It’d been a week since Jaden stormed out of the apartment and the band. You were running out of time to get enrolled in fall classes and couldn’t sulk in your room another minute. Josh had offered to skip his basketball meeting to help you get set up, but you felt guilty for all you’d taken from him the last few weeks he’d spent babying you.
You were staring down at the campus map he’d given you trying to find your way back to your car when you bumped into someone.
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Griffin: “Hey, stranger!”
You: “I- Uh- Hi.”
Amelie: “Hi…”
You felt a lump form in the back of your throat, seeing Amelie for the first time since she spoke the words that broke you weeks ago. Griffin sensed his moment to do a good deed and push you two together so he awkwardly hugged you and announced: “I really have to catch up with Eva, but you two talk.”
You stood, uncomfortably looking between the map and the buildings when Amelie offered: “If you’re here to enroll, you need that short building over there.”
You: “Uh- Yeah. Thank you. I actually just finished.”
Amelie: “How’s music coming? I really wanted to come to your show last week but I didn’t know if it’d upset you. And… I was honestly scared of running into-”
You: “We actually aren’t playing right now.”
Her interest peaked and you ended up telling her broad details about Jaden not wanting to do music anymore. You left out the part about Jaden storming out of Zack and Emma’s because, well to be entirely honest you already felt uneasy enough talking to her as if no time or trauma had passed.
Amelie blurted out: “I miss you.”
You froze and didn’t exactly know how to respond. The truth was you missed having your best friend in your life but you weren’t ready to let her off the hook just yet. She’d done a really awful thing and it felt defeating letting things go back to normal too fast. What you’d gone through because of her actions and the lies that followed had been the most traumatic experience of your life and you were still recovering.
Amelie: “Do you maybe want to get lunch together?”
You: “I can’t.”
Amelie: “Oh- I- Uh- Yeah, I understand.”
You spoke before thinking: “I would. I just can’t today. I’m meeting Josh here for lunch.”
Amelie: “I’m so sorry.”
You took the chance to get the answer that was eating at you since her confession and asked: “Why were you driving drunk and why did you lie?”
Amelie: “I was talking to Josh to get answers for you and Jaden flipped. He was acting so crazy the whole night and I had to get to him before he destroyed us, himself, just everything. I was desperate.”
You knew she was right about Jaden but didn’t have the heart to let on how much worse he’d gotten since losing her.
Amelie: “I didn’t mean to at first. By the time I woke up, Griffin had already taken responsibility and I tried. More than once I tried to tell the truth and he insisted and then it just became too big to keep secret.”
You were both crying, so out of instinct you hugged her. You weren’t ready to forgive her, yet but you knew that you would eventually. You were still in a teary hug when Josh caught up with you. He slowly approached and waved to you hoping to gauge whether it was safe to approach.
Amelie: *wiping her eyes* “Hey, Josh. Long time no see.”
She excused herself, hurrying to her class leaving Josh looking very confused: “That was weird.”
You: “What do you mean? I didn’t commit to forgiving her. I still don’t know if-”
Josh: “No, no. She’s your friend, baby and when or if you forgive her is whatever feels right to you.”
You weren’t following his train of thought so he added: “It’s just she made it seem like it’d been weeks but I just saw her at the house like 3 days ago.”
