AN: Okay, so in the States it is technically Sept. 2, 2012 so when I promised this chapter I was going off US time, not Philippines times. But anyway, more than that sorry for the delay on this. If you hadn't heart on Friday (this past August 31) there was a massive earthquake in my area. 7.9 and the epicenter was about 40km from where I am currently living so...there was a lot of panic and enough damage to knock out electricity and water for about a day or two. We're slowly returning to normal, but...yeah. I couldn't get to this story for almost a day because I had no power to charge my computer and...there was madness here in Samar haha. But anyway, I hope you enjoy, I think this chapter came out quite nicely. Review!
"Amy! Over here!"
Instinctively, Amy gripped the strap to her messenger bag at the sight of bouncing blonde hair up ahead and readied herself for the onslaught of enthusiasm. She smiled, if not a little hesitantly, and waved, "Hey Grace."
Her step-sister briskly walked toward her and wrapped her arms around Amy, barely giving Amy time to do the same before she pulled back and rested one hand on her bicep, "How are you doing?" Grace fixed her with a serious gaze and Amy shied away.
"Uh…fine, just a little jetlagged."
Right away the serious expression melted back into a smile and Grace stepped back, "Oh I bet, was the flight shaky?"
Amy shook her head as she readjusted her bag, "No, just long. And it's the first time I've ever had to travel by myself so…"
"That's right! Usually Ashley or your mom comes with you! Well, I can understand. I remember the first time I flew to Africa alone I was beside myself! I kept thinking-"
"Woah, Grace, Amy just got here, let's give her some breathing space alright?" Kathleen came up behind her daughter and placed a hand on her shoulder before looking at Amy. "Hey honey, it's great to see you."
Amy smiled and nodded, she did always like Kathleen, even if she was the reason why her family had split up, "Good to see you too, um…" she looked around, "Where's dad?"
She was surprised to no t see him nearby, but Kathleen stepped forward and wrapped an arm around Amy's shoulder, "He's back at the house cooking up a storm. He's so excited for you coming that he's pretty much destroying my kitchen for your arrival."
"Ah," Amy sighed, "sounds like dad." She couldn't help the smile as Kathleen proceeded to lead them over to baggage claim with Grace in tow.
"Oh yeah Ames, you should have seen George running around like a chicken without a head. He's really going over the top. I mean, we're all excited for you to be here. I'm glad to have another girl in the house and it'll be great having you at school also."
Amy nodded politely as they stood among the mass of flight 142 and searched for Amy's bright red duffel bag. "Did my things make it here alright?"
Kathleen nodded, "The boxes were delivered yesterday and we set them up in your room, but didn't open them. Is that really all the stuff that you have Ames? I kind of expected more."
Amy chuckled and shrugged, "I'm pretty low maintenance. They're just clothes and books mostly. A few photo albums and memory books, but most of my stuff is in storage with Ashley and Mom's things. My friend Mariah has the key so if I do need anything from storage she said she'd get it and send it right away."
Kathleen smiled, "Well, that's good. Oh! Is that it right there?"
The three women proceeded to seek out Amy's luggage and then head to the car, making small talk and indulging each other in various topics. The ease of it all seemed to calm Amy, but as they moved closer and closer to the Juergens-Bowman suburban home Amy felt like she was being pulled further and further away from her mom and from her sister.
Looking at Kathleen and Grace made her wonder if this was what it had been like for her dad, trading one family for the other. Had he felt this uncomfortable? Had he felt any regret at all? Or had it been as easy as driving from point A to point B?
The week seemed to fly by as Amy tried to fit her life into the very large, well furnished bedroom that her dad had set up for her. Tom had recently moved into the guest house with Grace's ex-boyfriend Jack whose parents had moved away…or something of the sort. And so Amy got to have Tom's old room. It was spacious with a large window facing the front yard and more room than Amy really needed, but her dad looked so happy that she couldn't bring herself to complain. Instead she just agreed and smiled politely, stayed in her room and texted back and forth with Mariah and Megan.
'Have you seen any celebrities?'
'Do you think your dad will give you a car if you ask?'
'Did you talk to your mom and sister?'
'Grace sounds annoying.'
'Have you called Ricky yet?'
She hadn't bothered texting Megan back a response from there, because the truth was that she had maybe ten or eleven drafted text messages to Ricky in her phone, had hovered over the talk button with his name highlighted in her phone book maybe once every hour. But she hadn't contacted him. She couldn't bring herself to do it, not yet. There was too much going on, she told herself, too much new things going on. Maybe when there was some semblance of normalcy. But in the evening when she would stare at her phone, sift through the pictures she had of them together, she knew that she was afraid that she would be disappointed. What if he wasn't excited to know she was close by? What if it got messed up before anything even started? It would just make living in California worse and she didn't want to ruin everything before it even started.
Her thoughts traced back to that first evening they had together, dinner at his apartment. It had all seemed so simple in the beginning. There was an ease to it that she knew was mostly due to Ricky being careful with her, but, nonetheless, she had felt safe. She wanted to feel safe again.
"So, this is the place. Sorry for the mess, but Nora is away for a few days and I haven't had time to straighten up properly."
The apartment was a well-furnished loft apartment with an amazing view of the city. Amy could see some clothes and books strewn about, but not too much of a mess, so she shook her head, "No, it's fine you should see our apartment. For three girls who are barely home most of the time my mom, Ashley, and I have things all over." She set the grocery bag on the counter and proceeded to pull out items. She arranged them on separate counters, all of Ricky's cooking ingredients from her baking ingredients, as Ricky loosened his tie.
"I'm just going to change really quickly," he said as he reached up to retrieve a pot from one of the kitchen cabinets. "Could you put 3 cups of water in this and set it on the stove, I need it to boil for the pasta."
Amy nodded and took the pot from him, "Sure, I think I can manage that," she teased.
Ricky laughed and brushed her hair back behind her ear, "I'll be right back, feel free to take whatever you need. Cooking utensils are in that drawer by the sink." He swept out of the room, picking up stray clothes as he went, while Amy busied herself in the kitchen. She quickly began to boil the water then turned to the rest of the groceries, arranging them on the counter for easy access. She wasn't exactly sure of Ricky's recipe, so she left the various meats and vegetables alone, instead focusing on her lemon bar recipe. She found a decent sized bowl sitting in the drying rack as well as a whisk and a zester and got to work. She was just finishing the batter for her lemon bars when a pair of arms snaked around her waist.
"You find everything you need?" She nodded her head against his lips and felt an involuntary shiver run down her spine as they brushed her neck.
"You best start on that pasta if you want us to eat or else all we'll have is dessert." He nodded and pulled away, but not before grazing a kiss across her cheek, then setting to work.
He moved effortlessly, chopping tomatoes, garlic, and onions; getting another pot and mixing an liquids together until he had rich red sauce bubbling. His water had begun to boil and he quickly removed the pasta from it's packaging and broke it in half, allowing the water to immerse it with just a little bit of salt. He chuckled and shook his head, "My dad hates packaged pasta. He always wants to make his own, fresh, but it's a really long process and I honestly prefer the packaged one because that's what Margaret uses."
Amy smiled as she scooped her lemon bar batter into a glass dish and glanced at him, "Your dad knows how to make fresh pasta?" Ricky nodded and began to sauté the ground beef for the meat sauce.
"Yeah, it's a Boykewich tradition. My grandpa taught my dad and my dad taught Ben and I. Ben also only likes fresh pasta. He can even tell the difference when eating it. But I can't and… I don't know, I just don't mind if it's from a box. It's quicker and it reminds me of Shakur and Margaret."
Amy chuckled, "How long did you live with them before the Boykewichs adopted you?"
"Um, maybe six years or so. I had bounced from foster home to foster home until I came to live with them and things just clicked. I wasn't an easy foster kid, I was…rowdy, unapologetic, and messed up, but Margaret never gave up on me and it was a hard decision to leave them for my mom and dad. Margaret and Shakur, I know, would have adopted me if they hadn't."
"We could have been friends in another life," Amy teased. "If you had stayed with Margaret and Shakur and moved here, we could have met earlier."
Ricky chuckled and wiped his hands on a dish towel just as Amy turned, leaning against the counter to face him. His hands quickly sought her waist and he rested his forehead against hers, "Oh the what if's," he laughed.
She also closed her eyes and leaned into his body heat, "I like though that we met now instead of, possibly, years before."
"Oh?" Ricky asked, "And why's that?"
She opened her eyes to meet his and bit her lip instinctively, watching as his eyes flitted down to her lips, "Because, maybe you wouldn't have worked so hard to gain my affection if you had met me three years ago when Mariah did. I was very gullible you know and probably would have given in much sooner to you and your charm."
"Really?" Ricky said, intrigued. Amy laughed and pushed him away playfully.
"I was stupid then, I would have just let you break my heart and you probably would have done it."
Ricky laughed and shook his head, pulling her back to him and bringing his lips down to hers. His hand traced her cheek as her eyes fluttered closed, the feeling of their chemistry electrifying both of their bodies. When he pulled away, breathless just as she was, He laughed and had to kiss her once again, "I'm not gonna break your heart Amy, as long as you don't break mine."
A knock on the door pulled her from her thoughts and Amy tossed her phone away, standing up to straighten her clothes, "Come in."
Grace poked her head in the room and smiled brightly at Amy, "Hey! Are you busy?"
Amy shook her head and motioned for Grace to come in, "No, what's up?"
With a bright smile Grace bounced in, shutting the door behind her and stuffing her hands in her back pockets. "I just wanted to ask if you wanted to come out with me and a few of my friends. Kind of a last hurrah before school starts you know? Most of them are in our grade so you'll see them around a lot, might as well get to know them right?"
Amy bit her lip, unsure if she really felt up to going out, but felt her resolve faltering under Grace's cheery disposition. She had been cooped up in the house for days and Grace was right, it would be good for her to get to know some of her classmates. "Okay," she relented, "let me just change." Grace squealed and clapped her hands together, heading towards Amy's newly stocked closet and threw it open.
"We're going down to the pier, so you'll have to dress warm!"
Amy let out a breathy chuckled and nodded, "Alright, alright…"
"So then she tells me t hat she didn't know he didn't speak English and I was like, 'Madison, you didn't talk to the guy before you started making out with him?'"
"Hey! I thought he was just trying to be suave and romantic using a foreign language and he did know English—"
"Knowing how to say "Hi, would you like to come with me," doesn't count and it's creepy." Amy laughed right along with Grace and Alice at the antics of Lauren and Madison. The two girlfriends of Grace were recounting their three week vacation in Europe and were more entertaining to watch really than the story was. They bantered off each other like an old married couple and Amy couldn't deny that she thought they were hilarious, if not a little ridiculous. All of Grace's friends were like that really. Lauren had dark skin, the daughter of a therapist, and was always the voice of reason in whatever story she told of her and Madison's misadventures. Madison in contrast was very fair, bubbly and little clueless. Separate from each other, Amy didn't think they would get along, but the combination of the two of them together made for interesting conversation and so Amy could imagine keeping their company, if only in doses.
Alice was easier to relate to. She was quiet at first, but her sarcasm was quick and her logical reasoning apt. Amy knew that she and Alice would get along, if only because Alice reminded her a lot of Mariah. The three of them, with Grace made for an odd collection of girls, but Amy enjoyed the dynamic more than she thought she would. They each had known each other since freshman year, each had their own cliques in school, but all came together in a weird sort of familial way. It was a natural friendship and Amy was glad that she had come out tonight to meet them.
"Oh hey, there's Ben and Henry! Hey! Boys!" Amy turned to see Grace flagging down a tall lanky boy from across the street and the boy quickly waved back. He checked both ways before crossing, an Asian boy following in tow and quickly made their way over to the girls.
"Hello ladies," Ben said, slipping his hands into his pockets as his friend sidled up next to him, "Enjoying the summer while it lasts?"
"Only a few more hours and then it'll be junior year! I can't believe it," Madison squealed. Lauren rolled her eyes and Amy bit back a chuckle.
"Oh, and this is Amy," Grace supplied, pulling Amy's attention back to the conversation, "she's my step-sister and she'll be going to Grant with us. Amy," Grace said, turning to her step-sister, "This is Ben and Henry they're on student council with Alice and I. Ben is actually our junior class President."
"Oh," Amy said, raising a hand for a sheepish wave, "Hi, nice to meet you." Ben offered a friendly smile to her as well and held out a hand.
"Nice to meet you too, so you're the new girl?"
Amy shrugged and took his hand to shake, "I guess so."
Ben chuckled and nodded as she gave him a hearty shake, "Well, then we'll be seeing a lot of each other. I was told tomorrow that I am your go-to tour guide, so if you need anything: where to find your classes, the best tables in the lunch room, what clubs to join, I'm your guy."
Amy nodded, "I'll keep that in mind." His gaze seemed to linger on her longer than necessary, so she pulled away first, a blush rising in her cheeks. She coughed and stepped back and Ben seemed to take the hint, turning his attention back to the other girls.
"Ah, well, we'll leave you ladies to your evening, see you all tomorrow. Come on Henry," he nodded to each of the girls, lastly looking at Amy and offering her another sweet smile, "And I guess, I'll talk to you tomorrow Amy."
"Yeah, sure," she said, pursing her lips and waving goodbye. Once they had started to move again a chuckle from Alice brought Amy's attention to her.
"Seems Ben might have taken a liking to you,"
"Oh my gosh!" Madison squealed, "You saw that too! Oh Amy, you should totally go for it. Ben is such a sweetheart!"
Amy bit her lip and shook her head, "I don't know. I'm not really looking for anything right now, I just want to survive the school year."
"Well," Lauren jumped in, "you seem like you'll be okay, and Ben is a nice guy. If there is anyone in school worth getting to know, it's him."
"Yeah, Amy! I think Ben likes you." Grace teased, hooking her elbow with Amy's, "And he's really nice. I think you two would hit it off!"
An uncomfortable pit began to form in her stomach, leaving her nauseous and anxious all at the same time. So she did the only thing she knew to do and changed the subject, "Hey, I'm starving, is anyone else hungry?"
The topic then switched to food and Amy sighed in relief, hoping that no more talk of Ben or possible romantic feelings would come up again as it made it more and more difficult not to think about the sight of Ricky's half-smirk or the feeling of his lips against hers. 'Ugh,' Amy thought, 'That's just what I need…another boy…'
AN: DUN DUN DUN...haha couldn't help it. What kind of Secret Life fanfic would this be if there wasn't some love triangle goodness between Ricky/Amy/Ben. Thankfully, MY Ben is easier to take than the other Ben, so, please review.
update: Sept. 9, 2012
