Chapter 19

Amanda's POV

"Mom, you need to keep the fact that ' we know the father of Sam's baby ' as a secret ", I said while making an air quotation with my fingers."A real secret", I exaggerated the word secret.

"But Ammie, I guess we should tell her ", Mom took a sip of her coffee while we sat and discussed real important issues rather than gossiping about our relatives, like a normal daughter and mother, usually do.

"No, N + o = a NO ", I tried explaining her in mathematical language so that the concept of not telling Samarrah the secret directly varied with her mouth. I hated mathematics a lot but sometimes it added humor to our sentence so I used it, though this situation was a bit critical.

I took the coffee mug in my hand and walked upstairs towards Sam's room. "Don't tell her anything", I mouthed her from upstairs. My mom had a kind gentle heart that could be fooled easily, and that's why I kept saying the sentence "keep it a secret" to her after every hour.

Sam had left her room's door ajar and was busy applying a reddish shade of lipstick. Ugh, Sam, Gina and makeup. I knocked softly and she signaled me to come in with her hands. I walked silently towards her and sat on her bed. Once she was done applying her lipstick (which was an awfully long time), she sat down on her dressing table stool and began applying mascara. Was she freaking kidding me? I had come up to talk to her, not to get a makeup tutorial from her!!

"Did you take an appointment?" I finally questioned getting irritated by the silence.

Looking at me with the most boring expression anyone could ever put up, she spoke, "I clearly stated before, personal questions won't be answered". She then highlighted her cheeks with the blusher, which obviously got on my nerves. She was extremely obsessed with makeup, just like Gina and maybe that's why she had a better bonding with her compared to me. "Makeup soothes us and keeps us calm. It's our passion and that's what passions are for, right?" is what they both told me every time I questioned them.

"Well, too bad, 'Cause A) you are my fucking sister, so cut the personal bullshit. And B) it's not a question! It's a fucking necessity!" I half yelled-half spoke, losing my patience.

"What if I don't want to abort my child?" she challenged, raising her eyebrow.

"You can't even afford his diapers", I remarked sarcastically.

"Ammie, you can yell all you want, but I'm not a murderer for God's sake! I WILL NOT MURDER MY CHILD!!" she shouted, contradicting my abortion statement.

"It's not murdering for fuck's sake! You're only nineteen years old and you don't even earn! How the hell will you take the responsibility of the newborn when you can't even handle yourself?" I questioned. I couldn't just listen to her childish decisions calmly.

"What if his or her father comes back? He will be so mad at me when he comes to know that I aborted our child, that I killed our child", she spoke softly, her voice cracking at the threat of tears.

"Hmpf, he wouldn't even care", I said disgustedly. Little did she know that James, the so-called father of her baby didn't give a shit about my sister, he hadn't inquired once about Sam's health or well-being. Instead, he was busy making out with other girls, including me, her sister. The thought honestly made me feel like shit, but I was doing it for Sam.

She wiped a tear that had run down her cheek, cleared her throat, and replied, "You don't even know him."

Her statement hit me like a truck. I tried my best to not show it on my face 'cause that would've given everything away, but it ripped me apart from within. Seeing Sam cry had always been my weakness and it tore me every single time. It was like my own heart being stabbed. It hurt to see Sam's condition. But what hurt more was that I was so helpless right now. Sam was trying her best to put up her walls, to not let people see how broken she was from within, which indeed was very brave of her.

But this was it. I made sure that filthy-ass piece of shit James paid for the loss. I don't know how, but I would make his life a living hell. That was for sure.

"I may not know him, but I'm gonna make sure he pays for it. I promise." Saying so, I gave her a tight hug which she needed at the moment. Lying to Sam about not knowing James sure sucked. Like, A LOT. But in this situation, I would do all it takes to make my sister happy, to see her smile; a genuine one. That was all that mattered.

Pulling out of the hug, I kissed her forehead and rushed out of the room. I was running late to college so I just picked some raw sandwiches from the counter and stuffed them in my mouth like a hungry goat. I took the nearest taxi and as soon as I reached college, I sprinted to my class like my life depended on it.

For the first time in my entire life, I couldn't wait for my lecture to begin. You know, only so that it could end soon, and I could speak to the two idiots I needed the most right now; aka Gina and Francis.

So as soon as class was over, I grabbed my food and went to our table and waited for them to arrive. You know how when you're waiting for someone/thing to happen or arrive, time just seems to be slowed on purpose? Yeah, that's exactly how I felt waiting for Gina and Francis, who totally seemed to be taking their sweet time to come. After what seemed like ages, they finally turned up and Gina sat next to me and France opposite us.

"You totally won't believe what happened," I spoke, purposely creating drama so that they get interested. (Not that they won't.)

"Then tell us, idiot." Gina pulled my hair.

"Yeah but stop pulling my hair first," I said, giving her a pointed look, which she returned.

I narrated them the whole story of the night at Pallapora town and they listened to me in bewilderment, not interrupting me even once. I couldn't look at them straight in the eye because I felt that they'll judge me, which obviously they didn't and I was relieved. Never in my lifetime had I imagined getting such amazing best friends (who also acted like jerks some times, but well, yeah okay). At least something in my life was always constant; their friendship.

"Ammie, it's alright. Don't worry, you've got us with you, sweetie." Gina said while side hugging me for comfort.

I sighed, "That's because you don't know the other part of the story."

"We've still got you."

"Then tell us"

Gina and Francis spoke at the same time, earning France a glare from Gina and me

I cleared my throat and continued, "It's just that," I paused for a while before continuing. "James is not just another stranger or co-worker."

"Then who is he? a serial killer?" Francis remarked sarcastically.

Every sarcastic comment I've ever received is either from France or from Mr. Reynolds. Mostly from Mr. Reynolds only, but..... Oh well, and now my mind was drowning in the ocean of his thoughts, AGAIN.

Gina's voice got me out of my thoughts, "Can you be serious for once Francis?!"

"Okay, sorry!" Francis defended.

"I really don't know how to start." I looked down.

"Come on, how bad can it be?" Gina assured.

"Way worse than you can imagine", I spoke under my breath.

"Huh?" They spoke together.

"Alright, okay. I'll get straight to the point without beating around the bush." I made a ponytail out of my hair, and then got back to explaining "James was, um, Samarrah's ex-boyfriend."

"It's okay, we live in the twenty-first century", Gina looked at me and gave the most pleasant smile.

"He's um", I started, "the one who got Sam pregnant and I don't know how to react", I spoke in a single breath and face-palmed myself.

"Son of a bitch!" They both said in synchronization.

"Jinx!"

"Jinx again!!" Oh hell no.

"Guys, Really?"

"Sorry", France said sheepishly.

"Is Sam okay?" Gina questioned, getting all serious about Sam. She was always like an elder sister to Sam, and thanks to 'makeup', well they're extremely close.

"She actually isn't, but she's being strong and not showing it on her face", I said with a sad smile and continued, "Pay her a visit, try to make her happy; but don't tell her anything about the pregnancy or James."

"But you're coming along right?" Francis questioned.

"Although I want to, I really cannot. I've got some extremely important work to do; which also includes threatening someone's existence on Earth", I said, smirking evilly.

"Aaron or James?" Gina asked.

Really, Gina? Aaron? Sweetie even I don't call him that. "A) It's Mr. Reynolds, not Aaron; and B) James is the evil one for now."

"Jealous much?" Francis prompted and burst out laughing. If looks could kill, he'd be dead by now.

"Real funny France", I grumbled. "Anyway, I got to go. I'll catch you'll later. Don't forget about Sam and remember what I said. Bye!"

"Okay! Good luck with James, and yeah, we've got your back in whatever you do. Don't fuck up!"

"Thanks, Gina! That really helped!" I replied sarcastically.