My cheeks were frozen by the time we arrived at the doorstep. I pulled the scarf tighter on my neck and bowled through the door behind Amelia. She removed her boots, and I could have sworn I saw her eyes linger on my scarf for a moment too long. "I didn’t notice you were still wearing that.”

"She gave it to me as a gift."

“I hope you were grateful. It’s not just anybody she’d give something of hers to," she teased.

I rolled my eyes. "I literally wept tears of joy while constructing a bronze statue in her name."

"That seems like the only appropriate response. Personally, though, I would have gone with gold instead."

Amelia locked the door, as I slipped off my shoes onto the welcome mat, careful to not scuff the numerous pairs of heels and dress shoes near the entrance. I walked into the foyer, walking past three rooms on my right and two rooms on my left. How crazy was that? I hadn't even found the kitchen yet, and her place already had more rooms than my entire house.

The same could be said for the entirety of the Heights Community, however. My first thought after having reached the end of the winding road to the gated community was how large the houses were. I had peeked through the spaces in the black iron gate to better admire how well-maintained they were, constructed of gray stone and crimson tiled roofs. It stretched on for acres and was the sole reason our small town had built Lakewood Academy in the first place.

"The kitchen is straight ahead," she said. "You’ll have to pardon the mess. I stayed up too late last night and didn’t have time to clean the dishes this morning."

It wasn't hard to find the kitchen. All I had to do was follow the hallway since it was a straight shot. I shrugged my coat off, and stuffed my scarf into the pocket, careful to avoid putting the sleeve into a smudge of batter at the corner of the tabletop. There were also some mixing bowls and utensils that still needed to be cleaned, but otherwise, it was nowhere near as messy as she claimed.

"Wow, I’m already impressed you know how to contain your mess to one area. Rika could learn a lot from you."

"Thanks," she said. "I'm actually pretty good in the kitchen, but I figured it would be helpful to have you here. You would have a better idea of what he likes than me."

"Ethan?" I asked. “You know he likes anything sweet.”

Amelia laughed at how true that was. “I guess I’m looking for an ego boost then. Reassurance that I’m not going to completely mess it up for Valentine’s Day.”

Whether or not she confessed to him then was entirely up to her. It was a topic I wasn’t willing to broach with her, so instead I took a seat at the kitchen table. Amelia sat in the chair next to me. “I heard you’ve been helping Nora paint the props for her play.”

“I am, but it’s literally watching paint dry at times.”

She blinked rapidly. “That sounds awful. What do you do to not go stir crazy?”

“Nothing much,” I said. “I tell her stories about myself from elementary and middle school, and Nora talks about Lakewood. I asked her once if she had any interesting stories from when she was younger, but she kind of snapped at me. Decided not to bring it up again.”

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“Oh, Nora.” She exhaled deeply and walked over toward the counter, dumping a few of the mixing bowls into the sink. “She didn’t mean anything by it. It’s… don’t tell anybody this, especially her, but Nora used to get bullied pretty bad in the past.”

Getting bullied? Something about that statement sounded off. After all, Nora was the one who did the bullying, not the other way around. There was nobody stupid enough to attempt to mess with her, or they’d find their asses swiftly kicked.

Amelia must have realized my lack of a response was due to my confusion. “It started in elementary school with foolish little things like making fun of her height or saying she looked like a boy. Then, in middle school, it escalated. I imagine the girls were jealous of how pretty she got, and the boys targeted her because she was a tomboy and wasn’t afraid to stand up to them. They stole from her locker and desk, shoved her and tripped her when the teachers weren’t looking, and someone even threw her backpack in the toilet.”

Terrible. I couldn’t imagine going through any of that. Sure, my past wasn’t exactly roses, but I certainly hadn’t had to endure worrying about getting attacked or having my things stolen. It kind of put everything into perspective and made me admire Nora more. I always knew she was strong, but she was so much stronger than I could have imagined.

“How’d she deal with it?” I asked.

“She didn’t.” Amelia’s brow furrowed as she returned to sit at the table. “I stepped in and forced them to stop. Family influence and connections. I threatened to take each and every one of them to court for assault and theft if they didn’t stop. Nora was quite upset with me. Do you know how she thanked me?”

I shrugged my shoulders.

“She cursed me out and punched me straight in the lip. I was shocked, my lip was split, and I was bleeding all over. I mean who did this girl think she was? Here I was helping her out, and this was how she repaid me? I hit her back, and we fought until the teachers managed to pull us apart.”

That was a hard scene to picture. Amelia was always poised and composed, so imagining her getting into a fistfight with Nora of all people seemed crazy. Still, that could explain why they couldn’t stop antagonizing each other even now. Their entire relationship started off on a bad note and with a bloodied lip.

Kind of tough to recover from that.

Making a note to talk to Nora about this later to get her side of the story and ensure she hadn’t lost her damn mind, I asked Amelia a question. “And you forgave her?”

“Not at first. I thought she was a psycho and tried to avoid her. It wasn’t until we got paired up as partners during science class that I learned her side of the story. She’s always been prideful and all of her anger at her bullies bubbled over and spilled onto me. It wasn’t right, but I understood. I let it be water under the bridge after she apologized.”

“Most people wouldn’t let it go that easily.”

Her laughter bubbled forth. “That’s true. I guess I could appreciate how upfront she was with me. Most people I meet always put up a polite front, but really only care about furthering their agenda. Something about her being such a brute must have charmed me.”

And now I was worried that punch might have done more than just give her a split lip. Brain damage might have also been on the agenda.

“She’s my best friend, despite how it may look sometimes. Even if she ends up hating me, no matter what, I won’t let anyone hurt her.”

I nodded. “I won’t either.”

“Good, but enough about this for now. We’ve got to preheat the oven and get these dishes washed.”

My respect for Amelia also grew some more. I knew that it wouldn’t have been easy for her to confront them, yet Amelia did it anyway. Regardless of the consequences, she marched forward for what she believed was just. She even managed to befriend someone who punched her in the face. If she could manage that, I could handle whatever Rika had to tell me on the fourteenth. I would hold my head high and wear my battle wounds as badges of honor. Metaphorically, of course, because right now I had some brownies to bake.