So, this chapter was getting really, really long. And for this story, I usually try to not make the chapters too long. And after thinking about it, I decided to make it into two chapters. This is kind of like part one. The second one will be shorter than usual but I prefer that than an annoyingly long chapter.

But that means there will be a quick update (hopefully) for the next week which is always a good thing to hear for you guys. So be on the lookout for an update.

I hope you enjoy this chapter, cause I know I do :)

Chapter Seven: Teenage Blues

"As a child, I felt myself to be alone, and I am still, because I know things and must hint at things which others apparently know nothing of, and for the most part do not want to know."

― C.G. Jung

December 1958

"When the night ends, you're done. You've had enough time."

Why did Clara get herself in situations where she would lose in the end?

Clara closed her eyes and rubbed her eyes, feeling a wave of exhaustion take a toll on her. It wasn't because of the lack of sleep; it was because of the overwhelming feeling that she had too much for her to do and had no idea how to do it.

She still had a few hours left to figure it out. It was enough time to make everything right. But the growing sensation was making her choke up and shut down. It wasn't the healthiest way to cope, but there was nothing she could do.

All she could do was drop grip her skirt tightly and closed her eyes, focusing on the sound of ticking clock that was by the front doors.

"You know, when I said I wanted to see you more here, I meant during mass, not two hours after everybody left."

Clara didn't have to open her eyes to know who it was. She had heard him a few seconds ago when he had stepped into the pew and sigh in exasperation when he saw her sitting all alone. Reluctantly, she pried her eyes open and gave the priest a tired smile. He went over to her and took a seat next to her.

"I'm sorry, Father," Clara apologized.

"It's been a while, Clara," Father Evans reminded her. "But I'm serious. Why is it whenever I see you here, it's not in mass?"

The reason was that Clara felt out of place going to church. Sebastian never said it, but she knew he didn't like it that she would go to church. She didn't belong there, he had made it clear. She thought avoiding going to church would ease all those emotions she felt daily, but it didn't. She couldn't even be honest in a place that claimed to be sacred and accepting. Clara was terrified that if she ever admitted what was actually going on, her last tie to her old life would disappear, leaving her with nothing but a dark void.

So when Clara had discovered the church in this town about two years ago, she was drawn to it, searching for atonement. She had spent so much there, that Father Evans had taken notice of her presence and given her a role in mass. She helped out in the church for almost an entire years, until last year Clara abruptly stopped going to church.

She knew that drastic change had caught the attention of Father Evans, but she pretended to ignore his questioning looks whenever she chose to go to church. Which was why she preferred to show up hours before mass, allowing her to not completely give up church and a way to avoid him.

"Why haven't I seen you in mass?" Father Evans pressed on.

"Well..." Clara trailed off and laughed awkwardly. How was the nicest way to say that it was because it was the easiest way to avoid seeing him? But unfortunately, it would be pointless seeing that he had found her. "I'm very busy with work and life," she finished lamely.

"And school, I hope so, too," he said sternly.

"Right, of course, that too. Job, school, life. I'm trying to be involved in the church but... I get caught up. Like I said, very busy lady am I."

"Well, you must not be that busy if you found time to be here for the first time the last five months."

Clara had the decency to wince guiltily. "Yes, I guess you're right. Well, at least I'm here, Father."

"I see," Father Evans hummed. "Well, what's bothering you?"

"Excuse me?"

"People who have been avoiding church for a while and then appear out of nowhere is because they are burden with their problems. It seems people remember their faith when they need something."

Clara glanced at the Father and hated the look like he was giving her. That look that gave her false hope that talking about her problems would make everything better.

It didn't. It only served as the reminder that she was running out of time, and needed to do something quick.

"Nothing out of the ordinary," Clara dismissed.

"Clarissa," Father Evans said, making Clara cringe in the inside. She hated whenever he would use her full name. "You would feel more at peace if you came here every Sunday, like you used to, not when things got too difficult."

Clara wasn't sure what to say to that.

"But I know you're not going to listen to me. So, I'm going to ask you; how's everything at home?"

"Things have been... unsettling."

That was the biggest understatement. She didn't when everything became too much. Was it when she agreed to spend more time in Hellfire club? When Sebastian brought in their newest member? When Emma became crueler towards her because of the new attention she seemed to draw?

But it was none of that. It was what happened a few days ago, that started wracking Clara. It tipped her over the edge, which is how she ended up going to the place she had been avoiding for almost an entire year.

From the corner of her eye, Clara could see Father Evans looking thoughtful and she internally panicked. She should have said that nothing has changed. She was going to draw unwanted attention to herself. Clara could see why Sebastian disliked for her to come to church.

"Would you like to tell me what happened? And, just as a reminder, whatever you tell me, I am bound to not say a word. You could be planning mass genocide, and I wouldn't be able to say a word."

Clara gripped her skirt tightly, her knuckles going white, and willed herself to breathe slowly. She couldn't afford to burn down the church.

It's okay, she reminded herself. This is why you're here.

"I met a boy," she said carefully, "and I made him believe I was his friend. And I wasn't." She stopped and took a shaky breath, every fiber in her body hurting at the nasty reminder of her choices. "And for a while, I thought I was, but I wasn't. Because friends don't lie to each other. They don't hurt each other."

"Why did you lie to him?"

"I―I didn't have a choice. Everything between us was orchestrated. From our first meeting to me befriending him."

Clara couldn't tell Father Evans the entire truth. That the only reason she bothered to befriend the poor boy because he was a mutant.

"Is that why you're here? Because you lead a boy on?"

"I... I don't know," she admitted truthfully.

"You do know, Clara. Why are you really here, Clarissa?" Father Evans pressed. She closed her eyes and for the first time started doubting everything. Could she really go through it? She had been so sure, but now, being in front of the one place she allowed herself to be honest, Clara wasn't so sure.

"I'm here too, I guess, to ask forgiveness," she finally said.

"For what, Clara?"

For what I'm about to do.

"Clarissa?"

"I don't know. Everything should be the right answer. I just need to know that I'm going to be forgiven for whatever I do because it seemed nowadays everything I do is wrong."

"Clara," Father Evans said gently. "You've always done what you thought was right. Whatever you choose to do, can be forgiven. We're humans, we make mistakes."

"Right, we all make mistakes," Clara said, nodding doubtfully, knowing that didn't exactly apply to her but appreciated hearing those words coming from Father Evans.

Maybe it was because Clara knew that in another situation that would have comforted her, but not that moment. What she wanted was someone to stop her. To tell her it was a stupid idea of what she was going to do. To tell her that she was about to ruin someone's life.

May 1958

Alex Summers had considered many times to do something stupid to get fired from his stupid busboy job. Like burn the pots or accidentally dump all the dishes on customers or hit the manager but knew that he would only get yelled at and add an extra hour to his shift.

Alex hated his job and especially hated how his parents thought this job would put him in the right direction. Nothing he did would change him, and both, he and his parents, knew that. They were just in denial, pretending what Alex did back in Atlanta didn't happen and it was just Alex rebelling.

How is burning down two houses and sending six people to the hospital in critical condition an act of rebellion? He wasn't trying to make a point. Alex hadn't been doing anything at the time, and that's what made it worse.

He heaved sighed and dropped his fork, a loud clatter echoing in the kitchen. He had been eating lunch with his mom, and the remainder of his past mistake made him lose his appetite.

"Why did you stop eating? What's the matter, Alex?" his mother questioned him, looking him over. He literally couldn't do anything without one of his parents questioning his actions. He was glad that his father missed lunch or else he would have received double interrogation.

"Nothing," he mumbled and picked up the fork and started stabbing his food viciously with his fork.

"Alex, why are you angry? I simply asked you a question. Please stop that," she said and touched his arm, making him freeze mid-stab.

"I'm not mad, Mom," he gritted and shook her hand off him. "I'm just tired. Can I be excused? I need to leave in a few minutes anyway."

His mom sighed and reluctantly nodded. "Yes, you should go, you don't want to be late. But please, don't be snappy when I ask you a question. I just want to know what's going on with you. You never tell me anything anymore."

Alex felt a flash of anger go through him. He knew that his mom was trying to be there for him, but what he needed from her and his dad was for them to stop hovering over him. He needed to figure out his problems by himself. And them being there, breathing down his neck was only going to make it worse.

"I have to go," Alex muttered and hurried up the stairs. In less than two minutes, Alex changed into his busboy uniform and was about to leave when his mom called out his name. "What, Mom?"

"Do you want me to drive you?"

"Mom," Alex sighed, gripping the doorknob tighter. "It's three blocks away. I can go by myself."

"I know but it's warm outside. And, last time, you got lost, remember?"

Alex bit his tongue and turned to face his mom. He gave her his most patient smile he could muster which probably looked more like a grimace. "Mom, we've talked about this."

His mom sighed and nodded. "Yes, I know. But I was just offering."

"I'm going to be late."

"Alright, be careful. I'll see you in a few hours. I love you."

"Me too," he mumbled and didn't waste a second, going out of the door and practically sprinted to his job. Alex had to slow down to look at the signs. He still was not used to his new neighborhood. It felt like a maze, each corner taking him somewhere new. He was annoyed how many times he's gotten lost. One of the times resulted in him to show up to work a half an hour late.

In record time, he made it to his job without any accidents. Alex tried his best to not let his anger merge with his work, but it didn't work. He must have still been reeling over his mom's questions because he got called out by the manager twice.

Had he mentioned that he hated his job?

He glanced around the empty diner and slowly picked up the dishes, lazy placing them in the tray. Fridays afternoon were usually busy, but that night, it was practically empty. It probably was because of the weather outside. It had been raining for the past three days.

"Hey."

"What?" he said, more sharply than he intended. Wincing internally, Alex forced himself to relax and placed the tray on the table.

"Can you please clean table six?" Amelia, the newest waitress, asked patiently, not fazed at his rudeness. When he nodded, she flashed him a thankful smile and went back to ask the table next to him if they needed anything.

There was something about Amelia Frost that made people's inside squirm uncomfortably, at least for Alex. Something about her unnerved him. She didn't seem to care that he was rude or that no one really liked him. She talked to him as if he wasn't a weird person.

His mom would have probably say that it was because he had a crush on her, which he did not. He didn't even like her. She was so... there wasn't a word to describe how Alex felt towards the girl, but it wasn't a positive one. His first impression of her was why did they need a new waitress? They already have too many, and it was only going to add one more useless waitress to the bunch.

Apparently, she had been working at the diner for almost three weeks. Alex hadn't noticed, but that wasn't surprising. If it didn't concern him, Alex never paid attention to what was going in the diner. Someone could literally be plotting the murder on one of his coworkers in front of him and Alex would be oblivious. He was getting paid to work, not be a hero.

So the first time they met each other, Amelia came onto him strong. He literally had to take a step back because of her intensity. She must have noticed his distress because ever since their first meeting, she's been more subdued in her chirpiness and only spoke to him when she needed him to clean a table, which worked well with him.

"Hi, I don't think we've been properly introduced, but I'm Amelia, the new waitress if I wasn't that obvious," the girl had introduced herself with a friendly smile to him. Alex looked at her, feeling a wave of panic. The staff from the diner usually ignored him, only speaking to him when they needed.

But not her. It was like she wanted him to be her next best friend. In that moment, all he could do was give her a shrug and go back to washing the dishes. She must have gotten the hint because she went back to waiting tables and didn't speak to him for the day. He couldn't say the same for the other days.

Alex did want to talk to her. He wanted to have his life back to normal. He wanted to hang out with his friends and play football. But he couldn't anymore. His parents, although never saying out loud, didn't approve of him spending time with others that weren't them. They feared that his 'temper' would get the best of him and force them to move again.

"Excuse me," an elderly lady called him, making him pause and look at warily her warily.

"Y-yeah?" he said awkwardly and cleared his throat. There was a reason he was a busboy. He was terrible with people. He either came across as rude or stupid. "Do you need something, ma'am?"

"We've been waiting here for ten minutes and no one has come here to give us the menu. Where are the waitresses? We're hungry," she complained, motioning to her and her companion. "Where are your waitresses?"

Alex tried his hardest to hide his scowl. He glanced around and the only waitress he could see was Amelia, who was talking animatedly with one of her customers. Alex looked back at the lady, still looking at him expectantly, and gave her a forced smile.

"Give me a second," he said hastily and walked towards Amelia. He had to call out her name three times to get her attention. She looked a little confused as if she didn't know who he was calling.

"Sorry, are you talking to me?" she said.

"Who else is Amelia?" he said impatiently.

"Oh, right, I'm not used to be called Amelia. I mean, usually go by Mia, so Amelia is new."

"I don't care what you're called. But I don't know where the other waitresses are, but that woman―" He pointed over his shoulder "―she was complaining that no one has attended to her. Can you go over there?"

Amelia looked over her shoulder and looked delighted. "Oh no. I'm sorry you had to deal with Ms. Teller and her wrath. She likes to exaggerate, she's probably been there for like five minutes. She usually sits on my side. I wonder why she sat there? Probably because of the view."

"What view?" Alex asked in annoyance. Amelia simply gave him a mischievous smile and purposely bumped her shoulder with his when she made her way to the woman. Alex tried not to think about what she meant by that and went back to counting down the end of his shift.

June 1958

Alex didn't realize he knew Amelia's schedule until she was late a Friday afternoon. It probably was because, on Friday's, Amelia would take the right side of the diner, which was where Alex would clean up. So, he always was ready to pick up any dirty dishes left at the table.

"It's 5:15, where's Amelia?" Rob, their manager, asked, glancing around the pact dinner.

"She's late," Alex answered without a second thought. Amelia shift on Friday's started at 4:30 PM. She would always show up fifteen minutes early, hanging around the library that was around the corner from their diner.

"Why's she late?" demanded Rob.

It took Alex a second to realize that he was talking to him. He gave him a look of disbelief. "Why are you asking me?"

"You're her friend. Didn't she mention anything?"

Alex didn't have a chance to correct him that he and Amelia were not friends for Rob had move on to pick on his next victim. Alex grunted unhappily. What made Rob think they were friends? They've never had a proper conversation. He was always alone, and Amelia was always surrounded by her waitress friends.

"You're late," Alex told her shortly when she did show up. He wondered what was the whole point. She was going to be there for an hour and then leave. She shouldn't have bothered.

"Yeah," Amelia exhaled and nodded curtly. "Sorry."

"Why are you apologizing to me? Apologize to Rob, he's the boss."

"Dammit, Alex. What is your problem?" she cursed. That made Alex look at her cautiously. Amelia might have cut down her chatter with him, but she always had something to say than two words. That silent one was him. He was the one who would short answer. Alex did a double take when he got a better look at her.

Amelia looked terrible. Her clothes were wrinkled and dirty while her hair was all over the place. It was always in a neat braid, so it was a strange sight to see her hair covering her face. He noticed that her hands were clenched and her knuckles were scraped, with blood seeping.

Oh, my God. Was she attacked? Alex thought in horror. Their eyes meet for a brief second, and Amelia quickly looked away and pushed her hair from her face. That was a mistake. He could see a red mark on her forehead. He knew that those makes only happened when someone was hit violently.

"Um..." Alex tried to say something but was cut off by a frazzled Amelia.

"Did Rob tell you anything?" Amelia said, looking at the clock to their right. "Oh, shit," she said, sounding surprised. Alex was surprised too. He's never heard her curse before. He was seeing a part of Amelia that he's never seen before. "Wow. I need to apologize to Rob. I didn't realize how late I am..."

He bit his tongue, it wasn't his business. He knows better than anybody what it's like to not want people to pry into his business. Picking up his rack and just said briskly, "Hurry up. We're busy."

"Amelia! What happened to your face?" shrieked Millie, one of Amelia's friends. Alex paused momentarily, and then slowly placed the dirty plates on his tray.

"I fell in the snow," Amelia explained, dismissing her friend's concern. "I wasn't paying attention, and well, this happened. It's not that bad."

He shook his head and made his way to the kitchen. He was done for the day.

"Bye, Alex," Amelia called out from her table. He reluctantly stopped and turned to look at her. It was the first time he had a good look at Amelia since he first saw her, and Amelia looked like nothing had happened to her. Her hair was back into her usual braid, and her face showed no red marks. "Have a nice night," she said sincerely.

Despite what Rob thought, they weren't friends, but he was not going to be an asshole towards the only person in the diner that acknowledge his presence. Alex gave her a tentative smile, and said, "Don't come late again."

He glanced around and wondered what actually did happen to Amelia as he walked towards his home.

Now that little seed had been planted on Alex's head, the one where he and Amelia were friends, every interaction he had with Amelia, he would look it over. He wasn't given a lot to think about because they interacted rarely.

Once a month, on a Thursday, the would have a staff meeting at nine o'clock at night. The diner would close at midnight, but not everybody could be out that late because some of them had a bedtime at ten o'clock. Rob would close the diner for thirty minutes and go over any important development that happened.

Most of the time, Rob would spend the half hour complaining about anything that got broken and tried to create a new menu, but in the end, nothing would change in the menu.

Alex never paid attention to those meetings, and before it started, Alex let his curiosity towards Amelia take over. Taking a seat next to Connor, one of the busboys that he got along with pretty well, and hesitantly asked about Amelia.

Connor tilted his head and thought about it for a while. "Not much, actually. She doesn't talk much about herself. But I know that she doesn't go to school around here. I think she goes to an all-girls school. I think that's what she told Millie. Oh, and she's Catholic. Which explains a lot. She's the only one of the waitress that opted to wear the long-sleeved shirts."

Alex's pressed his mouth in a thin line, annoyed at how little information he got. "Is that it?"

"Um, I think so. She's worked at a diner before, that's why Rob hired her cause she had experience. Other than that, there's not a lot about her. She's super friendly, but that's it. She doesn't talk a lot about herself." Connor stopped and grinned at him. "She's like you. Probably why you two are friends."

Again, with the word. Alex seriously needed to find a dictionary and look up the definition of friends. How could he be friends with someone he knew nothing about?

"Look alive everybody," Rob called out, clapping his hands to get the attention on him. Everybody's conversation went to a halt. "Now, that everybody is awake," Rob said pointedly and threw a napkin to Josh, one of the busboys that were resting their head on the counter and dozing off. "Can we have around applause for Amelia. She's survived an entire month here and that's impressive. Come on, guys."

Alex joined the scattered applause. Amelia looked uncomfortable at the unwanted attention and had her eyes trained at her stained apron, fidgeting with the edges. Thankfully for her, Rob quickly moved on and went on a long-winded rant about good customer service and how many plates have been broken the past month and if they should add more desserts.

Alex quickly zoned out, knowing that he wasn't one of the culprits for being a few plates shorts. He focused on the checkered tiles and let his mind wandered. He tried to remember what his mom was making for dinner, but somehow all he think about was the fact that Amelia had been working at the diner for a month.

It felt longer. When he first met her, she had been there for three weeks, which meant he's known her for about six weeks. He let his eyes wandered up and stop at her. She was paying attention to whatever Rob was saying. For the first time, he wondered why she chose to work here, out of all the diners. Charmin's was small and never had a rush hour. It was always calm. It was relatively boring.

Before he knew it, the meeting was over and everybody started shuffling around. Alex shift had been over thirty minutes ago but had to stay because of the stupid staff meeting. Like every night, Alex took his usual shortcut. To not go around the block, he would cut through the dimly lit park.

That night was different because there was somebody in the park. That made Alex freeze. Usually, when he would pass through the park, it was empty. But, from where he stood, he could faintly see someone on the swing set. He glanced around, and reluctantly started walking, hoping that it was just someone harmless. He stopped again when the dark figure called out his name.

Holy shit, he thought, fear pumping through his veins. The unknown figure wasn't what was scaring him. It was the same tingling that had gone through him all those months ago before he destroyed that house.

"Do you always go to the park at night?"

It was then when Alex recognized the voice. It sounded like Amelia but refused to let his guard down. Everything at night was different. Alex let himself relax when he finally saw that it was her.

What was she doing here in the middle of the night?

"It's dangerous being out here," Alex called out, started making his way towards her and stopped a foot away from her. Alex saw her swaying back and forth on the swing set.

Amelia shrugged, not worried and continued swinging. "You're probably wondering what I'm doing here at night, all alone."

"That's one of the things. I'm also wondering if you're crazy and should I tell someone."

Amelia let out a loud laugh, which made Alex smile. "I might be a little crazy," she agreed.

"That's good to know. But what are you doing here? This is the first time I've seen you here."

"I'm waiting for someone."

Alex frowned and glanced around the empty park and street. They must be the only people outside.

"Yeah," she said, noticing his expression, "but as you can plainly see, they are not here. Jerk. I told them to show up at 9:30, and it's 9:35."

"Maybe they ran into traffic?" Alex offered.

Amelia shook her head. "Trust me that as―they didn't run into traffic," she said bitterly and started swinging more forcefully. "They're just being lazy."

"Well, I'm sorry."

She was quiet for a minute before she spoke up again.

"Hey, can I ask you a question?" Amelia asked, and Alex nodded. "Is Rob always like that in the meetings?"

"Um, if you mean talking about one broken plate, no. He usually focuses on that mold in the corner that never goes away. Today, I guess he wanted to mix it up. Which is a good thing because then he wants one of the busboys to clean it," Alex said, growing quieter as he continued.

"You know for someone that doesn't talk a lot, you're pretty funny," Amelia noted. His response was silence. "I get it. I was like that too. I didn't talk to anybody, but then one day, I started again. I was the old me… sort of. I can't be that person from before, but I still can be. If that makes sense."

"No, it doesn't," he finally said and decided to take a seat.

"Maybe one day you'll get it."

Alex glanced at her and wondered what happened to make her get back to his old self. He would really like to know. It would be nice to not have to second guess everything he said. Alex noticed that Amelia was a bit odd. She wasn't like the other waitresses from the diner. And he knew he wasn't the only person that thought that. He once had overheard two of the busboys talking about how she always fumbled over her stories.

"Want to sit down with me?" Amelia asked when she noticed that he was standing awkwardly in front of her.

"Oh, yeah, sure," Alex stammered and sat down in the swing next to her. They sat in silence, the only sound was the squeaking when they swung. Alex wanted to say something but had no idea what. He had very limited experience with girls. He would only spend time with boys, so trying to make a conversation with a girl was uncharted territory.

Right when Alex was about to say something, Amelia stopped swinging. He was startled when Amelia got up and stared ahead. Alex followed her gaze and squinted, seeing nothing.

"I have to go," she said reluctantly and brushed off any dust that got caught in her uniform. "Thank you for waiting with me, Alex."

"It's no problem," Alex said and waved her goodbye. He watched her disappear into the darkness before he got up from the swing set. He could feel himself dreading to go home. He was definitely going to get yelled by his parents for coming late.

Maybe that will make them let him quit.

July 1958

Standing in front of the bathroom mirror, Alex fiddled with his tie. He inspected himself, and noticing how crooked the tie was, he decided that he wasn't going to wear one that day. It was hot that morning and having something around his neck was going to make him pass out. Untying it, he threw it to the side carelessly.

Alex hated going to mass. He found it pointless and boring to listen to a man go on and on about something that made no sense. What made it worse for him was that his parents always went to the morning mass that was jammed pack with people. There were too many people squished into a room for his liking.

"Come on, Alex. We're going to be late," his dad called out from downstairs.

"Alright," he yelled and without checking if his hair looked presentable, Alex stomped down the stairs and joined his parents. The entire car ride, he had to deal with his mom scolding about how messy his hair looked.

Alex and his parents had shown up early, leaving them enough time to argue. Alex's dad noticed the way his son was slouching.

"Alex, can you at least try to look like you're paying attention?" his dad hissed, pinching his arm.

"I will if you stop pinching me," Alex said under his breath. His dad looked at him sharply. At the moment, Alex had no idea if he said anything else because that was when he noticed her. Her black hair made her stood out from all the gray-haired people that sat next to her.

Alex cursed under his breath, not believing his luck. Out of everywhere, she could have sat down, Amelia was two pews in front of him. It was mostly empty, only about four people sitting in it. She was the youngest out of all of them, the rest of them all elderly.

It had been weeks since they last spoke. Job had kept them busy, and it seemed that Amelia didn't have to wait anymore for whoever would pick her up. They did acknowledge each other when they would bump into each other, but it never went further than that. He was actually disappointed she didn't make an effort for the small talk like she usually did.

As if sensing someone looking at her, she glanced over her shoulder, scanning the room. She paused when she spotted him and, like always, smiled at him. Surprising himself, Alex did the same thing. It wasn't completely genuine, but it was better than nothing. He could have glared at her like he usually did. He was slightly disappointed when she went back to looking forward.

"Who's that?" whispered Alex's mother. He jumped and internally groaned, forgetting that his parents were right next to him.

"No one," he grumbled.

"Alex, I'm just asking," Mrs. Summers said patiently, irritating Alex. He hated when she talked to him like that. Like she was trying to guilt trip him into doing whatever she wanted. "You don't have to give me that attitude," she continued. "There's nothing wrong if you know her."

"I know," he said and sighed loudly, quickly caving in. The faster he ripped the bandage, the faster everything would be over. "She's a waitress from Charmin's. She sometimes says hi to me."

"That's wonderful, Alex. I'm glad that you're befriending your co-workers," Mrs. Summers said brightly.

Alex looked at them suspiciously. His parents wanted him to act like nothing has changed, yet when he wanted to the things he used to do, they would come up with the most ridiculous excuses that wouldn't let him. Why couldn't they make up their mind, it would make things easier for Alex. He was exhausted by their constant whiplash.

Alex hoped Amelia couldn't hear them, but she was two pews in front of her, so he doubted. But he could never be too careful. His mother always somehow heard everything he said or did, no matter how quiet he was.

"Besides, I don't even know her name," Alex lied. He was grateful of the noise and that Amelia was sitting far away. He would die of embarrassment if she could hear his parents teasing.

"But that's alright. I didn't know your mother's name until I asked her to be my girlfriend."

Alex's mom swatted his shoulder. "John, stop it."

Yes, John, stop it, Alex thought miserably, sinking further into his seat. Thankfully, Alex's mother noticed his mortification and changed the subject, asking her husband if he remembered about talking to the priest after mass.

For the rest of mass, Alex stayed down, looking at the roof. But every so often his eyes would go down and observe Amelia. She didn't look back again, so whenever he would look at her, it would be the back of her braided head.

From his observations, he saw that she was wearing a simple, light blue dress with her hair in a complicated braid. He bet that his mother would have loved it. She had always wanted a daughter, but instead got a freak of a son. He wondered if Amelia's mother did her hair and looked around, expecting to see an older version of Amelia walking around.

Alex sighed in relief when his father tugged on his jacket to get up at the end of the mass, and the Summers quickly exited out of the church. Outside, His parents had found one of their neighbors and started chatting with them to Alex's chagrin. He didn't want to be outside in the sun with his uncomfortable suit.

"For your troubles," John told his son, giving him an old penny, and pushed Alex towards the fountain that was in front of the church. Grumbling, Alex walked to the stupid fountain, not thrilled. He wasn't five anymore, he couldn't be distracted by water anymore while his parents talked to their friends. He knew his father was trying to coax someone of his childhood excitement, but he couldn't anymore.

Alex had to push through the crowd that had gathered outside to reach the fountain. He was about to give up when he spotted it. His shoulders sagged in relief when he found it mostly empty, only a straggler sitting on the edge of the fountain.

He froze when he recognized the same braid he had been staring at for the entirety of mass. Amelia was watching the crowd pass her, her hand carelessly playing with the water. It seemed that she was waiting for someone, every so often she would straighten up but then go back to her casual position.

He couldn't believe how many times they ran into each other. Yet, there she was.

He wasn't sure whether he should approach her, but he decided to go back to his parents. It wasn't his fault that they kept running into each other. She looked up at the same moment he started backing up.

"I'm not doing this on purpose," she said lightly.

Alex surprised her again, laughing. He shook his head and after a second of hesitation, sat down next to her, leaving a foot space between. She scooted closer to him and waited to see how he would react. His posture remained the same, but his heartbeat quickened at the lack of space between them.

"So," he said, trying to get rid of the awkwardness. "You like today's mass?"

Amelia laughed at his terrible attempt to start a conversation. "Oh, yes, I liked it. But it's been awhile since I've been to one, so my judgment might not be the best."

"No, I get it. Though I'm glad you liked it."

"I'm going to take a wild guess that you don't like attending mass?"

"It's not that bad. My parents just make it hard for me to enjoy it. What about you? Did you enjoy it because you came alone?" He winced when he realized how that sounded. Like had been watching. "I mean, did you come alone?"

"Not really," she said, frowning for a second and then shaking her head. "I'm waiting for someone."

"Are you always waiting for someone? Who is it this time?" Alex teased.

An emotion flickered Amelia's face, but before Alex could pinpoint what it was, she said quietly, "My guardian."

"Oh… uh," Alex stammered, feeling his face warm up in embarrassment for no reason. So much for avoiding awkwardness.

"I'm early this time," she added. "So they're not being jerks this time."

"That's great. Really. Um, you know, my parents say that this is a lucky fountain," Alex said quickly. She gave him a grateful smile at the change of topic.

"Really? Why?"

"I don't know. But every time we go here, that's what my dad tells me." He frowned thoughtfully, looking down at his penny.

"Well, if he thinks it's lucky, then maybe it is. You never know."

"Maybe," Alex agreed and, without thinking, extended his hand towards Amelia. She raised her eyebrow, puzzled. "Here. Make a wish."

"No, I can't. It's yours," she refused.

"I've made wishes here every week. I should take a break. You can have it," Alex insisted. Amelia, still hesitant, took the penny from his palm. Her fingers grazed his hand and Alex tried to ignore the hammering in his chest when her too warm fingers touched him. He blamed his parents for making him hypersensitive about her.

"Thank you," she told him and held it up, examine the old penny with a small smile. Her cheeks had gotten red.

"What are you going to wish for?" Alex asked curiously. She broke her gaze and looked at him.

"Hmm. Give me a second to think of a good wish," Amelia said and flipped the coin in the air. She caught it without any trouble. Alex looked at her and she grinned in satisfaction, shrugging. "I just learned that trick. I saw one of the busboys do it and kept doing it over and over until I finally could catch it. I can already see Sister Rosemary's look of disapproval," Amelia said, sounding rueful.

"Who?"

Amelia blinked, surprised that he heard her and paused for a second. "This nun from the church I used to go," she said slowly. "I would always go to mass every Sunday, sometimes even on Saturdays. I practically lived in the church."

Alex's eyes widened in surprise. "Why'd you go a lot?"

She hesitated and then said, "I used to come from a very religious household."

"Not anymore?"

"No, not anymore. Things change. And I guess it was because of me. Everything had to change because of me."

"Tell me about," Alex muttered. Amelia gave him wry smile. Alex had been too focused on looking at her face when he noticed her shift, he finally looked down and tried not to flinch. Her fingertips were the only part exposed and he could see painful looking blisters around them.

"What happened to your hands?" he blurted out pointing at them and winced. Amelia looked down to her lap where her injured hands laid and stared at them blankly.

"I burned them by accident," she explained.

"How?"

"I wasn't careful. I was being stupid at home." She shook herself and smiled at him. "But I hear I'm not the only one who isn't careful. Did you hear Eric's scream yesterday?"

"Who didn't hear him?" Alex scoff, remembering how everybody in the diner stopped and looked at the kitchens where the piercing scream came from. Rob had to come out and assure the customer's no one had been murdered. "That's the third time this month. I seriously don't get why Rob hired him as his cook since he spends more time at home resting his burns than working."

"Because he's his nephew? That's why he hasn't fired him."

"Are you serious? I can't believe it. I knew it. He's too young to be working."

"Look who's talking. Aren't you a little young to be working? How old are you? Ten?"

"Thirteen," Alex said hotly. "How old are you?"

"Sixteen," Amelia answered promptly. Alex visibly deflated, disappointed she was older than him. "Why do you need to work?"

"It's a way to keep me busy. My parents know the manager and they pulled a few strings to get me the busboy job. Besides, I heard you worked at diner when you were really young."

"True, I used to work at a diner when I was younger, but I worked hard and well, I got promoted to a waitress really fast. Probably because we were short staffed and no one really cares how old I was."

"Why did you leave? Was it because you moved?"

"Yes, that is one of the reasons. I had other things I was dealing with at the time."

The conversation continued, both of them talking about mundane things, trying to keep everything light. Amelia seemed delighted that Alex seemed genuinely interested in what she was saying. He tried not to let it get to his head, but he couldn't help and be pleased that she was interested in everything he was saying.

"You cannot criticize my last name when yours is Frost," Alex laughed when they got to the topic of their strange last names.

"Okay, okay," Amelia conceded. "I admit Frost is a ridiculous last name. If I could pick I would have chosen another one."

"I wish too. Summers and Frost are weird last names, what made someone think it was a good idea to chose those last names?"

"So that when a Summers meet a Frost, they would create chaos," Amelia said seriously.

Alex snorted, shaking his head. "You make this sound like we were meant to be."

"You don't know that," Amelia said, playfully shoving him. "We don't know a lot of things, so how can you say no to something you don't know?"

Alex didn't have a chance to respond because, at that moment, Mr. Summers walked up to them with a large grin. "Who's this?" he asked, motioning to Amelia.

"Amelia Frost," she answered cheerily, grinning widely, revealing her teeth. Alex noticed that she scooted away from Alex. He tried to ignore the disappointment he felt when her first reaction was to move away from him.

"Amelia Frost. What a nice name. Frost, hm... Are you related to Johnny Frost by any chance?"

"No, I don't think so," Amelia said uncertainly. "I don't have that much of a family."

"Dad," Alex interrupted. "What's going on?"

"Oh, don't worry," Mr. Summers said. "Just here to pick up my son. Come on, Alex, your mother is waiting in the car."

"Okay. I'll meet you there," Alex said, waving him off.

"Are you Alex's friends?" Mr. Summers asked Amelia.

"Dad, don't you have to go to Mom?" Alex said through clenched teeth, and when his dad made no movement, he took matters into his hands. He pushed himself up and gave Amelia an apologetic smile. "I'll see you later, Amelia," Alex muttered and pushed his dad away from her, feeling embarrassed.

"I told you, this fountain can work miracles," his dad teased.

"Dad," Alex groaned but wasn't really annoyed. He might have hated going to church initially, but seeing how things went, it didn't end up all bad.

So, I just realized that it has been more than a year since I have published this story, it's probably closer to two years now, and that is fucking crazy. I'm so proud of this story and although I haven't updated the story as much as I wanted, I still am overwhelmed with the response that I have gotten and I want to say thank you so much for the follows, favorites, and reviews. I'm sorry if you reviewed and I didn't respond.

I'm also going to use this author's note to rant about Dunkirk cause I saw it yesterday and I need to let it out of my system. BUT OH MY GOD! That movie was amazing. I honestly have no idea how to explain how much I love it. I knew that it was going to be great because Christopher Nolan is an amazing director and writer. I seriously recommend this movie. It might not be everybody's cup of tea, but it was it's such an intense, fast-paced movie that has on the edge of your seat, and not to mention, amazing visuals. Wouldn't hurt to watch it. I can thank this movie for motivating me to write this chapter.

Anyways, going back to the story, if there are any errors, I will go back and fix it like always.

Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men or anything related to Marvel.