Chapter Three

Amy's bed is soft and cushy. Her room is decorated with paintings, art equipment, papers and forms everywhere. She sits in a rocking chair across the room from me, rocking back and forth, scratching her skin repeatedly. Suddenly, it hits me.

Amy has anxiety too.

My anxiety isn't that bad, but it's bad enough that I saw a therapist for a while. The thing is, that was in tenth grade, only months after the argument with my mom. After a few months of therapy, my therapist said I was good to go, and I was. But after a couple years, the anxiety came right back, and bad. Especially since I'd moved out.

I clear my throat. Should I flat-out ask her? I take a deep breath…

"I love your room!"

Ugh, you wimp!

"Th-Thank you!" Amy says softly, looking a bit surprised. "I thought it looked boring, but…"

"I think it looks beautiful." I practically feel my brain face-palming itself. Okay, okay, just ask her, and maybe I can have some friends for once. One… Two… Three…

"Wanna go do something?"

Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!

Amy smiles. I've almost never seen her smile. This smile is bigger than ever before. She blushes a little bit, realizing how big her reaction is. "Yes," she says quietly. "I'd- I'd love to!"

I feel like I don't need to ask her anymore. That smile. It doesn't even matter to me if she has anxiety or not. At least right now.

I grab my shake and my keys from the counter again and turn off the lights. I open the door and let Amy out. I follow after her and lock the door. I smile as we walk down the hall to the elevator. Once we make it to the bottom floor, I don't even glance at Jackson as we leave the building. I'm too happy to care about men right now!

I unlock the door and we both slide in. I quickly realize that there's trash in the passenger seat.

So what do I do?

I panic.

"So sorry! I never drive with anyone else in the car, so I just put all my trash there! Here, let me move it for you!" I blush and start taking all the trash and putting it in a grocery bag in the backseat. I look up, slightly sweaty, at Amy and wait for her reaction. I did not expect what she does though.

Amy smiles and giggles a little. She slides into the car and closes her door. "It's fine. I'm usually alone in the car, too."

I sigh in relief. "Well, your car is still probably way cleaner than this piece of junk," I say, shrugging. She laughs a little again. My heart skips a beat.

I'm making her happy.

I'm making her laugh.

I'm making her what no one else has ever done for her while she's been my roommate.

"So," I say, starting the car. I back out of the parking lot and go onto the street. "Where to?"