Okay, I know I move back and forth between Amy and Jessie in this chapter, so a little clarification; Amy is how she refers to herself. If she is referred to as Jessie, someone else is talking to or about her. I hope that makes sense. This is a bit of a filler chapter to get all the details and emotions set, so if you're disappointed, you have my sincerest apologies. If you're still happy, then... yay! There's going to be a time jump somewhere along the line, but I'm quite sure where or when yet. Suggestions, as always, are welcome. Enjoy!

Amy wasn't sure if she should be alarmed at the lack of homesickness. Sure, while she missed everyone back home, she sure as hell wasn't about to go back. She'd been reported missing a couple days ago, and, by the looks of the articles she'd read, the police had no leads. Perfect. Amy honestly didn't have any reason to go back; besides the fact that the news had reported her disappearance, there wasn't anything else.

No desperate pleas for her to return on Facebook. No crying friends and family giving interviews on television, begging her to come home. No emails, no messages, nothing. Absolutely. Fucking. Nothing.

In all honesty, her "new family" had treated her better this past week than she had in a long time. Besides the obvious of getting a job and finding a place to live in the span of 24 hours (though she didn't actually move in until the day following), Kate and her mom were pretty cool. Since having moved in a few days ago, the two young women had become rather close – or, as close as Amy was about to get without divulging anything that might give her away. Amy (as Jessie) told the well-constructed story of how while her parents, while never abusive, weren't around much and weren't really into showing affection. She knew that they cared for her, but as she grew older, it became more apparent that their opinions were too different. The former American wasn't very good at school, and didn't end up graduating at all. But since not receiving her high school diploma was something that significantly bothered Amy, she told Kate of how she was thinking of taking online classes when she had saved enough. Since she didn't have too many friends worth staying for (true story), Jessie packed it up and moved to Canada, her reasoning being "The States are too fucked up now anyways".

Kate, on the other hand, was quite the academic. She had always done well in school without really trying, and was going into her final year of engineering, with a focus in the oil fields. She grew up playing volleyball and hockey ("Yeah, it's stereotypical, but it's a really fun game!"), and, like Jessie, only has a handful of good friends. Her dad hadn't been in the picture for years, but Kate said her relationship with her mother is exceptionally good and she doesn't think about her father often (anymore).

Amy elected not to bring up the whole "Hey, I'm into girls" thing until they became more familiar with each other.

Overall, the apartment was nice. It's only about a 15 minute walk from the cafe, and Kate could easily bus to the university when the school year was in. It was fairly roomy, and was part of a relatively small apartment building; only about four floors, plus the roof. Luckily for Amy, the tenants had access to the roof and she often went there nightly to reflect on her choices, which was where she was sitting now, looking over the city lights in the cool summer air.

(Despite the snow. She still couldn't get over that.)

So far, she had no regrets. Well, except for the fact that her sexual encounter with Liam had led to the entire disaster, but as least Amy wasn't alone in that.

Liam.

How could Karma choose him over her? How could the redhead decide to throw away over ten years of friendship for a BOY? A boy who hadn't even known she existed up until they were ½ fake lesbians! The thought of them together made Amy want to shoot someone; probably Liam or herself, depending on the day. Although, it didn't hurt as much as it used to, to tell the truth.

The fact that her former best friend was with a boy, that is.

The fact that her former best friend chose that boy over her still hurt like bloody fucking hell.

Which reminded Amy of the fact that her own mother practically chose her new family over her – that stung. Not that this new family is a bad one, per se, but Farrah seemed to enjoy spending more time with Lauren – which, isn't unexpected, since the two are fairly similar in a lot of aspects. It's the fact that she doesn't also make time for her own biological child, who's been there the entire time.

And Lauren was cool, but she was quite different from her stepsister. To the point that she tried to kill anything in her way after the whole Theo incident. So much for progress.

Amy didn't even want to think about Reagan. She was still mad, to be honest. She'd moved from sheer sadness to full-blown anger. Okay, so Amy fucked up, but they weren't even TOGETHER at the time. Amy had gone straight to Reagan to tell her a completely unbiased story and didn't shield herself in the process. And yet she had still been asked to leave the DJ's abode.

Yet Amy couldn't decide if the anger was because she's still in love or not.

But hey, now she's in an entirely different country with a new name and face and she's beginning to make new friends. Kate had invited her out to meet some of hers the next evening, and Amy was thrilled. She was – is – so grateful to these people for making the transition easier than she ever could have dreamed.

Apparently, Shane's fake ID was so convincing that Amy was able to open a bank account and get a credit card in her new name without any trouble at all. Things were really going well for the runaway.

But Amy knew somewhere in her heart that eventually, it would stop. She knew that someday, the jig would be up, be it because she got careless or her identification proved to be false, or (God forbid) she ran into someone she actually knew. And holy fucking mother of Jesus, THAT would be the worst thing ever. And that is not an exaggeration. But, with any (more) luck, that won't be for a long, long time.

Satisfied with the concept that she was quite content with her new life, Amy set off to return to her apartment.

She was going clubbing tomorrow.