Amy Flemming | After the Flames

8

"Amy!" The flames rise higher and higher bringing the house down with all of us inside of it. Crumbling down like a tower of blocks until there is nothing left of the building that we once called our home, our school and the people we called family. Screams escape my mouth before Valerie pulls me away from the sight in front of us. "Amy."

"Amy!" Valerie's voice brings me back to reality and makes me shoot up. "Oh my god. It is a difficult thing to wake you up from a nightmare." She tells me with a worried look on her face. "Are you alright?" Valerie asks me as I look around the room making me realize that it was a horrible dream that I just woke up from. "I am fine." I tell her and she smiles relieved. "Good." She says as she puts on her running shoes. "I think I am still dreaming." I tell her which makes her look up at me. "What are you doing up so early in the weekend?" I ask her as she ties her shoelaces. "Well, Mason and I are going to go for a run." She tells me. I know that she was pretty excited about the opportunity that we can get. "Bye!" She says before she leaves the bedroom.

I get out of bed and decide to take a long shower before going downstairs to get some breakfast. I wash my hair and my body before drying myself off. With my robe on, I quickly walk towards my bedroom. I put on a grey tank top, my red burgundy skirt and my favorite knitted cardigan. I put on a black pair of tights and some fluffy socks on my feet. My hair is brushed through before I braid it into a fishtail and go down the stairs. "Good morning, dear." Kate greets me as I sit down at the dining table. "Good morning." I greet her back before taking a bowl and filling it with yogurt. "Oh dear, you look like you haven't slept a bit." Kate says as she looks behind me. "I haven't." Brooke says as she sits down at the table with a groggy expression. "I don't feel well." Kate looks worried as she looks at Brooke. She pours her a cup of tea. "I guess the first week, been pretty tough on all of you. Ethan complained about not feeling well too this morning." She tells us.

"Morning." Chester says as he walks into the room. "Hi." I say as he sits down beside me. He gives me a kiss on the cheek before taking a cup of coffee. "Do you have plans for today?" He asks me. "No." I answer him before taking another spoon of my breakfast. "Would you like to go to my grandpa with me?" He asks me. I nod with a smile before finishing my breakfast.

After, brushing my teeth and putting on some perfume, I put on my wedges and meet Chester in the hall. We log out before exciting the house to go to his grandfather.

After a few minutes walking down the street, we reach the old people home, as Chester likes to call it. We reach the gates and pass through, passing the reception to sign in. The receptionist gives me a warm smile before looking at Chester and smiling at him as well before letting us through. We reach his room and a big smile appears on his face when he sees us standing at the door. "Hello." His frail voice greets us as he motions us to come further. "Hello." He greets Chester before looking over at me. "You must be Amy, dear." He gives me a warm smile as he takes my hand to introduce himself. "My name is Harold." Harold says. "Hello, I am Amy. it is nice to meet you, sir." I give him a smile. He motions for us to sit down on the couch opposite from him. He removes the chess set from the table and looks at us. "How is the house now?" He asks us. "It is almost done now. Some last things have to be finished but it is ready to be lived in again." Chester explains slowly. Harold, looks like he is processing what is being said before nodding slowly. "That is very good to hear." He looks around his room. "Your father is very busy. So is your mother. I don't hear so much from them." Chester frowns at this information. "I don't either." He says as he looks at one of the family pictures on the wall. "Lilly and Sofia are doing fine. So is Will." His grandfathers eyes seem to hold a smile. "Will gave me this for Christmas." He says as he stands up and shuffles in one of his drawers. The man passes Chester a card with a picture on the front. I assume it is a family picture. I see a man that looks like an older version of Chester, a woman and two small children. "That is nice, isn't it?" Harold asks us. We give him a smile.

One of the nurses has come in with some tea as Chester and his grandfather catch up a little bit before we have run out of conversation. "Tell me, Amy. Are you scared of the school?" He asks me. I feel Chester look over at me. "Sometimes." I admit. "It is a big house. It can also be a scary house, right?" He asks me as Chester uncomfortably shifts beside me. "Son, it is not a problem. I bet that a lot of people have been scared at certain points in their life." Harold, reassures Chester who is looking at the floor.

Luckily, the conversation has shifted to another note before Harold looks at me. "Can I ask you where you are from?" He asks me. "I am from London, sir." I answer him. "You seem to look familiar." He stares at me. "Are you a Flemming?" He asks me out of nowhere. I nod slowly. "Steven is my father, sir." I tell him. "Ah, Theo's son." He gets up before walking to his dresser and taking out a box. He looks in the box and takes out a picture. It seems to be very old. The damage on the paper is evidence that it is. "Theodore. Your grandfather." Harold says as he points to one man in the picture, next to other men that are posing on the photo. "He had such a nice soul." He says with a smile. "So sad that I couldn't attend his funeral when he passed. He was a dear friend." Harold, says as he looks at the picture. I look at it again. My father looked like his father, a spitting image. A smile forms on my face as Harold passes me some other pictures with him on it.

We had lunch together before we left. "It was nice meeting you, Amy. I hope to see you back here another time." Harold says with a warm smile. We leave the home and start our walk back home. Next to the building is a food truck where we decide to get some hot chocolate. "It was nice finally meeting him." I tell Chester with a smile as nods.

We enter the house. We sit down on the couch to finish our drinks. Valerie and Paige walk in on us before they decide to sit down across from us. "How was your grandfather? He was having a very good day actually." Chester says with a smile. "That is lovely to hear." Paige says.

We play a game of Monopoly, that we could play until dinner was announced. Heather walks in and with a big smile as we hear a pair of heels click on the tiles. "Why are you smiling?" Elijah asks her. She places her hand on his shoulder for support before bringing her right foot up to show her heels. "Wow, those are gorgeous!" Paige says as she looks at her heels. "But not our school uniform requirements." Kate says as she sees Heather proudly showing off her heels. "I know that it isn't school's requirements but there aren't any rules when it comes to the house uniform." Heather remarks rather rudely. Elijah just rolls his eyes before walking off which makes Heather loose her balance. She stumbles for a moment before gaining balance and sitting down at the dinner table.

We eat hotpot and then all go our separate ways again. I decide to get my book and head to my bedroom. I decide to make some of the homework given up for next week. Valerie is busy doing some yoga poses so she is quiet as I note down the different formulas that we spoke about during the last class. After that I summarize the different History chapters before closing that book and moving on the French homework that luckily isn't that complicated. I sigh after closing the books. My hands go through my hair before looking over at Valerie who is in some pose which really impresses me. I laugh at her before laying down on my bed. "You okay?" I ask her as she comes out of the weird position. "I am fine." She answers as she faces me, her head as red as a tomato, which makes me laugh even louder. "I am going to shower." She tells me as she grabs her toiletries and takes her things with her.

I don't know what the time is but a door banging shut, wakes me up from my nap. I look around, rubbing in my eyes before looking around. "Wake up, sleepyhead." Chester practically yell laughing as he walks towards and sits down next to me on my bed. "We are planning on continuing the Harry Potter marathon tonight. Joining us?" He asks me. "Yes of course."

After Ethan has installed the laptop and the projector screen, we wait for Valerie to join us and begin the movie marathon while filling up the snacks, drinks and sweets during the switch to another movie. Obviously, watching all the movies was impossible since Kate announced for us to all go to bed at lights out. Valerie went to bed early anyway so when it was time for bed, I left their room alone.

The floorboards underneath my feet feel ice cold as I walk towards the set of stairs. "Yes, of course. I will take care of it." I hear Kate tell somebody as before it being silent for a moment. "I will make sure that it does not happen again." Kate tells in a convincing tone. Just when I am about to continue walking, one of the floorboards creak due to me switching the weight over my other foot. All of a sudden, the door to her office opens widely revealing Kate looking at me with a surprised look on her face. "I thought I said that it was lights out." Her voice sounds very angry in some way while her face is holding a calm expression. I nod quickly before running away towards the stairs.