Between the Lines | ✓

Cliche 18: Crazy Exes

"Oh fuck, boobs," I spluttered, since the way I had fallen had meant my face had momentarily been cushioned by an ample chest that bounced in a way that could only be achieved in a trashy teen novel. "God, so sorry, I, uh..."

The antagonist of plentiful boobage in 'Say No to Bad Boys'  winced, pushing herself off the ground as she rubbed her lower back, grumbling under her breath. Amber's movements were slow as she looked up at her apparent assailant, plush pink lips pulled back in what was definitely about to be a string of profanity, but instead grew slack the moment she opened her eyes and peered into mine. Recognition flashed across her face quickly, and those lacquered lips of hers quickly moved once again in incredulity as I hurried to try explain that my face-in-boob accident was really an accident.

"P-please don't slap me, it w-was an accident-"

"Oh fuck it's the toxic ab freak," Amber blurted out simultaneously, shutting me up. Amber also immediately stopped talking, mouth hanging open like a fish, the cogs in her brain visibly turning as were those in my own mind.  

Because her words... They're so out of character... As if... As if...

Amber blinked, and then I blinked, before the both of us pointed at each other with wide eyes.

"You're not-" we said at the same time, just as Elias quickly rushed up behind me, arms looping themselves around my torso and helping me up with a worried frown.

"Alex, are you okay?" Elias asked, voice soft yet a little frantic, brushing off some invisible dirt from my shoulders. I just stared at Amber in a daze, Elias's hands on me beginning to rub harder circles into my top as he shook me slightly. "Alex, are you hurt anywhere? Did you hit your head?"

"I, uh..." I mumbled, brain in a fog as Amber slowly picked herself up from the floor, her eyes never leaving mine as she reached forward tentatively. Her movements were unsure but hopeful, blue eyes beginning to swim with tears.

"This might be crazy... But everything is crazy after... But are you... I hope... God, please tell me you're..." Amber began, voice quivering as she twisted and knotted her hands together, long nails clacking as her fingers trembled nervously. 

Wait... Could she be... 

My heart thumped loudly in my chest as I stared at this face that I had been so terrified of just months ago at Elias's soccer game. That same blonde hair, blue eyes, sharp features and red lips had always made me want to run away to escape the clutch of her acrylic talons, because Amber Cross from 'Say No to Bad Boys' was a piranha with an insatiable appetite for Xander's little tadpoles.

But this wasn't that Amber Cross, not with the way she was looking at me, eyes misty and desperate and...

"No way," I breathed out, stepping forward and catching Amber's slender wrist in mine, pulling her closer as if I could see her better. See the real her. "A-Ambs?"

"Oh my God, it's really you, Lex!" Amber cried out, jumping up and slinging her arms over my shoulders, burying her face in my neck and letting out a loud sob. I cradled her body to me, my cable-wire muscles tightening around the frame that felt so different from my sister's, and yet so familiar. The familiarity was in the way her arms made me feel safe and never alone, in how tight they held me, in the way her fingers fisted the back of my shirt. Yes, Amber Cross's body had a pin-sized waist and soft, ample chest whereas my sister was just soft and cuddly everywhere, but the feeling it gave me was the same.

I didn't know how long we just stood there crying and blubbering as we held onto each other tightly, until I heard the confused yet curious murmurs of the patrons around us, as well as Elias's awkward cough from beside me. It was only at the sound of his voice that I peeled myself from my sister, though the two of us didn't let go of each other's arms, not after being apart for so long.