M.A.R.

Ami jumped back in surprise by the rude comment. She didn’t know what to say to the sneering girl in front of her. Why was she being so rude to someone she had just met?

Ritsuka made a noise from behind Ami, sounding as if he was about to say something, but Chanay cut him off by walking closer to Ami and circling around her like a vulture. Ami put her arm down, knowing she wasn’t going to get a hand shake, as she watched Chanay circle around her.

“Disgusting, I mean look at it!” she sneered, picking up a red curl from Ami’s long hair before freaking out and dropping it. “Ew! It’s all wet!” she screeched.

“Well, duh! I was just in the water.” Ami informed haughtily.

“With your clothes on? What are you, a middle schooler?” Chanay quickly shot back with a smirk.

Ami gulped, silenced by her foulness.

“Chanay!” Ritsuka grabbed hold of her arm and turned her around so he could scold her face-to-face. “What the hell are you-” suddenly his cell phone rang, cutting him off short. Chanay smirked wider at him as he dug into his pocket, glaring at her all the while. “Hello?” he answered the call, his father’s voice angrily spilling through. “Look, I was just- So what?...No I- … …Fine, whatever.” He sighed before hanging up the phone.

“Was that your father, Rits-baby? He doesn’t like her much, does he?” Chanay asked, giving Ami a sideways glance, showing off her smug smile.

“You. Don’t call me that.” He stated harshly as he walked towards Ami. “Now come on Ami, I’m walking you home.”

“Oh no you aren’t!!” Chanay denied, pushing her way in between the two. “If you go out with her you can bet I will be speaking to your father, Rits!” she threatened, strapping herself to his chest. Ami gasped at how clingy she was to him, her face reddening with anger.

“I’m not afraid of him, Chanay, I never was. Threats like that won’t work on me!” he tried to pry her off.

“But your father said he was going to kick you out of you hang out with this ugly excuse for a human being! She repels people, Rits-baby; and if you hang out with her people will avoid you, too!” Chanay pled loudly. “If she had any heart at all she would stay as far away from you as she could!”

The words shot an arrow through Ami’s insides. It was what she was always afraid of; Ritsuka being shunned for life just because of her. If this ‘Chanay’ could figure that out as quickly as she did, then that means its true… Everyone will shun Ritsuka…

“Chanay, you don’t say such rude things! I love Ami and nothing will-”

“No.”

Chanay and Ritsuka gasped at Ami as she cut him off from finishing his sentence.

“W-w-w-what?” Ritsuka stuttered at her, Chanay’s slimy hands finally slipping off of him.

Ami shook her head at him, taking a step back. “She’s right… They’re all right…” she whispered dejectedly. “I knew it was true, Ritsuka! They’ll all hate you because of me!” she cried out, not letting him talk her out of it before running back into the winding forest.

“Ami! Shit!” he cursed, starting to chase after her. But Chanay held him back and forced him to watch Ami disappear into the woods.

“Hmmm… Maybe she doesn’t like you the way you seem to love her.” Chanay purred mischievously, wrapping herself lovingly around Ritsuka’s arm.

Ritsuka sighed, watching where Ami had vanished. As long as there was this other guy, he knew Ami would never love him as much as he loved her… … …

Rebecca marched up the hill towards the mansion, whispering profanity about the blonde male she had the displeasure of sharing cheap, tasteless coffee with. She was angry at him for making up these lies, she was angry at him for telling those lies to the island people making them terrified of a teenage girl, she was angry at him for… Well, for a great many things that she was too angry to even think about! She was just angry and all she wanted was to get home and make a giant dinner for Ami and herself.

Almost at the top of the hill, she dug in her pockets for her keys, furiously screeching when she couldn’t find them. “Finally!!” she hissed out loud, grasping the skeleton keys to the old mansion.

“Rough day today?” a light chuckle surprised Rebecca at the door.

Rebecca jumped up, turning towards the featherlike voice. “Stepha? Stepha!” Rebecca pulled the thin, tall woman into a much needed hug. “What are you doing here? Why? Oh, this isn’t the place to talk about it; let’s go inside!” Rebecca offered, obviously delighted by the visit as she eagerly tried to unlock the door.

“Rebecca, sorry… But I can’t.” she denied the offer solemnly.

Rebecca automatically gulped, knowing that that meant she wasn’t here for a nice chat… “W-w-what’s going on then? Is something…the matter?” she asked forlornly, slowly turning around to face Stepha.

Stepha sighed upon seeing Rebecca in such a frantic mood. “You know what’s going on. I’m not here as a friend today, Rebecca… I’m here as Ami’s social worker.”

Rebecca shoulder’s drooped, hoping Stepha wasn’t going to say what she thought she was going to say. “I… I… I-”

“Rebecca,” Stepha shushed her by setting a calming hand on her shoulder. “A family-a nice, happy family on the mainland-decided that they would adopt Ami. They have a son about her age and a set of twins about ten years old. They love her no matter what anyone says about her. They say that she’s perfect and… I can’t disagree…” her voice died down to a whisper as tears rolled down Rebecca’s cheeks. Stepha sighed, pulling her into a much needed hug. “Things will be alright, Rebecca. You’ll get another child to foster before you know it. And you can still visit Ami once in a while! It isn’t like she’ll just disappear forever!” Stepha tried to negotiate, but the sobs choked out by Rebecca proved that it wasn’t working. With a heavy sigh, Stepha held her tighter. Sure, a meeting like this always hurt a little, but Rebecca was her long-time friend. Watching her break down in her arms was heart-wrenching.

“It’s… It’s okay… It’s fine…” a small voice whispered between sobs. Stepha pulled away to find Rebecca’s sobbing face smiling back at her. “This should be a joyous time, right? Not a sad one.”

Stepha nodded at her in agreement, half a smile breaking through. “I’m sorry I can’t stay longer, but it’s an hour back to mainland on boat and I can’t miss my next appointment…” Rebecca nodded at her in understanding, knowing she was a busy woman. “Okay. Here are the papers I need you to fill out. Take care.” Stepha ordered as she handed her a folder, patting Rebecca’s shoulder with a smile before turning around and walking off to the docks.

Rebecca watched her go until she disappeared into the surrounding forest, giving her the cue to step into her empty mansion… … …

Ami sat gloomily on the front steps of her house, everything that Rebecca had told her slowly sinking into her mind… She was going to get adopted by someone on the mainland… She was going to have a true family… But why did it feel so wrong to leave with them? Even though she knew Rebecca was just a foster mother, she couldn’t help but feel as if they were a family. A little, tiny, happy family…

Ami sighed as she remembered what happened when she was informed with the ‘good news.’

“I’m not leaving.” Ami promised sternly.

“Of course you are. You’ve got a nice family waiting for you at the big country.” Rebecca stated lifelessly, peeling carrots in the sink.

“I’ve got my family right here.” She stomped.

“You know I’m just a foster mother, Ami. And we both knew that this day was bound to happen.”

“I never figured this was going to happen! You were always the only one who loved me until we came to the island! Even that Stepha never liked talking to me; I could see it in her eyes! She always fakes her smiles when she talks to me!!” Ami replied crossly.

“Ami!” Rebecca silenced her angrily, slamming her hands onto the countertop. “You’re going and there is nothing you can do about it…” she huffed before picking up another carrot to peel.

Ami stared at her, silenced by her outburst. “Are you...really okay with me leaving? Really, really okay with it?” she asked quietly, turning away from Rebecca, afraid of the answer.

There was a silence before the response. “Of course I am… …You deserve to have a second shot at a family…”

Ami dropped her shoulders, knowing that Rebecca was lying to her. The countertops were crowded with a week’s worth of food, prepared and still hot enough to eat. Rebecca only cooked this much when she was depressed or frustrated with something. Ami could read Rebecca like an open book. They’re just that close to each other…

Coming back to the present, Ami sunk her face deeper into the knees she pulled up to her chest. The black-blue skies were decorated with twinkling stars, providing a nice open feel to the air to help her think. The whole world just felt so surreal to her right now. Her heart was torn in two, the whole town knew her name (even though it might be in a bad way), and now there was this family that actually wanted to adopt her. She was going to get adopted… She never even dreamed of getting this much attention before in her life.

Groaning loudly to the night air, she fell dramatically to the ground on her side, curling up into a ball.

“Wow, someone is going through a tough time…” someone mocked without humor.

Ami quickly sat back up, turning to see who was here and raised a brow at the visitor in confusion. “Mr. Ritsuka’s Dad?” she questioned, cocking her head to one side in curiosity. “What are you doing here?”

Dally scoffed before clearing his throat and turning away from the teenager, his lips in a pout. “Here. Rebecca left this at my place earlier today.” He explained as he held out their bread basket for Ami to grab, still not turning to look at her, though.

“Rebecca was at your place? Why?” Ami asked, getting up to take the basket from him.

“Ask her yourself.” He ordered rudely, letting go of the basket almost letting it fall to the ground.

Ami hastily snatched the basket in midair which made her accidently run into the older man. She looked up at him to apologize, but froze at the tortured, distraught, saddened look in his eyes. Suddenly, his face scrunched up in twisted irritation and he roughly shoved her away from him. She looked back at him in question as she wondered what was up. “What’s wrong, Mr. Ritsuka’s Dad? You can’t talk to me, either?” she sneered.

“My name is Dally. And I can talk to whoever I want.” He snapped back brusquely. “Now what happened to Rebecca? Is she okay? She left pretty angrily today.” He informed Ami, crossing his arms and turning away from her again as if he didn’t really care about Rebecca at all.

“She’s angry. What did you say to her?” Ami asked curiously, though she was still pissed at him.

“I didn’t say a dang thing. It’s her fault for wanting to protect you. She should’ve just left you alone like everyone else did.” He answered back in a loutish tone.

Ami’s brows furrowed together at what he had just said. “You don’t know anything, do you? That’s sad; I always thought this island prideed themselves on knowing everything about everyone.”

“I do know everything about everyone!” Dally defended himself angrily. “I know where Rebecca went to school, what she majored in, and even how many boyfriends she had. She isn’t married, but that’s probably because she’s stuck with you.” He snorted.

“Wrong.” Ami quickly corrected. “Any stalker could figure out that meaningless stuff about Rebecca. You don’t know anything about her.”

“Then tell me,” Dally turned to look at the girl, taking a sudden interest in the topic for some reason. “Who is Rebecca Garcia?”

“You sure you won’t get into trouble for talking to me, Mr. Dally?” Ami asked mockingly.

Dally narrowed his eyes at her, though a slight sadness could still be seen through his anger. “Just tell me what you’ve got to tell me; I don’t have all night.”