Amelia's World

Chapter 1

Amelia was sitting on her living room couch, bundled up in a blanket and gazing out the window behind her at the dark sky. It was early. She had been about to get ready for work, but the couch was too warm and cozy to abandon, and she was left sitting, still in her pajama bottoms and a sweater. The rain pattering against the window was lulling her to sleep. The orange light from the table lamp beside her was not enough to kick her awake on a gloomy morning like this. Every now and again she shuffled the blanket to cover more surface area, tucking it over her slippers and hugging it around her arms.

It had been raining on and off for about a week. They were those transitional rains typical for the month of September, the first inkling of colder weather.

She heard a knock on her door, and forced her blinking eyes open. After waiting for a second knock she deemed herself not to have dreamt it, and wrapped the blanket tighter around her as she made her way to the door.

On her front porch stood Joel, his dark hair slicked against his forehead from the rain, giving him some nerdy looking bangs.

"I'm opening late today." she felt the need to suddenly explain, subsequently reminding herself to close her mouth.

"Sure — but your employee still arrives on time unless told otherwise. He then has to wait outside for half an hour in the rain for the person who has the keys." He gestured at Amelia. Raindrops were collecting on the porch's roof and falling heavily around him in an angular shape.

"Why don't you come in?" she hurried out and waved him in with one hand on the door handle.

Joel said nothing, but made his way in with heavy steps and with his eyes never leaving her. Amelia closed the door and switched the light on in the entryway. Joel remained on the doormat, his eyes were now squinting at her, awaiting her next move. She handed him an umbrella and made her way through an arched doorway. "We'll leave right away."

"After you change out of that." He pointed at her outfit with the umbrella.

Amelia whipped right back through the doorway at the comment and gave him an offended frown. She flung out her leg and pointed. "These are my best pajama bottoms!"

"Not them. I meant the sweater."

She stretched it out in front of her stomach and looked down. "What's wrong with it?"

Joel paused, allowing his friend a chance to redeem herself and to quit playing dumb. When none came, the words came dramatically spewing out, "It belongs to me."

Amelia let go of the sweater. "Don't be so hard on yourself." His lip twitched and he jabbed her in the side with the umbrella. She averted the attack with a smirk. "I'll get changed." She went back through the archway, veered left toward the kitchen and up the stairs.

As she ran up the stairs, she heard Joel call after her: "Good, and when you do I want my sweater back! It was not supposed to be a gift!"

The first thing Amelia spotted when she stepped into her bedroom was her coffee cup from earlier, forgotten on one of the nightstands. She went and took a swig of it. The creamy sweetness added to it gave her an extra kick to awaken. She stopped with the cup in her hand, and rested her eyes for another second. Her eyes stung as she shut them. The quiet let her hear the floor creak downstairs as Joel shifted. The branches of the maple tree outside tapped the window behind her bed.

She took the last of the coffee and began rummaging the thick blankets around on her bed, eventually finding her bra. She put it on under her sweater to keep warm and found a tight fitting shirt and a black skirt on the floor that she changed into while reminding herself to take care of her bedroom once she got home again that afternoon.