Chapter 3: Don't Be Shy
Mrs. Bloom walked in at ten o'clock to see her daughter.
"Amanda, my poor baby! Are you okay? How are you?" Mrs. Bloom said all in one breath as she wrapped her arms tightly around Amanda.
"Umm… Mom…I can't breathe..." Amanda gasped and tapped her mom's shoulder.
"Oh, sorry sweetie. I just, never mind. So how are you feeling?" Mrs. Bloom said as she sat down on the bed.
"I'm…okay. My head hurts a little, but otherwise, I'm fine. Kyle's kept me company."
"Oh has he?" Where…is he?"
"He is down in the cafeteria getting some hot chocolate for me. He should be back any minute now."
"Oh…how…nice of him." Then there was an awkward silence. Finally, Kyle quietly knocked on the door and walked in with two cups in his hands.
"Mrs. Bloom, hi. Nice to see you." Kyle said as he handed the cup to Amanda. "Here you go. Oh, Mrs. Bloom you can have mine."
"I'm on a diet." Mrs. Bloom said emotionless.
"Oh….sorry." Kyle looked away feeling awkward.
"Oh, it's fine Kyle." Mrs. Bloom said as she looked up at him, but not actually looking him in the eyes. There was another awkward pause. "That's a interesting gown you've got on Amanda."
She looked down. Her gown was pink with smiley faces all over it. Kyle told her about all the little kids with their different gowns on. Some kids had ones with little characters on them. Like a blue dog from a TV show or a girl with a monkey wearing boots. She couldn't stop a smile from appearing on her face.
"So, Kyle. Did you look at the menu for today's lunch?" Amanda said, just trying to start a conversation.
"Yeah, it said Meatloaf with a side of lime jello. Yum…" He said sarcastically.
"Yay…my favorite. Maybe-" She giggled with him.
"So honey, I'm sorry to say this, but remember that huge business trip to Utah I was planning on going to for the last two months? Well, that's today. My flight leaves in 3 hours. Is there anything you need before I leave?" Mrs. Bloom interrupted.
"Um. Maybe some DVDs. Could you bring my favorite ones? Oh and some new clothes. The ones that I just bought, please?"
"Yeah, whatever you want. I'll go get them. See you in a bit sweetie. Love you so, so much." Mrs. Bloom said as she hugged her daughter's.
"Bye Mom. Love you too." She said as she waved goodbye. Amanda sighed.
Kyle took a sip of hot chocolate. "She's worried about you."
"I can tell. She's acting all strange now. It's not like I'm dying or anything."
"True, but…this is probably a traumatizing event for her."
"Yeah...but still, I'm going to be fine."
0oo0oo0
"Here you go sweetie." Mrs. Bloom said as she set a backpack down on a chair. "Okay sweetie, I have to got to the airport now. Call me whenever you want. I'll have my phone on the whole time. And here's my hotel and my room number if something is wrong. I love you so much."
"I love you too Mom." Amanda smiled shyly. She held open her arms and hugged her mom as tight as she could. "I'm going to miss you."
"I'll miss you too. Bye sweetie." Mrs. Bloom said as she walked out of her room with tears in her eyes.
Amanda had never seen her mom this emotional since her farther was in the hospital. Maybe this incident is really hard for her. She could feel her eyes starting to trickle tears from the corners of her eyes and she wiped them with her gown. "Okay, I'm going to change. It's getting really, really cold in here."
"Okay, want me to put a movie on?"
"Sure, put this one in." Amanda said pointing to one of the four movies her mom brought. She closed the door behind her.
The title screen came up and it said "Romeo and Juliet"
"Much better." Amanda sighed as she turned off the light in the bathroom. She was now wearing matching pajama bottoms and a tank top underneath her smock. It wasn't all that cold in the room; she just didn't want to be almost butt naked with Kyle in the room. She sat crisscrossed on her bed with a blanket around her shoulders and pressed play on the remote.
0oo0oo0
Amanda had tears streaming down her face when the last scene ended. She wiped the away and looked at Kyle.
"Why did they kill themselves?" Kyle said as he scratched his head a little.
Amanda bit her finger slightly. "Well, um. They loved each other so much that they didn't want to live without each other so…they killed themselves so they could be together in Heaven." Amanda tried to explain.
"Oh. Well I liked the movie." Kyle said.
"I knew you would." Kyle smiled big, and Amanda did so too.
"Amanda, I want to tell you something. Something not many people know. And I've wanted to tell you for a long time."
"Okay, what is it."
"Well um…I…I really…" Kyle couldn't quite get it out.
"Kyle, I know what you're about to say. Just say it, don't be bashful." Amanda said softly.
Kyle sighed. "Amanda…I think…I think I love you…ever since I first saw you. You're the most beautiful person I've ever met." Kyle blurted out and turned his head quickly when he finished.
Amanda blushed. She wasn't expecting him to say it in those words. "Oh…I like you too."
"You do?" Kyle asked quietly.
"Yeah. I do." Amanda smiled as she got up from her bed and gave Kyle a long, affectionate hug. Kyle smiled. I knew she would understand…
