CHAPTER TWO #2
“Why not?”
“Because then everyone sees us get rejected at the door.”
Amanda stared at her.
“Comforting.”
She looked Melissa over.
“Do you have something to wear?”
Melissa’s smile weakened.
“I’ll find something.”
“We could go shopping.”
“I can’t afford a dress.” “I’ll pay.”
“No.”
“Melissa.”
“Amanda, please.”
There was no anger in her voice this time. Only embarrassment.
“I’ll find something in my closet.”
Amanda recognized the boundary and reluctantly stepped back from it. “Then so will I.”
Melissa nodded.
“Good.”
“I’ll pick you up at seven.”
“You got it, dude.”
Amanda’s face went blank.
“Never say that again.”
Melissa laughed. For a moment, they were simply themselves again. Two best friends planning their first real party. Neither of them knew that by the end of the night, one would be crying and the other would be standing still when she should have followed.
By six forty-five that evening, Amanda had already changed outfits twice. She stood in front of the full-length mirror hanging on her bedroom door, turning slightly from side to side as she studied her reflection.
"What do you think?" she asked no one in particular. The mirror, unsurprisingly, had no opinion. Amanda smoothed invisible wrinkles from the skirt of her dress before laughing softly at herself.
"You've officially lost your mind."
Her room had become a disaster. Two dresses lay crumpled across her bed, another hung from the closet door, and at least six pairs of shoes had somehow ended up scattered across the carpet.
It wasn't that she cared what Maria thought. She didn't. She cared what one particular quarterback might think. Amanda picked up her hairbrush, running it through the loose waves that framed her face before checking the clock.
6:47 PM. She sighed dramatically.
"Melissa..."
Amanda called out to her in her bathroom.
"We're going to be late!"
Amanda laughed.
"I'm trying! I brought three outfits," Melissa groaned through the door.
"And every single one looks terrible."
Amanda rolled her eyes affectionately.
"That is literally impossible."
"You haven't seen them!"
"Pick one, Melissa."
"This is our first real party!"
Melissa's voice rose another octave. "John is going to be there!"
Amanda smiled.
"I noticed."
"I cannot look like I got dressed during a power outage!"
Amanda burst into laughter.
"You're overthinking it."
"Easy for you to say."
Melissa sighed heavily.
"Your dress probably costs more than my family's electric bill." Amanda's smile disappeared. The silence that followed felt heavier than either of them intended. Melissa immediately regretted saying it.
"...I'm joking."
Another pause.
"...Mostly."
Amanda looked down at the dress she was wearing. She'd never really thought about how different their lives looked from Melissa's perspective. To Amanda, it was just a dress her parents had bought because she liked the color.
To Melissa... It represented something her family simply couldn't afford. Amanda swallowed.
"Melissa..."
"Hm?"
"I don't care what you're wearing tonight." She meant every word.
"I care that you're there."
The room went quiet. Then Melissa laughed softly.
"I know."
Amanda smiled.
"So stop hiding in my bathroom."
"You'll survive if my dress isn't designer?"
“Yes, Melissa.” Amanda playfully groaned.
Melissa laughed again.
"I'll be out in a second."
"You have exactly sixty seconds."
"And if I don't?"
"I'm coming inside."
"You don't know where I am."
Amanda rolled her eyes.
"I'll find it."
Amanda grinned. Another laugh drifted from the room. The kind Amanda hadn't heard enough lately.
"I'll be right out."
Amanda slipped her phone into her purse before glancing toward her bathroom door. A few moments later... The sound of a door creak loomed in the bedroom. Amanda looked up just as Melissa stepped into view.
She wore a simple black dress. Nothing flashy. Nothing expensive. No sparkling jewelry. No designer handbag. Just Melissa. She stopped in the doorway, suddenly looking much less confident than she'd sounded through the door.
"Well?"
Amanda stared.
Melissa shifted awkwardly beneath the silence.
"...Say something."
Amanda smiled.
"You look beautiful."
Melissa immediately looked down at herself.
"I look fine."
"No."
Amanda crossed the room.
"You look beautiful."
Melissa folded her arms.
"You're required to say that."
Amanda laughed.
"I absolutely am not."
She gently grabbed Melissa's shoulders. "If you looked ridiculous..."
Amanda smiled mischievously.
"...I'd tell you."
Melissa raised an eyebrow.
"You would?"
"Without hesitation."
Melissa laughed.
"I don't believe you."
Amanda gasped dramatically.
"I am deeply offended."
"You should be."
Melissa looked Amanda up and down before smiling.
"You look better."
Amanda immediately shook her head.
"This is not a competition."
"It is when Maria Romano exists."
Amanda sighed.
"There it is."
"What?"
"The real reason you've changed clothes three times."
Melissa looked away. Amanda's voice softened. "John already called you beautiful."
Melissa's eyes lifted.
"He said that while you were wearing jeans and a sweater."
Amanda smiled warmly.
"You don't have to prove anything tonight."
Melissa's confident mask slipped. For just a second... She looked eighteen again. Not the strong girl carrying medical bills, eviction notices, and responsibilities far beyond her age. Just a teenager hoping someone might finally see her.
"I just..."
She hesitated.
"...want to feel like I belong somewhere."
Amanda didn't answer right away. Instead... She stepped forward and wrapped Melissa in a hug.
"You belong with me."
Melissa closed her eyes.
"I know."
Amanda squeezed her gently.
"And that's never changing."
Melissa smiled into her shoulder. For a moment... Everything felt okay. Then Amanda pulled back dramatically.
"Now." She clapped once.
"Can we please go before Maria starts charging admission?"
Melissa laughed.
"Yes."
Amanda grabbed her purse.
"Thank God."
The girls headed downstairs together, excitement slowly replacing nervousness with every step. Outside, the warm September evening wrapped around them as Amanda unlocked her little grey sedan. Melissa glanced toward the darkening sky.
"You know..."
Amanda looked over while climbing into the driver's seat.
"What?"
Melissa smiled.
"I have a weird feeling about tonight."
Amanda raised an eyebrow.
"The good kind or the bad kind?"
Melissa considered it.
"...I honestly can't tell."
Amanda started the engine.
"Well..."
She backed out of the driveway.
"Let's hope it's the good kind." Neither of them noticed the uneasy feeling settling quietly in the pit of Amanda's stomach.
Or how, years later... Both of them would remember this drive with painful clarity.
They would remember the music playing softly through the speakers.
The laughter. The excitement. The way they believed the hardest part of the night would be sneaking into Maria Romano's party.
Neither of them could have imagined... That this would be the last completely innocent drive they would ever take together.
The drive across town took only twelve minutes.
Amanda had expected the conversation to be filled with excitement.
Instead, it was strangely quiet. The radio played softly in the background while the streetlights flickered across the windshield.
Every now and then one of them would say something, laugh, and then fall back into silence.
The closer they got... The more nervous they became.
Finally, Amanda turned onto a quiet, tree-lined street lined with enormous homes hidden behind decorative gates and perfectly manicured hedges. Melissa looked out the passenger window.
"...You've got to be kidding me."
Amanda followed her gaze. At the very end of the street sat Maria Romano's house. Or, as Amanda preferred to call it... A small country's GDP.
The mansion towered over every other home on the block, its stone exterior glowing beneath elegant outdoor lights.
Luxury cars lined the circular driveway, and music drifted through the open windows loud enough to be heard from the street.
Teenagers crowded the front lawn. More spilled out onto the porch, laughing as they welcomed arriving guests.
Amanda slowly pulled her car to the curb. Neither girl moved. Melissa stared straight ahead.
"Of course her house is this huge."
Amanda laughed quietly. "What exactly were you expecting?"
Melissa considered it.
"...Something bigger."
Amanda turned toward her.
"Why are we complimenting Maria?"
Melissa blinked.
"...Good question."
The girls looked at each other. Then burst into laughter. The tension eased, if only for a moment. Amanda rested both hands on the steering wheel.
"We can still leave."
Melissa's smile faded.
"No."
Amanda looked at her.
"We came this far."
Amanda glanced out the windshield.
"We drove twelve minutes."
Melissa smiled despite herself.
"I'm talking emotionally, Amanda."
Amanda nodded thoughtfully. "Right."
"The emotional journey."
"Exactly." Silence settled over the car again. Outside, another group of students walked confidently toward the front entrance. No one hesitated. No one looked terrified. No one questioned whether they belonged there. Melissa envied that.
She looked down at her hands resting in her lap.
For years... She had watched life from the sidelines.
Football games. Parties. School dances. There had always been something more important.
Her dad's treatments. Money. Work. Responsibilities.
Tonight... For once... She wanted to feel like everyone else.
Even if it only lasted a few hours. Amanda noticed the distant look in her eyes.
"You okay?"
Melissa nodded slowly.
"I'm just thinking."
"Dangerous."
Melissa smiled.
"It usually is."
Amanda reached across the center console and gently bumped Melissa's shoulder.
"If this goes horribly..."
Melissa looked over.
"...we'll be humiliated together."
Melissa laughed.
"I appreciate your optimism."
"I mean it."
Amanda smiled warmly. "I've never been embarrassed with you."
Melissa felt something tighten in her chest.
She knew Amanda meant every word. It was one of the many reasons she loved her.