Best Friends With The Bad Boy ✓

15 - Cockroaches Can Be Handsy

"Don't get it twisted? Am I a pretzel?" I huffed angrily. My sister laughed in response over the phone.

"It's slang, young grasshopper." She informed me. I went back on Face Time to see her with an amused expression. "It means don't get the wrong idea, or don't be mistaken."

I made a face. Weird.

"It's funny how I'm the older one," Amber continued on. "Yet I'm the one who knows slang more than you do." She finished smugly.

I rolled my eyes with a chuckle. "Don't forget I was in Australia for two years." I retorted. "The slang there is much simpler."

"Oh yeah, I keep on forgetting you and Mum moved away!" She exclaimed. "Shame it didn't work out, right?"

I forced a smile on to my face. "Yep. Sure."

After begging mum multiple times, she agreed to keep Amber in the dark about why we actually left Australia. It was silly, but I was scared she would see me differently, as more feeble, and therefore treat me as if I was a fragile ornament.

Amber was the only person I truly felt comfortable enough to be 100% myself. The day that comfortable feeling I had with her stopped, I knew I would be miserable.

Even Joe, her husband eventually figured it out. It happened when he was dropping off Hugo to be watched over a few days after we'd came back, but he caught my crying so hard in my room. Through my sobbing I managed to say why I was crying, but he simply held me and didn't say a word since. That's one of the reasons we were so close. He truly was a brother to me that day.

Joe knowing made it even more crucial that Amber wouldn't find out. Knowing how she is, she would feel betrayed that he didn't tell her because I'm her 'baby sister', and that would put a strain on their marriage. The last thing I'd want to do is cause problems for them through my own.

"-Chloe? Earth to Chloe?" I looked back at my phone to see Amber staring at me through the screen impatiently.

"Sorry, I just zoned out." I said with a forced laugh, and decided to quickly change the topic.

"Anyway, what would I be getting the wrong idea about?" I questioned.

"Maybe the fact that you think your friends again?" She offered.

Ouch.

"Or that you're even on speaking terms?"

Yep, twist the knife in deeper, thanks.

"Or possibly you're coming across-"

"Do you have a shovel?" I cut her off. She looked at me through the camera an in confusion.

"Uh, I'm not sure. Why?" Amber responded with raised eyebrows. I shot her a sarcastic smile.

"So I can dig up a hole to curl up in." I sighed. There was a moment of silence before she burst out laughing. All I could see was her mouth wide open, showcasing deep inside her mouth and her brown hair all over the place as she cackled.

"Ew." I remarked, accidentally out loud. She immediately stopped and glare at me, before flipping me off and hanging up. This time I was the one laughing.

I dropped my phone on the other side of my bed as I stared at the ceiling. What did John actually mean by that text? Was I simply misreading our interactions for more than they were?

I sighed again. Why did everything have to be so complicated? I just wanted to return back to my old, simple life before, where my biggest worries were if my pigeon had defrosted yet or if we'd ran out of chocolate milk!