faster.
“What’s made you so crabby this morning?”
he asked, shooting her a sideways glance.
Crap. Not what she wanted to talk about. What was she supposed to say? I
didn’t see my imaginary boyfriend last night? If she had any hope of impressing him, and
she really did want to make an impression, because, he was, really,
oh-my-god-hot, that really wasn’t the topic to do it with. “Just run,” she said and hoped she didn’t
sound sad. The running helped cover the
tremors in her voice and she picked up the pace.
“I get it,” he said, “You don’t want to
talk to me. But you can if you
want. I’m a good listener and you’re not
alone anymore.” He sounded a little
strange, tired and a touch too serious.
Amelia didn’t know what to say so she just
kept running. She suppressed a wide
smile. Not alone. That was good, right? It sure felt good.
****
By 11:30, Amelia was curled up studying on
one of the marshmallowy chairs in her room, a soft fleece blanket wrapped
around her. It hadn’t been her first
choice for spending the day but Luke had some emergency business meeting, Eric
was playing video games and Angelle was busy doing God only knows what.
Amelia flipped open her Linear Algebra I
textbook. The main structures of linear algebra are vector spaces. A vector space over a field F is a set V together with two binary operations…
She hadn’t gotten
very far when Angelle burst through the door in a frenzy. “There you are!” she said. “I’ve been looking all over for you. You have guests.”
“Guests?” Amelia
questioned, closing her book, “But I don’t know anyone.” And she really didn’t want to meet anyone, at
least not in yoga pants and a hoodie. She hadn’t bothered getting dress up since she had planned to study all
day.
Angelle swooped
over to Amelia, tugging the blanket away and yanking her up. The book that Amelia had on her lap fell to
the floor with a thud. “It’s time for
you to meet the neighbors,” Angelle said, looking her over with a look that
clearly said she didn’t approve of her attire. “I bought you so many nice things
yesterday. Why are you wearing
this?” Angelle picked at the hoodie like
it was filthy and she didn’t want to get her hands dirty. She sighed loudly. “Well I guess you’ll just have to go out like
this. Your guests have already been
waiting too long.” She grabbed Amelia by
the hand and towed her out of the room.
“Wait a minute,”
Amelia said, trying to pull away. It was
a useless effort. Angelle was a lot
stronger than Amelia had guessed and she didn’t waver at any of her tugs. “Let me have a shower.”
Angelle ignored
her and dragged her down the hallway, up the grand stairs and straight out to
the outside lounge. The second Amelia’s
bare feet hit the cold balcony she shivered, but Angelle pulled her on to where
a crowd had gathered, lounging on some fancy chairs and chatting amicably.
One of the girls
turned around and squealed, “Amelia!” and she rushed
over, smothering Amelia in a hug.
Amelia
stiffened. Why did everyone keep hugging
her? What happened to shaking hands? Amelia thought the girl would have gotten the
hint from her stiff stance but it didn’t ruffle her in the least and she was
starting to think the girl wasn’t going to let go.
“Jessica,” a man
said, chuckling softly. “Let the girl
breathe.”
“Oh, sorry,”
Jessica said, stepping back from Amelia and looking bashfully at the man who,
Amelia assumed, had saved her from the hug. She was short, not more than five feet tall, and she looked like a
miniature Barbie doll—busty and curvy, which really stood out in her low rise
blue jeans and yellow scoop neck t-shirt that fit like a second skin. “I’m just so excited. She’s finally here.” She looked back at Amelia and grabbed her
hands jumping up and down
“What’s made you so crabby this morning?”
he asked, shooting her a sideways glance.
Crap. Not what she wanted to talk about. What was she supposed to say? I
didn’t see my imaginary boyfriend last night? If she had any hope of impressing him, and
she really did want to make an impression, because, he was, really,
oh-my-god-hot, that really wasn’t the topic to do it with. “Just run,” she said and hoped she didn’t
sound sad. The running helped cover the
tremors in her voice and she picked up the pace.
“I get it,” he said, “You don’t want to
talk to me. But you can if you
want. I’m a good listener and you’re not
alone anymore.” He sounded a little
strange, tired and a touch too serious.
Amelia didn’t know what to say so she just
kept running. She suppressed a wide
smile. Not alone. That was good, right? It sure felt good.
****
By 11:30, Amelia was curled up studying on
one of the marshmallowy chairs in her room, a soft fleece blanket wrapped
around her. It hadn’t been her first
choice for spending the day but Luke had some emergency business meeting, Eric
was playing video games and Angelle was busy doing God only knows what.
Amelia flipped open her Linear Algebra I
textbook. The main structures of linear algebra are vector spaces. A vector space over a field F is a set V together with two binary operations…
She hadn’t gotten
very far when Angelle burst through the door in a frenzy. “There you are!” she said. “I’ve been looking all over for you. You have guests.”
“Guests?” Amelia
questioned, closing her book, “But I don’t know anyone.” And she really didn’t want to meet anyone, at
least not in yoga pants and a hoodie. She hadn’t bothered getting dress up since she had planned to study all
day.
Angelle swooped
over to Amelia, tugging the blanket away and yanking her up. The book that Amelia had on her lap fell to
the floor with a thud. “It’s time for
you to meet the neighbors,” Angelle said, looking her over with a look that
clearly said she didn’t approve of her attire. “I bought you so many nice things
yesterday. Why are you wearing
this?” Angelle picked at the hoodie like
it was filthy and she didn’t want to get her hands dirty. She sighed loudly. “Well I guess you’ll just have to go out like
this. Your guests have already been
waiting too long.” She grabbed Amelia by
the hand and towed her out of the room.
“Wait a minute,”
Amelia said, trying to pull away. It was
a useless effort. Angelle was a lot
stronger than Amelia had guessed and she didn’t waver at any of her tugs. “Let me have a shower.”
Angelle ignored
her and dragged her down the hallway, up the grand stairs and straight out to
the outside lounge. The second Amelia’s
bare feet hit the cold balcony she shivered, but Angelle pulled her on to where
a crowd had gathered, lounging on some fancy chairs and chatting amicably.
One of the girls
turned around and squealed, “Amelia!” and she rushed
over, smothering Amelia in a hug.
Amelia
stiffened. Why did everyone keep hugging
her? What happened to shaking hands? Amelia thought the girl would have gotten the
hint from her stiff stance but it didn’t ruffle her in the least and she was
starting to think the girl wasn’t going to let go.
“Jessica,” a man
said, chuckling softly. “Let the girl
breathe.”
“Oh, sorry,”
Jessica said, stepping back from Amelia and looking bashfully at the man who,
Amelia assumed, had saved her from the hug. She was short, not more than five feet tall, and she looked like a
miniature Barbie doll—busty and curvy, which really stood out in her low rise
blue jeans and yellow scoop neck t-shirt that fit like a second skin. “I’m just so excited. She’s finally here.” She looked back at Amelia and grabbed her
hands jumping up and down
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