➩ 𝕤𝕠𝕟𝕘 𝕤𝕖𝕝𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟: 𝕝𝕒𝕪𝕝𝕒 𝕓𝕪 𝕖𝕣𝕚𝕔 𝕔𝕝𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕠𝕟 (𝕒𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕔)
STEPPING OFF HER SKATEBOARD, Amanda hopped up the steps to the McFly house to knock on the door only to be stopped by Marty immediately opening it to her surprise. "You're early," He remarked, turning back into the house in worry.
"It's summer, McFly. All I have to do anymore is either help out Doc or hang out with you," She reminded him as he began to move out of the door cautiously. Amanda furrowed her brows to him over this before realising why he was trying to be especially sneaky. "You haven't told your mom about this weekend, have you?"
Lorraine McFly, his mother, wasn't exactly the kind of woman to take an overnight trip lightly. She was rather harsh in what he was and wasn't allowed to do, which Amanda always found interesting considering all the girls he used to hang around with.
Used to. He hadn't been doing a lot of dating this time around. Most days he was with only Amanda and the band.
Marty groaned over this immediately as Amanda laughed over his reaction. "You know my mom. She freaks out over everything!"
"God just tell her it's you and the guys. Not like you're all that terrible at lying." With that, his mother soon came through from the kitchen as Amanda straightened up. "Hi there, Mrs. McFly."
"Oh, it's Amanda!" She said to hug her out familiarity, Marty already growing annoyed over how easily his mother could be affectionate with his friend. From the amount of times she'd stopped in for family dinners or even just helped Marty on his homework, his mother thought Amanda to be the most delicate and innocent of girls her son could ever have become friends with. Little did she know, much like others who continuously misjudged her, that she was far from such an idea. "Y'know I feel okay seeing Marty here with such a good girl like you. I just know he's not going to be sneaking out so late with someone as orderly as you dear. Now I won't keep you two long."
Amanda nodded understandingly and hid her laughter while his mother tutted under her breath to Marty before walking away. He shut the door behind him quickly soon after to have his friend's laughter now escape loudly over the exchange. Marty roll his eyes as he walked past her unamused. "If my mom knew how much trouble you can get yourself into--"
"She'd still like me more than you?" Amanda interrupted him with a wide grin, "But c'mon Marty, you gotta tell her soon. This is the closest any of us have at taking a break from Hill Valley?"
Marty sighed deeply and nodded, getting onto his skateboard as she trailed behind. "Yeah I know, now we better get going. I wrecked something Doc left on the workbench and I need you to fix it before he notices." Amanda shook her head with a grin unsurprised as he laughed over recounting the events.
-ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ-
THE STUFFINESS of Bobby's van began to subside soon as the group continued the drive to Paul's family lake house. The ride proved to be especially claustrophobic this time around seeing as Paul and Lee now brought along dates to tag along with them for the weekend. Something which Amanda was grateful for as, aside from Jennifer, she needed to have other people to talk to outside of the boys. "Hey, Amanda!"
She turned away from Pam, Lee's date, and looked to Marty at the passenger seat rewinding the cassette tape in the player. "This one's for you." Amanda laughed under her breath as Love Really Hurts by Billy Ocean played through the van.
"God, you're a wonder McFly, you know that?" She couldn't help myself to laugh harder over Marty continue to exaggeratingly sing along with the others now showing apparent signs of disapproval over the song choice.
Paul parted from his date finally to share a few words of enlightenment to Amanda's dear baby blue. "Thought you were gonna play the other song? You know! The Clapton one!"
"Oh, look! We're here you slobs," Bobby intervened to say as Amanda turned out to the shroud of trees around the house that accompanied the tranquil lakeside scene. She chuckled at the couples immediately rushing to get themselves their rooms while she started to grab her things from the trunk.
"Here, I got it," Marty offered and took a hand to help her out.
Amanda only smiled and nodded, causing Bobby to laugh under his breath over the obvious shift in dynamic between the two. She furrowed her brows over this and turned to him confused on what was funny. "What's with you?"
He shrugged, putting down the bags he was carrying for a moment. "Nothing, I'm just now realising I'm the only one who didn't bring a date is all." Bobby motioned over to Marty. Considering, despite him being closer with Amanda, he'd known the boy the longest out of anyone. At this rate he was just as much an expert on what went on inside his head just as any of them were. "He would've brought a date, I've known him long enough."
"So? Doesn't mean anything."
"Well, if I'm right, and I know I am, none of us are going to be the slightest bit surprised over it," Bobby explained and went inside with the others soon after.
Standing back for a moment, Amanda tried to think through all of this. . . realistically, of course. The last person Marty dated was Heather, and that ship sailed the day after that night with Dylan. After that, things were quiet on his end. The two were helping out Doc more and anytime Amanda was around at least, Marty wasn't leaving off with a new girl anymore. His focus was on her these days and they only deepened their friendship that way. She didn't assume it could be the start of something else besides that.
The rest of the day consisted of the band of small-town teenagers basking in the minimal sun at the lake house and enjoying the lack of pressure any of them had; a summer moment at its finest. By the time the night was well on the way in and everyone seemed to tuck themselves away in the house again for the meantime as the summer breeze kicked in, the logs of the bonfire remained outside.
Amanda was the only one left sitting along beside it being preoccupied with stargazing to care about the cold. Stepping out of the house in search of his friend, Marty wasn't surprised to find her head up in the night sky. Watching her shivering he took a minute to grab a blanket out from inside. "Here." Amanda turned away from the daze she had created for herself to notice Marty had come back out with a blanket in hand.
Her sweater was still soggy from the swimwear she had worn to go into the lake to have her smile over to him and make some space for Marty to put his arm around her to wrap the blanket around the two of them. "Thought you would've been inside by now. But then I saw you were still outside here and I don't need you getting sick on me."
"Thanks, Marty." Looking back over to the night sky, she sighed under her breath out of her own reflections she'd been having here. "Didn't feel all that tired just yet- Still thinking over some things."
He furrowed his brows to immediately look to her concerned. "What's wrong then doe eyes."
Amanda couldn't help to laugh along with him over the nickname before explaining things to him as vaguely as possible. "Y'know, you've surprised me recently. I haven't seen you date in a record amount of time since I've met you, which is a short amount of time I know but you still have a track record," She mentioned to see him easing himself to turn away, "There's nothing wrong right, blue?"
"I don't know—" He stopped to face her for a moment, the nickname not doing its purpose in steering the conversation away from anything serious. "I've been thinking of stopping the whole one-off things, it hasn't been all it works itself out to be. What with the band thinking of sending out a recording to this record company soon, it's only a matter of time before I say farewell to Hill Valley."
Amanda lit up at the plans despite him sharing the news so nonchalantly. "Marty, that's great! This is such a big step for you guys I know whoever you send the tapes to they'll sign you guys immediately."
He laughed under his breath at her reaction, tilting his head to her slightly. The girl before him was probably the one person that he could feel in synch with. To say he wasn't thinking about what she was feeling these days either, he wondered how oblivious she was over how much he cared about her. "You think if I left town that you'd come with me?" He asked rather suddenly, taking her back in surprise.
"You're not leaving town already and this weekend was just to say goodbye, right?"
"No! God no that'd be such a dud!" Marty shut his eyes and took a small breath. "I'm certain the band is going to do great and once we're all settled and I leave Hill Valley, would you leave with me?"
The innocent question only left her blushing madly as Amanda laughed nervously over this. "Marty, I have plans of my own? My world doesn't revolve around you-"
"I'd leave with you. No questions asked." The phrase went through him naturally and without hesitation. To hear it flow out of him this way left Amanda confused over his intentions on saying this.
Marty, however, thought he wasn't being at all ambiguous in what he was feeling.
"Not like we would even be dating, we're just friends."
"What does it matter? You're my best friend."
Amanda stopped for a moment when he said this, noticing his eyes soften under the dying fire in front of them. "Of course, best friends; nothing else." Marty remained silent after she said this, the two of them growing lost looking at the other for a sense of reason. He was about to say something in return until the friends were interrupted by the rowdy group of boys and girls now returning with a few bottles of beer.
Bobby looked to them questioningly along with the others as he held up two bottles. "You guys okay there?"
"Yea! We were just talking, now hand me a bottle," Marty said quickly as Amanda only laughed along and extended a hand out for a drink as well.
-ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ-
AMANDA RECOUNTED the events at the lake house to Jennifer the day they arrived back, having her now nod understandingly to her as she thought of the usual wise advice she tended to give her. She never told Jennifer specifically who she hung around with, the boys always being this little mystery to her friend's world she wasn't around and yet somehow was. "Okay, so you think the guy might be into you, right?" Amanda shrugged over this, sipping the milkshake from her family's shop to try and ease her troubles. "If you're not sure Amy, you've gotta make a move yourself! Why are you even waiting for this guy to do it for you in the first place, you're better than that? You know, you're better than that?"
She shook her head and held onto her arms timidly from the doubts that arose when suggesting this at all. "Y'know I risk not having a friend like him around anymore if I say anything and this whole uncertainty I have about all of this isn't worth losing him," Amanda explained to her to see a pout form from Jennifer over this. The bell from the shop sounded and she couldn't help to look up to the sound, seeing Marty make his way inside and say a quick hello to Amanda's uncle and father. "There he is now!"
Jennifer laughed at her reaction and started to turn back to see the boy for herself. "Good! You've been venting about this guy for too long and I wanna know what all the fuss is about." Marty noticed the two of girls in the booth, now exchanging quite the nostalgic glance with Jennifer to her surprise. Not having seen her since around middle school as she hung around with a different crowd of people than him, he was shocked to see Amanda had become friends with her. "Marty McFly?"
He lit up at the sight of her, grinning now more than she'd seen him do with anyone else besides- well you know. "Jennifer Parker? Haven't seen you in a while."
"Yea, weird how small towns can still manage to do that," She mentioned as Amanda was still taken aback by their immediate chemistry.
Marty finally turned over to his friend to nudge her along. "Doc wanted some help today, remember? Figured you would be here or the arcade."
Amanda nodded and noticed Jennifer begin to grab her things to head out. Feeling she was stopping something from happening out of her own uncertainties, she decided to let this play out for them. "Hey, I'm fine with helping out Doc on my own this time if you guys wanna catch up?"
They exchanged a glance to each other, as he thought about leaving her to spend the day alone. If she was suggesting this she must've assumed that he was attracted to Jennifer instead of— well, isn't it obvious. Marty shrugged his shoulders to her despite being bothered over the set up. "You don't mind?"
Jennifer eyed her apologetically and Amanda only smiled, brushing it all off as she was used to having to be stuck being only friends with Marty by now. "Yea don't worry about it! I'll see you guys around." Rushing out the door with only giving her dad and uncle a brief farewell. She tucked her head down in embarrassment over the moment she thought she was beginning to have with Marty.
Still Amanda went along to Doc's garage, unlocking the door and being greeted by Einstein rushing over to her happily. "Amanda!" She jumped as he said her name suddenly, finding Doc wearing a large pair of goggles pushing back his smoke covered hair. "Marty isn't with you?"
"No he's out on a date," Amanda explained, opening up a bag of treats to give to Einstein before setting her bags aside and away from the mess that seemed to clutter the area. "We were only gone for a weekend what happened here?"
He shrugged it off, coming over to hand her some tools and a pair of goggles for myself. "Nothing I'm just packing for a business trip for some things I'm getting for that new invention I've been working on since—"
"1955 yea Doc, you've been telling us about it for months."
With the teenagers here, the older man assumed they never paid much attention to his rants or at least drifted away in their own conversations by the way they were in the lab. He was used to the usual antics made by Marty out of his attention slowly slipping and distracting Amanda from her work.
"Oh, I always assumed you two were off in a world of your own sometimes when you're here; you're always smiling and everything." She pouted slightly over this before being nudged along by Doc trying to lift her spirits. "Now c'mon, since Marty isn't here you can help me out instead of keeping him from breaking anything else in here."
-ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ-
THE SOUND of Johnny Cash playing in the background for the poor country lover that Amanda's father was tang through the kitchen of their home. With the phone ringing he stopped drying off the dinner plates with her to answer it. "I'll get it." Not having the heart to turn over to it as she had a feeling on who it was already, she continued to wash away the dishes anyways. "Amy it's for you. A friend of yours named Jennifer?"
Amana nodded, taking the phone off his hands to lead the cable out as far as she could. "Hey Jen."
"Hey Amy! How's everything?"
"You hit it off with Marty didn't you?" She asked her, trying to tone down any hint of disapproval.
She sighed on the other end sadly. "He asked me out on a date. I didn't think it'd be fair if I didn't run it past you though after what you were telling me today; didn't wanna be a bitch about any of this."
Amanda smiled through this, expecting it considering she gave the go ahead herself. To be jealous about it was pointless. She just accepted the fact that he was too good of a friend to lose. Even if hearing this made her well up in tears. "Jennifer you're a good friend. Besides I'm pretty sure I was just getting caught up in the moment, I could never like Marty, ugh."
Her familiar laughter on the other end didn't make her feel any less better about this, realizing what she was telling her was a complete lie. "Thanks Amanda. I'll see you on Friday for that screening of Invasion of the Body Snatchers at the multiplex. Goodnight!" Amanda hung up after, biting her nails to try and calm herself before going back into the kitchen as if none of the news bothered her in the slightest.