A Silent Farewell Part 1
Like a musician lost deep within her music, she picked at each string on her guitar, trying to piece together a song before she had to leave. In a way life was like music, it sometimes carried a sad, devastatingly dark note that left a melancholy void in the heart of its listeners. Then again, music can carry blissful notes, leaving many content. With so many different emotions coursing through music, it's hard not to think that music has a life of its own. To us, music is nothing but a reflection of our own lives, however difficult they may be.Not too long ago she had been declared to have a clean bill of health by Doctor Goldstein, and was warned to take things easy. Right after Doctor Goldstein left, she changed out of her hospital gown and into more befitting clothes: cargo pants and a blue shirt. Nathan was going to pick her up, seeing as she didn't feel safe going home alone. Why Nathan, you ask? Both Brittany and Legolas claimed to be busy, which confused and somewhat upset her.
She was being released from the hospital after a horrid accident, which really wasn't an accident, and all of sudden the only friend she could count on was Nathan. She still felt somewhat awkward towards him after what he had revealed to her. Amara still maintained their friendship, which wasn't worth sacrificing due to simple yet complicated feelings. So she sat there toying around with her guitar, waiting for Nathan to come. The smell of the hospital was starting to sicken her nose; she no longer wished to be there.
Figuring out what song she wanted to sing, Amara put on her best Kermit voice and began to belt out 'Rainbow Connection.' It was her favorite song as a little girl and she would annoy her now 'guardians,' not parents, by singing it and hopping around the house. Fond memories of her father chasing her around the living room and shouting for her to shut up, popped into her head, forcing her to suppress a guffaw as she continued her song. Thinking about who she thought were her parents for the last seventeen years, she wondered if they were enjoying their long vacation. The sound of a laugh trying to be stifled quickly ended her song.
Looking up, she noticed that Nathan was there. He was standing in the doorway, having a laugh.
"You've got a pretty good Kermit the Frog impression."
"Gee, thanks." Having Nathan seeing her sing embarrassed her a little. She stood and began to pack up her guitar. After Nathan recovered from his laughter, he walked around the room and waited for Amara to finish her last minute packing.
Every now and then, he stole a glance at her. Ever since that night when she ran out of the hospital and Adam brought her back, he could not stop thinking about the two of them. Not even chess could keep his mind off of things.
'Where do those two stand? Were they a couple? Does Adam like her? Does Amara like Adam?'
He knew Amara had feelings for Adam. After all, who wouldn't? Every girl at Baker High would go into a fit of mad giggles and whispers every time he walked by in the halls. With crystal blue eyes, envious blonde hair and looks to kill, he could have any girl he wanted.
'He is the luckiest-'
"Nathan, you comin' or are you gonna day dream all day?" Amara knocked Nathan from his thoughts. He gave her his famous, lopsided grin and hurried to grab her bags.
"Thanks," Amara half smiled, shouldering her guitar bag. Just as they were about to leave the room, a woman knocked on the open door. The woman held soft features, though her face held a somewhat distraught look. She had short brown hair and dark brown eyes that held sorrow.
"You're Amara Hathaway, right? Doctor Goldstein told me you were leaving. I'm glad I caught you before you did."
Amara stared dumbly at the woman in front of her not knowing what to say. She didn't even know who she was. The woman noticed the girl staring at her, trying to recall her from memory. She shook her head, her nerves getting the best of her.
"Sorry, I'm Jennifer Taylor. Brad's mother."
Amara felt her mouth run dry. After what happened, she just wanted to block it from her memory, forget it all. Recollections of spending time with the police in her small room in the hospital came flooding back to her. How the two male officers, as nice as they were, would ask her numerous questions, some that didn't even have to do with the crime. How answering some of the questions would devastate her to remember.
Seeing Brad's mother standing there just brought back every tough time she had had in the hospital. Amara wanted to walk pass the woman and continue her departure from the hospital, but she wasn't the rude type. She saw that it took a lot for Mrs. Taylor to come here after what her son had done.
"I know you want nothing to do with me after what my son did to you. I-I just couldn't go on thinking he didn't do what he did."
Nathan could see it was hard for Amara to listen to this and difficult for Mrs. Taylor to speak to her. He decided it was best to give the two space so they could talk in private.
"I'll take your stuff to the car. Come out when you're ready. It's the silver neon."
She nodded and watched Nathan carry her bags out the door. She slumped back down on the hospital bed. Mrs. Taylor took this as a sign that Amara was willing to listen and took a seat in an abandoned chair.
"I know an apology wouldn't be of much use to you but for what it's worth, I apologize on behalf of my son. What he did was not right and I'm sorry I didn't pay much attention to Brad. Maybe then I could have caught his behavior."
Mrs. Taylor let out a sigh, relieved to get everything out. She remembered the night Brad was arrested. It was a night she'd never forget for the rest of her life.
Mrs. Taylor's Flashback
When she
had heard the knock on the door that night, she couldn't have guessed who it
would be showing up at that ungodly hour. Mr. Taylor quickly threw on his robe
and proceeded downstairs to open the door, while Mrs. Taylor peeked from the
stairs. Never did she imagine it would be the police.
"Mr. Taylor, we have an arrest warrant for your son, Brad Taylor." A plump woman
officer flashed a piece of paper in Mr. Taylor's face and two other male
officers advanced up the stairs of the house.
"What happened? What did he do?" Mrs. Taylor remembered asking frantically, and
following the officers into Brad's room.
"Your son stabbed a seventeen year old girl in the alley," one of the male
officers said. The three police officers busted into Brad's room where he was on
the computer. He looked around wildly at the officers invading his room and then
to his parents, whose facial features were beyond his comprehension.
"You're under arrest, Mr. Taylor, for attempted murder. You have the right to
remain silent anything you say..."
Mrs. Taylor felt the tears beginning to sting her eyes as she clung to her
husband.
Mr. Taylor spoke even though the officer who cuffed his son was still reading
him his rights.
"How could you? How could you stab someone? What the hell goes through that
thick head of yours?" he seethed. "I don't want you back here...ever."
There was a cold look on Brad's face, a look which said clearly that he did not
care.
End of Mrs. Taylor's flashback
"Don't apologize for Brad. He has to do that. It was his actions, not yours." Amara finally found her voice, interrupting Mrs. Taylor from her thoughts."I know, but I can't help thinking that this was my fault." A tear escaped Mrs. Taylor's eyes and she dove her hand into her purse to get a tissue. Dabbing at her eyes, she continued to speak.
"Maybe if I had paid him attention, then-"
"No. Trust me you couldn't have done anything to prevent this. It was his fault and I don't blame you, so please, do not blame yourself."
Mrs. Taylor nodded.
"I just want to go on with my life and hope that I can leave this in the past."
Mrs. Taylor got up and hugged Amara, careful not to hurt her wound.
"Thank you," Amara whispered as Mrs. Taylor released her.
Mrs. Taylor nodded while holding back more tears that threatened to spill.
"You shouldn't be thanking me for anything."
"You took the time to come down here and speak to me, when I don't think a lot of people would have after what happened."
Mrs. Taylor stood from her seat and put her tissue back into her purse. Casually, she glanced at the clock which hung on the wall. "I should be on my way. I'm sure you want to go on with that life of yours. Enjoy it. Life is a blessing, not a privilege."
Amara nodded with a small smile, taking Mrs. Taylor's advice to heart. She admired the woman before her. All her life she could remember wishing for a kind, compassionate mother. Some were luckier than others and just didn't know it.
Mrs. Taylor left their conversation at that and left the small room. Amara stood there, mulling over what had happened in the last few weeks. She never thought her life could go back to where it was before. She never thought she would ever walk from the hospital doors on her own. Yet, she was.
Finding Nathan's car was simple enough. It was parked right out front so she couldn't miss it. She took a deep breath of the air before settling inside the car. The belief of being free wasn't easy to accept, yet she did and it felt good.
Nathan took her hand once she sat back in the passengers' seat with a heavy sigh. His simple action drove her from her state of mind.
"You okay?"
Amara nodded squeezing Nathan's hand. He fought back a smile at her reaction.
"It takes a lot to get over something like that and believe me there were times when I sat in the hospital, thinking that I would never get through this. I never thought about what Brad's parents were going through."
They drove the next few minutes silently. Amara hoped that the talk between her and Mrs. Taylor had cleared the woman's state of mind. The sun beaming down on her rejuvenated her but Amara still could not help but feel like a piece of her was missing.
"I just want to go back to my regular life before all of this happened. Even though it was screwed up."
Nathan took a quick sideways glance at her before his eyes looked back to the road. "How was it screwed up? You seemed to have it good to me. I mean you're smart, talented. You've got a great boyfriend, you-"
"Wait, wait, wait. Hold it. I've got a boyfriend?"
Nathan shrugged while coming to a stop light. "Well, yeah. Adam, right?"
Amara's eyes bugged out. Pushing her glasses back up to her eyes, she turned to Nathan.
"What makes you think that Le- I mean Adam is my boyfriend?"
Nathan suddenly went hot, hotter than the Los Angeles weather.
"Well, he cares for you a lot. You spend an awful lot of time together. Everybody at school thought-"
"Everybody at school thinks that Adam and I are a couple?" She leaned back into her seat and closed her eyes. 'Things just keep getting better and better,' she thought. "Adam is just my friend."
Nathan was half relieved and the other half of him didn't know what it was. He smirked to her, giving her a teasing look. "Sure, Amara, sure."
Amara inwardly growled. If only Nathan knew that Adam was really Legolas, Prince of Mirkwood and an elf. Then maybe he'd understand. She was sure that the only reason Legolas cared for her so much was because she was his friend and she thought that all elves acted that way towards their good friends.
She dropped the issue all together and let the car ride take her to what promised to be a brighter future.
A week later…
The sound of a buzzing alarm clock made the teenager sit up straight. Growling, she hit the blasted button to turn off the irritating noise and got out of bed. At first, Amara sat on her bed, just staring at the floor. Her life had gradually gotten back into the swing of things. She had decided to take a few days off before returning to school, which everyone supported her on. They were afraid she was moving things along too fast and needed to move more slowly.Things started to get to the point where if she moved any slower, she'd be mistaken for an old woman. Today, no matter what anyone said, she was going to go to school. There were only so many reruns of cartoons one girl could take, after all. After a minute or two, she got up and began what was her daily routine. Get up, shower, scarf down some cereal, dress and fix her hair so she'd look somewhat presentable. It was when she took her daily tumble down the stairs that she noticed a certain elf had not been there to stop her fall.
Shrugging it off and standing back up, a calendar hanging on the living room wall caught her eye. She had almost forgotten that this day was May 18th, the day that she turned eighteen. Her life as a child was soon to end. There would be no more eating a whole bag of candy and then blaming it on the imaginary dog or anymore running through the sprinklers without looking like a complete idiot. It was going to all end. Again she shrugged off the matter and began her journey to school.
She'd
still run through the sprinklers, no matter how dumb she looked.
Starting back on something after your life has taken a turn so sharp it could
cut through the thickest of wood is never easy. You expect so many things to
have changed and people to have viewed you differently, thinking you'll never
get into the groove you made for yourself the first time again. That is why
going into school after the accident felt difficult. Walking through the door,
she expected to be an alien to the other students. She hung her head low.
Her imagination was giving her the feeling of millions of eyes burning into her.
She stepped in front of her locker and awkwardly gathered her books. Afterward,
she calmly made her way to first period when the most unlikely person stopped
her.
"Look, I know Brad was a creep but I didn't know he was, like, a psycho," Carie
said, standing in front of Amara blocking her way to class. This irritated her,
seeing as she didn't like Carie, nor did she want to deal with her this day. Not
only was it her first day back to school, but it was May 18th, the day she was
to become an adult.
"I don't have time for this, Carie." Amara side stepped Carie to get to her
class but Carie stepped in front of her again to stop her. "Carie, get out of my
way."
"Look, I know I've been a real bitch to you and stuff but-" Her light brown eyes
looked everywhere but Amara's face.
"I don't need your pity apology. Let's say I wasn't stabbed and nothing
happened. Would you be standing here, apologizing to me?"
Carie shrugged, her answer showing on her pretty face.
"I thought so." Amara walked passed Carie, making her way to her first class.
"But I heard there was this party!" Carie yelled after her.
Amara ignored her, not caring what she had to say. Carie was like Brad, destined
to keep the same attitude through life. Though, who knew? Life could kick them
in the rear, forcing them to change the way they treated people.
From the first hour through the third, she received numerous sympathy looks and
'how are you doing's' or 'are you okay's'. She hardly paid
attention to any of the lectures her teachers had set out for the day. After his
disappearance that morning, Legolas appeared in the seat next to her. She didn't
bother asking him where he had been. Looking around at her fellow students, she
wondered if they really thought that she and Legolas were a couple.
Riiiiiiiiiing! The sound of the bell signaled third period was over.
Gathering her books, she groaned. Her torso was still a bit sore.
"How do you feel, Amara?" Legolas asked, full of concern.
Amara glanced at the students who began to file out of the classroom. Some were
looking back at both Legolas and Amara, wanting to see if the rumors were true.
Her eyes went back to Legolas.
"I'm fine. You comin' to lunch?"
"Sorry my friend, but I must speak to a teacher about one of the assignments I
recently handed in."
Amara's eyebrows rose as she shouldered her pack and followed him out of the
classroom and into the busy hall.
"Has Leggles gotten himself into trouble?"
Legolas smiled. "No, more like the teacher thinks me to be brilliant. Which I
am," he joked.
"Arrogant elf," Amara muttered, making Legolas laugh. A pang of jealousy went
through the girl. Before Legolas showed up, she was thought to be the brilliant
one.
"Well, which teacher is it?"
"I'll speak with you later." Legolas turned to leave, but immediately turned
back, suddenly remembering something.
"Happy Birthday, Aidulin."
"How did you know-"
He kissed her cheek, making her turn a luminous shade of red.
"Get to lunch."
He disappeared up a flight of stairs and once he did, those in the hall who had
seen the display of affection hooted and whistled loudly. Amara quickly removed
the hand that was touching the spot where Legolas had kissed her and hurried
into the cafeteria. There she found Nathan and Brittany and hastily sat at their
table.
"Why does high school have to be so focused on other people's lives?"
Nathan glanced up from his lunch. "What happened?"
Amara shook her head. 'By the end of the day, everyone will be talking.'
"So now that today you're officially an adult, what are your plans?" Brittany
began her full inquiring. "Tell off a teacher that you've hated since day one?
Phone up your parents and tell them how much you hate them? Have a wild night
out on the town?"
Amara looked around nervously when Brittany mentioned the phoning up the parents
bit. She hadn't revealed to anyone, save Legolas, that her parents really
weren't her parents. It was something that she did not want to share at the
moment.
"Those are all the things you'd do once you turn eighteen, Brittany. Me? I'm
going to work after school and I have a long overdue orthodontist appointment."
Nathan looked at her disbelievingly. "You are going to work on your birthday?"
Amara shrugged, "I don't feel much like celebrating my birth." 'Especially
since I don't know who my birth family is.'
Brittany groaned, "It's just like you to get this way." Little did Amara
know that she had plans of her own.
"Well, do you need a ride to work or to the orthodontist?" Nathan looked
hopeful.
Amara shook her head. "I'll walk it. I can't live in fear that the same thing
will happen again."
Nathan nodded understanding. Amara reached over and grabbed Brittany's apple
sauce and spoon from her lunch tray. Peeling back the foil and diving her spoon
into the plastic cup, she failed to notice Brittany giving her the 'I have
something to say so you better look and listen look.'
"Amara!"
"What?"
"My mom wants to have you over for dinner. She says it's a shame that you have
to be by yourself on your birthday," she spoke in a formal manner. "So, after
work?"
Swallowing down some apple sauce, Amara nodded. "Sure. Wouldn't want to upset
your mom. Nathan, will you be there?"
Nathan nodded. "Your mom invited me, right?" He asked Brittany.
"Yep, and Legolas too. You know, just the inner gang." She winked at Nathan, who
smiled in return. Amara did not seem to catch this action. She got up to toss
the empty container and spoon away. The bell rang and like a herd of sheep,
everyone got up to go to their fourth period.
"Let this day end quick," Amara prayed silently.
The buzz all over school by the fifth hour was that Amara and Legolas were a hot
couple. She had to spend the remainder of the day telling everyone it wasn't
true. On top of that, there were still sympathetic souls who told her they were
sorry that such a horrible thing had to happen to her, though it was mostly
the teachers. Then there were the students who were still hung up on Brad and
were asking how much time he was getting. Her head pounded.
When the last bell of the day rang, it was like an angelic call.
Brittany stomped her way down the halls of Baker High in search of the elf. She
had big plans, big plans indeed and she needed all the help she could get from
the elf to help her carry out these plans. This was the last year for Brittany
and Amara to hang out together before they went their separate ways. Both had
been accepted to colleges that required them to be thousands of miles apart.
This plan had to work for both their sakes.
Brittany's keen brown eyes scanned the hallways for any signs of a tall, blonde
elf. She perked up as she locked and loaded on her target. There he was, walking
from the library, intrigued by a book. The red head marched up to him and
cleared her throat loudly. Legolas stopped walking and looked down.
At the sight of Brittany he felt like sighing, for all day long she had pestered
him about what was to happen that night whenever Amara wasn't around. Sure,
Amara had become a close friend, but there was only so much a person could take.
He shut his book and looked down at Brittany with a annoyance.
"What is it this time?"
Brittany scowled, noticing that the elf was irritated with her. "I'm just
making sure everything is going to go smoothly," she argued.
Legolas shrugged his shoulders and replied, "I said nothing."
"B-but it was-Oh never mind. I just want to recap the plan."
"Brittany, I already know what is to happen this night, I do-"
"I might have left out a few small details," Brittany interrupted, showing how
small the details were with her thumb and index finger.
Legolas felt whatever she had to say was not going to make things any easier for
himself. He beckoned her to continue with a hand.
"You already know that you have to pick her up from work. Here's the small
detail. You gotta make sure she looks, well...like a girl."
Legolas scratched his forehead. "What do you mean?"
Brittany thought for a bit. How could she put this in the easiest terms? Ever
since she had known her friend, she had dressed like a tomboy. Pants with holes
in them, t-shirts with either comical or obscene sayings, Chuck Taylors with
specks of dirt on them. Tonight was the night she should dress accordingly. She
herself would not take on the chore of getting her friend to dress like a lady
for all the gold in Fort Knox, for it would be like attempting a mission that
was impossible.
"You know, get her to wear a dress. I figured that since you're good at getting
her to do things she doesn't want to do..." She batted her eyes hoping that this
would compel Legolas to give in.
"Alright, I will do it." Legolas gave in with a sigh.
Brittany went over the plan again with Legolas. "You pick her up from work and
make sure she wears something suitable. NO pants with holes or t- shirts, no
matter how much she whines and complains about it."
The two walked down the halls of Baker High, making sure every aspect of their
plan was correct.
"Come to think of it, knowing Amara, she might not have anything nice in her
closet. So you might have to take her to buy something. Trust me, if and when
you do take that girl shopping, do not listen to a word she says."
Legolas laughed and went serious when he saw the look on Brittany's face.
"Nathan and I will be setting up everything and my parents are going over how
long the event is supposed to be with the club's management. Now it is up to
you, Legolas, to get her ready. Do you think you can handle it?"
Legolas looked at the red head and nodded. 'It couldn't be as bad as she
speaks to get one young woman ready for an event.'
"Yes, Brittany, there is no need to worry. I can handle Amara." Legolas turned
to leave but Brittany asked him one last question.
"Is it true you and Amara are a couple?"
Legolas heard that gossip being spoken once or twice around the school. Without
noticing it, his heart sped up.
"So the rumor has reached your ears, I see."
Brittany waited impatiently for an answer.
"No, it is not at all true. Amara and I are just friends. It is incredible to
see how your race takes things to another level."
Brittany smirked. "Get outta here and complete our mission, Adam."
