Page 78 of Full Court Crush
Having finally stood up to her parents, she wasn't sure when she'd see them again, or evenifshe would. The thought both scared her and freed her.
Finally, tears dried, Amelia found herself alone in the darkening hallway, cold and exhausted. She considered calling Evie or TJ, but she knew they were visiting TJ’s extended family about now, going to share their good news. She didn’t want to disturb them. She ran her fingertips over the back of her hand and took a few more deep breaths. Her brain reminded her of another person she could reach out to.
My parents just left. I could really use a friend.
Amelia was scrubbing the spilled coffee with a carpet cleaner when another knock came at the door. She almost didn’t hear it over the noise of the machine’s vacuum and the loud, angry music coming from her living room stereo. She turned off the carpet cleaner and wiped the sweat from her brow. The machine had spewed too much hot air into the room, but at least she wasn't cold anymore. She walked to the door with a sinking feeling in each step. She really hoped her parents hadn’t come back. She was not ready for round two. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door.
“I’ve come bearing ice cream and gin,” Keira held up a shopping bag. Amelia could have kissed her.
“Come in.” She stepped aside. Keira stepped in, kicked off her shoes in the hallway, and walked into the living room like she’d been over hundreds of times before. In reality, this was only her second visit to Amelia’s house. Amelia found Keira’s apparent familiarity with her space comforting.
“Have you got spoons for this?” Keira’s voice from the living room snapped Amelia out of her reverie.
She shut the door and retrieved two spoons and gin glasses from the kitchen. When she returned, she found Keira had put the bag on the coffee table and taken out the contents. A smile stretched Amelia’s face as she spotted the Ben & Jerry’s. She sat down heavily on the couch next to Keira, who fought with the plastic wrapping the lid of the ice cream tub.
“What do you need? Do you want to talk about it? Sit in silence and watch crappy TV? Talk about something completely unrelated?” Keira finally broke into the ice cream.
Amelia pulled a lap tray from down the side of the sofa and put it between them. She didn’t trust it enough for the gin glasses, which remained on the coffee table after she filled them.
“I…honestly have no idea.” She picked up a spoon and took a large scoop of ice cream.
“What’s with the carpet cleaner?” Keira asked.
“Rage cleaning. Plus, things got heated. Coffee was spilled.”
“Ooft.” Keira sucked air through her teeth. “That bad, huh?”
“Yeah. They were patronising and belittling, and didn’t listen to a single word I said. I had to tell them to get out three times before they actually left.”
“You kicked them out?” Keira’s mouth and eyes went wide.
“Yeah," Amelia said boldly, “they deserved it.”
Keira’s face broke into a grin.
“I’m so proud of you.”
Amelia couldn’t help but smile back.
“My dad has had it in his head that I’m going to take over his business, doing plastic surgery for the rich and famous, and that’s the last thing I want to do.”
“Yeah…I can’t imagine you doing tummy tucks and face lifts, somehow.” Keira laughed, taking another spoonful of ice cream.
“They wouldn’t listen when I said no. And then Mum said some shit about Clara and I just…lost it.”
Amelia closed her eyes and took a slow, deep breath in, before carefully exhaling the anger threatening to build back up.
“They’re just…such control freaks, and it’s suffocating,” Amelia said, and then more quietly, she added, “and I’m worried I’m going to turn out just like them.”
Voicing her fears out loud made them feel so much more real.
“You’re nothing like them.” Keira put a hand on Amelia’s arm.
“How do you know? You’ve not met them.”
“Because you’d never hurt someone the way they’ve hurt you and your sister,” Keira said.
“I thought I’d already done that,” Amelia said, not able to look at Keira.