Taunt

Chapter 16- Taunting Distances

[] A M E L I A []

Five days.

It's been five days since my encounter with Leo and somehow, I've managed to stay away from him. I didn't go to any of the classes I shared with any of the boys and I didn't even go to Coffee Rush all week, in case I ran into anyone. I simply didn't want to see them. There was no point in getting close to them.

And this was something I had drilled into my mind.

Suddenly, there was a knock at my door, disrupting me from my thoughts. I looked down at the Psychology textbook I had been staring at for the last few hours and sighed. I slowly got up and made my way towards the door. I peeked through the hole to see who it was and sighed in relief when I saw Gemma on the other side.

Over the past few weeks, we had gotten closer. Although she couldn't take the spot of my best friend, she was still someone I considered close. Last night, she came over fuming, and told me all about her outburst on Leo. My eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets by the time she finished and I stared at her in horror.

Despite her thoughts, I was not the least bit happy about what she had done. I simply wanted to get over what happened, but she made it worse by spilling everything to them. I didn't react at first, and then I simply blew up on her, asking things like: "Why would you do that? How did you find his apartment? How are Andre and Jamal?" And most importantly, "Why would you do that?" And of course, she simply shrugged at all my questions.

Her reaction when she found out about the whole Leo ordeal was nothing short of extreme, however, it did give me some sort of reassurance that someone was looking out for me. Confused about my thoughts, I hadn't spoken to her at all after she told me. I simply told her I'd see her tomorrow, and she gave me a small pout and left.

Which is why I couldn't help but hug her as I saw her standing in my doorway.

"I'm sorry for getting mad at you yesterday," I said, pulling away from her.

To my surprise, Gemma burst out laughing.

"Wow, Amelia. I thought I'd never see you again," she said, stepping into my room.

I closed the door behind her and stared at her confused.

"Huh?"

Gemma shrugged and took a seat at my desk, where I previously sat.

"This is the first time I've seen a bit of the old Amelia shine through," she said quietly.

My shoulders sagged at her words and I looked down to the floor.

"And Andre looked like a puppy that was kicked to the curb in class today," she suddenly said.

This caught my attention and I looked up to her in surprise.

"Really? Why?"

"Because I sat away from him," Gemma shrugged.

I frowned.

"But why? I thought you guys were friends," I mumbled.

Gemma stared at me open-mouthed, as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Amelia, the only reason I came to know them was because of you. If you're not hanging out with them, then I'm not either," she explained.

I frowned deeper, thinking her words through.

"And Amelia, if they don't realize just how great of a person you are, then they don't deserve you in the first place," she casually said.

And that is where she was wrong.