What He Left Behind

Eight

That Friday, I go to the mall with Amber so she can take me to what is, according to her, Sacramento's best ice cream parlour. I still haven't gotten used to socialising again. I'm not nervous as such; I'm not exactly shy after all. The concept just feels a bit foreign still. As we walk into the crowded restaurant and take a seat in a booth towards the back, I browse through the menu. We chat about school and work and other things and Amber persuades me to try the cookie dough ice cream as it's apparently the best in all of California.

"So do you like it here?" Amber asks me, once we've had our orders taken, "In Sacramento I mean?"

"Yeah," I say honestly, "I wasn't sure at first but it suits me a lot better than Detroit. The people here are nicer than back home." That's not a lie. Sure, life is far from perfect but at least I don't have half the state looking at me like I'm wounded or friends that only talk to me because they want to know my business. I don't hide away in my room all day like I did back home. I definitely go to school a lot more than I used to, and I don't get into fights anymore, although Coral's testing me.

The best part is that I don't have to deal with people feeling sorry for me all the time. I know they were only trying to be nice, but it drove me insane when everyone kept saying 'Sorry for your loss,' as though sorry would bring my brother back. Sorry isn't going to change the fact that they did nothing when I needed help most, or that I lost the one person that meant something to me.

"That's good. Do you keep in touch with your friends from back home?"

"No," I rebuke, "I didn't have any friends back home."

"Really?" she asks, surprised.

"Yeah, I wasn't the most popular person back then," I explain, "And I didn't much care for any of the idiots I went to school with."

"That's crazy," she exclaims, "You seem so good with everybody here. I can't see how anyone wouldn't like you."

"Amber."

"Come on, it's true. School is so clique orientated and everyone falls into the clique that's most suited to them and then doesn't socialise with anyone else. Even I'm guilty of doing that. But you're different. You're so confident. You talk to whoever you want and people love you for it. Even Charlie Hemmingway can't keep away from you."

I laugh a little. "I guess I'm a lot different here to how I was back home."

"What changed?"

"I wanted to start fresh here. My teachers were always complaining that I needed to get my temper in check and get my attendance up or whatever. So I just thought I'd try and start myself on the right path here. I do like chatting with people, as long as they have at least a few functioning brain cells, which most people in Detroit didn't. Then, I mean, Charlie didn't give me any choice but to hang out with him. And you guys are pretty awesome; I like hanging out with y'all."

"I also think it's cool that you never change who you are depending on who you're around."

"Yeah well, it takes a lot to intimidate me. And I don't believe in treating people differently because of their social status or whatever. I've never been one for trying to fit in if I'm not feeling it," I say, thinking back to Austin and how he eventually got tired of trying to fit in.

"True, but I'll admit I judge people based on their reputation. I know I shouldn't but take Charlie for example; I heard he's bad news so I stayed away. You're possibly the first girl that's gotten to know him in a non-sexual way, and suddenly there's this whole new side of him. I'm kind of excited to see them play tomorrow."

"Me too."

I'm flattered that Amber seems to think so highly of me, but I'm ninety nine per cent sure I wouldn't be as accepting of Charlie if it wasn't for Austin. If it wasn't for Austin, I would probably stereotype Charlie as a womanising waste-of-space troublemaker and avoid him just the same as any sane person would.