glitched | ✔️

e l e v e n

Chelsie POV

Five months. Five months without seeing my best friend.

I had told her to be strong, and I knew she would be strong.
But me? I wasn't the fighter? I was just the tag-along.
I would miss her like heck.

I pulled a pillow over my head and held it there, closing my eyes.
I hoped that Peter wouldn't tell Yulia I had snuck out the see Amara.

I had unfollowed her on Instalife- because that was another connection the HH would be able to track.
At least her account was public, so I would be able to scroll through her photos, missing her like crazy.

Amara and I....
We were closer than sisters.

When my mother had mysteriously disappeared Amara had been there, comforting me and giving me strength to go on.

And the things she told me.
I was the only one who knew how messed up her family really was, under the surface.

How her mother's hard childhood has made it so she is distant from her own kids.

How her father and mother barely even spoke, and how he always appeared so zen and calm, when in reality he was detached from the world.

How Emma, her little sister, was going through some serious sh*t that her distant mother and overly chill father didn't acknowledge.

And how little Hunter just wanted to be loved by his mom and dad, but they were never there to love him.

Amara had held the family together. And as I scrolled through Emma's Instalife posts I saw the cold truth.
Without Amara there the family was crumbling.

Her parents were in a middle of a divorce, and Emma...
Emma didn't look so good.

I hurt for my best friend.
The only consolation is that I didn't think she knew yet...
and hopefully she wouldn't find out until she was in a better state of mind.

I began to type on my phone.

You better get her dog back for her.

I wasn't expecting a reply, but one came a few minutes later.

Think it'll make her like me again? Right now she actually hates me.

I grimaced. Amara was probably furious at Peter right now, and he didn't deserve it. He was just trying to keep us safe.

It's worth a shot. She doesn't forgive easily, but once she does she forgives wholeheartedly. Ha, have fun being on her bad side though. It is not pleasant.

Peter's reply was quick.

Okay. Thanks.

I put my phone on silent than plugged it into the charger, setting it on my nightstand.

I put in some earplugs to cancel out the sound of the traffic outside, for it still wasn't curfew.
Yeah, curfew.
The HH had put one in place once he gained control. If you were caught outside after 1:00am you would be fined a large sum of money.

I closed my eyes, drifting off to sleep.

•••

I woke up to the smell of waffles.

Was I in heaven? Kidnapped?
Because there was no accompanying smell of smoke.
And Yulia couldn't bake to save her life.

I was out of bed in a second, and down the stairs.
Yulia was standing in the kitchen, taking the maple syrup and strawberries out of the fridge.

A plate of steaming blueberry waffles sat on the counter.

She grinned at my baffled expression.
"A friend made them for me, I thought you would be needed some comfort food after yesterday..."

I looked down at my toes.
"Peter told you?"

She nodded.
"Don't be mad at him for telling. He only told me because he knew I would understand, and knew that I could help you. I'm sure he didn't tell Amara's guardians. They wouldn't be quite as chill about it as I am."

And he doesn't want to dig himself a grave.

I could only grunt in approval. I wasn't a morning person; let's just leave it at that.

"I'm sorry Yulia. I just had to see her. We've been joined at the hip for years and suddenly being torn away from one another..."
I fought back tears.
"It's just hard."

Yulia reached out and took my hand.

"I'm not blaming you. The same thing happened with me when I was taken in to Liberty for the Bounded. Except for my best friend wasn't eligible to join us. But after I graduated high school and went to collage Liberty for the Bounded arranged for us to be roommates, and I was able to make up a story about where I had disappeared to. She's the one who made the waffles."

I chewed slowly.
It was odd that she wasn't mad at me.
My father had practically blown his top off every time I had broken a rule before, even if it was playing a simple prank with Amara.

"Just don't let it happen again. I don't want you, or your friend in danger. Okay?"

I nodded.
"You don't have to worry about it. I don't want her hurt either."

Yulia smiled and squeezed my hand before clearing her plate from the table and bringing it to the sink.

"Good. Now why don't you text your friend Olivia and see if she can hang out?"

I hesitated.

"Come on, it's your last year of high school. Live it to its fullest!"

It's hard to live to your fullest when you're in hiding under a fake identity.

But I pulled out my phone anyway and sent a quick message to Olivia.

Wanna hang out today? I'm available for the mall or whatever you want to do.

Sure, meet you there in an hour. I've gotta be back at six tho.

Sounds good. See you soon.

Her response was a simple thumbs up. I pocketed my phone and headed upstairs to get ready to go.

A bath bomb later and I was clean and dry. I straightened my curly hair and did my makeup, slipping into a pair of ripped black jeans and a white crop top.

Than I was in the car, being driven to the mall to hang with a friend.
I pushed all thoughts of Amara out of my mind and pasted a smile on my face.

•••

Hope y'all enjoyed the chapter, even though it was one of my slower ones. Things will speed up soon, but right now I'm focusing mainly on some character development. :)