Chapter 2
"Hello!" said the face on the other side. "Are you one of Francis' friends?"
"Yes!" she smiled, happy she had located the correct house.
"Oh good! He and everyone else are in the back." the kind woman, Francis' mother, beamed at her.
"Thank you!" she said as she was ushered into the house. "It's nice to see you again!" she chimed, Extending her hand to shake Mrs. Bonnefoy's.
"It's very nice to see you too dear!" she said warmly. "The bathroom is just down that hall, cups are in the kitchen! Have fun!"
She then walked away, leaving Amelia to find the entrance to the back. Follow the voices I guess! she thought, then made her way to the backyard. It was a small, but comfortable size with a deck. A tent on the grass contained most of the tables, where she saw many blonde, high-end looking strangers. Probably his family. Her friend, however, was sitting at the only table on the deck, an empty seat next to him. She sat down without a word.
"Who-*gasp* AMELIA~!" he squealed, hugging her and eagerly accepting his card. "You 'ave no Idea how glad I am zat you are 'ere..." he whispered into her ear.
"Haha! Family stressing you out?"
"Oh you have NO idea."
She smiled at the comment, And as Francis described all the horrors of being the center of attention, (of people who love you, at that) she took the time to look around (and pay no attention to him at all.) She noted that there was no one else there their age, besides two uninterested looking girls. They were sitting in the shade, as far away from others as possible, heads buried in their phones.
I hope I don't have to talk to them... Amelia thought to herself. She interrupted Francis' rant. "Hey, who are those girls sitting in the corner?"
"Oh, those are my cousins, Francesca and Anastasia..." you could practically see and hear his eyes roll at their names, so she assumed he didn't like them either. Yes! I'm safe!
Just then Francis got a call from Michelle. They talked for a bit and Francis sounded disappointed, then ended the call.
"She cannot come!"
"Really? Why not?" That really sucks, she thought. Francis was really excited about her coming...
"Her mother cannot drive her anymore! Something came up...Oh well! We still have everyone else, if they ever show up..."
"Yeah. hey, you want to wait inside f-"
"YES." he said, hastily getting up from his chair and heading straight for the house. She rolled her eyes and followed him inside. They sat on the couch after getting some food. After 20 or so minutes they both started to get impatient. Amelia was about to suggest calling them when they saw Alice walking up to the front door. She wore a purple party dress, her hair in low pigtails. Francis opened the door and went to give her a hug. Amelia walked up behind him and waited for her turn to say hi.
Alice peeked around Francis' head and smiled.
"Hello there!" she said. She was somewhat shy, but warm.
"Hi!" Amelia beamed at her. "Why don't we all go outside now. There is no point waiting for Natalia in here."
"Natalia isn't here yet?" she asked, looking very relieved.
"She isn't yet, and Michelle is not coming at all!" Francis told her as they began to walk to the backyard.
"Oh, that's too bad." Alice said politely.
"You should eat!" Amelia turned to her as they passed the kitchen. "We ate already, so you should eat now."
"Oh, I'm not hungry, it's fine." Alice said, looking at the food and turning back to Amelia. "Aww, are you sure?" she pouted. For some reason she felt she should encourage her to eat.
"Yes, you must eat something!" Francis agreed.
"Well, I guess I'll have something small..." she went into the kitchen to grab some food.
"We'll be outside!" Amelia yelled back at her before leaving the house, Francis following behind. They sat at the same table on the deck. Amelia looked around but turned back to the house as Alice came out and sat next to her. awww, she sat next to me! she smiled at her, and she in turn smiled back. The three of them made small talk for a minute or two before the conversation died down. There was awkward silence for a moment.
"Hey!" Amelia suddenly shouted, startling her companions. "Let's go walk around. I wanna meet your family!"
"Me too!" Alice agreed. "You aren't being a very good host, per usual Francis." She sighed at him disapprovingly.
"OI! It's not my job! I didn't even want to have a party with them anyway!"
"Oh well!" Amelia said to him, grabbing his arm and pulling him out of the chair. "You're here, and you're gonna show us around!" he groaned, but let himself be dragged by the stronger (and heavier) girl, Alice following closely behind. She went down to the tent and the rest of the tables, and felt the eyes upon her as she got close. She froze, then elbowed Francis. "Ow! Oh alright... family, meet friends; friends, family." most of them turned away without response.
What asses! she thought to herself. Just then, a middle aged looking lady waved at them to come join her. They sat down next to her and what looked like her husband. "Amelia..Alice. This is my Aunt Sue...and Uncle Joe."
"Hola!" Amelia said, (practicing her flawless French) and went to shake hands with them. Alice waved a hello and they all sat down. Once they all settled in they actually had a good time talking together. Jokes and stories were told, and despite the awkwardness in the beginning it felt now as if they had all known each other for years. They finally remembered that Natalia was supposed to be there; and Francis, after much convincing from Amelia and Alice, went to go call her, leaving the two girls alone.
"This is so fun." Amelia chirped, taking a sip of her drink.
"It is!" Alice agreed, sipping her drink also. "As much as he complains about them, his family is nice!"
"I know, right? They way he talks about them you'd expect the mob or something." she laughed. They smiled at each other for a few seconds, then Amelia looked around. "Hey, I think Francis went inside... wanna go see what he's doing?"
"Sure!"
The two got up, and Amelia took the opportunity to get a good look at Alice as they walked. She's actually really pretty, she noticed. Nice hair, nice skin, nice legs, nice everything; Alice was one of the smallest girls in the grade. She was tall, almost the same height as Amelia; but she had a very thin waist. I wish I could look like that... she thought, but decided to bury the feeling. They reached the inside and began looking around. Alice peeked down the hallway and into the kitchen but he wasn't there.
"Francis?" Amelia called to him. No answer.
"Wanna wait here?" she pointed to the couch, and they sat down.
"So Alice, how's life?" Amelia asked her.
"It's okay, I guess..." she said nonchalantly.
"Really? Why just okay?" Amelia asked, unassuming.
"Well... I don't know. Forget it."
"Are you sure? You can tell me if something's up." she said, now curious because of Alice's strange reply.
Alice looked at her and considered her for a moment. She seemed to be opening her mouth to speak when Francis came into the room.
"There you two are! I've been looking for you!"
"We've been looking for you!" Amelia said. "Did you hear from Natalia?"
"Yes, you will not believe zis!" Francis began to tell his story, Amelia, however, wasn't really paying attention.
Just what was she about to tell me? she thought.
"Okay! so blah blah blah Natalia blah blah blah psycho bitch blah blah blah blah Walmart blah..."
She couldn't shake the feeling that she just missed something important.
"Blah blah blah clothes blah blah angry dad blah blah blah gas.."
She has always struck me as a normal, happy person... maybe there is more to her than i thought. I wonder if she is like me... lonely. She looked kinda unsettled when I asked her about it...
"Blah blah fat mother blah blah blah ghetto car blah blah.."
You know what? It's probably usual teen stuff. But then why do I feel like its more? I-"
"-cake blah blah.."
"CAKE!?" she said, leaping up from her seat.
"Cake!" said Mrs Bonnefoy, who was suddenly standing in the doorway.
"Get over here, Francis! It's cake time!"
"Oh yay..." he said monotone, then trudged over to get take pictures with the cake.
Amelia was once again alone with Alice. But she felt it wasn't a good time to pry. Instead, she looked over at her.
"Wanna go watch him be miserable?"
"Haha, okay." Alice said, the seriousness from before buried under a smile. As they watched him take countless (unnecessary) pictures with the pastry, she noticed the two cousins from before standing next to them.
Before she could look away, One of them looked up to see her staring. Embarrassed, she tried to cover it with a "hi!" However, she got such a nasty look, she decided not to. Shrinking back, she decided to walk away from the rest of the party. Alice noticed and followed her.
Why am I so upset because of some bitch? she thought to herself, walking to the bathroom.
I was just so happy about cake. Why am I letting a look make me feel so upset?
"Because I should be. They are all dressed nice, all put together, all calm, all of them would never want me ar-"
"Hey! Are you okay?" Alice asked, bringing Amelia out of her thoughts.
"Oh, I'm fine... its just, that girl just gave me a nasty look..."
"Oh what? You mean the blonde? She gave me one too before!"
"What a bitch..."
"Wait, were you crying?"
"What!? No..." she said, wiping the water out of her eyes.
Alice looked like she was gonna say something, but decided not to.
"Alright then. Do you want to be alone?"
"No, no I'm fine. Lets go get into one of those pictures."