Chapter 16- Taunting Distances

[] A M E L I A []

Five days.

It's been five days since my encounter with Leo and somehow, I've managed to stay away from him. I didn't go to any of the classes I shared with any of the boys and I didn't even go to Coffee Rush all week, in case I ran into anyone. I simply didn't want to see them. There was no point in getting close to them.

And this was something I had drilled into my mind.

Suddenly, there was a knock at my door, disrupting me from my thoughts. I looked down at the Psychology textbook I had been staring at for the last few hours and sighed. I slowly got up and made my way towards the door. I peeked through the hole to see who it was and sighed in relief when I saw Gemma on the other side.

Over the past few weeks, we had gotten closer. Although she couldn't take the spot of my best friend, she was still someone I considered close. Last night, she came over fuming, and told me all about her outburst on Leo. My eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets by the time she finished and I stared at her in horror.

Despite her thoughts, I was not the least bit happy about what she had done. I simply wanted to get over what happened, but she made it worse by spilling everything to them. I didn't react at first, and then I simply blew up on her, asking things like: "Why would you do that? How did you find his apartment? How are Andre and Jamal?" And most importantly, "Why would you do that?" And of course, she simply shrugged at all my questions.

Her reaction when she found out about the whole Leo ordeal was nothing short of extreme, however, it did give me some sort of reassurance that someone was looking out for me. Confused about my thoughts, I hadn't spoken to her at all after she told me. I simply told her I'd see her tomorrow, and she gave me a small pout and left.

Which is why I couldn't help but hug her as I saw her standing in my doorway.

"I'm sorry for getting mad at you yesterday," I said, pulling away from her.

To my surprise, Gemma burst out laughing.

"Wow, Amelia. I thought I'd never see you again," she said, stepping into my room.

I closed the door behind her and stared at her confused.

"Huh?"

Gemma shrugged and took a seat at my desk, where I previously sat.

"This is the first time I've seen a bit of the old Amelia shine through," she said quietly.

My shoulders sagged at her words and I looked down to the floor.

"And Andre looked like a puppy that was kicked to the curb in class today," she suddenly said.

This caught my attention and I looked up to her in surprise.

"Really? Why?"

"Because I sat away from him," Gemma shrugged.

I frowned.

"But why? I thought you guys were friends," I mumbled.

Gemma stared at me open-mouthed, as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Amelia, the only reason I came to know them was because of you. If you're not hanging out with them, then I'm not either," she explained.

I frowned deeper, thinking her words through.

"And Amelia, if they don't realize just how great of a person you are, then they don't deserve you in the first place," she casually said.

And that is where she was wrong.

I, Amelia Harrison, was far from great.

* * *

[] L E O []

"No?" Jamal asked.

Andre shook his head and Jamal sighed. I frowned hearing his answer.

That was another day gone when Amelia didn't come to class.

"On top of that, Gemma sat away from me too. Didn't even look at me once," Andre said with a grimace.

Jamal sighed again.

"Jeez. Girls, huh? Can't live with them, can't live without them, and can't live with yourself knowing you hurt them," Jamal said.

Andre and I stared at him confusion, wondering why he chose to add on the latter part. He shrugged at our questioning gazes.

"What? It's true," he muttered.

And indeed, it was.

I stayed quiet, letting my thoughts consume me for a bit. I had been very sleep deprived lately, causing me to zone in and out constantly. All because of this whole Amelia problem.

I didn't understand what I was feeling right now. For one, I wanted to go to Amelia and apologize for being a dick. On the other hand, I just wanted to punch something.

How? Just how could I have yelled at her like that?

She had no idea what was wrong. She had no idea what that photo frame actually consisted of. She didn't know why I kept it on my bedside table. More importantly, she was only holding it because it was on the ground. I had remembered later that the stand on the frame was loose, which caused it to fall over at times. Amelia just picked it up so I wouldn't step on it. If she hadn't, I really may have hurt myself badly.

She was innocent.

And I knew, I knew that I had to apologize to her. I knew that from the very start. But how to do it, was the question here. I thought back to the time when I first apologized to her in class. All she did was smile at me, and suddenly, I was spewing out an apology I wasn't even prepared for.

Maybe she just had to smile at me again.

But I actually need to see her for that to happen-

I was suddenly pulled out of my exhausting thoughts when I felt a slight pressure to my shoulder.

"Dude," Jamal said.

He was the one who had been shaking my shoulder. I rose a brow at him and he sighed.

"Your class literally started 5 minutes ago."

* * *

When Tuesday rolled around, I got up earlier than usual. I got ready as fast as I could and headed out for my first class of the day: English. I made it earlier than everyone else once again and headed for my usual spot beside Amelia. Occasionally, I stole glances to the door, hoping to see familiar brown eyes.

However, as the minutes went by and no sign of her was seen, I slumped in my chair.

She didn't come again.

The lesson started and I sighed. As the professor was droning on about some type of essay, my gaze shifted over to her empty chair at the back of class.

I thought of the first time I saw her in this very class. Although she wasn't overly flashy, she somehow caught my attention. Then I thought of when Jamal accidentally hit her on the head with the ball. I nearly lectured him to death when he came running back to me. And then I saw her walking away with Andre, slightly hoping that he would find out about her. And when he did, even going as far as to bring her to lunch with him, I didn't know how to react.

She was someone I didn't know how to act around. Yet at the same time, I knew exactly how I wanted to treat her. What stopped me, was that she simply reminded me too much of someone I knew. Someone so horribly broken, that it would take all the efforts in the world to fix her.

But the question was, did I want to be that person for her? The one who mended her?

For a moment, my mind drifted off to all the times I caught her in trouble. The moment when she ran into the alleyway, as if she was running away from someone. The time I found her on the campus ground, shaking so badly I thought she might burst.

And her eyes.

Her brown, innocent eyes filled with so much fear.

Then I realized, I caused it too. I caused the same fear others have when I told her to get out of my life.

And then, I knew what I had to do.

Unable to hold it in, I packed up my things and shoved them into my backpack. Then, I simply walked out of the class, ignoring the lecture droning on behind me.

As soon as I left the class, I rung up Andre. He picked up after the third ring and before he could speak, I did.

"Get her to come to The Pub tonight."

"Wait, wha-"

And then I shut the call, getting ready for my next mission.

* * *

[] A N D R E []

I stared at my phone in confusion.

The Pub?

He wanted me to bring Amelia to The Pub? Amelia?

I frowned in confusion and sighed. I had no idea what he was thinking, but it wasn't like I didn't trust him. If he wants Amelia to be there, then he sure as hell has good reasoning behind it.

I frowned, thinking of how to go about this. I haven't seen Amelia in class since Thursday, and she hasn't responded to my texts either. Then how was I to get her to come to The Pub?

So I did the only thing that came to mind.

I called Gemma.

She didn't pick up at first, making me sigh in annoyance. However, I kept dialing.

I hadn't seen Gemma since yesterday when she chose to sit away from me in class. I understood that she was upset about what Leo had done, and I could see why she wasn't talking to us, but this once, I hoped she could feel my desperation.

She finally picked up the third time I called.

"Don't cut the call before hearing what I have to say," I said quickly.

I heard her sigh on the other side.

"What is it Andre?" she muttered tiredly.

"Look, I know you're upset about what happened. So am I. But ignoring one another won't fix what happened."

She sighed again.

"You're right. What did you call for?" she said sheepishly.

"Leo has a plan. I don't know what it is exactly, but he asked me to get Amelia tonight."

She was quiet on the other end, probably thinking my words through. I knew it wasn't that convincing. Hell, I wasn't fully convinced, but it was worth a shot.

"Fine," she said after a while.

I breathed out a sigh of relief.

"Where do I bring her?" she asked.

"The Pub."

It was silent after I dropped the bomb. But before Gemma could speak, I cut into the silence.

"Look, I know it sounds outrageous, and probably insensitive, but just trust us on this one. We won't let anything go wrong. Because as you said, we pulled her into this friendship thing, and we aren't going to let go this easily."

And finally, Gemma agreed.

* * *

[] A M E L I A []

I couldn't believe she dragged me here.

I had protested all day, and in the end, she simply said that if I didn't come, then she'd get horribly drunk, spend the night with a stranger, and probably get pregnant.

I had only looked at her and sighed. Eventually, I agreed to come.

It was Tuesday evening, and according to Gemma, it was a great day to get wasted. So that's what she was going to do. She was heading out to some place called The Pub, which was apparently the only bar in town, and wanted me to come along.

I had immediately disagreed, eyeing the stack of work I had to finish by the end of the week. But she had convinced me after much begging and pleading on her part. However, I wasn't going to let my hoodie go. That was the only condition I had. Hearing this, Gemma had squealed and hugged me tightly, saying that she accepted the condition.

So now, we were heading towards The Pub in my car, with Gemma in the passenger seat.

We made it there in under ten minutes and once we were there, I looked for a spot to park in. To my relief, there wasn't a lot of cars in the lot, which was not a surprise since it was a Tuesday night. I easily found a spot and parked in it. We unbuckled ourselves and got out of the car.

The Pub simply looked like a rundown building. There was lights lining the roof of the place, which was the only thing that made it look like the place was even running. Other than that, there was a sign hanging from the entrance of the building, saying The Pub, outlined with a flashy arrow sign. I looked over to Gemma and she shrugged.

"This is the only place in town," she sheepishly said.

We started our making our way towards the door and I was a little worried to see that no one was there to check our ID. We made our way inside, and surprisingly, it was more busier in here than it looked like it would be. It wasn't packed, but there was enough people that made it look like that opening this place was worthwhile.

We had enough space to walk, but I still subconsciously pulled my hood tighter around me. I wasn't unfamiliar with this type of scene, since I've had my fair share of parties back in high school, but all of that was in the past. Now, I can't even remember what made me comfortable in this kind of setting in the first place. The smell of booze, the drunk people everywhere, and especially, the stupid drunk people, all of it was just not my scene anymore.

"Let's go Amelia!" Gemma giddily said, grabbing my wrist and dragging me across the floor.

I followed after her, nearly missing a drunk guy who was about to ram into my shoulder. She guided me to a more secluded area that had tables facing a small stage type area, and I sighed, almost a little content.

We made our way to a table near the middle and took a seat. Gemma kept bouncing her knees up and down and I gave her a weird look.

"Are you okay, Gemma?"

She snapped her head to me, her eyes wide.

"What? Me? Of course I'm okay. Why wouldn't I be?" she rambled.

I gave her a look of confusion, but turned away when I heard another voice.

"Amelia?"

I snapped my head around, my eyes going wide once they locked onto Andre's surprised ones. Behind him was Jamal, grinning like always.

They made their way towards us, and I looked away from them. I felt them stop beside our table, but I didn't say anything. I simply stared at the table.

"Hey little one," I heard Andre say, his voice strained.

I finally looked up and gave him a small nod.

He tapped the chair in front of him and turned to the both of us.

"Mind if we join you guys?" Andre nervously asked.

Gemma and I turned to share a look. Mine screamed a deadly 'no', while Gemma stayed neutral. However, before any one of us could speak, a screeching noise filled the silence. We all snapped our heads to the stage, where now, a young man stood holding a mike.

Before I knew it, Andre and Jamal had sat down in front of Gemma and I, mumbling about how the show was about to start.

I mentally sighed and turned to face the front.

'It's okay Amelia. It's only them. He is not here.'

"Good evening ladies and gents," the MC announced.

There wasn't a huge audience. Out of the nearly 20 tables, only about 10 were filled, while many people still lingered on the dance floor. However, once they heard the MC come on, many of the dancers started piling into this area, making it a little more crowded.

"Now, without wasting much time, I would like to introduce today's jam for you guys. He's a newbie everyone, and a guitarist at that too. He has been a last minute recruit so lets show him some love!"

The audience cheered, including Gemma, Andre, and Jamal. Despite myself, I found myself smiling at their goofiness.

However, it faded as soon as I heard the next words.

"Now let's welcome, Leo Kennedy!"