Not Quite

I left Mr. Enzo's and Mia behind and rushed toward Amelia's house. Thoughts of whether I should ask her about what Mia had told her ran through my head. Should I tell her about what I did with Mia? On the edge of town I became aware of how quiet the night was, it was late. Should I even go to Amelia's this late at night? I slumped my shoulders and slowed my pace as I made my way up the path out of town to where Amelia and I lived and when I crossed that final obstacle and could see both houses my resolve to go to her house faded. There was no light in either house, either she wasn't home or she was already asleep.

"Darx?" Amelia called with exacerbated breath. I turned and found her running up the path behind me.

When she got close enough I could see her red eyes and still drying tears.

"Amelia, what happened?" I asked

"Darx... I...." Her shoulders shook and she tried to fall into me. I put one arm around her and waited.

"Did Kase do something to you?" I asked.

She shook her head but didn't reply to me. She continued to shake in my arm, I lifted my second arm to hold her but I didn't feel like I had the right to hold and comfort her after what I had done with Mia.

"I wasn't with him," she finally said.

Mia's accusations gnawed at my mind and I shook my head.

"Amelia, tell me what is going on, what is happening with Kas..."

"I said I wasn't with Kase!" She snapped and pushed me away.

I stepped back, shocked by her outburst. Amelia had never snapped at me like that, but I also had never been so forceful about trying to get her to open up.

"Okay," I said.

"Darx," she shook her head and reached out for me but I took another step back. "I'm sorry I didn't intend..."

"It's okay. If you don't want to talk about it. You should head home and get rest.

I said and turned for my house. I wanted to tell her she could count on me, but whatever relationship I had I already hurt with Mia tonight, could she count on me? Could I count on her? She has been obviously hiding stuff from me since I was injured by the troll. She probably convinced herself to not tell me because she didn't want to worry me while I recovered.

"Darx! I'll see you tomorrow?"

"You know me, I might end up staying up late reading and sleep all day tomorrow. Get rested Amelia."

I went into the house and looked out the window, Amelia was still standing outside her house looking at mine. I couldn't remember a time that I had seen her this sad or looking this lost. I went to bed and stared at my ceiling, thinking about what I had done with Mia, and what Mia said Amelia was doing with Kase. I eventually slept, it wasn't a good sleep and I had that dream again. I woke early drenched in my cold sweat and decided that I couldn't keep thinking about this and needed perspective.

I put my armor on and brought my old sword with me into town. I decided I needed to talk to Oliver, I hadn't seen him much since I woke up and maybe there was a reason. Maybe he knew something and was avoiding me. I didn't want to think he would hide something from me when I told him about Emma, but I would understand why he would hesitate to tell me bad news about Amelia.

"Hey, Darx," Oliver's mom greeted me as I entered their restaurant. "I thought you were out with Oliver and Amelia in the forest today?"

I shook my head by instinct and then laughed it off.

"Yeah, you know me, always running late. I was hoping I'd get here before they left."

"Oh, that is a bad habit of yours, you really need to work on that Darx."

"Yeah, I guess I should go and try to catch up with them!"

"I'm glad everything is good with you three I was starting to worry."

"Oh?" I asked.

"While you were injured Amelia started coming to have dinner with that Kase boy almost every night, they seemed really close I worried that when you woke up it would cause a problem with your friendship. It's clear to see how you feel about her."

I nodded.

"Yeah, you know Amelia, she wanted to make him feel welcome," I lied. I didn't know what her reasons were and that was my best guess. "I don't know about how close they are, but if she's happy with him that's what matters. Anyway, I should hurry and catch up with them! Bye!"

I turned and ran toward the edge of the village where we would leave on our adventures. I knew I wouldn't find Amelia or Oliver there so I wasn't surprised when I didn't see any sign of either, but I was surprised to find Mia sitting on the ground with crossed legs looking out into the forest with a long look upon her face. I sat next to her and put my hand on her's.

"What's wrong?" I asked