A cold chill runs down my spine and my smile seems glued to my face as my eyes flicker down to my hand at the silver band resting on my right thumb before I quickly redirect them to Ben's suspicious expression.
"I did say she almost never took it off..." I put emphasis on the 'almost'. "Amelia would let me wear it sometimes. The night of the fire was one of the times that she let me wear it. If you'd like, I'm sure you can ask the hospital staff; I was wearing it when I got there. I'm actually very happy that nobody took it in my weak state... It feels like one of the last connections I have to her." My voice breaks as tears prickle my eyes. I cover my mouth with my hand as a sob wracks my body, a few of the tears slipping over and sliding down my cheeks.
His face softens and a flash of guilt shoots though his eyes. Ben grabs my shoulder and rubs it lightly, trying to comfort me. The tension in my muscles slowly seeps out and he pulls me into an awkward hug. I know the look of despair that was on my face is completely gone, I just stare, bored and uninterested at the wall. When his body shifts and I know he's about to pull away, I make a few more tears fall down my cheeks and give a little sniffle to show I'm still upset. The look of guilt hasn't left his eyes and I make a point to wipe some tears away with a hiccup. He grabs my hand and gives it a squeeze.
"I didn't mean to sound like I was accusing you of something. Where I'm a police officer, the thought crossed my mind that you might have taken it. I'm sorry. I didn't want to make you cry."
I sniff again. "It's alright, Ben, I understand."
"Should I go? I get it if you don't feel comfortable with me being here after that."
"I'm not uncomfortable. Though, I do think it best if you leave. I'm so tired, it feels like I'll pass out any minute now." I respond, giving him a weak smile while my eyelids drooped a little.
"Oh, of course. Thank you for having me. I'll see myself out so you can rest. Have a nice evening, Scarlet."
"You too, Ben. Drive home safe."
I wait for the tell tale sound of his car engine starting and the crunch of his tires on the gravel before I stand up and wipe the rest of my tears away with a scoff and an eye roll.
Men are so weak when it comes to a woman crying. I think to myself before going and putting some pyjamas on and settling down on my sofa.
What I didn't tell Officer Benjamin Williams, is how cruel Amelia was. If she didn't associate with you or considered you her friend, she would do everything she could to make you feel awful about yourself. She was the definition of awful.
I remember when she and I first met, the real story, not what I told Ben. She was in my seventh grade science class and was tormenting another group of girls in the class, throwing the regurgitated remains of mice skeletons at them from the day's owl pellet experiment. When I had stood up to her and told her to stop, she turned her pellet throwing to me, getting a mouse skull stuck in my unruly, curly raven colored hair. Instead of freaking out, I instead took the skull out of of my hair, walked over to her, grabbed her by the jaw, and forced the skull into her mouth. That, of course, started an all out brawl between the two of us that led to us both getting suspended for a week. She and I lived in the same neighborhood and on one of the days we were still out of school, she walked up to me at the playground we had at a park next to our street, black eye, busted lip, and various other bruises scattered along her skin. She was glaring down at the ground before jutting her hand out in front of her for me to shake before telling me she liked my spunk and wanted to apologize for what happened. We talked for a while after that and somehow became inseparable ever since.
Thinking about it, I don't know why I ever agreed to be her best friend. In the years that came, she grew more awful, bitter, cruel, and cold. At one point, I couldn't even recognize her as my best friend Amelia; she was just Amelia. Spiteful, bitchy Amelia.
One time, I had feelings for somebody that Amelia had feelings for at the same time. When the boy admitted that he favored me over her, she got angry. She got so angry that she shoved him down the stairs of our high school and laughed when it resulted in him breaking his leg, saying that nobody rejects her. And oh, the things she did to me... Amelia cut my hair short, to my jawline, knowing how much I treasured my long unruly curls and when I told her she was a cold hearted bitch, she dragged me by what was left of my hair and locked me in the school's cafeteria freezer, remarking, "I'll show you just how cold I can be!" I was in that freezer for the better part of three hours and was hospitalized with hypothermia.
Amelia had visited me in the hospital and held my hand, sobbing about how she didn't mean to hurt me that badly and how she would be a better friend from that moment on. She promised me so many things as I had laid there in that hospital bed, my body wretching from the ghost of a chill I still felt from the freezer. She visited me every day until I was released and brought me gifts of flowers, candies, stuffed animals, cards, toys, and other miscellaneous items. Each day she would bring a gift and each day she would make another promise, swearing on her life that she would keep each and every one so long as I got better.
Well, she swore on her life...
And she lied.
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