Hurricane Love

Thirty

I lay down on my bed in my towel after an hour long shower and I finally caved. I sobbed for as long as my body would let me and I screamed into my pillow, dug my nails into my mattress and kicked at my duvet, letting out all of my frustration.

At the campsite, Abbie had pulled me back to our tent where she'd packed for the both of us as I stared into space. After that, I sat on the grass staring at Ryker's tent as the rest of the group drank by the campfire and Abbie put down our tent. After that began the walk through the trees to the footpath and down to the main gates where Mrs. Baker was waiting. We didn't say goodbye to anyone and that included Ryker; I'd been tempted to go into his tent to tell him I was leaving, just to see if he'd calmed down enough to talk to me without being hostile or possibly even say sorry for being short with me, but I was far too afraid to face further upsetting remarks from him considering I was already aching inside.

Now, I was finally home and it was currently pitch black in my room and my bags were still lying around my bedroom floor unpacked. After 45-minutes of crying, I got up, put on some pyjamas, pulled my wet hair up into a bun and climbed into bed, checking my phone for a message from Ryker but there was nothing. Sitting alone in the dark and thinking back over the whole weekend, I realised it had been a disaster from the very start and had finished with the ultimate nightmare. The thoughts set me off again and this time, I cried silently and the tears rolled down my cheeks as I blinked into the darkness.

Stan and Christine hadn't been home when Mrs. Baker had dropped me, but I eventually heard them return and they would also know I was back as soon as they spotted the muddy shoes lying in the hallway. I was certainly right, as not long after the door sounded, the footsteps came up the stairs and I squinted as the bedroom door swung open and let the light in.

'So you're back!' Stan stated, loudly. 'Well, I've got a bone to pick with you! Where the hell is the key for my cabinet? I know for a fact you stole alcohol to take on that camping trip and you won't bloody get away with it this time, Amelia.'

I stared at him blankly as I continued to cry and after getting no sassy response from me, he frowned and turned on my bedroom light as I closed my eyes and frowned.

'Amelia?' he said.

'Leave me alone,' I croaked, keeping my eyes closed as I sniffed to stop myself from breaking down.

'What's happened?' Stan asked me.

'Everything,' I said, in a shaky voice. 'Everything's fucked.'

With a face full of concern, Stan spun around and bolted down the stairs and not long after, Christine came up and entered the room, closing the door and slowly paced over to my bed.

'What's happened, Amelia?' she asked.

The second she spoke, her concerned and worried tone paired with the way she stared at me with her warm, gentle eyes tipped me over the edge and I broke down. My face scrunched up as my sobs came out loud and heavy as I tried to breathe and talk at the same time, coming out with nonsense.

'Hey, hey,' Christine said, rushing to the bed and wrapping her arms around me as I lay on her shoulder. 'Don't speak, just cry it out.'

I did as she said and cried for around ten minutes in her arms until I could finally breathe again and she slowly sat up and looked at me.

'Start to finish,' she said. 'No judgements.'

'I've been seeing Ryker,' I told her, as I sniffed and wiped my eyes and controlled my breaths.

'I know,' she said, calmly. 'What about it?'

'You know?' I asked.

'Amelia, I probably knew things were going to happen with that boy before you even knew it,' she said. 'When you stopped moping about over Mason, stopped coming home bitching about Ryker and actually seemed happy, I knew it was happening so I left you to it. Even though you told me nothing was going to happen, I knew it would eventually.'