(un)lucky

ten.

THERE'S A MILLION AND ONE THINGS I WANT TO DO WITH YOU, BUT IT'S PAST MY BEDTIME //
♪

10: wanderlust

AMY'S VOICE ALWAYS SOUNDS SOFTER OVER THE PHONE.

Her thank you's are quieter and her I love you's are even softer, like honey sliding off concrete, something sweet against something incredibly hard. That was one way to describe his sister but another way to describe her is a total and absolute hardass. She's been that way since they were kids; blunt to a fault with an arsenal of truths that strongly resemble insults. Five feet three in body but six feet four in personality. It still baffled everyone that they got along so well. After all, Mamés was everything Amy wasn't: amicable, slow to anger with a heart of gold (at least that's what they tell him) while Amy was (irritable, a cynic, and a hurricane wrapped in warm pudgy flesh) the opposite. But they still kept their relationship after the divorce despite their varying idiosyncrasies and personalities. According to Jun, Amy fell in love with him at first sight when they moved in and had vowed to Jun that she was going to take care of him all his life, swearing to be the best big sister known to man. Mind you she was eight at that time and wasn't that much bigger than him, but her words still stand through even today (seven years later).

Today, Amy speaks to him in a French accent, mixing her French with English. Each rolled "r" and "s" makes him smile. Amy takes pride in being a polyglot, what started as a hobby has grown into something so much more ever since she started college to study linguistics. French is her weakest language since she took Spanish instead in high school so she has no prior experience like she has in other languages. Subsequently, Mamés took French instead of Spanish and is pretty confident in his speaking.

"So, are you going to tell me what's been bothering you or are we just going to ignore the elephant in the room?"

"Oh sorry," Mamés says dryly. "I didn't know helping you practise your French was a game to you. I'm sure your teacher will be glad to hear that."

"Mamés," she says in a warning tone.

Even over the phone, he can feel her smouldering eyes.

"Fine," he concedes, a little too quickly. "If you can ask me the question again in French then we'll talk."

"Ha. Have I been too complacent that you think you can bargain with me?" Amy scoffs. "Fine. You underestimate my busybody skills especially when it comes to you." Pause. Then slowly, "Vous me direz ce qui vous a dérangé ou allons-nous simplement...ignorer l'éléphant dans la pièce?"

"Parfait," he grumbles. She laughs, you know, the type of laugh that comes out of a villain while they stare down at the demise of the hero. Yeah, that laugh. The only quip is that Mamés is not the hero, more like side character #38.

"I am waiting," she sings.

Mamés rolls his eyes, blowing out a hard breath through his mouth. Screwing his eyes shut, he tries to pinpoint the reason for the stomach-clenching anxiety coursing through his veins. There are too many to count. Lulu wasn't eating (he's been trying to coax her to eat something since yesterday but she's rather interested in staring at the bottom of a bottle). The fact that Mel still wants him to call Christian and convince him to come back to the band, the thought alone makes his blood boil. His growing chemistry homework. Football practice. The list goes on.

He decides on something simpler. Something relatively harmless. Not because he doesn't trust her but more so because he does. None of his problems are things she can fix anyway. He tells her about the party he's going to with Ana.