|Lyric's POV|
She seemed so lifeless before. She had looked as if she lost all hope. I never imagined this side of her was possible. Her skin is pale. Paler than I ever imagined possible. Her eyes are puffy. Puffier than I've ever seen before. She hasn't said a word in hours. She just sits and stares at her phone. She's waiting. She's waiting for them to call. She's waiting to hear more. She's thinking, too. She's thinking about ways she could've fixed things. She's thinking about how to tell her family. She's thinking of ways to end her own life.
I don't blame her. I would, too. I can only imagine how painful it is finding out that the one person you love the most in the world is gone. That they will never come back. That you will never see them again—even in passing. It has to be the most painful thing in the world.
"We should do something—" I speak up as I sit down beside her. I take her hand in mine and smile at her.
"No." She whispers softly as she delicately places my hand in my lap.
"We have to. I know it hurts, but you can't let this break you down. Let me try and help you." I insist as I grab her arm and pull her to her feet.
"I don't want to." She shakes her head as she tries to escape my grasp again.
What can I do to help her accept what's happened? What can help fill the pain? Alcohol.
"Let's go get a drink. We can come back after a bit. I promise we won't be long." I force a smile and attempt to drag her toward the door.
"A drink? What if they call? What if they need me to do something? I still haven't called her mom. I don't know if I can." Amelia begins breaking down again.
"It's just a drink. It'll be fine." I insist as she seems to finally give into my suggestion.
"Just one—then I have to come back. I have to be here." Amelia closes her eyes tightly and take a shaky breath as we stand near the door.
"She'd want you to be happy, wouldn't she? Isn't that why she broke up with before following through? She wanted you to hate her before she did it. She thought if she dumped you, you wouldn't care." I try to paint the reality she can't seem to see. If she loved Amelia as much as it seems, she would never have left her without a reason.
"If she wanted me to be happy, she shouldn't have left. She should've stayed." Amelia whispers as she slips her feet into her boots.
"Sometimes it's too hard to do what's right. Sometimes, we all have to be selfish. Being selfish is necessary sometimes. I'm selfish with my pills. I know they can hurt me. I know I shouldn't use them. I know that my family would be devastated and disgusted, but I do it for me. In a way, you're being selfish now. You're saying she shouldn't be happy because you aren't. She's free of her pain, but now you have pain. You want her back, even though it was painful for her. That's selfish. I understand why you're being selfish, most people would, but it's still being selfish. She was selfish, too, everyone is at some point. It just so happens that being selfish for her was deadly." I try to explain as carefully as I can, but there's no easy way around the truth. She's dead. She was so selfish that she took herself away from the world.
Amelia nods weakly as she follows me out into the hall. She stares at the ground as I lead her toward the elevator. How can I help fix this? I just met her yesterday. I don't know anything about her. I can't just give her one of her favorite foods or something. I have to try and blindly discover the best approach. It's not going to be easy, but it needs to be done.
"Amelia?" A soft voice mumbles as two girls slip passed us.
"Hm?" Amelia sighs as she lifts her head and glances toward the girls.
"Is it really you, Mia?" A slender girl with long brown hair turns to face us. Her eyes are puffy and her hands bandaged.
"Leigh?" Amelia's face brightens just a bit as runs toward the girl with open arms.
"I thought you were gone. I thought they sent you somewhere far away." The girl begins crying as Amelia holds her tightly. She takes her face in her hands and places a soft kiss on her forehead.
"I didn't go anywhere. I was always there. I just had a lot more wrong with me than you did." Amelia takes the girl's hands in hers and swings them back and forth as her face slowly shifts from complete sorrow to the slightest glimpse of hope.
"I missed you so much! I just—I didn't know what to do without you. They're dead, Mia. My parents are dead." The girl begins to fall apart in Amelia's arms.
"Baby—I'm so sorry! I had no idea." Amelia pulls the girl towards her and holds her tightly as she tangles her fingers in her hair.
I glance over at the other girl. She smiles sweetly as she awkwardly rubs at her arm. I return her smile and nudge her playfully.
"I'm Lyric." I mumble softly, not wanting to disturb the reunion of the century.
"ChaeRyeong." She nods as she lowers her guard a bit.
"Do you guys want to come with us? I was taking Amelia to get a drink, she's not having the best day already. I figured it can't hurt to drink, even if it's before noon." I chuckle as I try to ease the awkwardness.
"That actually sounds good. These past few days haven't been the best for us either." ChaeRyeong stares happily as we both stare at the two girls who seem like they'll never let each other go.