Then the doorbell rang. We both looked at each other as we tried
to figure out who would call at such an obscure time.
‘Who would be
calling at this time of day,’ Amy said looking at the clock on the wall and
discovered that it was in the middle of evening. When I looked, I saw that it
had just gone past six O’clock.
‘I have no idea,’
I said standing up, walking towards the door and opening it. Behind the door
stood one of Amy’s friends. She had a bright blonde, shoulder length hair that
looked as if it had been freshly dyed and an incredible amount of makeup all
over her face, making her eyes and lips stand out that much more. Her clothes
made her makeup stand out even more: bright red shirt with a matching,
patterned skirt that only stretched as far down as her knees. I knew it was one
of Amy’s friends as I constantly saw her hanging out with Amy around school and
other areas. I only know the name of one of Amy’s friends, and that’s Alex,
however I cannot remember who that name belongs to, and I don’t want to make
things worse by calling the woman in front of me by the wrong name.
‘Hi,’ I said
simply.
‘Is Amy here,’
she said with a mixture of worry and sharpness. I do know one thing about who
is standing in front of me, and that’s she doesn’t like me as much as everyone
else in Amy’s friendship group. I mean, as with the majority of things, I may
be over thinking it, making a mountain out of a molehill for no reason at all,
but whenever I walk past her, she looks at me with an expression as if she’s
daring me to go and talk to Amy. I never been bothered as to try and figure out
whether her dislike is genuine or not, but I have a feeling that if it’s true,
her sharpness in her voice is indicating that she doesn’t like the fact that
Amy is inside my house right now. I really hope that I am just making things
more complicated that they are. I don’t want any tension between anyone,
especially since this is Amy’s friend, and probably the closest as well, for
all I know.
‘Yeah,’ I said.
‘Would you like to come in for a bit?’ I asked.
‘No thanks,’ she
said with that same tone again. Her sharpness seemed to be more prominent than
her worry now that she knows Amy is OK, ‘this has to be a flying visit,
unfortunately,’ she said with somewhat emphasis on the last word.
‘I’ll just go and
call her, then,’ I said turning around and heading back into the living room
and telling Amy that there’s someone at the door for her.
‘Hey, Kim,’ Amy
said excitedly, practically bouncing towards the door towards her friend with
arms outstretched.
‘Hey,’ her friend
said mirroring her actions. They hugged for a good two seconds before
separating. Her friend perked up so much after that hug. They both smiled
before Amy asked what she was doing here.
‘My mum and dad
called me to check if I weren’t at the shopping centre and I said that I was
driving along the motorway at the time. I said that I was still at least a good
couple of hours before I enter town. They then explained that they heard from
your parents that you were there today and I came straight over as soon as I
had the opportunity. I was so shocked to hear that you were right in the middle
of it all. I mean, are you alright? Were you hurt in anyway?’
‘I’m fine,’ Amy
said. ‘I’ve been spending the day with Sebastian,’ she said, breaking the news.
Even an idiot could figure out that she meant we’re now a couple. Amy’s friend
knew that Amy wouldn’t spend the day with me if we were anything else. I had
believed for a long while now that she was the only person among the group that
knew about my feelings towards Amy and that was the one thing that I couldn’t
figure out properly: Why didn’t she say anything. Was it because of her dislike
towards me that prevented her from saying something or was it something else.
Maybe I’ll never know, but I’m not going to let that problem sit within my mind
for any longer than necessary as that can lead to some rather serious ramifications.
Kim shot a look towards me that told me that if it weren’t for me, she wouldn’t
have been there, which is completely illogical for Amy could have easily gone
with someone else or on her own, due to her wanting to get that figurine before
it was all sold out… I need to stop developing this thought.
‘I’m really glad
you’re OK,’ Kim said, her voice drenched in worry
‘So am I,’ Amy
said.
‘I’m sorry I
couldn’t get here any sooner; just after the phone call, I was held up in a
massive traffic jam due to a runaway train of some sort. My radio is broken and
so I could only get the news via people talking throughout the jam. I was stuck
there for three hours, unable to move this way or that way.’
‘That was so
terrible,’ Amy said. ‘I heard about the runaway train on the radio this morning
but I didn’t know that you were on the road today. I thought that was tomorrow.
‘I wish I were.
Now I can’t do any of the things I planned to do today. I have to do them all
tomorrow, as well as tomorrow’s things, which is going to make things
difficult, but I’ve done it before, so it shouldn’t be too difficult. I didn’t
like the previous time, however, which means I won’t like this time, but you’ve
got to do what you’ve got to do, hey,’ she said quickly. I struggled to pick up
on every word. Amy did, however, and nodded before Kim carried on.
‘Anyway, I’m
sorry but this has to be a flying visit. My parents kind of want me to show up
on their doorstep so that they can see that I’m OK. I did call them to say so,
but I know them and they won’t settle down until they see me in person.’
‘Sure,’ Amy said
going in for another hug.
‘I’ll see you
around, then,’ Kim said, shooting me another subtle sharp look as if to say
that I shouldn’t be the reason for why Amy won’t be able to hang out with her
later on. I just stood there in the doorway between the hallway and the living
room, just waiting for her to leave so I can get these unwanted thoughts out of
my head as quickly as possible before they develop into anything that can be
destructive.
‘OK, bye,’ they
both said together before Amy closed the door and turned on the spot.
‘Sorry,’ she
said, ‘I never introduced you two,’ she said.
‘Oh, don’t worry
about that,’ I said. ‘Giving the circumstances of her visiting, I wasn’t
expecting an introduction,’ I said.
‘For the record,
her name is Kim,’ she said. It does seem strange that I couldn’t remember Kim’s
name. It would make sense that I would have only know the name of the friend, who
I am suspicious of disliking me. But instead, I know of Alex’s name. I shrugged
in my mind to say to myself that I really wasn’t too bothered by it all and
moved on.
‘Anyway,’ she
said, ‘I had better get going.’
‘Would you like
me to walk you back again?’ I asked. I tried to hide my disappointment. I kind
of wish this day wouldn’t end so quickly, but I knew that if I made that
happen, that would be giving away my secret and I’ve said way too much about
why I do not want that to happen that it must be so boring to hear it again.
‘I think that I
can handle myself,’ she teased, gently wrapping her arms around my shoulders.
‘I never said
that you couldn’t,’ I said looking her in the eyes with.
‘I never said
that you were implying that you said that,’ she teased further.
‘What can I say
that isn’t implying anything, but will let me walk you home?’ I asked.
‘How about,’ she
said thoughtfully, ‘see you tomorrow,’ and before I could say or do anything, she
leaned forward and kissed me on the lips before turning on the spot once more and
headed towards the door.
When she was about to step
outside, I alerted her attention to the fact that she wasn’t wearing any shoes.
‘Ah,’ she said
laughing. I picked them up and handed them to her. She slipped them on her feet
and tied the laces with a double bow so that they wouldn’t come undone during
the walk home.
‘Round two,’ I joked.
‘See you soon,’
she smiled.
‘I’m free whenever,’
I shrugged.
‘Then we can go
about making it up as we go along,’ she said backing away up the garden path
until her back hit the fence where she spun around, unlocked the gate and
stepped outside, letting the gate swing shut.
‘We can indeed,’
I said. We both waved our goodbyes before Amy disappeared into the night. I
watched until her silhouette had completely faded away before I shut the door.
It was then I started focusing on what needed to be completed before I can go
to bed, and that was the paradox that opened itself up when I appeared in the
shopping centre this afternoon.
TO BE CONTINUED…
Thanks for reading
Antony Hudson
(TonyHadNouns)
My book, Sector 22: Zoey, is now available on Amazon, eBay, and SkyCat Publications' website:
Amazon:
eBay:
SkyCat Publications:
Ask me anything at:
ahudsonpresents@live.co.uk
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