Amy anxiously waited for her mother to show up. She hadn't waited very long in the parlor when two familiar faces entered. The first, an older woman in her early fifties and wearing black framed glasses seemed to tower over the couch where Amy was sitting. The other person looked like Amy's sister. Unlike Amy, she had blue eyes.
"Hi, Amy!" the girl said. Her eyes lit up the room, and she smiled, a large, toothy grin.
"Hi, Victoria. How are you?" Amy asked. Her mother cleared her throat.
"Good morning, Amy." Her mother said in a calm, yet stern manner. Amy could feel her mother begin smother any happiness she'd built up over the last forty-eight hours. Pamela unknowing walked into the tableau. Her appearance pushing the blanket away.
"Hey Amy, do you want to go for a walk later?"
"Who is this, Amy?" She asked, no, borderline demanded. Amy sheepishly replied.
"My friend, Pam."
"Nice to meet you, Pam." She replied. Outwardly, she seemed to approve of Pam, but inwardly, she viewed her as a potential threat.
"Your friend Pam seems nice, Amy!" Victoria grinned. She was happy to be there, as she didn't know when their next meeting would be. Sarah walked into the parlor by this point. Seeing Amy along with her mother and sister made her apprehensive.
"Hello." She said. Victoria smiled.
"Hello, Sarah." Amy said; the look on her face betrayed her true feelings.
"Amy, introduce your sister." Her mother reminded.
"Victoria, this is my friend and roommate, Sarah."
"Nice to meet you."
As Amy got up to leave, Pamela turned to Sarah.
"We have to talk, upstairs." She hissed.
Amy's mother closed the door behind her as Pamela and Sarah headed upstairs; a sense of foreboding fell over them.
Sarah and Pamela sat on the bed in Pam's half of the room. The sun, which had shone so bright merely an hour before had hidden behind the clouds. Looking out at the pine trees, Pamela sighed.
"I don't like Amy's mom. She seems gross." She began.
"She felt like a heavy, nasty, and old blanket that had gotten wet. I could feel the air getting sucked out of the room. I feel bad for both Amy and her sister, Victoria." Sarah replied.
"Her sister is too smart for Briarwood. She's no baby." Pamela continued, remarking on how well Victoria seemed to be put together.
"No wonder Amy likes it here. If my mom was like that, I'd jump off the boat to the mainland. She looked at me like I was an enemy." Sarah replied.
"She reminds me of my neighbor's mom. She's always yelling." Pamela sighed.
"Maybe you shouldn't be so hard on Amy?" Sarah asked.
"What do you mean?" Pam asked, as though she'd committed some slight.
"Don't tell her that people will kick her ass. You saw how happy she was last night? Don't try to be a mean girl, Pam. You don't do it very well. Amy has encountered real mean girls back in New York. Besides, all the mean girls in our grade are day students." Sarah explained. Pamela was lucky that was the case. She hated a few of the day students; mostly because they were better at dishing it out and taking it back in.
"I guess I was being a bit of a brat. I didn't know I was." Pamela sighed. In her mind, Pamela had been helping Amy by showing her how things truly were at Plymouth Rock. She had no intention of letting her personal bias get in the way, yet somehow, it had.
"Do you want to go to Dunkin' Donuts?" Pamela asked. Suddenly, she had the urge to leave campus.
"Sure."
They hurried through the neighborhood, though they were well within the rules to step off campus. The quest for iced coffee was on as the clouds seemed to grow darker.
"Pam, it'll be raining by the time we get back. I don't mind the rain, but it is winter and if we freeze to death our parents will sue, then we won't ever have friends again." Sarah prattled. Pam laughed.
"I hope Alison is back by the time we get back. It's not the same without her there." Pam replied. Despite their past disagreements, Alison and Pamela were fast becoming friends. Pamela remembered a trip to get coffee last November; the air crisp, the leaves at their absolute peak. Afterward, they sat down near the water; the gulls, having marked Alison began to close in on them.
"She makes Dunkin' Donuts trips fun. She always gets the French Cruller and a large coffee. After we leave, we go down to the benches on the water; then we just talk. The gulls always try to take Alison's donuts, and she screams at them in a thick Russian accent. 'Leeve leetle wing-ed peasants! Go find bread elsevere!'" Pam chatted.
They crossed Main Street into the parking lot. At 11 AM the parking lot was deserted; the only business that seemed to be active was the convenience store. They walked inside and moments later returned. Pamela shoved the whole glazed donut into her mouth; Sarah was in awe.
"That's how my dad eats their donuts. That can't be normal. He just shoves them into his mouth." Pam quipped.
"Isn't your dad a cop?"
"Hell no. He's a bondsman or if he were in Star Wars, a bounty hunter."
"No way!"
"He thinks that I don't know what he does. You know how I told you a long time ago that I was too smart for my own good?" Pamela asked. Sarah nodded.
"This is a case in point. He got a tip while we were at the bowling alley on Friday. He probably got them the other night."
"That's cool." Sarah said plainly.
As they neared the student entrance, the rain began to fall. Making their way to the entrance to their dorm, something felt off.
Alison walked out of the room with a look of concern on her face. Pamela was happy to see her roommate, but it didn't take long before Alison expressed her concerns.
"She let her have it!"
"Who did?"
"Amy's mom. She made her sister wait downstairs while she brought Amy up here to get screamed at. Some of the things she said my own mom would never say. I felt bad for Amy's sister. After she left, it was eerily quiet. Pam, be glad you weren't here; you wouldn't want to fight with her."
"Is Amy here?"
"No, she said something about going to some path somewhere."
"Let me go talk to her." Sarah said.
"I'll go with you." Pamela affirmed.
"She's really upset."
"We know, but nobody should have to get yelled at by their mom like that." Sarah and Pam said in unison.
Before they knew it they were on their way to the Smoker's Highway. They caught up with Amy a moment later. She looked as though she were in a daze. They stared at her as she took a drag on her cigarette. Pamela cleared her throat, catching Amy off guard. Startled, she turned to face them.
"I'm sorry you had to hear that earlier, Alison. My mom's super uptight."
"Your mom doesn't know how much of a decent person you are." Alison reassured.
"What did your mom say about us?" Pamela asked; hoping that they'd be unscathed.
"She likes you guys, she's not mad about that. Actually, that makes her really, really happy. She wanted me to make friends and build from there. She got mad because I misunderstood something and I got anxious. Mom was trying to calm me down, albeit not very well."
"Even still, Amy. We're your friends, and we're not going to let your mom talk to you like that in our presence." Pamela spoke up; gone was the wannabe mean girl that she had been for most of her time here, now she was the voice of reason. The rain continued to fall.
Stubbing out the cigarette, Amy rejoined the group. The rain became heavier as they made their way back inside. The staff had arrived to hand out the dinner menus. Making their selections, they headed back upstairs and into Amy and Sarah's room. The way the three others rallied around Amy made her feel wanted. Back home in New York, she'd have never gotten this response from anyone.
"You'll do well here, Amy. Just stick close to us and you won't go wrong." Pamela confided.
"You're an awesome roommate." Sarah complimented.
The quartet gathered their things and headed toward the cafeteria; Sarah, Pamela, and Alison forming a barrier around Amy.
