amelia

seven

It had been a month since Amelia and her friends made up. Amelia was genuinely happy, with her book, Imperfections, successfully published. She was planning to write a sequel for the book. She had gained a lot of friends, who were blown away by her talent. Her parents and friends couldn't be more proud of her.

"Good morning, Miss Jackson," Amelia smiled as she walked into class. She was surprised to see the teacher so early in the morning.

"Good morning, Miss White," Miss Jackson replied robotically, a smile framing her features. She then turned back to her paperwork on her wooden desk.

The class was deserted with no one to talk to, so Amelia decided to doodle in her notebook. Penny had taught Amelia how to draw, and in Amelia's opinion, it was a good way to pass the time. 

Not too later, Penny, Roselyn and Rachel walked into the classroom, giving Miss Jackson a polite smile before Penny taking the usual spot next to Amelia, and Roselyn and Rachel taking the ones in front of them. "Hey," Rachel shot her a smile, to which Amelia returned.

"Nice doodle," Penny wiggled her eyebrows, dropping her sling bag on the floor. 

"Thanks," Amelia replied warmly.

Soon, students began flooding the classroom, and Amelia saw Nancy slipping in last minute, a smug look on her face. Amelia knew that look, and it wasn't a good one. But school had started, and Amelia pushed the thoughts at the back of her mind. 

As soon as the bell rang, students dispersed out the room, leaving only Amelia and her friends and Nancy, the annoying smug look on her face. 

She twirled her brown hair with her fingers, and Amelia noticed Nancy was walking towards her and her friends. 

"What?" Penny snapped, obviously tired of the smug look on Nancy's face. 

"You think you're high-and-mighty, don't you?" Nancy sneered, her nose in the air. "Just watch out. Karma will pay." Then she left.

"What?" Roselyn muttered, her face scrunched up. 

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Forget her. She's just trying to scare you for nothing." So the group left to their next class. 

-:-

"And that's the end of the lesson for today. See you next week, class. You may go now." Miss Leon's voice was a faint mumble in the background as Amelia finished up her notes.

"So you're going to help Miss Jackson to mark the papers now?" Rachel, who sat beside Amelia, asked. They had chemistry, the last period, together, whereas Penny and Roselyn had different classes. "I have no idea why you even agreed to do that. Miss Jackson could keep you in for literally hours."

Amelia groaned in disappointment. "Dang it, I totally forgot about that. I did really want to go home, take a shower, take a nap and then work on the drafts of the sequel. I need to work on expanding the plot. But I can't break the promise I made Miss Jackson."

"Sucks," Rachel said with pity. "And your drafts are at headquarters. I don't think you'll have time to go all the way to Penny's house just to get your drafts."

"I forgot about that too," Amelia said glumly, her smile turning upside down. "Well, could you be an angel and take it for me? And maybe edit the mistakes for me." Ever since Amelia decided to start a sequel, Rachel had insisted to be Amelia's editor and assistant.

"Sure thing," Rachel smiled. "I'll have it back at your house as soon as you get home. And cheer up, you're going to see Amy and Catherine."

"Thanks, you're awesome, Rachel," Amelia sighed in relief, returning the smile sincerely. "See you in probably two hours."

"It probably won't be as bad as you think. Think positive. See you later." Rachel replied with a thumbs up before she left the classroom.

"Well, now I have to work on marking the papers," Amelia mumbled incoherently to herself, leaving the room and switching the lights off. "Here I come, Miss Jackson."

-:-

"Thanks for helping, Miss White," Miss Leon thanked Amelia, who only smiled in response. She walked out of the building and looked at her watch. 

It was 3:30pm in the afternoon.

As soon as Amelia checked her phone, tons of notifications came flooding in. Amelia usually had a lot of messages, but not this much, so Amelia was taken aback.

"What happened?" she mumbled to herself, scrolling through her phone. There were 12 missed calls and 12 unread messages by Rachel. Now that's something you don't see everyday, Amelia thought to herself. Amelia decided to open them one by one. 

Amelia! EMERGENCY. Call me as soon as you get this.

Where are you?

Why aren't you answering?!

AMELIA!

THIS IS IMPORTANT!

I'm worried...

If you're not answering, I'm going to call...

Please answer.

I'll give you 5 minutes.

I'm waiting...

You know what? That's it. 

I'm calling you. 

And just on cue, Amelia's phone rang. With an irritated huff, Amelia answered quickly. "Would you at least be patient for a little bit? I was just done helping Miss Jackson mark those annoying papers for two whole freaking hours but then Miss Leon asked me to help her carry stuff and then kept me for one hour. One hour. ONE WHOLE HOUR. I know, how unbelievable! Can you believe she has the nerve to do tha-"

"Amelia! Listen to me for a minute!" Rachel sounded frantic on the other side. 

"Okay, I know it's an emergency, but could you not spam my phone? It was on mute! Just on mute! I didn't die or anything serious like that! You think Miss Jackson would've tolerated my phone ringing for two whole hours? Delusional! You know she hates phones-"

"Amelia, stop talking for one damn minute and listen to me." Rachel's tone turned calm. 

"You know I can't stop talking when I'm annoyed, so you have to deal with it," Amelia huffed in annoyance. 

"No! No! Amelia! Just.. stop talking. Listen to me. This is more than an emergency, this is urgent, Lia!"

"Then spill," If Amelia was concerned, she didn't show it.

"Well I was walking to Penny's house with Penny and then we went to the headquarters to take the drafts." Rachel explained.

"And then?" Amelia raised an eyebrow. 

"And then..." Rachel's voice suddenly gets quiet. "Amelia, you may have to sit down."

Amelia found a nearby bench and sat. "What happened?" Judging by the tone of her voice, what happened wasn't good, Amelia thought. She heard Rachel sigh heavily.

"The headquarters was broken into, Amelia. And the drafts have been stolen."

All colour drained from Amelia's face.