The Case of Amelia Kearney

Chapter 1

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Scene One Part One-
Weird chips kid

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Amelia finally made it to the 7-11. It had taken longer than she'd originally anticipated because it started raining, and that meant that Amelia was a bit behind schedule. She hoped to be home by 12 at the latest, but because of the sudden downpour, it seemed that she'd be home later than that. She hoped dearly that in her unexpectedly extended absence that her parents wouldn't notice her departure.

Amelia's clothes were damp with rain, and she knew it'd be a cold walk home when she was finally done with her business at the 7-11.

Lucky for her though, the 7-11 was warm, which was at least one good thing.

So, Amelia walked into the 7-11, albeit a bit damp. The small bell attached to the door alerted the cashier of someone coming into the store. The cashier didn't look up. They were sat at the cash register on a stool reading a magazine and didn't even seem to pay Amelia any mind. Which in her mind, was a good thing.

Amelia walked through the store, through a few aisles of various things, from food to toothbrushes. All of which she ignored. Because at the very back of the store, was what she really came here for. The slushies. She walked towards the machine, grabbing a medium sized cup. She scanned over the flavours of slushie, and added together most of the flavors into her cup.

She heard the bell at the front door of the store jingle a little bit, but she paid no mind.

After she'd finished with creating her slushie, Amelia wandered over to the chips aisle, intending on grabbing some cheap knockoff brand chips.

Once she made it to the chips aisle, however, she saw something that was perhaps a bit out of the ordinary. There was a boy, soaking wet and dripping water all over the aisle. He had on a soggy blue scarf, a well-worn green beanie, and a green hoodie that looked as if he'd been wearing it for ages. The hoodie had dirt staining the cuffs of sleeves, and the elbows were littered with faint grass stains.

He looked to be maybe a year or two younger than Amelia, around nine or ten. He was standing against a shelf of chips, shivering from the cold and forming a puddle beneath his feet.

Upon noticing the boy, Amelia stopped walking towards the aisle, instead just standing there and looking at the boy with a puzzled look on her face.

He glanced at her, looking frightened. His eyes were blown wide and his pupils were dilated, and it looked as if he were absolutely terrified by the presence of another.

'Hello?' Amelia said to the boy, cocking her head to the side, confused by the boy's fear.

The boy just looked at her, absolutely terrified.

'Are you like, good? Why're you out this late?' Amelia asked. It was a bit hypocritical for a young kid to ask another young kid why they were out that late, but the thought of hypocrisy didn't even cross Amelia's mind.

The boy scanned her face, seeming to decide whether she was safe to interact with or not. After a moment, the boy exhaled, seemingly having found nothing visibly dangerous about Amelia.

A few beats of silence passed before the boy said anything.

'Why are you talking to me?' He mumbled quietly.

That was all he said. He shifted on his feet as he talked, and tried to keep as quiet as possible. His eyes darted back and forth as if he were constantly watching everything to make sure there was no threat of danger.