Chapter 33- Taunting Bonfires

* WARNING: TRIGGERING WORDS AHEAD *

•

[] A M E L I A []

My dad always said that life can be split into a series of chapters. Where each chapter held something new, and when you turned back to look, that chapter was unchanged. Some chapters were bitter and weren't worth another read. However, some chapters were ones you had engraved into your mind. They were so vivid, so explicit, you couldn't let them go however much you tried.

I've always believed life to be this sort of book, filled with many chapters and many hidden passages. Within this book, we come across many characters. Some stay throughout the course of the story, and some simply come and go. However, there are some characters that leave an imprint so strong, that you can never look past it.

And often those characters are a part of the most important chapter of your life.

It was in this moment, as I stared at the same girl I met four years ago, that I realized that people like that truly existed.

"I didn't think I'd ever see you again!" Clara exclaimed, her hands shaking my shoulders in excitement.

I let out a breath and nodded at her, still shaken up about our past together. I was still hung up on the fact that she might know my past, but for some reason, I wasn't as scared about that now. The way she excitedly greeted me, calmed me down greatly.

"Me too," I replied.

Her eyes turned sadder then, a small pout at her lips.

"I lost your number that day in the taxi," she explained.

"It's alright. We meet again," I said.

I really couldn't comprehend that this was the same girl I had met on the bus that day. It wasn't like I could forget any of the events from that day. Every part of that chapter was fresh in my mind.

Every part of that day, from leaving school early, to getting on the bus and meeting Clara, to getting hot chocolate with her before sending her home, to meeting Brittany for our last shopping spree together-

To going home and picking our outfits-

To seeing her off before we entered the party-

To blacking out after I saw them-

Everything was engraved into my mind.

I stared at Clara, unknown emotions running through me. I last saw her in a wheelchair. And she was the second last person to witness the old Amelia Harrison, the girl who always lent a helping hand.

And she remembered her.

Unable to hold it in, I leaned forward and gave her a hug.

"I'm so happy to see that you're walking again," I sincerely said.

She let out a shaky breath at my words and I finally pulled away from her.

"I did Amelia. I really did," she with a sigh. "I can't believe you're the Amelia that my brother and the boys were talking about-"

Before she could continue, the door burst open, causing me to jerk away from Clara. I turned to the door, just in time to see Leo casually walking up to us with his hands thrown in his pockets. He stopped beside me, facing Clara with a small grin.

"Lars," he simply greeted.

At his greeting Clara took an excited step forward and wrapped her arms around her brother's shoulders. He hugged her back, chuckling as he did so.

"So emotional," he playfully said to her.

I grinned at this and Clara huffed and pulled away from him. She faced Leo with a glare, but it didn't last long, since her face contorted into the same grin she was wearing before.

"What took you so long?" she asked.

Leo sighed.

"The roads were horrible. I had to drive carefully," he explained.

Finally, he turned to me.

"I see you've met Amelia," he said, tilting his head my way.

I turned to Clara, worry immediately taking over my features. She opened her mouth to speak, but before she could, I butt in.

"Yes we did! You never told me she could play the piano so well!" I quickly said, hoping Clara would get the hint that I didn't want Leo to know that we knew each other.

Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion, but she quickly covered it up by playing along with what I was saying.

"Yeah... I do. I've been playing since I was eight," she explained, expertly diverting the conversation.

I nodded, interested to hear about her piano skills now.

"Oh she plays alright, but she's not that great," Leo playfully said.

Clara gasped and punched his arm lightly.

"At least I have a talent, unlike someone," she retorted.

Leo rolled his eyes, but didn't say anything in return. Clara turned to me, a smug grin playing at her lips.

"You want to hear me play?" she asked excitedly.

I nodded, mirroring her excitement. She quickly sat down in her seat, immediately getting ready. I ended up sitting beside her on the bench, with Leo standing by the piano on my right. For the next little while, we heard Clara play.

"You're amazing," I said to her after she was done.

Clara had played for an hour straight, from Mozart to newer pieces, and every bit of what she played was phenomenal.

I was surprised she wasn't in some school for musical geniuses.

"Eh, she's not a genius or anything," Leo said, rolling his eyes playfully.

I gave him a flat look.

"She was right. At least she has a talent," I mocked.

Leo rolled his eyes at me, the beginnings of a smirk forming on his face.

"You act like you don't know my talents, Moonie," he said, his gaze unwavering from mine.

For some reason, my cheeks flamed at his words, making him chuckle at my dispense. Choosing to ignore him, I turned back to Clara, only to see her already staring at us with the same look on her face as her mom had when I was helping her in the kitchen. I gave her a confused look, trying to decipher why she was looking at us like that.

Before I could say anything though, the door burst open. We all turned our heads towards the door, and I smiled when I saw Laura poking her head in.

"Let's go kids. James insists on making smores in the backyard," she said.

"In this weather?" Clara asked incredulously.

Laura nodded.

"He wants to see if the firepit is still working," Laura responded, rolling her eyes.

"How will it work in this weather?" Leo complained.

Laura shrugged in response. Clara and I got up from our spots on the bench and made our way towards the door. Leo fell in step beside me, letting out a huff as he did so. I turned to him and leaned in closer to speak.

"Such a sore sport," I tsked.

He turned to face me, a flat look on his face.

"Hey, don't forget that you're on my territory, Moonie," he said gruffly.

I rolled my eyes at him.

"What are you going to do Leo? Leave me astray here?" I mocked.

In return, he smirked at me.

"No, not here... but I could leave you in the middle of the highway for you to walk back to campus."

I gasped and he simply walked ahead, leaving me and Clara to walk side by side. I glared after his back as he sauntered after his mother nonchalantly.

"Wow, I really didn't believe it until I saw it," I heard Clara murmur beside me.

I turned to her with a brow raised. She snapped out of her reverie and turned to me with a small smile, shaking her head at me as if to say nothing was wrong. I didn't question it further and simply followed Leo and Laura.

We finally got to the foyer to throw on our jackets and boots, and then made our way to the backyard. I was surprised to see that it wasn't as cold as it was when we first arrived. The sun was out, and the snow in backyard seemed to have melted a lot. Now, snow only lined the corners of the fenced backyard, the middle almost bare.

A giant grin was graced on my lips as I followed Leo to the firepit. Laura and Clara had gone ahead with the ingredients for the smores.

Smores had always been a family favourite. Since my dad enjoyed the outdoors a lot, we always found a way to do something outside. We camped nearly every year since before the incident, and I was surprised to realize just how much I missed those times.

And then it was happening again.

I was slipping back into the past. Into the moments where life was stable and easy. To the times when we used to go out as a family and people wouldn't stop to stare. Back before Levi murdered Brittany. Back to when my best friend and brother were both with me-

Suddenly, I felt something cold against the back of my neck.

I brought my hand up to my neck in shock, and gasped when I felt it was wet. I whipped around to see who had done that, and immediately, my eyes landed on Leo.

He was guffawing over with laughter, his hands on his knees, and throaty laughs escaping him one after another. For a moment, all I could do was stare. Then my eyes zeroed in on his nearly snow-clad hand and I let out a small angry puff of air.

Then, I stalked over to the nearest snow pile and grabbed as much as I could before chucking it at the laughing boy himself.

This time, our roles were reversed as I stood there laughing my head off. Contrary to how Leo hit my back, which barely got me wet, I caught him right in the chest, causing his entire body and face to be hit by the snow. I heard him scream out a loud "Moonie!" but I couldn't stop laughing. Even when he finally wiped all the snow away from his eyes and started stalking his way over to me, I simply couldn't move.

Before Leo could get to me, I heard our names being called. Immediately, I shut myself up and turned to the direction where the voices came from. There, I saw Laura facing us, a giant grin etched onto her face as she gestured for us to come over.

I couldn't stop chuckling as I saw Leo grumbling while he roughly patted the snow off of himself. He turned to me, a low growl escaping his lips, and I hid my laughs in my hand as we made our way over to the rest of the family.

Laura, James, and Clara were all seated in camp chairs around the firepit. From here, I could see bits of smoke start to appear in the air and I let out a content breath.

"I told you I can get it to work," I heard James say triumphantly.

Laura rolled her eyes at him and poked at the fire with her stick as well. Leo and I joined them by the fire, taking a seat in the remaining two chairs. Clara handed me a stick as well as a box of graham crackers to share with Leo.

For the next little while, we all made our very own smores, dead in the middle of winter. I couldn't complain about being too cold because I truly wasn't. Not only was the fire keeping me warm, but the atmosphere the Kennedy's brought was no joke. I felt as if I was back home, surrounded by my own family.

It felt good. It felt comfortable.

After having our fair share of smores, we all decided to head back inside. James and Laura stayed behind to clean up, and as much as we tried, they didn't let us help. Clara, Leo, and I, started making our way back towards the house. Clara was walking between us, since I didn't want Leo to hit me with snow again, and she agreed on being the barrier between us.

"Alright, what do you guys want to do now?" Clara excitedly asked.

I shrugged, honestly okay with anything. Leo did the same, which made Clara let out an angry puff of air.

"That's not a fair answer you gu-"

Suddenly, Clara's foot slipped on an icy patch of grass, and her knees buckled underneath her. Immediately, my hands went out to steady her shoulders, as Leo did the same on the opposite end. I caught Leo's eye from over Clara's head, and he simply gave me a sheepish look before turning his attention back to Clara.

It took Clara a little longer than usual to regain her composure, and even when she stood up tall, I could see the pain evident in her eyes. Leo and I still had our arms on her respective shoulders to steady her, but even then, I could see that it would hurt for her to walk properly again. I turned to Leo and saw that he was about to wrap his arms tighter around Clara for support. Clara already had her head downcast, a bit from the pain, and the rest from embarrassment.

Feeling bad about this situation, I decided to do something about it. Before Leo could pull her away from me, I caught his eye. I silently pleaded with him to back away a little and his brows furrowed at my gesture.

Making a bold move, I linked my arm through Clara's.

"Hey, let's go Clara! You still have to show me your yearbook full of cute private school boys," I said, giving her a wink.

Her eyes brightened at the change of topic and she turned to Leo. He caught her look and hesitantly dropped his arms from her shoulders. At last, Clara turned back to me.

She let out a chuckle at my words and quickly started leading me to the house. In her hurry, she didn't realize that I was still grabbing her arm for support.

We walked arm in arm to the house, and Leo left us then, saying he was going to check up on his car. This left Clara and I, and we decided to go to her bedroom to hangout for the next little while. After all the twists and turns, we finally made it to her room. Once we entered, I was surprised to see the bright color scheme going on inside. It looked absolutely beautiful, and it completely fit her personality. We walked over to the couch in the far corner of the room and plopped down onto it.

I had completely lied about the yearbook back there, and I'm sure both Leo and Clara caught on. However, that was the first excuse that came to mind. After a moment of silence, Clara turned to me with a questioning gaze.

"Hey, why didn't you tell Leo that we knew each other?" she asked quietly.

I sighed and looked down at my lap. I played with my fingers, unsure of how to answer her question.

"I don't want him to relive that time Clara. I want him to be happy," I finally said.

Clara's eyes widened in surprise.

"You... you know about what happened?" she asked, shock evident in her voice.

I sheepishly nodded at her.

"Leo told me just a few days ago. I-uh... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pry into your past," I suddenly said, worried that my words were too harsh.

Clara finally let out a small laugh, easing me out of my worry.

"It's okay Amelia. In fact, it's better than okay. I'm glad Leo told you."

She sighed.

"Thank you Amelia. Thank you for everything."

I frowned in confusion.

"I didn't do anything."

At this, Clara gave me a small smile.

"That's where you're wrong Amelia. Truth be told, the day I met you was probably the worst day I ever had. I didn't exactly tell you why I was heading to the City Centre," she murmured.

She finally turned away from me, biting her lips as she did so. I waited patiently for her to speak.

"Good God, Amelia. I just wanted to die that day. I wanted to forget everything and die."

A small gasp escaped my lips and I looked up to her in surprise. She looked down, her eyes welling up with tears.

"I had been thinking about it for so long, and that day just caused me to snap. I don't know if you remember or not, but I was called out in front of the entire school, my wheelchair got stuck, and goodness, it couldn't have gotten worse."

Clara let out a shaky breath and brought her finger up to wipe away a stray tear. After a moment, she took a deep breath and turned to face me.

"But then you came bouncing into the bus. You showed me that I shouldn't care about the people that put me down, because I'm better off without them. You were the reason I decided to get therapy."

My mouth fell agape at her words and I couldn't help but rethink everything she told me. My mind was in a turmoil. Everything Leo told me Thursday night was fresh in my mind.

I was the one Clara met the day she decided to get therapy.

And it hit me like a ton of bricks, that one of the happiest days for the Kennedy's, turned out to be the day where us Harrison's lost everything.

A small, bittersweet smile crept up my lips and I turned to face Clara, my own eyes a little watery now.

"No Clara. It wasn't me. You got the treatment. You did the hard part on your own. That was all on you. And I'm so proud of you for that Clara. You really did show those losers up who thought that you were weak. You showed them that you aren't. You fought for yourself Clara, and that's the biggest accomplishment anyone can ever achieve."

She stared at me then. Her eyes boring holes into my soul. She seemed as if she wanted to say more, but I didn't want her to continue. I didn't want her to think of that time. So I grinned at her, trying to switch this heavy conversation around.

"So... about that yearbook..."

* * *

"Wait... are you serious?" Clara said, her mouth open in shock.

"I don't believe it," Laura muttered, staring at the sight before her in surprise.

James came in then, a cup of coffee in hand. He also turned to face what was in front of him and his eyes widened in surprise.

"You can play Leo?" he asked.

Leo only gave him a nod, then turned back to his guitar.

After a moment of admiring him, much like any father would do with their child, James finally walked over and joined the three of us on the couch. At last, we were all facing Leo who was sitting on a stool in the middle of the living room, his guitar on his lap as he tuned it. After a few minutes, he turned to us with a sigh.

"Requests?" he simply asked.

Leo then played three songs for us on his guitar. Unlike the last time when he sang and played to apologize to me in The Pub, this time, he only strummed his guitar. This was okay too, since Leo played amazingly. I'm not surprised that Clara knew the piano so well too. It seemed like the Kennedy siblings were blessed in the music department.

After he played, Leo smiled his miniature smile and turned to his family members. All three of them were shocked, their mouths agape as he finished. I frowned at this.

'Haven't they heard him play before?" I thought to myself.

"Wow..." James trailed off. "That was amazing Leo," he said sincerely.

Leo gave him a nod and turned to his mother next. I followed his gaze and was surprised to see tears welling up in Laura's eyes. She quickly wiped them away and grinned at Leo. He turned to Clara then, a small smirk etched onto his face.

"And that, my sister, is music," he said, grinning madly.

Clara only shook her head at him, a small smile on her face too.

"Yeah, yeah," she said, waving him off.

He turned to me last. I held my breath as he gave me a small grin, one that left me feeling dazed.

After Leo's entertainment, we finally began dinner. True to Jamal and Andre's words, Laura was an amazing cook. Again, she had set up a feast at the table for dinner. This time, I was already too stuffed from the smores, and even the lunch, to eat a lot. However, I still got a good taste of mostly everything she made.

The dinner went by too fast, as did the day in general, and before I knew it, I was making my way to the kitchen to help Laura clean up.

* * *

[] L E O []

My eyes were trained on Amelia as she left the dining room after my mother. They were both sharing a laugh about something, and I couldn't help the smile that escaped my lips seeing them. James also looked over to them fondly, then turned his attention back to his phone.

It's been a while since I saw my mother so genuinely happy. The other times were when I brought the boys over. She simply loved meeting people, and Amelia was no exception. However, something told me that she liked Amelia more than Jamal and Andre.

And that made me way too happy.

I didn't say it aloud before, but I was genuinely terrified of bringing Amelia home. First of all, because I thought she might be uncomfortable, and then I would be too. Second of all, I was scared of what my family would think of her. I already knew that they would probably end up melting at her pretty smile and her luscious hair and her wise words- the list could go on and on- but I couldn't help but worry.

Since the incident, I never socialized much. Mostly because I was too busy trying to make time for my family to help us move on, but also because like Amelia, I was also terrified of my past. I was scared of how people would react when they found out about us. Not that I would stay in contact with them if they did think of us as lesser, but the fact that they could potentially hurt my family would be more painful. I didn't want them to go through that.

But of course, Amelia Harrison wasn't like the rest.

All my worry deceased when she walked through the doors of my house. It was like she already had everyone wrapped around her fingers, and this made me feel euphoric.

I suddenly felt a nudge to my side, and I turned to Clara, finally snapping out of my thoughts. I rose a brow at her and she simply nodded over to the balcony door. I frowned at her in confusion, not really wanting to leave the room. But she glared at me, and I finally sighed and followed her out to the balcony. We both grabbed our jackets on the way out and tugged them on just as we were going outside.

We kept walking until we were leaning against the railings, both of us immediately looking up to the night sky. After a moment of silence, Clara spoke.

"I knew you'd find someone like her," Clara suddenly said.

I turned to her confused.

"Someone like what?" I asked.

She sighed dreamily, her eyes still glued to the stars that were scattered across the sky.

"A pure soul."

My eyes finally softened and I looked up to the sky again.

"How did you figure her out just by meeting her once?" I asked with a small smile.

At this, Clara let out a shaky breath and closed her eyes. I looked over to her, confused about her reactions towards everything I was saying.

"Do you remember the day I decided to get therapy?" she suddenly asked.

I thought about what she was asking and my mind drifted off to the day nearly five years ago. Clara had been missing that day, and even our driver didn't know where she was. I was so terrified and felt uneasy all day. Then she randomly came home two hours after school ended, that too in a taxi, and I simply couldn't have felt more relieved. Then she told us she wanted therapy, and from then on, things finally started falling in place for us.

I nodded at her question and she sighed further.

"Clara?" I called out. "What happene-"

"I don't know if you remember Leo, but there was a girl there that day. A girl who helped me," Clara said.

The moment she said this, my head drifted off to that time. Truth was, I do remember that girl. How couldn't I? She helped Lars when no one else did. However, I didn't say anything and let Clara continue.

"She was so bright and charming Leo. I can't even explain it. It's like there was a golden halo over her head. She saved me Leo. She truly saved me. She seems different this time, more sadder somehow, but still the same great human being."

My whole body froze.

My heartbeat picked up and I turned to Clara slowly. The next words that escaped her lips left me absolutely shattered.

"I was about to die that day Leo. When Carl broke up with me, then the whole bus scenario. I was about to die if she hadn't saved me on that bus."