Girl's Love | Editing |

Chapter 5

Amber wasn't any more talkative at breakfast than she had been yesterday. And she stayed silent while we got ready that morning. But at the bus stop, she spoke to me. The first time she'd spoken to me at a bus stop in ages.

"I thought about what you said yesterday."

My mouth hung open for a moment, still shocked. Finally, I cleared my throat and asked, "Uh... about what?"

"About how I wouldn't ruin my life, or Lily's. I... I'm just paranoid."

She took a deep breath. "I want to stop being afraid. I'm going to tell them- my friends, I mean. I'm going to tell them today."

I bit my lip. On one hand, it was cool to see that my sister was taking control of her situation. On the other, she was a nervous wreck with me, her sister whom she hadn't had a deep conversation with in years. How was she going to do when faced with the opinions of people she actually cared about?

"Are you sure?" I asked. "That you want to come out two days in a row, I mean. It seemed stressful."

"Just in case, I'd... I'd rather they know now. Before they find out from someone else."

I nodded. "Okay. Well... it seems like you have it figured out."

"Yeah..."

I hesitated. Would she even let me help if I offered? 

Only one way to find out. 

I took a deep breath, looked her in the eyes, and asked. "You want me to be there with you when you do it?"

Amber turned to me, her eyes narrowing. "And how would you do that? We don't have any classes together."

"We have the same lunch period. I could sit with you guys." 

Again, this was not information I got from Amber herself. Peter alternated between sitting with our group and sitting with Amber's. He sat with me yesterday, so he would be at my sister's table today. I made a mental note to myself to tell him how the magazine meeting went. 

Amber looked me over for a moment, then sighed. "Alright. Just let me do the talking, okay?"

I nodded with a serious expression. The bus arrived, and Amber and I took out usual spots. Once I was seated, I decided to text Maddy.

Hey I'm going to be sitting with my sister and her friends for lunch. It's important. Sorry I'll see u after school.

As I sent the message, my hands trembled. It killed me that I couldn't divulge any more than that. But it was for my sister's safety. Which... yeah, I didn't exactly like her after everything she'd done to me, but she was still family. I still wanted her safe.

I still didn't want to lose anyone else.

My notification sound played. Maddy had replied.

Hey, np! C u after school!

I smiled at the text. She was a pretty understanding person. If she knew the truth about Amber, I doubted she'd shun or hurt her. Maybe the three of us could even hang out like we used to.

I texted her about the meeting, and afterwards, I started planning my poem.

***

The table Amber and her friends used was the third row back from the right corner of the cafeteria. Luckily, it was pretty close to the food, so I could spend half the lunch period actually eating instead of waiting in line. Note to future Reese: ask to be allowed at the table more often.