Tied Together

Chapter 2: That Day

"Dante! Dante! Chase me if you can!" I remember it as plain as day. I chased after her, Amelia. She was always smiling back then. Never once did I see a sliver of sadness in her eyes. Even when she did show some sort of sadness, whether it was over dropping ice cream, falling over, or even getting caught doing something naughty, she'd smile soon after.

"I'm going to get you!" I chased after her. We were only seven back then, childhood friends, full of innocence and purity. Which is why it makes it so hard to believe how things went so drastically wrong so fast.

"Ame, honey," Amelia's aunt called. We turned to the voice. Her aunt was crying, her eyes were a red I never knew was possible. I swear, I looked over to Amelia, and I could sense she knew something was wrong before another word left her aunt's mouth. Ame ran up the grass cliff from where we were playing.

Amelia's eyes grew wide in shock, her bottom lip trembling, tears streaming down her cheeks. For someone who was experiencing such strong emotions, she was frozen still. I remember wanting to be with her up on that grass cliff, wanting to hold her hand and tell her everything would be alright, to know what was going on, to want to help make her feel better.

I pushed myself to climb the grass side as fast as I could, my heart racing. I stumbled as I saw her aunt putting Ame into the back of the car, the emotion on her face the same. I called out to Ame, but my words couldn't pierce through the pain she held. I kept crawling, trying my best to get to her before her aunt drove off.

As the car left, I slipped once more because of my reckless demeanor, leaving me covered in dirt, my hands scathed. I laid there staring up at the sky. Looking back at that day, that was the last time I ever saw Amelia smile.

"Dante, Dante?" Tina shakes me back to reality, calling my name. "Huh? Sorry, what did you say?" I was caught up thinking about the past, I completely forgot about the present. Tina pulls a face of concern. "I said, didn't you and Amelia used to be best friends? Are you feeling okay? Jackson didn't hit you too hard, did he?"

Ah, that's right. I show a smile of sadness, trying to hide the inner turmoil within my mind. "Yeah, we're still pretty good friends, just not how we used to be." I think that's all I'm going to say. I wouldn't want to share someone's personal information; it wouldn't be right.

Tina looks at me with concern. "Well, people change, I suppose. No helping that." A student walks inside the bathroom to see Tina and me standing there, my hair now dry from leaving it under the dryer. "Eh?" The student makes a sound, stepping out of the bathroom to poke his head outside, checking the sign to make sure he didn't enter the wrong bathroom.

"Scram! Or else!" I grab Tina's arms, stopping her from throwing a punch and then leading her towards the exit. "Sorry about me and my friend, we were just leaving," I say, letting out a soft, embarrassed chuckle. As we back out of the bathroom, both our eyes meet Amelia's, who's coincidentally walking this way.

"Hey, Am—" Ame lets out a "Hmph" before turning around and ignoring me completely. A look of grief lingers on my face. I let Tina go and then put my hands in my pockets, letting out an annoyed sigh, I start walking towards the exit.

"Hey, Dante, where you going?" Tina asks, her voice gentle and tender, showing some sympathy for me. "Home," I reply, walking to the exit, not caring about the rest of class. As I walk home, I walk past the store, buying some ice for the bruising of my wounds from earlier. If my mom sees me like this, she'll freak!

I sit on a nearby wall, placing some ice in tissue and softly smoothing my black eye and bruises on my stomach. Turning my head, realizing I'm not far from Ame's house. Another memory comes to mind.

Shortly after getting up from the cliffside where Ame and I were playing, I decided to rush to her home, hoping to find out what had happened, what caused her to pull that face... why was it so... broken.

Upon arriving at her home, I saw her aunt's parked car. I curiously walked up to her house window, peeking in. "It was a car accident, the police say. Apparently, some drunk driver smashed into the side of their car. Annoyingly, he survived, and her parents did not." I was shocked. Her aunt was on the phone to someone, explaining what had just happened. It makes sense now why her face was so upset.

Her aunt noticed me staring through the window and hung up the phone, walking outside the door to talk to me. I remember her voice being so stern and full of aggression. "You're the boy from earlier? Whatever connection you have to Amelia, stop. The best thing you can do is to stay away from that girl. She's grieving. If you truly care about that girl, you'll leave and never show your face around here again. I'm now her guardian, and I'll be looking after her from now on, so I expect you to respect mine and her wishes!"

Being a child, you're surprised at how naive you are. I often wonder what would have happened if I didn't leave that day. After that stern talk with the aunt, I rarely would go to Amelia's. Of course, I thought I was doing it for her benefit...

"Dante? Is that you?" Once again, I snapped back to reality from my flashback. I had subconsciously stumbled to Amelia's house. Seeing Ame standing before me. "Ame?" Sinking in what has happened. "Your injuries? They've gone down?" Her eyes dart at the ice, followed by a face of understanding.

"You rarely come here," her voice surprisingly soft compared to her natural aggression. She turns her body, facing the upper window, which is where her bedroom is located. "I remember on the day I found out my parents died, I was so lonely. I felt like they had abandoned me, leaving me all by myself." Ame's voice held such crippling emotion, clearly still hurt from recalling the painful memory.

"Just when I thought I'd be forever alone, I saw you standing in front of my door that day, but just as I was about to meet you at the door, you were gone." Tears swell in her eyes, her face showing slight aggression mixed with her sadness. "Why! WHY DID YOU LEAVE... you idiot..." her voice was loud and emotional, followed by a soft barely audible sentence, her calling me an idiot.

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. To think that it was her own aunt that caused me to leave, that if I'd just stayed, maybe things could have been different. I mean, I didn't want to leave! No! I wanted to be there for her. "Ame! That's not what—" I'm cut off by Amelia's aunt. "Come, Ame dear, let's get you inside and warmed up."

Ame smiled. It wasn't like how it used to be before, but it was definitely a smile. In that moment, I realized I couldn't tell her about her aunt. The only thing that seems to give her somewhat of a smile these days, her only family she has left. I watch as Amelia walks away, cleaning her eyes of her tears, walking towards her door. I stand idly, lost in thought about what to do.

"Dante..." I turn my head, looking at Amelia's eyes, as if these next words meant great importance to me. "S-sorry about the cupcake." With those final words, she closed the door, leaving me standing outside, feeling complex mixed emotions about what's stirred today.

"I don't care about the cake... you idiot," I say softly to myself, my eyes pouring with tears.