amelia

eight

"Someone broke into the headquarters," Rachel said into her phone sheepishly. She eyed the dark-haired girl sitting at the edge of her bed, tugging nervously at her purple highlights. "We only found out about an hour ago."

After a few moments of listening to the person at the end of the line, Rachel gave a sigh and hung up.

"So?" Penny asked, still pulling on her highlights. "What'd she say?"

"Rose is on her way," Rachel formed her lips into a straight line, thrusting her phone into her pocket. "Now we have to deal with that girl over there," she gestured to the redhead at the other end of the room on Penny's rocking seat, staring into space. She looked inhumanely pale.

"Lia," Penny called out softly, "Rose is on her way. We'll deal with this soon."

There was no response.

A few minutes later, a breathless Roselyn stood in Penny's doorway. "Sorry I'm late," she apologised. "I ran into your mother, Penny. The baby's getting bigger."

"She's due in a few weeks," Penny smiled lightly at the mention of having a baby sister. "We're trying to coax that redhead over there. She's not taking the news of the break-in very well."

"Well if I worked hard on a new and original story idea for days, and get the news that it's ruined, I wouldn't be taking the news very well either," Roselyn rose an eyebrow.

"Well, could you deal with her?" Rachel butted in, not standing to hear Roselyn's sarcasm any longer. "I mean, we offered her root beer, for goodness' sake, but she even refused that -- and that means something."

Roselyn called out, "Lia--"

"Don't call her that," Penny snapped, but Roselyn ignored her.

"--Don't worry, we'll find whoever took your drafts, and I'll tell her what I'll think of her, that wretch--"

All of a sudden, Amelia burst into tears, sobbing loudly into the palm of her hands. "I worked hard on that plot," she barely said between hiccups.

Penny gave a sigh, wrapping her arms around Amelia. "I know, it meant a lot to you," she said soothingly. "It's going to be okay--"

"No, it's not," Amelia said sharply, standing up and wiping her tears away. "Stop saying that. I'm not a big baby."

Penny was stunned to silence for a moment before saying sheepishly, "Sorry."

Amelia pursed her lips, ignoring the guilty feeling in her stomach. "I want to check the headquarters."

-:-

"Well, this is an absolute disaster," Roselyn commented sarcastically, eyeing the neat and clean room that was supposed to be absolutely trashed out. "It looks like someone has definitely broke in."

"We cleaned it as soon as we got here," Penny shrugged, plopping herself down on one of the rocking seats. "But when Rachel and I arrived, the door were wide open -- and so were all of the drawers. Some of my drawings were on the floor, too."

"What's that?" Amelia, who was busy scanning the headquarters, spotted a trinket behind one of the bean bags. Picking it up, she asked Penny, "Is this trinket yours?"

"No," Penny knitted her eyebrows together, taking the trinket from Amelia's hands. "It must have belonged to the thief." She then pocketed the tiny object.

"This is absolutely awful," Rachel said glumly, plopping herself down on one of the bean bags. "I'm going to absolutely murder whoever broke in. And not just because she stole the drafts."

"Well, let's all forget about this for a moment," Roselyn sat beside Rachel. "We could all have a drink and talk about this later, maybe."

"Let's go grab a snack or a Starbucks," Penny grinned.

"No," Amelia said sharply, stunning everyone to silence. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Look, I know you don't want anything else to be stolen," Penny replied gently, "But if you want, our cook could whip something up for us, and we could have a sleepover here so we can assure no one will break in. Does that sound okay?"

"Yeah, it's Friday after all," Rachel looked at Amelia expectantly. 

"Fine," Amelia sighed.

"Great. It's settled then. I'll tell cook to make us some snacks and Rose and I can get movies, blankets and pillows," Penny smiled lightly. "In the meantime, you can switch on the TV and set everything up."

-:-

It was already dark when the girls' movie marathon ended. After a delightful dinner with Penny's parents at their formal dining room, the girls were tired out -- but content, nonetheless. Penny, Rachel and Amelia just finished cleaning the headquarters and were getting ready to go to bed. Roselyn had already fallen asleep.

"So, Penny, what are we going to do tomorrow morning?" Rachel questioned quietly, snuggling down into her blanket.

"Hopefully, we can find out more about the break-in," Penny replied just as quietly. "And I have to find the owner of the trinket." The room went quiet after that.

Not long after, Penny heard light snores coming from Rachel, signalling that she was asleep. She and Amelia were still wide awake, with Amelia reading a book and Penny watching the TV with the volume down.

"Aren't you going to sleep?" Penny questioned Amelia, her green eyes glued to the screen.

"My mind is distracted," Amelia answered. "And anyway, I'm not sleepy."

"Me either," Penny said, turning to face her best friend. "I don't know how those two could fall asleep so easily."

"They're just tired," Amelia chuckled softly. "Let them be."

Amelia then picked up her book and Penny turned to the TV and picked up the remote to change the channel. She finally landed on an humourous cartoon series that she enjoyed thoroughly.

Amelia kept on reading the Enid Blyton book she was reading when a thought niggled at the back of her mind. She turned to face Penny again, "Was anything else stolen besides the drafts?"

"Lia, I thought we weren't going to talk about this until next morning." Penny sighed.

"Answer me now, Penny Batrisyia Knight," Amelia said through gritted teeth, knowing Penny hated it when she was called by her full name -- especially by Amelia.

"I don't think anything else had been stolen. And I really don't get why anyone would steal your plot--" Penny stopped mid-sentence, her eyes widening. She gave Amelia a knowing look.

"Oh my God," Amelia gasped in shock, dropping the book she was holding.

"Amelia, this is it. Why would anyone steal your drafts? They're just story ideas," Penny's eyes got even wider, if it was even humanely possible.

"Unless their target was revenge," Amelia could barely whisper out, her eyes full of shock. Her heart started beating faster. The two girls stared at each other, the look of shock on their faces were crystal clear. Amelia finally croaked out what they both had in mind, "Penny... someone's seeking revenge."

There was only one question left.

Who could have done it?