I'm Fine

Chapter 6

The doorbell rang, loud and clear and echoing. Mum answered the door with a wide but worried smile. "Portia!" she cried, reaching out to hug Mrs Hamilton.

"Hazel, so nice to see you again," Mrs Hamilton said kindly.

"Come in, come in," said Mum, stepping out of the doorway.

Mrs Hamilton walked in first. She was wearing a flowy maroon and black dress, covered in whirly patterns and spots of rainbow colours positioned interestingly. Her heels clicked noisily, but she removed them at the doorway anyway. Mr Hamilton walked in after her, wearing a thick coat over a fancy formal blue shirt and stiff black pants.

Damian walked in and I hid my face. However, I noticed he was wearing jeans and a black top with grey patterns.

That left only Shay.

"Mrs Green! So nice to see you again," mused Damian, charming Mum with his cheesy act.

"Damian, nice to see you too," replied Mum, grinning politely.

I looked up at saw her standing there. Long brown hair, tall and tight-lipped, judging our home and furniture and choices and...

She grinned. "Mrs Green?" she asked, waiting for Mum to turn to her.

"Yes, dear?"

"Where's Imogen?" My heart thudded. No! This can't be happening...

"Hmm, she should be around here..."

"Here I am, Mum," I said, walking out from behind the side wall.

"Imogen, Shay, Damian, why don't you kids go up and talk? Us parents have some catching up to do ourselves, dinner will be served soon," Dad said, joining Mum with greeting the Hamilton's.

I nodded uncertainly. I don't want them in my room. Well, I don't want her in my room, to judge and gasp and comment and hate.

"Sure," I said anyway. I started walking and Damian and Shay followed behind me. I opened the door to my room and they walked inside, still not saying anything else.

"So..." I said, sitting down on my bed. Damian looked down at my beanbag and then looked at me. I smiled slightly and he sat down on my beanbag, spreading his arms wide like a starfish.

"Nice room," said Shay. She still didn't look pleased in any way, so I wasn't sure if the compliment was sincere or not.

"Here," I said, bringing out my desk chair for her to sit on. She sat down and I went back to sit on my bed.

We were sitting in a circle. Not talking. Not smiling. Just blinking, and looking, and feeling very very uncomfortable.

Suddenly, Shay broke the silence.

"Why'd you cut me off?" she asked, staring at me.

"Excuse me?"

"I said, why'd you cut me off? I called you before we came and you cut me off..." she said, her tone icy and mean.

"I...I, my phone died," I lied smoothly.

"Okay..." she replied, not believing me.

"So how's this town?" asked Damian, sitting up, or attempting to anyway, beanbags are very hard to control.

"Oh, it's nice."

"Are there any cool places to hang out?"

"There's a ma_"

"_How big!?" he said, interrupting me.

"Reasonable...I guess?" I replied, shrugging my shoulders.

"And by that you mean, small, right?" Shay looked at me. Her eyes were filled with rage and hate and...I gulped.

Shay's never gonna be my friend again, I'm just going to have to ignore her then. But that's going to be hard, especially since my Mum and Mrs Hamilton are college friends. They're probably going to have dinner at each other's houses every week!

"No, it's pretty large."

"Doubt it," she mumbled, although loud enough for me to hear.

"So...Imogen...you wanna go on another date sometime?" he asked, winking at me.

"No." I looked at him cautiously. Why? I thought Damian would hate me like Shay does, but I guess he might be different from her after all.

"Aww, please?"

"What? You guys had a date, already? We just arrived on Thursday!" Shay screeched, scowling at her brother.

"Eh, it's no biggie," he replied, shrugging his shoulders repeatedly.

"No biggie? I think it's a big biggie! Especially since she's the reason_!" her voice went cold. Damian stared at her. I stared at her.

"She's the reason that Josie is gone..." Her words stuck in my throat and I felt sick to my stomach.

Damian looked at me.
Shay glared at me.
I stared down at my hands.

She's the reason that Josie is gone...I'm the reason that Josie is gone.

I killed Josie.