Deal With It ✓

Four: An Awkward Mess

Song: Believe It // PARTYNEXTDOOR & Rihanna 

———————————

Amber spent an unnatural amount of her day cooped up in our dad's study. Sometimes, she'd eat in there by herself, or fall asleep in his armchair (which meant that I had to carry her back to bed). Ever since the incident with the principal, she's grown more distant, but she had stopped crying at night and got her shit together.

And while she isolated herself from me, I grew more lonely which resulted in me drowning myself in work. We had a big house, courtesy of my dad and his distaste for small spaces, and the constant silence drove me up the wall with madness.

After graduating from university, I realized that most of the friendships I built in those four years were completely superficial, so it didn't affect me when we lost contact with each other.

But the fact that I didn't have any friends was slowly starting to hole its way into my brain, and sometimes, as I sat in our spacious, empty house by myself, that was all I could think of.

I had no one.

But it wasn't the right time to make friends, I wouldn't be able to pay them any attention, and so there was a chance we would also lose contact.

I could barely maintain my relationship with Amber.

———————————

"Amber, get down here! You still didn't eat breakfast and we're leaving in five!" I yelled upstairs as I draped my tie around my neck.

I didn't hear her signature thump and started growing frustrated, "Amber! Come on, you have to go to school today! You're still making up for those assignments you missed!"

I was met with silence instead and so I started growing worried. I made my way upstairs towards her bedroom's general direction.

I knocked on her door and opened it to be met with darkness, "Amber?" I whispered my gaze landing on what looked like a ball in the center of her bed.

I turned on the lights and saw Amber curled in the center of her bed, clutching her stomach in what looked like pain.

At the sight, I scrambled towards her, "Amber? Amber, what's wrong?" I asked worryingly, my hands hovering above her figure, scared to touch her and make it worse.

She let out a groan and clenched her eyes shut, "My stomach hurts." She mumbled. "My back too."

"Okay. Okay, okay. That's fine–" I started.

Her eyes shot open and she cut me off, "No, it's not! It really hurts, Dyl." She whined, her tone laced with pain and anger.

"It's okay–" I reassured her. But when she glared at me, I clamped my mouth shut instead. "I'll call up the school and tell them you're that you're going to be absent, then I'll call Lillian and tell her to cancel everything I had scheduled for today. We'll go to the doctor's, alright?"

"No!" She sounded. "No doctors, no hospitals."

I didn't understand why she was acting like she was going to give birth anytime now, but I didn't comment on her overreaction, opting to be more reasonable.

I stared at her curled figure, "But Amber, I don't know what to do. What if there's something wrong with you? They can figure it out and help you get better." I tried to sway her decision.

She slapped my hands, annoyed and looked me dead in the eyes, "No doctors." She gritted out. "I'll just deal with it, can you get me some painkillers?"