Chapter One

 

 

                    Amelia sat on the couch waiting for Tommy eagerly. She didn’t understand why he was so late. He was never late. Actually, he was usually relatively early, but now he was already 15 minutes late. She sighed impatiently and went out to the kitchen to get a drink.

                    As she did, Anna came downstairs not expecting to see her daughter still here. “What are you doing here?” Anna asked, “I thought Tommy was picking you up at 8?” 

           “He’s just a little late, but he’s still coming I’m sure. He probably has a really good reason to be late,” Amelia answered softly as she poured herself some milk.

           “He’s late? As in not half an hour early for no reason, late? That’s unusual,” Anna commented.

           “I know, but I’m sure he’ll be here soon, and it's no big deal, really.”

                    Anna nodded and slipped outside to head off to work. As she did so, Amelia went into the living room and started flipping through the channels nervously. Everything seemed to have something to do with Christmas, the movies, the shows, the music… Amelia impatiently turned the TV off and started pacing back and forth. Where was Tommy and why was he this late?

                   Just as she was about to call him, Tommy showed up at the door, knocking. Amelia bolted to the door, swiftly opening it. There was Tommy looking guilty as hell.

           “Sorry.”, He murmured, “I had somewhere I had to go.”

           “Its fine,” Amelia replied while grabbing her purse. “Let’s go.”

           Tommy nodded, grabbing Amelia’s free hand and walked her to his car. “I love you sweetie, no matter what, always remember that.”

           “I love you too,” Amelia replied nervously. Tommy had been acting weird for a while now, and it was really starting to scare her. She tried to talk to him about it, but every time she brought it up he either changed the subject or got angry, which was not like him at all. He used to have no temper at all, but lately it was the complete opposite. She watched him start driving and nervously sat back and began to think. She sighed and looked out the window, watching as everything flew by.

 

***

 

           Tommy tried to focus on the road, but that was hard to do knowing he had to tell Amelia what he’d been keeping from her. On top of that, his personality had changed drastically, and so had his temper.

He pulled into the driveway. He could hear the music blasting from a mile away. He really did not want to go in, but he knew Amelia did. He thought about telling her he would be in later, but he decided to just grab her hand and walk inside with her.

 

 

***

 

           As they walked into the party, Amelia could immediately tell that Tommy was not happy he’d come with her. He looked as if he really didn’t want to be with her at all. She thought about trying to talk to him about it, but she knew this would probably result in a fight. Besides, she just needed this one night to enjoy herself. She needed to have fun tonight, rather than try to chase Tommy around insisting he tell her what's wrong. It was exhausting to beg him to talk to her all the time. She was getting sick of it. She just wanted to completely forget about him for a while and be able to enjoy herself. Wasn’t like she had forced him to come. Amelia let go of his hand and went to find some of her friends.

 

***

 

          Tommy left as soon as he saw a chance. Amelia was the one who wanted to be here, not him. This was the last thing he needed right now. He didn’t feel like sitting by himself at a party doing nothing, especially while his girlfriend was with her friends having fun. She didn’t need him there to have fun with her friends, and Tommy knew she probably didn’t want him with her right now anyways. It just seemed like every time they went somewhere Amelia ditched him for her friends, or she wouldn't leave him alone, insisting something was wrong. He would agree to go with her to these things, thinking it might be fun, but he always ended up regretting it. Tommy sat in his car, waiting to see if she even realized that he was missing. Tommy thought over and over again about what he was going to say to her, how he was going to tell her he was… different. That he wasn’t the same person he once was, or at least not the same person she thought he was.

 

***

 

          Amelia laughed as one of her friends practically fell down the stairs. She couldn’t remember the last time she had felt so happy. She knew Tommy was probably off somewhere by himself, refusing to have any fun, but she didn’t care. She just wanted to enjoy herself for once.

                   Amelia and her friends walked around talking, joking, and making each other laugh until they couldn’t breathe.

          Amelia walked out of the party awhile later. She looked around for where Tommy’s car might be. She thought he parked it right next to the house, but it wasn’t there. She walked around looking for him, but she couldn’t seem to find him. She asked around to see if anyone knew where he was, but no one else had seen him either. She pulled out her phone nervously and began to dial his number. She pushed calll and anxiously waited for an answer. He didn't pick up. She rolled her eyes and sighed before trying once more. Again, no answer. Now she was getting fed up. He always had his phone on him why the hell was he ignoring her? She repeatedly tried until he finally answered.

          “Hello?” Tommy answered

          “Where are you, I’ve looked everywhere, and I can’t find you.”

          “Home”

          “Why the hell did you go home?”

          “Well, you ditched me, so I left. I got bored and cold sitting in my car waiting for you. I thought you’d at least notice I was gone, but you didn’t, so now I’m home.”

          “I didn’t ditch you. You could have come with me.”

          “I don’t care much for being a third wheel.”

          “Whatever, I’m not going to fight about this.”

          “Neither am I.” Tommy answered, then hung up the phone. “I’m done fighting,” he whispered to himself, looking down at his phone.

          Amelia looked down at her phone, her jaw hitting the ground. Tommy had never hung up on her before. She sat on the curb and kept trying to call him. He ignored every call, but she didn’t give up.

          “Amelia, stop calling me!” Tommy answered angrily

          “I’m sorry, I-I just wanted.”

          “Wanted what?”

          “I just wanted you to pick me up and bring me home.”

                   “I Can’t I have to meet a friend soon.” Tommy replied as he hung up.

          Amelia felt tears start to form in her eyes. She felt like a child, but she didn’t really care right now. She had no idea how she was going to get home. Her boyfriend refused to take her home, most of her friends were gone by now, and her mother was most likely already asleep. She went back inside to try to find someone she knew who could take her home, but she was unsuccessful. She wandered around in circles trying repeatedly to find someone, anyone she knew. She had no luck.

                    She took a deep breath and sat down on the couch. She had given up altogether now, so she sat there and tried to think of something to do. She nervously started drinking punch by herself.

                   She had no clue what time it was, or how long she had been here, but she knew it had to have been awhile. She just sat there on the couch, watching strangers run by her. She sighed and thought about going to find her cousin, who was hosting the party, but she didn't feel like moving. Besides, the last time she seen Harley, she was way too wasted to drive. Everything seemed blurry to her, even her memory was starting to fade slowly. This wasn’t just her getting tired though, this seemed different. Her thoughts were floating around in her head, giving her a headache. Her vision was blurry and everything seemed to blur together. She couldn't seem to think straight. She closed her eyes, trying to block out everything else and figure out what was going on. She curled up into a ball trying to feel better, but it didn’t seem to work. Nothing seemed to work. Everything she tried just made it worse, and what didn’t make it worse, didn’t make it better either. She heard someone say something to her and tried to listen to the voice. It was very familiar. She opened her eyes to try to see who it was, but she could barely make out to facial structure at all, let alone the details it would take to see who it was.

          "Are you okay?" The boy asked

          "Umm.... "

          "Amelia are you okay?" The boy asked nervously

          "How do you know my name?” she asked looking at him

          "That doesn't matter. Answer my question. Are you okay?"

          "I think so," Amelia replied sitting up slowly

          "Amelia you don’t look so good." The boy said concernedly.

 

***

 

          When she woke up, Amelia was in her bed at home. She felt queasy, and her head was still pounding. She sat up slowly, groaning slightly. “What happened?” she asked herself.

          “You passed out, so I brought you home. Your mom was wondering where Tommy went, so I told them that he had gotten an urgent family call, and had to leave early,” Someone replied.

                   Amelia looked around, feeling almost schizophrenic after hearing the voice. She wasn’t hearing things though; it was the boy from last night. Amelia looked closer at him, trying to see if she knew him. She hadn’t really gotten a good look at him last night.

                   He smiled back at her, knowing she was most likely wondering why he brought her home. Almost reading her mind he answered, “I wasn’t going to just leave you at a party unconscious on the couch.”

          Amelia smiled slightly, amazed that the boy actually cared. “Almost anyone else would have,” she stated.

          “I’m not someone else,” The boy replied, then left without saying another word.

                   Amelia stayed in bed, thinking about last night. She thought about that guy, and everything that had happened in the past few days. Whoever he was, he had not only asked if she was okay, but brought her home and stayed there until she woke up to explain everything. He had lied to her mom for her too, and she hadn’t even gotten his name. No matter what his name was, she owed him, and she knew that.

                   Amelia got up and made her way downstairs. She needed an aspirin. Her headache was worsening. She felt like she was going to throw up. She made some dry toast and curled up on the couch, turning on the TV. Today would be another day of Christmas themed everything. She could feel already, this was going to be a lazy day. She was going to curl up on the couch and doing absolutely nothing.

 

***

 

                   After wasting most of the afternoon watching an animated Santa bring little kids toys, Amelia went back upstairs to her room. She looked down at her phone, sighing. She knew she needed to call Tommy and talk through this with him, but she really didn't feel up to it. She had done nothing wrong and yet she was still the one who was expected to apologize. She had no idea what she would be apologizing for, but she picked up the phone anyway and dialed his number.

                    With every ring, she got more nervous, more uneasy, and more likely to break down into tears. She bit her lip, waiting for him to answer, but she got his voicemail instead. She hung up the phone and took a deep breath. This was ridiculous. She knew he had meant to miss her call. He always had his phone on him. He was probably sitting on his bed, waiting for her to call a few more times. She sighed and put her phone down. She wasn't going to give him what he wanted, not this time. She had done nothing wrong. He was the one that left her stranded at a party with no way home, and refused to come and get her. She didn’t deserve what he had done, and he hadn’t done anything to try to apologize to her. Amelia sighed heavily and looked around the room. She never sat around and felt sorry for herself, especially not for something like this. She just wasn’t that type of person. She got up and stretched slowly, taking a deep breath. She grabbed her running shoes and slipped them on, then put her hair into a ponytail. Amelia filled up a water bottle and clipped it onto a loop in her jeans. She pulled on a thin sweatshirt and zipped it up. Amelia walked downstairs and outside, taking a breath of fresh air. Running sure beat staying in her room feeling sorry for herself. She started running down the street, allowing her anger to push her forward.

                    As she ran, it was as if all of her problems were fading away. The further she ran, the smaller her problems got. She kept running, unsure of where she was headed, but she didn't care. She needed to get away from home, get away from Tommy. She knew he would just be more upset with her that she was running from her problems, but she didn't care. She was 19 years old, an adult. She was her own person and nobody would tell her how to live her life. Especially not the man who had made it so miserable lately. After all, if Tommy hadn't been such an a*s last night, she wouldn't have needed to go for a run. So really, this was his fault.

          When Amelia finally stopped running, she was totally out of breath and  thirsty. She took a large gulp of her water and plopped down against a tree, allowing her heart rate slow down. She had no idea where she was or how exactly she'd gotten there. She had just replayed last night in her head a thousand times, and let the anger and frustrations fuel her. She had barely paid any attention to where she was going. She couldn’t even recall how long she had been running for, but she knew it must have been awhile.

                   The sun was just beginning to creep down under the trees, creating an absolutely breathtaking sunset. Amelia laid on her side and watched the sun become unseen, hidden behind the trees. Amelia had no clue where she was, but she didn’t care. It felt peaceful here, and she liked that. Everything here seemed so reposeful. It was as if no chaos, happened here. Just complete amity, all the time.

                   Amelia rolled over onto her back, looking up at the sky. She imagined light, fluffy snowflakes falling from the sky, covering the ground in a soft white, and turning the forest into a wonderland. She thought of it being so cold that being outside for more than 10 minutes would result in her face becoming bright pink. She thought of snowmen, hot chocolate, and racing down a slippery hill on a sled. She dreamt of a small winter cabin with a comforting fire. She imagined getting cozy around the fireplace while outside the wind blew fierce and strong, and standing in the snowfall, letting it fall around her. She thought about sticking out her tongue and letting the snowflakes dwindle on her tongue. These were all, however, only things she’d seen on TV. Where she lived, there was no white Christmas. Winter was a time where the temperature dropped, yet it was still warm and snow seemed to cease in existence.

                   She closed her eyes gently, not caring if anyone knew where she was, or even if she knew where she was. Gradually, everything seemed to disappear and nothing seemed to matter anymore. All of her problems were gone, and she was left calm. She was overwhelmed with a feeling of alleviation and assurance. For the first time in a long time, she felt worry free. She felt herself doze off into a deep sleep.

Author's Note

Ignore formatting and grammar issues. How is the flow, interest, and word usage? Please be harsh.

Reviews

[.]

From what i can see, there is nothing wrong with the flow or format. It is well written overall.

You have described what appears to be the beginning of the end of this couple's relationship, and you have left the reader in a little suspense as to what is going to happen and what secrets will be revealed by your character, Tommy.

A well written first chapter. Good characterisation so far. Keep it going. :)

[Mikayla_Stagg]

Thank you, so glad you enjoyed it.