One Chance

Chapter 6

I wake up on my own and see that we are still on our way back. I slowly look to my side to see Toby focusing on the road ahead so I pretend to still be asleep. 

I slowly open my eyes occasionally to look at him and admire him. His chiseled jaw and clean shaved face make me want to giggle to myself. But I don't make any sounds just so I can stare at him without getting caught. 

When I see him shifting slightly, I immediately close my eyes to not get caught. I don't even know why I am sleeping at this point, but I do know I don't want him to know I was staring. 

At this point i realize I do like him. I desperately want to get to know him but I want to be sure of how he feels just so I don't make things awkward between us. I wish there is a way to know for sure how he feels too. 

I can feel his eyes on me or maybe I am just imagining it. I decide sitting is silence is better than pretend sleeping, so I open my eyes and at that moment I catch Toby staring right at me. 

For a minute I don't say anything. It's just us staring at each other. Lucky for me I notice that the car isn't moving either, so I take the opportunity to say " oh, we have reached."

I look out to see the restaurant and quickly adjust myself to remove the seat belt. For a few seconds neither of us say anything. " I'll leave first then. Thank you for giving me a ride." I quickly get off the car and walk to the entrance of the restaurant a little disappointed that he kept quiet. 

To my surprise he follows and stands beside me. While I try to read his face to get an idea as to what he's thinking, he says" I am glad I could give you a ride. I hope you are coming to the bookstore opening on Saturday. I'm really looking forward to seeing you then! I should get going, I have something to take care of. Get home safe. " He nods after this, gets in his car and drives away. 

I stand in the same spot a little shocked, happy and confused. I shake my head to wake myself up completely debating whether to go inside the restaurant or go home. Deciding against disturbing Amanda while she's working, I slowly walk home. 

I go home, take a quick shower and catch up on some work. After a few hours, I make dinner and leave it on the table. I decide to watch some TV while I wait for Amanda to return. 

I'm deeply engrossed in the show Treehouse Masters that I don't even notice Amanda sitting beside me. I almost let out a small scream when I notice her. 

She ends up laughing at my stupidity. " Hahaha, who told you to be so occupied with the TV and not be aware of your surroundings. What if someone broke in? You wouldn't even know it!! I'm telling you this is a big problem."

"Ughhhh, sometimes I forget you sound a lot like my mom. I don't even blame you but let me off the hook this one time please, I'm missing the show." I say quickly before turning to watch the show. 

Amanda gets up sighing and brings out plates of food to us on the sofa. " Here, eat at least. " 

When the show is done, we wash the utensils and clean the kitchen. As I am about to go to my room Amanda stops me and asks me to stay back for a while. " I need to film a new song for my YouTube channel tonight. Will you help, please? " She asks almost pleading like I have ever refused her. 

We go to her room and set up the equipment. She sits on a stool and starts singing in her angelic voice and I almost shed a few tears. The song is called " True love". It makes me so happy  to see her write and sing her own songs and be brave enough to share them with the world. That's something I learn from her every day. She puts herself out there and is very confident in her ability. 

We are done with everything an hour later. I lazily lay down on her bed as she goes to freshen up. As soon as she is done, she comes and lays down next to me. 

" That's a beautiful song, one of my favorites. " I say. " So, what is your inspiration? I haven't seen you write a love song in so long." 

" Well, if you must know it is about Meg and Olivia the restaurant owners. They have been together for 15 years now. I was talking to Olivia the other day about how she and Meg met, and inspiration flowed soon after. One thing that really stuck with me was that she says the hardest thing for her 15 years ago wasn't falling in love with another women but getting everyone else to agree to it. She said the best decision she ever made was to marry Meg who she called was the first person she ever fell in love with", Amanda says with tears in her eyes.

"Do you think we will find love like that one day", I say out loud almost talking to myself. 

"Well, I guess I thought I found love once but it didn't last, that doesn't mean it wasn't love but then I am not sure I'll ever find love again. You never know though, if the right person shows up, it's totally possible to feel like you have found the one”, Amanda replies.

I’m almost in tears by the time she finishes. We stay there for a while not saying anything until I feel too sleepy and go back to my room. 

The next two days go by as quickly as they came. Nothing remotely interesting happens. But on Friday night Amanda comes and sits with me after dinner while i am too updating my Novel on my laptop. 

" I see you are finally updating your novel now. It has been a while since I have seen you do this! “she says with a smile on her face. 

I finish typing and close the laptop before turning towards her. " Yeah, it has been a while, I guess I got too busy and today I finally felt like writing. " 

" So, anything inspiring you from your life then?", She asks half jokingly and half questioningly. 

" Well, after the car ride with Toby I guess I needed an outlet to figure things out. I still don't know how he feels but I know I do like him." I say quietly. 

" Well, isn't tomorrow the bookstore opening? why don't you ask him out after that? If he agrees then that's great, if not then at least you will know how he feels right?" She advices and I nod with uncertainty. 

" I guess you are right. I'll do it then! " I say feeling a little encouraged. 

" Well...that only means one thing. You need to dress to impress tomorrow and I am helping you till we find the perfect one" says Amanda with a sparkle in her eyes and I can't help but smile at my best friend without whom I would be so lost. 

" Let's go!!!" We say together and head to my room. 

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Author's note: I hope you like what you have read so far. If you like the chapter, can you please vote!

Thank you for reading regardless, it's my first time writing a story and its been exciting!