Chapter 22

Henry got back from his business trip, and as decided, Amy didn’t tell him about the rape incident. She tried not to think about that night, to help her erase the memory forever, but it wasn’t that easy, as simple words or sentences would take her back to that ugly night.

The nightmares, although not as tormenting as before still made it difficult for her to fall asleep at night, but thanks to the very thoughtful and caring Bryan, she rarely had those nightmares because he made sure to call her everyday after dinner to talk about so many things, like how his day went, some future deals he plans to make, to ask how she spent her day, to know what college she has decided to go to, stuffs like that, just to get her mind off that night. It really helped her, as she only thought of pleasant things before going to bed.

Mandy was also very helpful as she made it a habit to visit Amy whenever she could, to spend much quality time with her best friend, to help her get through this phase and also because she would soon be heading to college, leaving Amy behind.

Amy was thankful she had such wonderful people in her life, people she could trust and lean on besides her parents. She would forever be grateful and indebted to them, for being there for her during her darkest time.

*****THREE WEEKS LATER*****

“Happy birthday sleepyhead!” Mandy’s cheery voice woke Amy up from her beautiful sleep.

She groaned in annoyance and covered her entire body with her duvet, which was ripped off her body some seconds later. She grumbled incoherently and covered her face with a pillow as her best friend opened the curtains.

“Gosh, Amy! Stop acting like a pregnant lady and wake up!” Mandy said, while struggling to remove the pillow from Amy’s face.

“Fine. I guess we won’t have to say goodbye before I leave for Pennsylvania… Goodbye Amy” Mandy pretended to leave the room.

“Mandy, wait!” Amy yelled, jumping out of bed and running towards the door.

“Gotcha!” Mandy exclaimed in excitement just as Amy was about to make it out the door.

She cracked up when Amy shrieked in fear.

“For Christ sake, Mandy! You scared me!” Amy said, as she tried to calm her fast beating chest.

“I’m sorry. You didn’t want to wake up, so I had to come up with something” Mandy replied while trying to catch her breath from laughing too hard.

“But that wasn’t a joke, you know” Amy continued, this time with a rather sad tone.

“Yeah. I know”

“Do you have to leave today?” Amy asked. Mandy nodded and made her way to Amy’s bed, lying on the bed.

She let out a deep sigh and mumbled,

“I wish I didn’t have to”

Amy sighed and copied her best friend’s action, both staring at the ceiling like there was something fascinating about it.

“I can’t believe I’ll have to wait for two freaking months to turn nineteen… Our parents should’ve had us on the same day” Mandy suddenly said, changing the subject, earning a chuckle from Amy.

“You can’t blame them. Your lazy ass wasn’t in a hurry to see the world” Amy teased her best friend, causing Mandy to hit her with a pillow and that was how they got into a pillow fight.

When they ran out of pillows, after ruining the ones in Amy’s bedroom, they started laughing, both trying to catch their breath.

“My room is a mess all because of you!” Amy laughed as her entire room was covered in feathers.

“Happy birthday!” Mandy screamed instead, running out of the bedroom.

“I’ll get you for this!” Amy moaned, taking a mental note to ask the maids to clean her entire bedroom and get her new pillows.

She crawled out of bed and walked into her closet to grab something casual to wear before going into the bathroom to shower.

Mandy was sitting on the bench at the foot of Amy’s bed, typing away on her phone when Amy came out of the bathroom, dressed in an army green long sleeve Nike crop top and ripped jeans.

Mandy tore her eyes away from her phone and turned around to carry a wrapped box that was behind her, stretching the box towards Amy.

“I got these for you” She then said to her best friend.

Amy eagerly walked to Mandy and collected the box, unwrapping it within seconds.

“Oh my God! You got me an Alexander McQueen sneaker. Thank you so much bestie!” She exclaimed in excitement, hugging her best friend.

“I got us a matching pair” Mandy explained, showing Amy the one she was wearing.

Amy immediately put hers on and they took several selfies together before heading downstairs to have breakfast.

They had a complete breakfast that morning. Amy knew it was her dad’s doing. He knew how much she loved to have a bite of everything.

When she asked about her dad’s whereabouts, as he was always the first person to wish her a happy birthday, Mandy told her that she begged him to have the morning with her best friend, which he agreed to and quickly rushed to the office to get some work done.

Amy found her best friend’s antic funny, but at the same time smart, making her nineteenth birthday a memorable one, as this is going to be the first time they’ll be apart. By the time they were done with breakfast, Amy’s bedroom was spotlessly clean, with a set of new pillows.

Amy and her best friend spent her birthday morning in her bedroom, doing dress ups, manicures, taking selfies and having a movie marathon. They were halfway into the third movie when Mandy received a text from her elder brother, Kyle, that her flight would leave in an hour, making both girls sad.

Amy is going to miss hanging out with her best friend, while Mandy already regrets applying for the university of Pennsylvania. Amy drove Mandy to the airport, where Kyle was waiting for her with her luggage, since her parents wouldn’t be present to see her off because they were out of the state, on a business trip.

They arrived at the airport and were reluctant to walk in. Amy held Mandy’s hand to show her support, which brought a smile to Mandy’s face.

“Mandy!”

They both turned towards the source of the voice and saw Kyle and Jack at the waiting area, waving at them. Mandy immediately dragged Amy towards that direction, running into Jack’s arms.

“It’s okay, babe. I’m gonna miss her too” Jack said to a sobbing Mandy, soothing her.

Amy watched her best friend, unable to form any words so her emotions doesn’t betray her.

“Happy birthday, Amy” Kyle’s husky voice tore Amy’s attention away from her best friend. He handed her a shopping bag.

“Thanks” Amy said in a quiet voice, collecting the bag from him. She blushed when their fingers brushed, covering her face with her hair to conceal her blush.

This was awkward for Amy. Kyle was her first crush, not just her first crush but her first kiss, which happened on her seventeenth birthday and since then she hasn’t seen him. She only receives some gifts and greeting from him through her best friend because he has been busy with running his dad’s company.

Oh well, she has gotten over him and is currently into someone else, but he still brings a certain feeling, probably because he was her first kiss.

“It’s been so long. How have you been?” Kyle asked a flustered Amy.

“I’ve been good. You?”

“I’ve been busy with work, at the same time trying to take care of this baby” He explained, gesturing towards Mandy.

“I’m not a baby” Mandy mumbled, sticking out her tongue.

“I know, right?” Kyle said with heavy sarcasm and they all laughed.

Amy spent some minutes with Kyle, Jack and Mandy before Mandy and Jack’s flight got ready for departure. She said goodbye to her best friend with a heavy heart and waited until she could no longer see the plane.