny always had a reason why he was late, and it was always amusing to hear. It was always worth the wait to hear his excuses. Luke smiled politely at Finny.
"Finny, these are Sammy's friends. Estelle, Bridget and Luke." Luna said.
"Hey, great to meet you."
"So… Are we just shopping today?" Estelle asked curiously.
"Yeah. We're doing some shopping. But we're also gonna go to a music club. We got a gig there and we're gonna be playin' a song or two. Ya can see how great an addition to the band Sammy is." Luna grinned. The three friends seemed excited to hear that they could see Sam in action.
They'd always known she was a good violinist, and they'd heard her play acoustic guitar. But they'd never heard her play electric guitar.
"Is she a guitarist? Or a bassist?" Luke asked curiously.
"I play guitar. It wasn't too hard to pick up electric guitar. It's not that different from playing acoustic." Sam said modestly. The group went around the mall to go shopping. They looked around the Best Buy.
Sam discovered that Luna was a fan of vinyl records. She used the money that she'd gotten from their . They used half of the money to save for their band. Then the other half was split between the band members. Luna preferred retro records. She collected them and kept them in a safe. Some of her records, especially the ones from the 50s and 60s were collectors' items and were worth good money. But she also bought modern records. Today, she was buying Mick Swagger's latest album. Finny bought a 3DS and some games for it. Although Finny was big on music, he was also a gamer.
He and Lincoln got along well. They talked about nerd things like Legend of Zelda, Mario, even Dungeons & Dragons. Luna always had to tear him away from their talks to get him to band practice when they were at her house. The day went on and they went to a gaming store for Finny, who wanted to get some Magic the Gathering cards. He sometimes tried to teach the other band members how to play some of his games, but none of them had ever gotten into them. Sam was interested though. Simon liked to play Magic the Gathering and he'd taught her. She didn't love it like he did.
But she enjoyed doing things with him. At least she did in the past. She felt like Simon and her were getting more distant from each other. She really was trying to heal from her PTSD, but she was still having panic attacks and she felt so weak and helpless sometimes. They went to a boba tea place next, ordering their drinks and sitting down together, chatting and laughing. Luna hadn't been told yet what caused Sam to have panic attacks. Luna wouldn't press the issue. Sam either would tell her in her own time or she wouldn't. And either way, it had to be fine. She knew that Sam had to do it on her own.
They talked with each other for over an hour and then moved onto their next stop. They went to the park together. Luna knew that Sam liked the park. Nature calmed her and she just loved to breathe in the clean air. They went on a hike through the woods, starting in the park and working up a good sweat. Luna smiled as they reached the top of the trail and Sam sighed contentedly, looking at the view from the cliff side. They sat down and drank some water and rested before heading back down to the park and sitting by the lake as a group. The group learned more about Sam's friends and how they all met.
Ruth then asked Sam something that seemed to upset the blonde.
"So, what brought you and your family to Royal Woods?" Ruth asked. Sam gasped and Luna noticed her body tense up. It was clearly not a comfortable question for her.
"My parents got jobs here." Sam said. "Simon and me were just along for the ride." She said. Ruth shrugged. It was hardly a complete answer. Why were they looking for jobs in another state? Or did their companies relocate them to Royal Woods for company reasons?
"What do your parents do, Sam?" George asked.
"My mom is a nurse and my dad is a construction foreman. My dad used to be a construction worker, but he got injured on the job and was out of work for most of my life and all of Simon's until just recently. His knee still hurts sometime. But he's getting better and the lighter workload as a foreman is less stressful for him. He's working out to get back into shape. He even goes on walks sometimes to get his legs back into shape. But he can't run or walk too hard."
"Oh. What happened?"
"He got a knee injury back shortly after Simon was born. He tripped and ended up tripping a pallet and some bricks fell on his knee. He ended up getting addicted to alcohol. He wasn't a bad drunk. Just kind of laid on the couch all day. He-he's doing better. One night, I got hurt and he actually picked me up and ran me to the hospital, twelve blocks away." Sam said.
"After that, he quit cold turkey and… I see him still staring at the beer rack at the store sometimes. He's still struggling. But he's doing better." Sam said. The rest of the band stared in amazement.
"Your father really ran more than half a mile with you in his arms?" George asked. Sam nodded.
"Yeah. His knee was really hurting by the end. But he's doing well now." The blonde said. The rest of the band looked at Sam's friends to see if they could add anything to the story.
Luke shrugged. He'd been told a bit about what happened the night Sam attempted suicide. But he wouldn't betray Sam's confidence and tell them what happened. If Sam didn't want to tell, he certainly wouldn't. Although he knew that Sam would never love him the way he loved her, he still loved her and wanted what was best for her. And if she didn't think that telling the club was best, he didn't either. Estelle pulled Sam aside though, sitting with her and talking quietly with her.
"Sammy… You haven't told them that you're a lesbian yet, have you?" Estelle asked. Sam shrugged.
"It's not exactly casual conversation. And it's none of their business. If George ever asks me out, I'll just turn him down politely, though I think he has a thing for Ruth anyway." Sam said. Estelle sighed, running her fingers through Sam's hair. She had always thought Sam had really beautiful hair.
"I like your new haircut. But you always had such beautiful hair. You kept it so perfectly. I always thought your hair looked like Rapunzel's." Estelle chuckled shyly. Sam smiled.
"Thank you. I liked having long hair. But it was so much work to keep it looking good." Sam said.
She used a lot of shampoo and conditioner on her hair. She used eggs that she mixed up and poured in her hair to strengthen it. She had supplements that were said to strengthen hair and make it shinier. Overall, she spent a lot of money on her hair in the past. Now, with her short hair, she had much more money and she could spend it on other stuff. She was considering getting a pixie cut like Luna. But she didn't want to seem weird by getting the same haircut as Luna. She was considering asking where Luna got her hair cut though. Maybe she could talk to the barber and ask them for suggestions.
"Well, I liked my old hair. But it was expensive to keep hair like that." Sam shrugged. Estelle nodded. She'd had long hair once. Not as long as Sam's, but down to her lower back and it had cost a lot of money for her parents to get her more shampoo and conditioner. And the time it took in the morning to keep her hair under control. She'd always had curly hair, so she straightened it. It ultimately wasn't worth it to her.
"I guess that makes sense." Estelle sighed. She hugged Sam.
"You know, Sammy, keeping your past secret from your friends isn't going to help you heal." Estelle said. Sam looked at her helplessly.
"So what should I do? Tell them that I'm a dyke and have them abandon me? Then I'll have nobody. It's easier to just not talk about it. I have a therapist that I can talk about these things with." Sam said. Estelle nodded. She'd done what she could. There wasn't much more.
"Have you told your parents yet? That you're gay?" Estelle asked.
"No. But Simon did. They know now and… They've actually been pretty cool about it. My mom accepted me right away and Dad, well… He's making some mistakes, but I can tell that he doesn't love me any less, and he accepts me, and he's trying to do right. His family was never terribly accepting towards gays. But it feels good to know that he really does still love me. Simon feels really bad that he outed me, and our relationship is a little strained right now… Not because he outed me, but cuz of some problems I'm having in my life. But I'm trying to get better and he still loves me." Sam said.
"That's good." Estelle said. They went back to the group. Estelle had given her bit. Luke was up next. They were all going to try to convince Sam that it would be best if she was just honest with her new friends. They were happy that she had made friends. And honestly, Sam didn't feel that they were close enough yet to talk about such a traumatic issue as her rape. But her friends thought that she should be a little more open with them. Even if she didn't tell them everything, she could tell them a little bit more than she had. After the park, they went to a diner together to get something to eat.
Their trip to the diner came at a different time than Simon's and his friends, so they didn't cross paths. But they were seated by Dana as well, who smiled at Sam, recognizing her from the last time she'd been there. She gave them all their menus and went away to bring them some water to start. They looked at their menus to decide what they wanted. While they talked and perused the menus, Dana came back with their water. Luke had put a lot of thought into what he was going to say to Sam. He'd written out what he would say and practiced it, trying to predict any response that she could give.
Luke had some anxiety issues, and he was in his mind 95% likely to be prepared for what Sam would say back to him. Dana came back to the table.
"Hey, can I get you guys anything to drink?" Dana asked. Luna thought for a moment.
"Iced tea." The rocker said. Ruth just got water. George got a Coke. Finny got milk. Estelle got a Sprite. Bridget got a Coke as well, and Luke got water with extra lemon. Sam got a lemon-lime seltzer water. Dana nodded and got the drinks, coming back about five minutes later, putting the drinks out for them.
"Can I take your orders?" Dana asked. They all gave Dana their orders. She nodded and headed back to the kitchen to put their orders in. Luke asked if he could have a word with Sam outside. Sam sighed, fairly sure that Luke would want to talk about the same thing Estelle had. As they got outside and sat on a bench, Luke sighed. Estelle had told him what happened between her and Sam.
"Sammy… I know that you aren't ready to tell your friends everything. But maybe you could give them something. I know you're scared and sometimes, having a strong support network outside the home helps.
"You can let Luna, Ruth, Finny and George help you. We can talk to you on the phone and see you like once a week at most, but the Music Club can see you every day." Luke said. Sam sighed. Luke had a point. Maybe she could at least tell them something. But she wasn't sure how much she should tell them. Maybe she could talk to her parents about how much she should tell Luna, George, Ruth and Finny.
"You don't need to tell them that you're gay. But maybe telling them something would help them help you." Luke said. Sam nodded, hugging Luke and thanking him.
"Thanks. I actually feel better." Sam said, heading back in and taking a drink of her seltzer, chatting with the rest of the group. Bridget could see that Luke's talk with her had helped. Sam was much more animated now. She had been cheerful all day, but Bridget had noticed that even with her cheerfulness, there was something weighing on her. She seemed a bit lighter now. Shortly, their meals came and they dug in. Dana was good at remembering who ordered what. She was a pretty new waitress there. But she had a good memory for faces. She put out all their meals just right.
She was just worried about the staff saying that they were considering having the waitresses wear roller skates. It was a 60s themed diner and they were considering changing the uniforms. Unfortunately, despite her good memory, she didn't have great balance, especially when on wheels, and especially when carrying trays on wheels. She had brought that up with the management. The boss had said that they would offer training on carrying trays while on wheels. And that it would be a slow transition. It was likely that the skates wouldn't be worn for at least another year if not longer.
She smiled at them and left. She was glad to see that Sam really seemed to be fitting into this group. Even though she had only talked to Sam for an hour or less, she had become a bit fond of the blonde and wanted to see her happy. The group finished off their meals and then went to a roller rink. The day was marching on and it was almost 1 pm now. This would ultimately be the last thing they did together for the day. Sam's friends from Columbus had to get back home, and it was about a five-hour trip, even with good traffic conditions. It was Bridget's turn next to talk to Sam. She pulled Sam aside.
"So, Luke and Estelle seem to have helped you a bit with your mood." Bridget said. Sam nodded.
"I'm going to talk to the Music Club and tell them at least something. I don't know exactly how much to tell them. But I'm gonna talk to Mom and Dad about it. Maybe they can help me figure that out." Sam spoke a bit longer with Bridget, thanking her for helping her so much and for coming to visit her. They finished skating and then went back to Sam's house, where they saw that Simon and his friends were already there. Simon grinned at Sam. She looked like she'd had a good day.
Adalwin sighed. He wasn't eager to leave either. He was having a good time. He knelt down with Simon.
"Keep practicing with those guns. You're really becoming quite the sharpshooter." The young man said. Simon nodded, excusing himself and going over to Alric, hugging him, moving on to each of his other friends.
"I can't wait to see you guys again. Hopefully we can do this again soon?" Simon asked.
"We'll try to come again as soon as possible." Alric's older brother said.
He held Adelheid in his arms, letting her sleep. She'd been very active that day and had nodded off in the car. The group all said their goodbyes and headed back to the car, loading in and heading back to Columbus.
