Chapter 8- Taunting Partings

[] A M E L I A []

"Poor, poor, Amelia. Poor and so, so pathetic," he whispered. "Don't worry. I won't do anything. Not for now at least."

For now.

He said he wouldn't do anything for now.

That thought caused a storm within me.

Suddenly, it was as if I got my voice back. Without thinking twice, a loud screech escaped my lips.

In a flash, the hand that was caressing my hair was ripped away from my face. Then I heard the sound of retreating footsteps.

But I didn't feel it. I didn't feel how and when it happened. All I knew was that I was shaking to the point where I couldn't feel anything anymore. I don't even know if I stopped screaming or not.

I just wanted to block it all out.

I needed to block it all out.

Suddenly, a rough shake jerked me out of my reverie. I shoved away whoever was gripping my shoulder and jolted upwards.

I feverently looked around me, but I saw no signs of him. I continued searching, hoping I could catch a glimpse of him in the shadows somewhere, but it was useless.

It's like he was never there.

But suddenly, another sound caught my attention instead. I looked to my side where the noise came from, and a gasp escaped my lips as I saw someone lying on the ground beside me, groaning.

It was too dark for me to make out a face, but I could still see that it was a young male who had made the noise. He was sitting upright, with a hand behind him on the ground, as if he fell back onto it. He was wiping something away from his lips and it took me a moment to realize it was blood. It took me another moment to realize that he was probably the one who was trying to shake me out of whatever void I had gotten myself into, and I just swatted him away.

I slowly reached out to him and he suddenly looked up at my gesture. The light illuminated over him, finally revealing the person that was hiding under the hood.

A gasp escaped my lips as I saw that it was Leo.

We stared at each other for the longest time, my hand still hanging in the air, ready to reach out for him. He stared at me with an explainable expression and I found myself lowering my hand. I looked away from him and licked my dry lips.

I quickly wiped away at my face, trying to get it to be as clean as possible, then I slowly gathered my backpack and everything that had fallen out of it. I stood up as quickly as I could, trying to avoid Leo's gaze on me. He got up from his spot when I did, and that's when I finally gathered the courage to face him.

"What are you doing here?" I mumbled, looking down to my feet.

"I was just in class," he said.

I nodded.

"I'm sorry about your-" I said, pointing to his lip.

To my complete surprise, he smirked.

"Don't worry about it. I'm surprised you got it in you," he said, looking down to my scrawny arms.

I rubbed them uncomfortably out of instinct.

"Thanks," I mumbled, embarrassed about what had just happened.

Leo didn't say anything. Curious, I looked up to him.

His eyes had an intense emotion, one that had me furrowing my eyebrows in confusion. Suddenly, he looked away and started walking away. Surprised, I stared after his retreating back.

I took another look around my surroundings and I felt my heart falling. It felt like he was still here. As if he would just jump out of the shadows any second. As if he would find me agai-

"You coming?"

Startled, I looked over to Leo, who had stopped walking now and was facing me. I stared at him in confusion.

"Well...?" he demanded.

I meekly started made my way over to him and stopped beside him. We walked side by side in silence, and I nearly had a heart attack every time I heard a rustling in the trees. By the time we got to my dorm, I nearly wanted to moan in relief.

Once I reached my door, I hesitantly stopped to face Leo. He stood behind me silently, with his hands in his pockets and his face neutral.

"Thank you," I mumbled once again.

Leo nodded. I turned around and started putting my key in the doorknob. I clicked the door open, and started making my inside. However, before I could go any further, a force stopped me dead in my tracks.

I turned around in confusion, and my eyes fell upon Leo's hand that was gripping my own. I looked up to him in surprise, but once again, his face gave nothing away.

"What happened Amelia?" he whispered, softly almost.

His question got me off guard and suddenly, I found myself ripping my hand out of his grasp.

"Stay out of my business, Leo."

And with those final words, I shut the door on his face.

* * *

[] L E O []

I slammed my apartment door open and closed it with the same force.

I was nearly shaking with rage.

Amelia. Amelia, Amelia, Amelia.

How dare she treat me like that?

I stormed inside my apartment and barely noticed the surprised looks on Jamal and Andre's faces as I entered. I only noticed when both of them started making their way towards me.

"What happened man?" Jamal asked, staring at me in confusion.

I paced around the kitchen and huffed.

"Who the fuck does she think she is?!" I finally exclaimed. "I was only trying to help!"

"Who? What happened?" Andre asked.

I pointed a finger at him.

"What happened? You're asking me what happened? That Amelia happened, Andre. Oh guys, isn't she just lovely?'" I said, mimicking their inner thoughts on Amelia. "'Let's have her join us for lunch every day and cause us torture," I finished off gritting the words through my teeth.

I finally stopped and stood in the middle of my kitchen, breathing heavily. Suddenly, Jamal slapped something onto Andre's hand and Andre snickered while putting it in his pocket.

"What the hell was that?" I asked angrily.

"I bet that she'd break your walls within three weeks. Jamal said a month. So I won," Andre cheerfully explained.

I gave them a flat look.

"Yeah, you guys also fucking won your way out of my apartment. Get your sorry asses out."

They groaned out in response but I was having none of it. I pushed them both out of my apartment and after they left, I leaned against the door tiredly. I thought about what they said and I found myself frowning.

They were wrong.

She isn't breaking any walls of mine.

Impossible.

However, no matter how hard I tried to tell myself this, I still found myself wondering if she was okay or not.

* * *

It was Tuesday afternoon, which was the perfect day to be lazy since the three of us had classes that ended early. For once, I was looking forward to this day.

For now, Jamal and I were waiting for Andre and Amelia at our usual spot in Coffee Rush. I was still sour about Amelia shutting me out yesterday, so I wasn't exactly keen on seeing her today. Unfortunately, Jamal and Andre seemed to love her company. So as much as she annoyed the heck out of me, I couldn't just kick her out of the group. Moreover, I don't exactly disdain her either.

She was just... indescribable.

And that just didn't cut with me.

However, as Andre again made his way to our spot alone, I sighed and somehow felt the guilt creep back to me.

"Again?" Jamal asked Andre.

Andre nodded. Jamal sighed and went back to his food. Trying to show I wasn't interested, I continued typing away at my laptop.

Andre sighed and propped up and elbow on the table, and dropped his hand into his palm.

"Well, now that it's just down to the three of us again, I kind of feel bored," Andre said lazily.

Jamal nodded.

"Isn't she just lovely like the sun?" he suddenly said to Jamal.

In my head, I scoffed.

Amelia? The Amelia? Like the girl that ate with us and was in my English class? Reminded him of the sun? As in the brightest star in our galaxy?

I think my best friend is officially crazy.

"She isn't the sun. She's not bright, nor cheerful, nor entertaining. She's more like the moon. Some days she's dark and brooding. Other times, only when she receives light, does she illuminate it."

I continued staring at my laptop, not looking up to them.

"Shit man. What kind of magical Shakespearean nonsense are you spewing now?" Jamal suddenly said.

"Honestly. Maybe you should get yourself checked out," Andre suggested with a grin.

I finally looked up to them and saw them staring at me with wide eyes. Suddenly feeling awkward, I tried diverting what I just said.

"I'm just working on my assignment for English class you idiots," I muttered.

Andre rolled his eyes.

"Sure... but she's your muse for it, isn't she?" he said hopefully.

Jamal and Andre wore matching grins and I scowled at them.

"No, you shitheads."

Little did they know, there was no such assignment.

* * *

By Thursday, I simply had had enough. Amelia had been missing in action since Monday night and I was starting to feel uneasy.

Her shaking form kept flashing in front of my eyes and I found it hard to focus on anything else.

I came into Coffee Rush with a frown and found Andre and Jamal already waiting for me. Before class had started, they talked me into sitting next to Amelia and asking her to join us for lunch. However, she wasn't even there today.

Once I walked in, Jamal and Andre looked up hopefully, then slumped in their seats when they saw that I was alone.

"She wasn't there," I explained, sitting in my seat.

Jamal nodded and Andre frowned further.

"I'm not getting a good feeling about this," he murmured, staring at the table. "She seemed so stressed out yesterday and she left as soon as class ended, saying she wasn't feeling well. I couldn't ask her anything else either since she left so early."

A strange feeling crept up my spine and I was suddenly reminded of Monday.

I finally finished my class and was heading home. It was almost 8:30 at night and already pitch black outside.

I was almost out of the building, when I realized I forgot my laptop charger plugged into the wall plug in the room. I rushed back inside to get it, and sighed in relief when I found it.

I grabbed it and started heading home once again. I finally made it outside and was surprised to see how quickly the area cleared up. It was as if my classmates and professor never existed.

I was somewhat irritated with the lack of lights in this area, but sucked it up and started making my way towards my apartment. I was almost out of the main camps area when something stopped me dead in my tracks.

I spun around at the sound of the shriek, and was surprised to see a figure, nearly on the opposite end of the campus from where I was standing. The figure was on the floor, and someone else was hovering above them.

The sound was coming from the person on the ground, and the sound was a scream.

Without thinking twice, I ran as fast as I could. I ran towards them and seeing me approach, the person who was standing, stepped away from the person on the ground.

"Hey!" I called out, demanding them to stop.

However, the person, who I now saw was a guy, started running away. Not paying much attention to him, I turned to the figure on the ground. She was still shaking and screaming.

"Hey," I said to her, hoping she would pull herself out of the void she was stuck in.

However, it didn't work. She was still screaming, her hands covering her ears tightly. I slowly bent down to her level and grabbed her shoulder. But still, that didn't work. I gave her a small jolt, and it was then that she finally snapped out of it. Suddenly, she slapped my arm away, hitting my lip on the way. Surprised with the force, I stumbled back, landing on my butt and my palms spread out onto the ground below me.

I was frozen from shock, and I rubbed my lip with the back of my hand, surprised to see the drop of blood. I looked back up to see the figure and suddenly, I forgot how to breathe.

It was Amelia.

But it wasn't just any Amelia.

It was Amelia with tears running down her cheeks. Her hair was clinging to her forehead, and her entire body was shaking.

It was a broken Amelia.

Suddenly, as if noticing me just now, a small gasp escaped her lips. Since I was hiding in the dark, she didn't see me just yet. But the light was all over her, showcasing every bit of her to me.

Ever so slowly, she started reaching out a hand toward to me. Instinctively, I found myself leaning closer to her, trying to see if she got hurt or not.

As soon as I did that, she froze.

I was confused for a moment, until I realized that she probably saw me now. Her hand froze in the air and a small breath escaped her lips.

I wanted to ask. I wanted to ask if she was okay. I wanted to ask if the bastard hurt her. But all I could do was stare.

And I wish I had closed my big mouth. I wish I didn't ask her-

"Hello... earth to Leo?" someone said, snapping me out of my daze.

I snapped my attention to Andre, who was staring at me suspiciously.

"Yeah?" I croaked out.

"I asked if you want to order food now," he said.

I nodded and we made our way to the counter. We each got our food and sat back down.

I contemplated telling them about what happened on Tuesday, but then I thought better of it. If I told them that I was there for Amelia, they would never let me live it down. And on top of that, if they found out that I walked her home and knew where she lived, well heck, they'd mock me for the rest of my life.

"Should we go check up on her, as respectable fellow dorm people?" Andre said to Jamal.

Jamal shrugged and nodded.

I frowned, annoyed that he didn't ask for my input.

"Great, let's go after lunch," Andre said.

Jamal nodded once more.

"Do you guys know where she lives?" I asked casually.

To my surprise, Andre nodded. "Yeah, we ran together once and I dropped her off. I don't know exactly what room she lives in though. It's alright, we can ask around," Andre said.

I nodded.

"Well... I might as well come too. You were right, I was quite the dick to her when I didn't need to be," I muttered, thinking about all the moments we shared.

Andre blinked. Jamal stared at me wiht his mouth agape. At last, Andre broke the heavy silence.

"Good. Glad you realized it."

* * *

We made it to her dorm nearly 20 minutes later, and luckily, someone was just leaving then. It was an older looking girl with a hijab on and Andre suddenly jabbed Jamal into the stomach, mouthing 'ask her.' Jamal gave him a pointed look back as if saying, 'why me?'

'Cause you're Black, too,' he mouthed.

I shook my head at his analogy and Jamal rolled his eyes at him. Jamal sighed and went towards the girl.

Surprised with the 6 and a half foot man in front of her, the girl backed up slightly and looked up to him in surprise.

"Hi, uh, I'm Jamal," he introduced.

The girl nodded, still unsure of where he was going with this.

"I'm a friend of Amelia's. Do you know her room number by any chance?" Jamal asked politely.

The girl's eyes widened in realization and she quickly explained the details to him.

"But I haven't seen her in the past few hours. She might be out," the girl, Fatima as she introduced herself, said.

Jamal nodded and gestured for us to follow him through. Fatima held the door open for us with a polite smile, then headed off to wherever she needed to go. We made our way inside, and I remembered the place vaguely from a few nights ago.

We made our way to Amelia's dorm and stopped once we reached her door. Andre took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

We waited a full 2 minutes before knocking again. However, there was again no response. We shared a look.

"Try calling her again," Jamal said to Andre.

Andre nodded and did as he was told. However, she didn't pick up.

Now I was uneasy.

Her eyes. Her eyes kept flashing through my mind and I suddenly thought of the guy who had her captured earlier.

Now, I felt horrible.

What if the guy had found her again? What if she was hurt? What if no one even realized she had been missing? What if she-

Suddenly, the door behind us flew open and a girl peaked through her door. She was squinting at us, and it looked like she woke from a slumber.

"What the hell are you guys doing?" she muttered.

The three of us shared a look, then Andre spoke.

"We're looking for Amelia."

"You won't find her in there," she said yawning. "She's gone home for the weekend."

And with that, my scrambled thoughts finally returned to normal.