pretty boy

8. amelia

Amelia thought she knew what if felt like to be uncomfortable, she was a teenager after all. But what she felt in that moment brought a whole new meaning to the word. The second her father walked through the door, she watched as Steph's hand twitched in an attempt to grab her gun. If she was being completely honest with herself, she wouldn't have minded that much if she had pulled it out.

The last time Amelia saw her father, it was at the custody hearing. During the entire divorce her parents had done nothing but fight and argue and swear. At the hearing, Amelia was mentally and physically exhausted. She hadn't sleep two days prior nor had she eaten much through-out the entire divorce. After hearing both her parents speak, the Amelia was surprised to hear her own name called up. What surprised her most what what she was asked.

"Amelia, who do you want to stay with?"

The question made her heart stop. She loved her father, she really did, and the same with her mother. Her mind flashed back to the reason behind the divorce; the sexuality of her mother. To make a long story short, her father wasn't happy with her mother coming out. The things he said that night still haunted Amelia sometimes.

She looks at her father and remembered the look of hate and anger. Then, she looked to her mother and remembered the fear and heartbreak in her eyes. The same look she wore then. Amelia knew her choice.

Still still doesn't regret staying with her mom, not even the slightest. Her mother wasn't a heartless monster and even agreed to having Amelia visit her father on weekends. Amelia agreed with it, but the Saturday after the hearing, her father disappeared.

Occasionally she got a card or something for her birthday, but nothing on where he went or why. So him showing up like this out of the blue made her a little more than upset. But none the less, she was going to play nice, just like her mother asked.

"Good evening Stephanie, Holly." He said respectfully. Then he looked at her, "Amelia, sweetheart."

He moved towards her, as if to hug her, but she took as step back. Maybe it was the right choice, maybe it wasn't, but at that moment she couldn't do it. She couldn't forget the fact that he left without a trace, the fact that he didn't care enough to try and see her before, the fact that he let his close-minded beliefs tear her family apart.

He noticed her movement and stopped his advances. Amelia saw the heartbreak in eyes but pushed aside the guilt rising in he throat. She worked hard to build up her walls, and she wouldn't let them fall now.

The silence was beginning to enter awkward before her mother cleared her throat. "Well um, dinner is almost ready, I just have to set the table."

Greg nodded and moved over to the living room. Amelia watched Steph's eyebrow twitch at the way he acted as if he were completely welcomed with opened arms. If she was honest, Amelia was quite annoyed as well. However, she follows him to the couch and took a seat next to him as he turned on the television.

Holly and Steph went into the kitchen to prepare, leaving Amelia in an uncomfortable silence with her father. She did her best to keep her eyes locked on the screen in front of her, but her body betrayed her and constantly snuck glances at the man who had abandoned her. He looked the same, only a growing beard showed the his aging.

It seemed like he couldn't stand the silence either because after a few more moments of silence between them, he turned to her. "Amelia, baby girl," He began with a cautious smile, "You look beautiful."

She shifted in her seat. "Thank you." She muttered.

His smile grew a bit, "So how are you doing in school? Anyone special catch your eye yet?"

She wanted to scream at him. To yell and cry and break things. She wanted him to know how much he hurt her. She wanted to hear a reason, not some awkward small talk you'd hear at a family reunion.

"I'm at the top of all my classes." She said shakily. Breath. She told herself. Keep your composure. Stay calm. "And no, there isn't anyone I'm interested in." The only person that she could say that "caught her attention" was Brooklyn Quinn, and she was in no way going to talk about him.

"Oh."

They were saved from another awkward silence by her mother calling them in for dinner. Amelia all but jumped out of her seat and dashed into the dining room. The table was set with Steph and Holly siting next to one another and Amelia next to Greg.

After washing her hands, she sat at her seat and began eating. Soon enough the adults around her began to file in and eat as well. All was well for a while, no one spoke, but this silence was better than the one from before. Not completely comfortable, but not completely awkward.

That was, until Greg decided to speak.

"So, I came here for a reason." He began. "I wanted to ask Amelia if she wanted to stay with me for a while."

At that moment, you could hear a pin drop the the floor. Steph had her fork stopped halfway to her mouth and her mother, she looked like she was just shot.

"I'm sorry, what did you just say?" Her voice as barely above a whisper. Amelia felt her hear break at the sound of it.

"Well, we do have joint-custody-"

"Something you lost when you left!" Holly all but shouted.

Greg winced, "I know, that was immature of me-"

This time Steph cut him off.

"No, being immature is egging a car. Being immature is name calling and fart jokes. What you did was more than immature."

He glared at her, "I am aware of that now. I came here to fix that, and I think Amelia deserves to know her father cares for her."

"You stopped being her father when you walked away!"

They continued to fight and yell. Amelia felt as if the walls were closing around her. Her head pounded at the sounds of their screams. Her chest closed on her and she felt as if she had no air. She was drowning.

"STOP IT!" She yelled.

Almost immediately everything stopped. All eyes went to her. Tears slowly built up in her eyes and everyone forgot their argument.

"Oh baby girl i'm sorry-" Greg started.

"No, no! Leave me alone!" She cried. "You left me without looking back! You can't come here and excepted me to come back with open arms. Just leave!" Her voice broke toward the end.

Without a word, Greg got up and left. Steph and Holly watched him go before turning to Amelia once again.

Holly got up, "Amelia I-"

She shook her head, "Please." She begged in a broken whisper, "I just want to go to bed."

Holly nodded and let her go. As soon as she began walking away, she broke down into her lover who simply held her in comfort.

Amelia got to her room and broke down. She cried for what felt like hours until she decided to put on her pajamas. As she changed, she caught a glance of herself in the mirror, red, blotchy eyes, tear tracks down her face, she looked weak; fragile, things she promised herself she wouldn't be ever again.

As she fell into her bed, she felt her eyes tear up again, her walls had fallen, and she didn't know if she could rebuild them again.