Finding Amity

Chapter 30

After I answered a call from the bank confirming the transaction, claiming it was a business investment in a friend, the money was transferred to whoever was blackmailing my friends and we sat in the living room silently. Isaac stared at the phone in his hand, as if awaiting another message, another problem.

"We should go." Pippa said. She was looking at me, but her hand reaching out to Cruise's arm.

"You guys can hang out." Isaac assured them. "I'll drive Amity home."

Pippa looked to me for assurance, but I nodded to her. I can't possibly know the stress they've been under, I'm not going to use my act of generosity to force people to hang out with me. I don't want to be that kind of person.

I followed Isaac out to his car. It was parked half-way down the road beside a dog park, and the second I saw the car I understood why he parked so far away. It was a tiny burgundy sedan, but you could barely tell under the peeling paint and freckles of rust over the hood. It looked older than either Isaac and I, and maybe even our parents.

"I promise it only breaks down half of the time." Isaac muttered. "I should be able to get you back home in one piece."

"Hopefully." I laughed as I reached for the door handle.

Inside the seats had that weird 90's pattern that you always find on buses, but it was extremely clean. I could tell that, even though it wasn't a nice car, he valued it a lot and kept it tidy. A black ice scented pine tree hung from the rearview mirror.

"This is nice." I said simply. Isaac rolled his eyes at me, turning on the engine.

"Dont patronise me."

"I'm not." I explained. "Its just... I can tell you take care of it. When was it made? 1990's?" He nodded. "Its in really good shape."

"I do." He mumbled. "Take care of it, I mean."

I nodded, silence falling over us as he pulled onto the road and headed back to campus. I had only driven this way when I was drunk and it was dark. I never noticed the snowcapped mountain tops that bordered us and the pine forests that painted the land surrounding us. It was truly beautiful.

"Amity," Isaac started. I turned to him smiled. "Thank you. I know I already said that, but I want you to know that I really, really appreciate what you've done. And I promise, I will pay you back."

"You really don't have to." I explained. "Seriously, it was nothing."

"Its not nothing." He swallowed. "It's $25,000. I know you didn't earn that working at Toy-Land, so I'm assuming you have to take the fall when your parents ask where that money went-"

"Isaac, it's not like that."

"I don't believe you, at 18, have 25 grand lying around."

"Well, you'd be wrong." I muttered.

"Amity," His eyes softened as he turned to me, a small sad smile across his lips. I quickly looked back to his eyes, hoping he hadn't noticed. He flicked on his blinker and parked on the side of the road before turning to me. "How do you have that money?"

My fingers fumbled together, cracking the tiny bones in my hands out of nervous habit. I promised myself that no one would know what happened. I swore to never be that "little orphan Annie". But when I looked into his golden brown eyes I forgot all those oaths I'd made to myself, and all I wanted was to tell him everything.

"My parents passed away a couple of years ago." I sighed. I watched as Isaac's gaze flittered from me, to the road, to the dashboard, back to me, the discomfort of realising what he had been asking me to share.

"I'm sorry, I didn't- You don't have to explain." He stuttered.

"No, it's okay." I said. "They had a lot of money, and they left it to me, for when I turned 18. It's been sitting in that account ever since. My guardian, Carrie, she gave me a small college fund and I was living off that and my scholarship money until I got the job at Toy-Land. I'm happy to spend it on helping out you guys. It never felt right to waste it away selfishly." I looked down at my hands and laughed. "I've never told anyone here, not even Pippa."

"Thank you," He repeated. "Not just for the money, but for sharing that with me."

He reached out and held my hand in his, the motion sending my heart into overdrive, then it returned to the steering wheel. I tried to silence the guilty thoughts that swirled in my head when I remembered Dustin, my almost kind of boyfriend.

"And I promise I'll keep it to myself." He added. "Like you do for me."

I smiled at him, my eyes taking in his side profile. The tiny mole just beneath his eyebrow, the empty earring hole in his right ear I assumed was from his rebellious childhood, the way his soft brown hair seemed to fall in no particular style, but looked effortlessly flawless anyway.

"Wait," I thought aloud. "How did you know about my job at Toy-Land?"

Isaac seemed a little taken aback, colour meeting the apples of his cheeks.

"Have you been keeping tabs on me?" I asked jokingly. He swallowed visibly.

"I... sometimes, only sometimes, ask Pippa about you." He stumbled out, distracting himself by turning the car back on and pulling out onto the road. "Not in a weird way." He added frantically. "I just, every now and then ask Pippa "Hey, what's up with Amity", which is normal."

I laughed at his awkward stuttering. "Its okay, Isaac. I ask Pippa about you too- in a normal, not weird way."

"What kind of things do you ask?" He questioned.

"Usually it was along the lines of, "What is up with that weird sulky dude in the corner?"." I joked. He shook his head, but didn't stop the light smile that appeared on his face.

"So, do you have any plans today?" He asked.

"No, I don't think so..." I mumbled, but something tugged at my memory. "Oh my God, no I do." I groaned, looking at the time on the dashboard. It was clearly broken as it said 1:00am.

"What? Do you have a shift or something?"

"No, I'm supposed to be meeting Hadiya and Birdie and Marley at the campground in an hour, and I haven't even packed!"

"Why?" He questioned, no longer concerned for me, just confused.

"We're going camping. Kind of like a girls night type thing." I explained as we pulled up to the dorm rooms. "Thank you for the lift, I'll see you..." I trailed off. 

I had no idea when I'd see him again. We were now on good terms, but I still didn't think I'd be partying with him anytime soon. I doubt Dustin would appreciate me getting drunk with my ex-whatever-Isaac-is. 

"Soon." He offered for me. I nodded, stepping out of the car and hurrying to my dorm room.