Nature's Law

“Mum, no!” She seemed not to believe me as she backed slowly away from me “Amalia, you better not be lying to me. If you are I need you to tell me.”
“I cross my heart, hope to--” I stopped; ‘hope to die’ wouldn’t exactly go down well in this situation. “Mum, I am not bulimic. Trust me. You do realise how much I hate the idea of puking, don’t you? I happen to love food – why the hell would I sick it up again afterwards? Especially Ben & Jerry’s!”
“You have to understand, Amalia, this situation doesn’t look very good, you eating something which isn’t considered amazingly good for your health, then you make a quick exit to the bathroom, and when you come out you are coughing and the room smells like puke.”
I did have to admit, when it was put like that, it did make me appear to be bulimic. But I sure as hell wasn’t!
“Amalia...please, just tell me things about you. First your scars...now this.”
“Mum. I need you to trust me. I am not and will not become bulimic.”
“You need to feel good about who you are. It’s what’s on the inside that counts, not what’s on the outside.”
“Muuum,” I moaned. She wouldn’t believe me, once she had something in her head; it was bloody hard to convince her otherwise. For instance, when I was eight I had been terrified of lifts because Harley’s older sister Haven had once gotten trapped inside one, then I was dared to go in one when I was 12 and that was it. Fear gone. Mum, however, still makes a big thing about me not liking lifts, always saying “Oh dear, Amalia, looks like there are only lifts. Let me just go and find someone and see if there is another way.” The number of weird looks and comments we’ve gotten I don’t even know it’s so high.
“I’m going to go and call Dr. Fredrick.”
“Mum! No, I am not bulimic. Go and talk to Jeanne, I think something’s up with her lately.”
With that Mum was gone, off up the stairs to check on Jeanne’s health. At least it’d buy me some time without being questioned on bulimia.

About 30 minutes later and Mum was back, sat next to me on the sofa, tension filling her body and all her slight movements were stiff; forced.
“Mum, what were you saying about Harley?” I asked, wanting to know the relevance of bringing her up in discussion.
“Oh...I thought it was about time she came for a visit, don’t you?”

Harley had been my best friend since we were 5 years old, and she had thrown a toy car at the back of my head in reception. Let’s just say, she never grew out of violence. We had gone through our whole lives together, through different schools, music, hair styles...and then she moved. Not even a nice down the street move, she moved half way around the world, to New Zealand. Typically, they had a whole different time zone, so communicating was beyond hard and slowly the letters became less frequent, and for a while they had stopped all together.
For three years I hadn’t had my best friend around, and no matter how much I loved being friends with Alice and Mollie, they just weren’t the same as being with Harley.

Harley arrived five days after my Mum told me that she would be coming. I was bouncing around the house happily, momentarily forgetting I still had to take a load of medication, and antidepressants. I was just happy something was coming back to me from before. I was looking forward to being able to have girly nights in again, well for a week.
“I’m going to get Harley from the airport” My mum said on the morning her flight would be coming in. Typically, it was a school day, and typically, Mum was not letting me have the day off. At least it was a Friday.

As I trudged through thick mud which coated the pavement thanks to the last storm, I became aware to something else following me. I turned round, and came face to face with a blonde woman dressed head to toe in black office clothes.
“Amalia Elisabeth Gray?”
“Yeah...Wait, how do you kn-” She cut me off with the palm of her hand, which she shoved against my mouth.
“Stay away.” she whispered harshly in my ear, digging her fingernails into the skin on my upper arm. What the? Stay away from what exactly? But, I couldn’t exactly ask the woman as she was gone, she had all but run round the corner and by the time I had built up enough nerves to walk over and peak my head around the corner there was nothing un-ordinary down the alley, kids dressed in HPA uniforms were walking up towards me and the kids dressed in the other high school uniform were walking in the other direction, away from me, avoiding the gaze of the HPA kids.
Shaking my head slightly, I pinched my forearm and yelped slightly. So, if this wasn’t a dream, was I on some sort of GOTCHA! Show? Looking frantically around for cameras I didn’t immediately notice the laughter from behind me.
“What?” I said, fully expecting some cheesy over-paid presenter to come and tell me I’d been pranked or something. It wasn’t a cheesy over-paid TV presenter, but I’m not quite sure if it was an improvement.
Scott stood before me, his pinstriped school tie seemed skinnier than the normal ties and his top button was even done up. He looked smarter than any boy attending school I’d ever seen in my life.
“Custom made.” he said, pointing at the tie
“Right,” I nodded, surely I hadn’t been staring at his tie?
“So…”
“So…” I repeated as we began walking towards HPA. “I didn’t know you lived this way.” It was true, I didn’t. I didn’t have a clue where he lived.
“I don’t,” He said solemnly, brushing dust from his hair, where a couple of leaves were also displaced. “I had to take of someo-thing. Something.”
“Oh.” I didn’t know what to say now. What was one to say when the suspected the person they were walking to school with was in a gang? Or mob…or just violent, really.
“Yeah, business.”
Gang. Definitely part of a gang.
“Lia? You alright?”
“Yeah, fine. Why’d you ask” Truth was, I was starting to panic, what if I was the next target? What if he was out to kill me? Or ‘take care of me’. I started manically looking around for a way to get away. Subtly, of course. Subtle is my middle name.
“Why the hell are you doing that? Have you got a neck twitch or something?” He laughed.
Okay, so my subtlety could use a bit of work.
“Urm, no. I’m fine.” Smooth, Lia. Real smooth.
“Riiight, okay,” he said, stretching the words out in a way which made it quite obvious he didn’t believe me.

We continued walking towards the school building in silence. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence, though; it felt warm, and full. As if a thousand words were passing between us without the need for us to voice them. It was like nothing I’d ever experienced before, almost...surreal. Magical.
When we entered the gates, he didn’t leave my side, quite the opposite; he slung his arm over my shoulders casually and guided me towards the music rooms. I was aware of several people following us shrewdly with their eyes, I ignored them the best I could. But, me being me, that was easier said than done.
“Could you...not do that, please. I don’t like people staring.” I muttered
“What? I’ve got my arm around you, like a friend would. Not like I’m holding your hand or anything,” he replied, his voice verging on harshness.
“It just...I have bad memories...three years....Please, stop it.” I all but begged him.
“Alright, alright” he said, gently lifting his arm from around my shoulders and letting it fall limply to his side. “So, what do you want to do today?”
I snorted, ungraceful as it was. “What do you mean? We kinda have to stay in school til three-ten...” I trailed off, staring quizzically at him.
“I know that. I know. But...I was wondering; if, maybe you wanted to, I dunno...do something after school?”
My heart stopped. “I don’t-I don’t know...if that would be a good-a good idea.” I muttered, thinking back to the blonde woman. Stay away...I could only assume she meant from Scott, she seemed like the sort he would go out with, maybe she was his girlfriend, but, she did seem a little old to be his girlfriend...
“Why not?” he asked
“I just...its complicated” I sighed. Maybe it wasn't just the blonde woman...She didn’t really have anything to do with my not wanting to see Scott after school...I was fool for trying to trick myself into believing that she was.
“Alright then, Lia. We won’t do something, no big deal.” The way he said it, however, implied quite the opposite.
“I’m sorry...It’s just...” I stopped. “It’s just...I have...I have...trust issues”
“I won’t hurt you, Lia. I would never hurt you”
“You don’t know me, how can you know you’ll never hurt me. You don’t know me. You don’t know my fears, my loves, my friends, my thoughts...my past.”
My past. No-one knew my past, and I was going to do my best to make sure no-one ever did.
“And,” I said, determined to make sure he didn’t find me totally weird “My friend is arriving from New Zealand tonight...so, it’d be impossible...anyway, even, if I was...” Even if I was normal.
“Oh, have fun tonight, Lia. And trust me, I wouldn’t hurt you, I’ll get to know you, I’d like that. If you would let me.”
“...I’d like you to be my friend.” I admitted, I would like to be friends with Scott.
“Friends, then” he stuck out his hand, which I took, timidly. I didn’t hold guys hands anymore, not even in a handshake. If you give them the power of contact, they can quite easily just pull you away...pull you away from everything and anything. Anything which you could use to save you.