I'm sorry it took a little more than a week than what I promise, but, hey, at least it wasn't a half a year wait. I can say that it took longer to update cause I was making it longer, so I think the wait was worth it.
Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy part ii of this chapter :)
Chapter Eight: The Ugly Reality
"Just because something isn't a lie does not mean that it isn't deceptive. A liar knows that he is a liar, but one who speaks mere portions of truth in order to deceive is a craftsman of destruction."
― Criss Jami
August 1958
"Hey, Alex."
It was ridiculous how elated Alex felt whenever Amelia greeted him, which was almost every day so he should have gotten over it. But there he was, trying to not grin like an idiot and casually greeted her back.
"Hi, Amelia," he told her and dropped his backpack on the floor. He had barely arrived on time for his shift. "How was yesterday?"
"Oh, my goodness, where do I start?" She sighed in exaggeration and shook her head, making him smile.
"That bad?"
"I had rude customers. I got zero tips. I fell on my butt twice. The second time, it made the newest busboy accidentally dumped his dishes on me. I think I still smell like grilled cheese." Amelia wrinkled her nose and sniffed her blouse. "Wrong, I do smell like burnt grilled cheese. You need to work on Wednesday. I missed you."
"Oh, um, thanks." Alex could feel his heart stutter at the casual comment. He liked to blame his hearts reaction to the fact that he wasn't accustomed on Amelia's affectionate words. He would always get flustered at her little comments that probably didn't mean anything. Alex would try to play it off cool, but he was so paranoid that he was positive that Amelia could hear every time his heart would beat faster whenever she spoke to him. She always got a funny look on her face whenever he acted like an idiot in front of her, which was always.
"Anyways, as much I missed you, can you clean up the table in the corner?"
"Sometimes I feel that's why you only talk to me," he grumbled.
"It might be one of the reasons," she said seriously and flashed him a grin before she went back out to start serving customers. Alex followed her and cleaned up all the tables. That afternoon, the diner was packed, having everybody busy. It wasn't until eight when things started slowing down.
Alex wasn't trying to eavesdrop but he was cleaning up a table near them and as the conversation progressed, their voices grew louder, making it impossible for him to not overhear.
"I'm not going to clean it," she said, her voice sounding irritated. "It's the men's bathroom. Send one of the busboys."
"They're busy."
"So am I," she gritted. "I'm waiting for five tables while―"
"I don't care," interrupted Rob. "People have been complaining about the disgusting mess and I need someone to clean it."
"Then make the customer who has been complaining to clean it. I am busy."
"Amelia." The warning tone in Rob's voice was what made up Alex's mind.
"I'll clean it," Alex blurted out. Both turned to look at him and Alex tried to not blush, realizing he just outed himself for eavesdropping. Thankfully, they didn't seem to care.
"Really?" Amelia said, looking unsure at his offer.
"Yeah, I just finished cleaning the counter and I have nothing right now. I can do it, you have these tables to wait."
Amelia beamed and gave him a wide smile, making Alex take a deep breath, trying to not give away how flustered he felt.
"Does that work well with you?" Amelia asked Rob. He nodded and Amelia left to attend the customers.
"Well, Romeo, get cleaning. You still have tables to clean," Rob said and thrust Alex a mop and a bucket of murky water, shoving him towards the disgusting bathroom. Alex held his breath when he stepped in to the bathroom, nearly gagging.
It was almost at the end of Alex's shift when Amelia found him. He tried to not be too close to her because of his stench. Rob hadn't been lying about the smell. He would probably be reeking of pee for the rest of the week, much to his chagrin. But hearing Amelia thank him made it more bearable.
"I owe you one, I mean it. Like you saved my life."
"It's fine," Alex dismissed her. She didn't believe him, raising her eyebrow in disbelief. "I'm serious. It wasn't that gross. It was just pee."
"Ugh, no. Even that is the worst." She wrinkled her nose and looked over his shoulder to check at the time. "I know you get off right now but are you in a hurry to go home?"
Now that summer break was over and school started, Alex had been ordered by his parents to go straight home after work. But it was Thursday, he could always say that there was a rush hour and he couldn't escape it. When he told her no, she beamed at him.
"Can you wait? I get off in a half an hour, and I want to give you something."
"Yeah, sure. I'll wait for you outside."
She grinned at him and tapped his shoulder. "Great. I'll see you soon."
Outside, Alex was reminded of the changing weather. He shivered at the cool breeze that appeared. It was cold, even if it was August and it was supposed to be warmer. But at night it was cooler than the day. He rubbed his hands together, trying to keep himself warm. Losing a finger was something he didn't want to happen. His life was bad enough, and losing a limb would make it worse.
Thankfully, Alex had to only wait five minutes in the freezing outside. Amelia rushed outside, wearing her coat and scarf.
"Thanks for waiting for me," she said, her voice breathless. "I mean it."
"It's fine," he said. "What did you want me to wait for you?"
"For this," she explained and handed him a small bundle that he took carefully. Alex sighed in relief at her unexpected warmth of her hands.
"What's this?" he asked, taking the bundle that she handed him. Alex felt a rush spread over him at the unexpected warmth of Amelia's hands. He knew she had been inside but she was too warm. "You're really warm," he noted.
"Sorry about that. I was by the oven."
"Hmm," he said, not fully convinced. He let it go because he was trying to identify what was he touching. It was too dark for him to make out the shape. He opened it and was surprised when he saw that it was money. "Are these... pennies? Why are you giving me these?"
"The first penny was for the one you gave me and the others are for cleaning the bathroom. Also, they're for being my friend."
"Friends?" Alex echoed.
"We're friends, right?" Her expectant look made Alex nod. "Well, that's what friends do. Give each other things for no reason."
"How did you get that many pennies?"
"I had to wait at the end of my shift to change all my tips for pennies," she admitted sheepishly. "But it's fine. I don't mind. I don't need those tips. Anyways, sorry for making you wait a long time for pennies. Now, you can make all the wishes that you want. Or not, you can do whatever you want."
"No, this is great, thanks," Alex cut her ramble and offered her a smile. "I'll definitely be using them to make wishes. This is a perfect thank you gift."
"I'm so glad you liked it," she said and looked over her shoulder. "I have to go. My ride is here. See you tomorrow, Alex."
Amelia sprinted away from Alex as he looked down at his bundle. He had no idea how many pennies were there, but it felt like a lot. He couldn't believe she gave him all her tips just because of one small favor he did.
"It's because we're friends," he said aloud and nodded to himself agreeing with Amelia. Who would have thought would have been the girl he first couldn't stand?
November 1958
It was nice to have a friend again.
Before his incident, Alex used to have many friends. After school, he would go over to one of his many friend's houses and play football until supper. Every day he would go to a different friend's house and do something different. But now he rarely spoke to anybody who wasn't his parents or co-workers. So, having Amelia as a friend was welcomed.
Alex friends had always been a boy, never a girl. But now, his only friend was a girl, Amelia. He didn't really understand why he avoided girls. Amelia wasn't bad. She was nice and talkative. Yes, he couldn't play football with her, he couldn't talk about how nasty school lunch was, but he could talk to her about how shitty his day had gone.
And it wasn't just having her as a friend. It had been two good months. His new school has become bearable. He understood all his classes and was completing all his He started playing football with a group of boys during lunch. He was getting the hand of being a busboy and Rob was considering giving him the better sections of the diner. His parents weren't hovering as much as they used to, which allowed him to have stayed out more to hang out with Amelia after work.
That gave him an opportunity to discover one of the many strange quirks that Amelia had.
She didn't like to be touched unless she was the one initiating contact. She would get irritable for the rest of the day if that ever happened. One time, Alex made the mistake on shoving her playfully and she avoided him for the rest of the day. He tried to not take it the wrong way, reminding himself that she wasn't like his guy friends. That she was a girl and they didn't like to play around roughly.
But seeing her go the other direction whenever they passed each other, stung more than he wanted it too. He didn't want to lose his only friend. He was relieved when she apologized at the end of the shift, saying that she just didn't like to push around by people. He made sure after that to never make contact with her unless she initiated it.
She had a strange fascination with knowing about Alex's parents and his home life. He figured it was because she didn't have any parents. He never asked about her home life, remembering the few times they had touched on the topic the conversation had gone strain.
She was always unusually warm, even if was fifty degrees at night. She would wear a cross, hiding it under her shirt, but Alex had only seen her attend church once and when he asked her on why she stopped going, she claimed she was too busy.
"How are your hands?" Alex asked during his lunch break when Amelia stopped at the counter to drop off the remaining menus, glancing at her bandaged hands. Amelia claimed that she burned them, but how many times could Amelia burn her hands picking up a kettle pot. Seven times apparently, and that was for the ones he had seen.
"What does it mean when someone is getting hurt and they don't want to say anything?" Alex had asked his dad the previous day. He had grown worried at Amelia's constant injuries, that he wanted someone's advice. Amelia was his friend, and he should do something for her.
"Is there something you want to tell me?" Mr. Summer asked him seriously.
"No," Alex said quickly, avoiding his questioning stare. "I'm just wondering. Seriously, Dad, I was just asking."
"Well, then," Mr. Summer said, and thought about it. "Maybe it looks bad from your point of view, but you don't really know what's going on with them until you ask them."
Alex looked at Amelia expectantly, waiting to hear what she would say.
"Fine. Doesn't sting anymore. I can move them now," Amelia dismissed him and plucked one of his carrots, making exaggerated noises as she ate them. Not in the mood for jokes, Alex leaned over the counter and poked her palm causing Amelia to hiss and pull her hands towards her chest. "Alex," she snapped. "What have I told you? Don't touch them."
"Thought it didn't sting anymore?"
She didn't say anything, only threw him a dirty look and went into the kitchen to tell the chefs to change a customer's order.
"Amelia, come on. I'm sorry, don't be mad at me," he said but was blatantly ignored. He should be getting accustomed to Amelia's irate behavior. Things might have been going well for him, but he couldn't say the same thing for Amelia. Despite his constant questioning, something was going on with Amelia.
She had been missing work a lot the last month, it was almost a miracle that Rob hadn't fired her. Some times she would miss three days, making Alex worry about her. Especially when she seemed to be avoiding him some days. Alex had no idea how to contact Amelia. He had never gone to her home. He had her phone number, but she said that she would prefer he wouldn't call her unless it was an emergency.
When she stepped out of the kitchen, Alex was about to apologize for his behavior, but Amelia's attention was focused on a blond woman sitting alone in the corner booth. Her posture had become tense and her hands were digging into her palms painfully. Alex tried to get her attention, but she didn't seem to hear him. Amelia reluctantly walked over to the table.
"Again? What are you doing here?" Amelia was hissing. Alex continued picking up plates at the table nearby, taking his time.
"We just want to order food."
"Really?" Amelia scoffed in disbelief. "You hate this place."
"Of course not. I'm checking up on you, obviously," the woman said. "This place is disgusting. I can't believe Sebastian let you work here."
"Yeah, well, it's not your problem," Amelia said harshly. "Leave now."
"I would if I could," the woman said distastefully.
"I can't believe this. You think I can't do this, right? I'm not stupid. I overheard you talking to Sebastian last night. 'You think she can do it?' Unbelievable."
"It's rude to eavesdrop on a conversation," the woman said coolly, her eyes narrowing dangerously at Alex. He blushed and turned around, placing the plates clumsily into the tray and ran back into the kitchens. It looked that Amelia was still taking the order of the woman. She didn't look like Amelia's mother and certainly didn't act like her mother. She was more like the judgmental aunt.
Alex couldn't hear what the woman was telling Amelia, but whatever it was, it was making Amelia unhappy. Her hands were gripping the menus tightly, and there was a crease between her eyebrows. He lost track of the conversation, his attention being directed on cleaning the tables.
"Excuse me," Amelia said, pushing past him and going towards their manager. "Can I speak to you in private?" Amelia asked Rob in a rushed tone.
"Sure, what's the matter?"
Alex knew that he needed to stop eavesdropping Amelia's private conversations, but he couldn't help and observe her talk to Rob. He couldn't hear what was being exchanged between them, but from what he could see in Rob facial expressions, whatever Amelia was telling him, it was making him unhappy. She said a few more things to Rob before she walked away from him. Alex didn't have time to pretend he had been working, Amelia already saw him looking at her direction.
"Um, what's going?" he asked tentatively. Alex had never seen Amelia tense before. She was usually a carefree person, a smile on her face and a beat to her step.
"I'm sorry, Alex, but I have to go. Something came up. I'm sorry," she apologized and glanced over her shoulder, the woman waiting impatiently outside.
"No, yeah, it's fine. Who's that?" He tilted his head towards the booth the woman was. It was now empty
"Family friend."
"Hey, hey, wait," he said, and without thinking, grabbed her arm.
"Don't," she snapped, flinching at the contact and he immediately let go.
"Sorry, I—sorry," Alex apologized immediately, her strained expression causing him to not think properly. "I didn't mean to. I forgot."
Her expression became softer. "What is it?"
"I just wanted to know that if we're still going to see each other later?"
"Of course," she said without any hesitation, and before he could say anything, she left through the back entrance. Alex still called out her name and started following her, but stopped because Rob called out his name.
"Alex. Where are you going? You have tables to clean!" Rob barked, clapping his hands. "Come on, Romeo, let's go let's."
Exhaling in frustration, Alex turned around and headed back to work. He would talk to Amelia after work and get answers for the questions he had. He waited until midnight at the park, sitting on the swing set. In his head, Alex would go over what he would ask Amelia, but he never got the chance.
She never showed up.
December 1958
Alex didn't see Amelia for almost three weeks. She hadn't shown up to work or to the park. At first, he was confused. Maybe he had misheard her. Did she mean that she would see him that night or the next? His confusion then was replaced by panic. What if something terrible happened to her? What there had been an emergency in her family and she wouldn't be able to come back to work for a long time?
But by the third week, he wasn't worried anymore. November had ended and now it was December, showing how much time he had passed and Amelia had made no contact with him. He was her friend, shouldn't she have said something to him? He wondered what important event that came up that made her miss work.
It wasn't until Alex saw Rob put up a 'Waitress Needed' sign when it hit him. Amelia might not ever return.
"Why are you hiring a new waitress? How long is Amelia going to be absent?" Alex demanded to his manager, dropping what he was doing to talk to him.
"What are you talking...? Oh, shit, Amelia didn't tell you?"
"Tell me what?"
"Really? You don't know?"
"No..." Alex said, caught off how shocked Rob seemed. "Did she tell you why she left?"
"No, she didn't. She was in a rush that day," Rob said slowly, "but she did tell me she was quitting."
"What? Are you sure she said that?" Alex said sharply.
"Yeah, I know, didn't see that coming. Despite the last month she's been coming in late, she was one of my best waitress and the only one who had the patience to deal with your mood swings. That's why I haven't fired her, so it really hurt when she told me that she was quitting."
"Why did she quit, Rob? Did she tell you?"
Rob shrug. "I don't know, but she said she couldn't work here anymore. I guess it had something to do why she's been missing work lately. Hey, get that table, will you? I have no fucking clue where Josh is."
Having no other choice, Alex went back to work, but the entire time he cleaned the table, his mind was somewhere else. Alex couldn't wait until his shift would end so he would be able to confront Amelia about everything.
Unfortunately, Amelia did not show up that afternoon. And the pattern continued for the next weeks until Alex summoned the courage to call her. He had enough of being given the cold shoulder from her. The entire time the phone rang, his nerves were all over the place and was tempted to hang up. But Amelia had picked up the phone and any doubt he had disappeared.
She had sounded surprised at his call. Alex had a hard time hearing her, there was a loud noise in the background that sounded like she was in a party. After a few minutes of confusion, they agreed to meet at the park after his shift ended. Alex was relieved to find Amelia sitting on the swing set, drawing patterns on the floor with the heel of her boots.
"Why didn't you tell me you quit?" was the first thing that came out of his mouth.
She looked up, startled to hear him which was strange. Amelia seemed to always know when he showed up. Amelia gave him a small smile and nodded her head to the empty swing next to her. Alex glared at her and didn't move from his spot.
"I was going to tell you that day, but it slipped my mind. I'm sorry. I just had to go."
"Why did you quit?"
"Um, I'm not doing so well in school so, um, I have to stop working so I can focus, um, on school," Amelia said, not once meeting his eye. It was obvious that she wasn't telling the truth, which irritated Alex.
"School? How come you never mentioned that you were having problems in school?" he asked skeptically. "I could have helped you with your homework."
"It's the commuting. I told you that I don't live close by, and the person that would pick me up doesn't want to pick me up anymore."
"But what does that have to do with school?"
"My school is by where I live. And when I get back home after work, I have to stay up late to do my homework. And I have other responsibilities at home, which makes everything harder. I just have a lot going on," she said, and looked at him, giving him a terse smile.
Alex exhaled in frustration. "I'm sorry you had to quit. But I'm still going to see you, right?"
"Of course, you're going to see me," Amelia reassured him and reached out to hold his freezing hand. Like always, he could feel himself growing warm. But her hand felt rough. He let her go abruptly and stared at her bandaged hand.
"You didn't burn your hands on accident, didn't you?" Alex asked.
Amelia looked at him warily and glanced down at her hands, they still had the bandages, but they looked in better shape than last Sunday.
"I'm not going to say anything," Alex continued. "I promise. But if you're getting hurt―"
"It's not what it looks," Amelia said quietly. "You don't get it."
"Well, I'm going to need to know so I can understand what I saw."
"People don't understand anything," Amelia muttered, more to herself.
"I don't need help," she said firmly.
"What do you need?"
"A friend."
"I can do that," Alex said. "I'm your friend."
She smoothed out the nonexistent wrinkles on her skirt.
"It's hard. I-I feel like I have no one. The girls―Millie, Jessica, Anna―they are nice and fun to talk to. But they're not really my friends, like real friends. I can't be honest with them. They don't get me. They don't get that I can't do certain things because I have these expectations."
She abruptly stopped and tightened her grip on the chains of the swing.
"Amelia," he said hesitantly.
"It's hard," she repeated softly and turned to look at him. "Does it ever get hard?"
"What?"
"Just... not being honest about... everything?"
"You lie a lot?"
"I like to be honest, but I've noticed that not a lot of people appreciate my honesty," she said carefully. Alex didn't know he felt about her answer. "I don't like lying. I hate it. But sometimes, you don't have a choice. Like don't you ever feel like that you want to say something about yourself, but you're afraid that it's going to have horrible consequences?"
"Yeah, but you can't," Alex said. It was so painful that she seemed to understand how he felt and not being able to tell her.
"I wish I could say it, but I can't because sometimes I think that I'm alone, but then I know that's not true. As much as being different is something someone wants, we're not different, we're all the same, more than we think."
"You think so? That, you know, we're the same, more than we think?" Alex asked hesitantly. "That's more people like us? I mean, like, you know, different?"
Amelia nodded thoughtfully. "I think so, I guess we just have to say to find out."
"But you said it yourself, something bad can happen if you say it."
"Or something not so bad that can later lead up to something good."
The silence that fell between them was heavy, both deep in thought. He couldn't fathom what was going in her head. Amelia was unpredictable, which was one of the things why he had been drawn to her.
"Remember that day you showed up late, like super late, almost an hour late?" Alex asked out of nowhere. "What happened that day?"
"Oh... well, I don't think you guys would have appreciated my honesty," Amelia admitted. "But it was an accident that I caused. I could have stopped it."
"But what happened? What can't you say? Are you...?"
"Alex, stop. No." Amelia reached out and grabbed his freezing hand. He looked at her and felt his body become instantly warmed by her warm touch. "I'm the most honest with you, but sometimes, I don't want to talk about myself because I don't like what I see. It's nice to omit that ugly part of yourself."
Alex glanced at her hand thoughtfully. He got that part, wanting to pretend that he's never done anything bad in his life. That he didn't burn down two houses in his old neighborhood. That he didn't hurt anybody. That he wasn't a freak.
"Can I tell you something?" Alex blurted out.
"Yes," Amelia said, and if he had been paying attention he would have noticed how she tensed up.
He hesitated for a second. He needed to say something, it was becoming too much for him to keep his mouth shut. It's been a year and he couldn't take it anymore. His parents never mentioned the incident, pretending that the whole reason they moved was because of a change of scenery.
"Will you promise me you won't say anything?"
"Of course, you can trust me," Amelia assured him. "You can tell me anything."
In that moment, Alex saw no reason why he should not tell her. And, making a rash choice, he told her everything.
Looking back, Alex wished he hadn't because it turned out to be the worst mistake he made.
Two weeks had passed since Clara spoke with Alex. The night where Alex told her everything was the last time she had seen him. Clara knew how that looked from his side. She heard about his horrible actions and now was disgusted by him, but it wasn't what it seemed.
Clara was relieved that after months of being patient had finally got him to confess that he wasn't normal, that he was like her, although he didn't know that part. In the first month, Clara thought that he was never going to listen to trust her, seeing how distant he was with everybody. Clara had Emma to thank for the positive outcome.
"He's a boy, Clara," Emma had told her in a bored tone. "They see a pretty face who gives them the smallest amount of attention and they will confess a murder. Be that pretty face that will do anything he wants."
Initially, Clara had been skeptical, but she been desperate enough to seek advice on the older woman on how to win over a man. And everything that Emma had told her to do had worked. It was almost sad how similar all men were.
"Is there a phone I can use?" Clara asked after a heavy silence between her and Father Evans. "Please," she added as an afterthought.
"Yes, of course. There's one in my office. You can use that one," Father Evans told her slowly. "Is there anything else you want to tell me, Clara?
"I just need to make a phone call."
Giving her a wry look, Father Evans showed her his office and left her on her own. After making a few phone calls, Clara made her way to the diner. That's where she and Alex agreed to meet. She didn't tell him why she wanted to meet there specifically, despite his pestering. She had been relieved that he agreed.
The church was a mile away from the diner, giving Clara enough time to change her mind. She could always stick to the original plan. Sebastian's plan, she reminded herself, the one you never were really sure about but went along with it just to prove yourself.
But the closer she got, the more she could see that what she was going to do was the better alternative. Alex deserved so much better. He had a family that cared about him. Sebastian interfering would ruin his life.
Moments later, Clara found herself in front of the diner, no signs of Alex. She wasn't surprised that he wasn't there, he wasn't the most punctual person. She took advantage of that fact and marched up to the diner and set everything in motion. The entire time she broke the glass door of the diner, and stepped inside the empty diner, she was trying to convince herself that everything would work out.
Finishing her task, she stepped out of the diner, and waited outside impatiently, balling her hands into fists. Her mind was racing with incoherent thoughts.
No one's going to believe Alex, she reasoned. He already was rumored to be an arsonist, was at the diner around the time of the fire, witnesses would be able to testify. If he tried to shift the blame on me, he couldn't. There didn't exist an Amelia Frost. There was no trace of her. She didn't work at the diner anymore and was nowhere to be found. I'm not her, she's not real.
"What the fuck, Amelia? What happened?"
Alex's voice came over her shoulder. When she whirled around, she saw the horrified expression as he took in the growing flames coming from Charmin's.
Everything would fall on Alex. That's the plan.
"Listen, we don't have time," Clara said calmly, and grabbed Alex's hand to get his attention. Alex forced himself to look away from the burning building and frowned in confusion.
"What's going on?" Alex frowned in bemusement, his eyes flickering from her to the fire. "Seriously, Amelia. We need to go, or call someone."
"Forget about the fire, Alex," Clara said harshly, throwing Alex off at the unexpected tone. "It's been taking care of. I need to..." She stopped and took a shaky breath. "Alex, I already knew about you. Of what you are."
"I told you. Obviously, you know," he said nervously. Alex still wasn't grasping the graveness of the situation. His attention was on the growing fire. "Amelia, I think we should go."
"No, we're not leaving. Not until you hear me out."
"Is this about why you haven't been talking to me?" he asked. "We talked about this some other place."
Clara ignored him. "Alex, you need to understand something about me. I started working here for a reason. And that was you. Because you're different."
"What is going on? Is this some kind of joke? Are you making fun of me?" he demanded.
"No, I'm not," she said. "I would never do that. Don't make this difficult. We don't have much time. The fire isn't going to give us enough time."
He glanced at the burning building and then at her pathetic expression for a few seconds.
"Wait... did you do this? I can't believe it. I—what the hell?" he spluttered.
"Alex. You need to understand that—"
"No, no, stop it. Shut up, shut up, Amelia. I'm not... why would you do this?"
"Because you this is the only way you would understand," she cried out. "I know that you're still sensitive about the accident."
"I trusted you with that and now—now you're making this into a joke. You're a freak," he spat.
"Don't say that. You hate being called that, why would you call me that?"
"What is going on with you, Amelia? You disappear after told you everything. I don't know what the hell is going on with you, but I can't deal with your problems. I have my own problems," Alex told her.
"I know. I know that you have problems. I get them."
"I don't think you do. Just because I told you of what happened to me, doesn't mean you get me."
"Come one, Alex, you can't lie to me. Maybe to yourself, but not me. I get it. I was like that. I didn't want to admit I was this… abomination. But I'm not. We're not," she stressed, taking a step closer to him. "What we have is a gift. We just haven't learned how to use it. I'm getting help, and that person can help you too."
"Y-you want me to get help?"
"I did," she admitted. "But it doesn't have to be that way. Just say yes, and everything will be alright. Please, Alex, just say yes—"
"Listen, Amelia. I have no idea what you're going on about, but stop it."
"I don't know what I was hoping," she admitted, a little frustrated that their conversation was not heading where she wanted. "But I guess you didn't leave me an option. We're wasting time."
There was a dawning look on Alex's face like he finally understood what was going on.
"The fire. You did this? Why would you do this?" he yelled at her. "You set me up. This is a set up. You're not trying to 'help me.' You're fucking me over, that's what you're doing."
"I am trying to help you, but I can't unless you want to. I'm not going to force you."
"No."
Clara couldn't believe how that one word could bring a huge ache in her chest. She tried to ignore the sensation that made her feel like her lungs were being crushed and tried again.
"Then I guess I don't have a choice. I really didn't want to do this," Clara repeated, and she hoped he knew that she really did mean it. "I'm supposed to come back with you, whether you want to or not. Coming back without you is not an option. But I don't want to force you. You have a life here, people that want the best for you. I would be a terrible person if made you leave this life. I don't want to hurt you, and I know that the other person who would get you will hurt you."
Alex breathing was growing more erratic, and his hand kept shaking at his rage. He opened his mouth, trying to say something, but not able to.
"I tried to think of a way to get you out," Clara continued, hoping that if she explained her reasoning would atone her actions, "for you to be safe and still be with your family, but I couldn't. I'm sorry, I tried, I really did. That was all I could think about for the past week. This is the only way I can guarantee your safety. I guess you can't have everything."
"No. No. I'm not going with you. I don't know what you're talking about. You're crazy. You—you belong in the nuthouse."
Clara smiled sadly at Alex. He was digging his own hole without knowing it. She stiffened when she heard the wailing of the sirens from a mile away, and nodded to herself, getting ready for part two of her plan. She took a step towards Alex. He did the same thing, trying to keep a space between them.
"I'm sorry," Clara had told him sincerely.
"Sorry? You can't tell me that and just—"
Alex hadn't anticipated for Clara to attack him because he didn't move when she punched him square in the jaw. Clara sucked in her breath, her hands were still sensitive from using her mutation early in the morning. Alex stumbled to the ground, his hand going the spot where Clara's fist connected to his face. His eyes widened in disbelief.
"What the hell was that for—?" He stopped, seeing the lack of apathy in Clara's face. She could see the realization that the girl standing in front of him was not Amelia, his friend who he would wait for at the end of the shift and head to the park. He didn't recognize the stranger that was Clara.
Sensing his panic, Clara went over to him before he could scramble up. She pushed him back and pressed her elbow on his chest to keep him down. Alex cursed and before Clara grabbed his hand, he smacked her in the face. Startled by the unexpected hit, she loosened her grip on him, giving Alex an opportunity to push her off her and start crawling away.
Quickly, Clara turned around and caught the collar of his shirt and pulled him back. He tried twisting around but Clara grabbed his shoulder and managed to overpower him. She forced him flat on the floor, her body on top of him, blocking him from escaping.
"Get off," he said and tried to push her off with no avail. "Amelia, get the fuck off me."
"Listen to me," she told him seriously as if their previous struggle never happened. "No one is going to believe you that it was me. Tell them it was you and that you take full responsibility."
"No, Amelia, stop—no," he gritted, continuing to struggle to push her off him. Clara grunted when he pulled a chunk of her hair, but that didn't make her budge.
"Alex. You're not getting away, stop that."
"No, no. I'm not going to stop, liar!"
"I'm protecting you, don't you get that?"
"No, let me go. Please," he said the last word desperately. She almost loosened her hold, but an image of Sebastian getting to him stopped her.
"Shut up," she snapped and decided to stop this nonsense. It was clear that he wasn't going to listen to her and that any second, the firefighters would show up.
"Amelia—"
That was all he was to her. Amelia Frost, his supposed friend. That was what made Clara crack.
"Stop calling me that!" she yelled, and with a force that she shouldn't have used, Clara slammed Alex against the floor. She heard him suck in a deep breath and then his body went limp. Clara could hear the hammering of her heart and had to take a second to recollect herself.
Clara had not expected for Alex to put up a fight. He never seemed to be the physical type. He was quick-witted, that's what she expected to see. For Alex to throw her hateful words, not punches. Touching the spot where Alex got her, she hissed at the softened and could feel blood dripping.
She was about to check if Alex was alright when she heard the familiar sound of Azazel and in a blink, she was in an abandoned alley, a block away from the burning diner. She stumbled, losing her footing, and not bothering to check with Azazel, she went to see the what was happening. She stopped, hiding in the shadows and concentrated in blocking out the noise of the flames crackling, the metal groaning, the sirens, growing murmur of people checking out the fire, and focused on the heartbeat of Alex.
Clara could hear the steady beat to her utter relief. She had feared that she had accidentally killed him, she would have never let herself live if that had happened. Alex's breathing hadn't changed, meaning he was still unconscious. She hoped she hadn't done any permanent damage to him. Clara had been growing agitated by the second and carelessly let her emotions take over when she knocked Alex unconscious.
She tried to tell herself that what she did was right, that other alternatives would have been worse. But the more she heard those reason, the more it sounded like it was a script that she had been given and had to convince the audience.
The sirens had come to a sudden halt as soon they reached the diner. Clara didn't know how long she stayed hidden in the darkness, listening to police show up, the sound of water hitting the flames, people screaming, cameras flashing.
"Who would have thought that kid was unstable?" a voice said, hours later after the noise died down. Clara had to wait until she heard
"He was a strange one," the voice agreed. "Poor parents. I know them from church."
"Well, there's nothing they can do. The police already took him to the station."
Clara had to wait until she heard the two voices grow further, when she let out a piercing scream, unable to keep in her anguish, and punched the concrete wall. Pain radiated over her left arm, but she ignored it. She punched the wall over and over again until she heard the sound of her wrist snapping. Gasping she dropped her hand to her side and, through the darkness, she could see her blood and skin dripping down on the wall.
"When are your temper tantrums going to end? Because if this is how it's going to be all the time, I'm just going to drop you off on a deserted island."
She froze and dropped her hands to her side. She had been too caught up with listening to what was going on in the diner, she had completely forgotten about Azazel. She clenched her working hand and whirled around, glaring at Azazel.
"They say someone called and left an anonymous tip that a young boy was going to burn down a diner," Azazel lazily told her. "How strange that person seemed to know when it was going to happen. Especially that it was that specific boy that Shaw ordered you to recruit."
"Go away."
"Unfortunately for you, I don't take orders from you. We need to go right now."
"I'm not going. I can't go back. Sebastian is going to be mad at me."
Azazel sighed in exasperation. He teleported in front of her, much to her annoyance. "I get it. I mean, not really. What you did wasn't right, it was actually stupid. Shaw is not going to be happy. But I can see where you came from. He was your friend, you wanted to protect him. And I agree with you, I think he's better off in jail. Shaw doesn't really need him."
"What do you mean?" Clara asked sharply, recalling her conversation with Sebastian six months ago. He had gone on a tangent of wanting to expand his group to strengthen. Alex was the whole reason why Clara started working at the diner. To find a mutant and get them to join Sebastian's group.
"Well, we now have Riptide. Having the kid would just make him a liability. He's too young. Shaw doesn't need another kid, he has you. Also, if you haven't noticed, he's too unstable. His mutation is basically useless."
"Then what was the point of this?" she hissed, her temper flaring which was not a good thing. Whenever Clara got mad, her body would get exceedingly hot which always lead to her blowing up. Azazel had to take a step back but gave her a dark grin.
"What were you capable of doing for something you needed. And from the fire..." Azazel gestured at the growing flames. "Not exactly what Shaw had in mind, but you did exceptionally well. Didn't think you had it in you, to be honest. I can't believe I'm going to tell you this..."
"Don't," Clara warned tiredly, wishing he would shut up.
"... but I'm impressed. I mean it, Weschler. You defied direct orders from Shaw, the man you basically worship may I add, and did what you wanted. And, you just got someone arrested for a crime they didn't commit. You truly belong with us."
I'm not like you guys, she wanted to argue, but even in her head, it sounded pathetic. Not having anything to say, Clara reluctantly made her towards the tall man. It has been a year since she first saw Azazel, but she still couldn't get over his menacing appearance.
"Can I tell you something?"
"I'd rather you not," Clara said shortly and focused on her damaged hand. She had been working on her control over her healing. Trying to let it heal if she wanted, but had been failing miserably. She hadn't understood what the big deal was to heal without her consent, but now staring at her newly healed, she understands where Sebastian was coming from.
Choosing whether or not to heal showed that she was in control of her mutation. In that moment, she longed to have that control. She'd rather suffer through her injury. She deserved it.
"What is it?" Clara said reluctantly and glanced at Azazel.
"If you want to survive us, you're going to have to change," Azazel told her bluntly. "You can't be weak and forgiving anymore. You have to thicken your skin, Wechsler."
"How many times not to call me that?" she growled. Her anger took over, and she could feel heat radiating off her body. Azazel had to take a step back. "It's not Wechsler, it's Welsh."
"That's more like it. Keep that up, and you'll be fine."
Despite how much Clara hated Azazel, she knew there was a truth in his words. She couldn't keep being soft and letting anything sway her. She was in a cruel world and she was going to have to adapt to it quickly before someone ate her alive.
"Hey, if it's any consolation, you're never going to see him again."
Clara wasn't sure how she felt at the idea of never seeing Alex Summers again. Without a word, Azazel offered his arm to her. Alike always, Clara gripped the sleeve of Azazel's jacket and forced herself to ignore the roar of the growing flames and the idea of never seeing Alex again.
In a blink, Azazel and Clara were gone, leaving no trace that they ever were there.
There it is, I'm done with this part of the story. I would love to hear what you have to say with this ending. I hope you're not disappointed with what I decided to do, but it had to be done.
I really hope that I can update soon. The next chapter is already halfway done, cause funny story, originally these two chapters (the ones that I split in half) were not part of my story. On the last second, I decided to write it cause I was getting impatient with not having Alex part of my story. So, hopefully, I can have a chapter before the end of the year.
I kinda rushed through this chapter, so there might be some errors. But, like always, 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. Anything original is mine.