I trudged down the street in silence, my eyes fixed on Ollie's back. I had let him get far enough ahead of George and I that he was completely out of earshot, but I wanted him out of sight too.
I dragged my feet for a little longer, and by the time we had passed the last neat, little brick house and turned onto a row of old, grimy ones, Ollie was far ahead enough that I couldn't even see him anymore.
I sighed heavily.
"Shit," I muttered.
"You alright?" George asked, his voice surprisingly gentle.
"You're you. Of course I'd moped to my sister about it, but she went and told everyone because apparently my whole family need to know everyone I like and dislike at school. Ugh."
George didn't say anything.
"I hung out with you today. My brother found out. My family know I don't like you, and they know we're supposed to be soulmates and you don't see anything, so, I dunno, they don't really like you. I'm completely screwed."
"Should I be offended, or-" he chuckled.
I just sighed.
We lapsed into silence, the only sound coming from my feet as my shoes scraped the pavement with every step.
"What're you gonna tell 'em?" He asked after a while.
"Pfft. Not a damn clue. Like I said, I'm. Screwed."
"I could come with you, if you'd like," he said quietly.
Silence.
"I dunno," I said finally. "It might help, or it might make it much, much worse."
"Yeah. Yeah, I guess."
"Look, I'll go by myself, then after I've had a conversation with them, I'll see how it goes, and I'll call you if you want. Mmkay?"
"Good that."
We turned onto my street, and I could make out the blob that was Ollie walking down the pavement.
"I gotta be there to see what he says," I told George, and quickened my pace, about to break into a sprint to catch my brother.
"Okay. Call me, alright? And Amber-" he grabbed my arm, so I stopped to face him.
"Yeah?"
"I-I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything. For getting you into this situation with your family, for being horrible to you before, for being horrible to Riley, for being horrible to everyone. I'm so sorry."
I looked him in the eyes.
"You don't need to apologise anymore, okay? You think I'd hang around you if I didn't forgive you?"
He dropped his gaze. "I guess."
"Right, I really gotta go, but I'll call you in a bit, 'kay?"
I rose to my tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek, before turning and sprinting down the road. I took a hasty glance back, and I saw him stood there, his eyes wide. Why did I do that? What's wrong with me? I meant it as a thank you, but I probably freaked him out. I'm so stupid, ugh.
I finally reached the door and somehow managed to catch up with Ollie who was just taking his keys out. Of course, I had to tackle him, and we both went sprawling on the doormat.
"'Sup?" I said, smirking.
He pushed me to one side and heaved himself up.
"Gee, thanks for that," he said sarcastically.
I pushed myself up, giggling.
The door swung open suddenly, and Kacey was stood there, her eyebrows raised. I frowned. Her eyes looked odd, brighter than usual, almost as if she'd been crying?
I decided to ignore it. After all, our cat Tiggs had probably just brought another dead mouse into the house, and Kacey didn't like that. It had happened several times before.
"Tiggs? Mouse?" I asked her.
"Shut up, so what, I don't like it," she mumbled, rubbing her eyes with the heel of her hands.
Ollie pushed passed her and ran down the hall, then stopped, back stepped, and yanked Kacey's arm and pulled her into the living room with him. I slammed the front door closed and ran in after them.
Ollie cleared his throat.
"Saw Amber at the park today," he began. My parents, who were sat on the sofa already, didn't make any sign of listening to him.
"She was with her new friend."
He continued. No reply. Jokes on him, I thought.
"It wasn't this Georgia girl, though. Or Riley," he said, in mock confusion.
I rolled my eyes. "Shut up, Ollie."
"Wanna know who it was?"
"Yeah?" Kacey asked.
"I said shut up," I warned, my voice rising.
"It was-" I tackled my brother again. Pretty effective way to get him to shut up, actually.
He wasn't as unprepared for it this time, however, and he pushed me off much quicker and stood up again and two words slipped out of his mouth before I could even get my balance back to stand.
"George Palmer," he said smugly.
That caused movement.
My dad's head whipped around to face Ollie.
"George Palmer?" He uttered the words like they were vermin.
"Why?" My mother asked incredulously.
"Because he's my friend," I interjected. "And he's not that bad. You're overreacting. He just seemed a little bit rude to start with. He's actually alright. You don't even know the guy."
"I don't care. I'm just worried about you, Amber, because you're supposed to be soulmates and all that but he doesn't see the colour, and-" My father rambled.
"Dad. Okay, dad. Dad. Listen. I'm not gonna get hurt, okay? He's just my friend. Shouldn't you be happy that I have a friend? He's nothing more than that. I don't feel about him that way, not yet anyway, even if apparently I'm supposed to. Stop worrying and just let me do my own thing, okay?"
My father sighed. "Okay. Only because I trust you, Am."
I walked towards the door, kicked my brother in the shins as hard as I possibly could, and then left the room to go upstairs.
I dialled a number into my phone the moment I reached the top step.
"It didn't go too badly. My dad was just worried and stuff that you'd go 'breaking my heart' and what not. Give it, say, ten or so minutes before you come round. If you even want to at all, I mean."
"Course I do. See you in a bit."
"'Kay, bye."
I pressed 'end call' and threw my phone onto the bed beside me. Well, that could have gone worse, I suppose.
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Hiya guys!
So, as you may or may not have seen, I've been rewriting this. I've decided to take out the major part that came at the end of this chapter, because I didn't like how it turned out. For any first time readers, I'm not saying what it is, but obviously it changes the story greatly. From here, I think I've decided to change the fate of almost every character in this story. I'm really sorry if anyone is going to be unhappy with the way it'll turn out, but I hope you understand.