Tristan awoke that morning with a groan, her entire body ached everywhere and her head hurt. The look on Samantha's face when she left worried her intensely and she tried to call her friend several times throughout the night, but got no answer. She wished she knew what happed to her friend and turned to her Meephit for the answers. She recalled clearly the questions she asked the little devise late that night and the answers it gave. "Why did Sam leave?" She typed. "She is afraid." It answered. "Afraid of what?" "Love." Those words caused her to shake uncontrollably and she had troubles willing her hands to type the next question. "Who's love?" She swallowed hard as she awaited the answer and prayed it was not what she already suspected. "Yours." The sight of those words caused a tear to break free and roll down her cheek. Somehow Sam had figured out her worst secret and she'd run away. Trish curled up in her bed and buried her face in her pillow as a pained howl emitted from deep inside of her chest. Trisha had noticed that she was starting to have feelings for her best friend back when they were twelve. While all the other girls were talking about boy bands her mind was filled with thoughts of Samantha. On more then one occasion she found herself fight with the urge to reach out and stroke the girl's hair and felt disgusting whenever the urge arose to kiss her arose. After every sleep over Trish would find herself hugging the pillow Sam had used and she would cry as she breathed in her friend's scent. She knew deep inside that there was no chance in hell that Sam would feel the same for her and feared that when she discovered her secret that would be the end of their friendship forever. So she content herself with just being near her friend, hugging her when she needed it and not allowing herself to give in to her sexual desires. Yet all of that effort was for nothing, somehow Sam had figured it out and now she was gone forever. Trisha lay in her bed staring up at the ceiling, allowing the sorrow to engulf her soul, when she heard the phone ring and her mother's muffled voice drift through the floorboards. The call was short and soon after she heard her mother's footfalls as she descended the stairs to the basement and approached Trish's room, knocking lightly upon her door. "Trisha dear?" Her mother's voice softly called out from behind the door, "Are you awake?" "Yeah..." Trish half heartedly answered as she rolled over in her bed, wrapping her arms around a pillow, and put her back to the door so her mother would not see the tired look upon her face. The door squeaked slightly as it opened and her mother entered the room, seating herself at the corner of the bed, "Sweetie..." She lightly set her hand upon her daughter's back. Trish knew something terrible must have happened for her mother to act this way. The last time she stat upon the corner of her bed and pet her like this was when her dog died several years ago. This thought filled Trish's heart with dread and she slowly turned to face her mother, unsure if she really wanted to hear the news, "Something's wrong isn't it." Trish bluntly asked, sitting up to gaze at her mother. Her mother slowly nodded, avoiding her daughter's searching stares, "Something happened to... to Samantha last night." Trish clenched the pillow tight in her arms, hearing Sam's name caused her heart to ache and her mouth to become suddenly dry, "I... is she alright?" She nervously inquired. Again the woman nodded, "She is alright, but they are going to have to call off her birthday party." "What happened?" Trish could feel herself becoming more anxious by the minute, "Was she hurt? Did a car hit her? What?" "I'm not sure all the details." Her mother replied, "But she is in the hospital and will have to stay there for a day or two." Trish's heart suddenly dropped to her stomach, "H... Hospital!?! Wha... how... when???" Horrifying images began to fill her mind, thoughts of her friend lying in the middle of the street battered and broken with her bicycle lying next to her in a twisted heap. Her mother set her hand upon her shoulder, "She is fine, just hit her head. Her mother said it was an accident and that the doctors just want to keep an eye on her so they can't have the birthday party. I know you were looking forward to today, but you can have a sleepover when she get's out of the hospital." "I want to go see her." Trish exclaimed as she tore the blankets from around her legs and jumped out of bed, straightening her nightshirt from exposing her underwear to her mother and rushed to her dresser to pull out some clothes. "Her mother said she needed to get some rest." Trish's mother calmly stated, "Maybe we should go tomorrow." Trish spun around to set her determined eyes upon her mother's; "I want to see her now. You know Sam and she wouldn't want to be alone on her birthday. She was looking forward to this day more then you would believe. I bet her mother threatened to hold back her birthday again, like she always does, and if she doesn't have one then it is just like her mother has won and I can't allow that." Plus she needed to see her friend again to confirm if they were still friends or not. She needed to hear it from Sam, if she did not wish to see Trish again then she would learn to deal with the loss, but she needed to hear it from her friend's own lips and this might be her only chance. Knowing her daughter's stubbornness when she has made up her mind she gave in to her child's wishes, "Alright, let me make some breakfast and get dressed and then we will go see her." "We need to go now." Trish demanded as she pulled out a t-shirt from the drawer. Her mother shook her head in disbelief and knelt next to her daughter, setting both of her hands upon the girl's shoulders, "Trisha calm down. I know how you feel about Sam, I've known for years that you love her and I know how badly you want to see her, but visiting hours are not until ten so slow down a bit, okay?" She begged. Trish was startled by her mother's words, "Y... you knew..." She was not sure she had heard her mother correctly and needed to hear it again. Her mother pulled her over to the bed; sitting upon the edge again, and then looked her daughter directly in the eye. There was no anger in her mother's eyes, only sad concern, "Dear, I've known for years that you have feelings for Sam. A mother cannot ignore her daughters tears as her friend leaves. I don't know what happened last night, but I would be a fool to not see the pain in your eyes when she left last night and I know you want to run to her, but try not to rush things. I don't care if you are gay or not, I just want you to be happy and for you to come to me when you need someone to talk to. I may only be your mother, but I want to be there to help you." Tears flowed down Trisha's cheeks steadily now and she reached up to wipe them away with the palm of her hand, "I... I'm sorry... I don't... don't want to loss her..." A tired sob wrenched from her throat and her mother pulled her into her arms. "It's alright dear." She soothingly rubbed the girl's back, "I'm sure Sam is alright and that whatever happened last night she will not leave you. You two have been friends for so long that I could not see the two of you apart. We'll visit her after breakfast alright?" She assured the girl. Trish let out a trembled sigh as she sniffled back the tears, ashamed that she had broken down in front of her mother. She knew her mother was correct, but she wanted to be at Sam's side that minute, "A... alright... I'm sorry..." She agreed, wiping her nose with the back of her hand. Her mother smiled and hugged her daughter tightly, "I'll make you some eggs and bacon then, does that sound alright to you?" Trish simply nodded, she was not sure she could stomach food at that moment for her insides felt like they were in knots, but she would try to appease her mother's wishes as best she could. After her mother left the room she slowly pulled off her nightshirt and tossed it to the ground before pulling on a pair of jeans and a shirt. She was fixing her hair in the mirror above her dresser when her mother called down to her. "Trisha? Could you come up here for a moment?" She said with a hint of concern upon her words. "Coming!" Trish called back, and then ran up the stairs and into the kitchen. She was surprised to find her mother not in the kitchen as she expected. The woman was standing in the living room, staring out the large picture window out at the front of the house. Trish curiously stepped into the room and craned her neck to see what it was her mother was looking at. "What is it Mom?" She asked eager to know what her mother was staring at. Her mother suddenly turned, almost as if she were startled by her daughter's presence, "Oh! I did not see you there." She said in surprise, and then pointed out the window at something across the street, "There is a girl standing out there and I think she is watching our house. I noticed her when I came down to talk to you and didn't think anything of it, but there she still is and she doesn't seem to be moving." Trish peered out the window, squinting against the glare of the morning sun, to see what her mother was talking about and was startled by what she saw. Just as her mother had said there stood a teenaged girl dressed all in black and it appeared that she was staring right back at them. At first Trish did not recognise who she was looking at when her eyes finally came into focus and she was even more stunned by her the realization as to who was standing before her. "That's Elizabeth..." She breathed. Elizabeth had not visited her house before and she was certain she had not told the girl her address so there was no way the girl could have found her home and yet there she was. A long black cloak draped over her body, floating slightly over the ground, revealing black leather docs covering her feet, her pink bangs flowing out from under the folds of the hood as the wind tossed it around her painted face, black makeup encircling her eyes and lipstick and the stud in her nose glistening in the sun. Trish was almost certain she could see the tip of what Trish suspected must have been an umbrella of sorts, but the sky was clear so she could not figure why the girl would bring a umbrella with her, but this was Beth after all so she didn't think twice about it. "Is she a friend of yours?" Trish's mother asked curious, transfixed by the strange girl, "Maybe she would be interested in having breakfast with us." She politely offered. Trish stared up at her mother in disbelief. First her mother is accepting of her being gay and now she wants to invite Beth into her home. The prospect of Beth being in her home did not sit well with her, more so as she recalled how friendly she was with Sam the other day, but she couldn't just leave the girl standing out there in the cold September wind. "I guess I'd better see what she wants." She stated with a reluctant sigh and picked up her shoes next to the front door. "Invite her in if you like." Her mother persisted, "It is not often that I meet your other school friend and she seems like a nice girl." 'She is weird and creepy.' Trish wanted to say, but kept her mouth shut as she opened the door and headed outside. She did not take her eyes off Beth as she travelled across the driveway and across the street, "Morning Beth, What's up?" She greeted with a false smile upon her face. "You do not need to pretend you like me." Beth said calmly, "I know you don't like me, even hate me perhaps, so please refrain from the façade of happiness and remove that mask you wear when you are around your friends, for I don't care for it." Trish clenched her fists in anger, "Why you little...Freak!" She stormed up to the girl, her smile quickly replaced with a snarl, "You have the nerve to suddenly appear in front of my house then act all pompous like that. You wiggle your way into my group of friends and next I find you getting close to Sam. What is with you girl? What are you trying to prove being here? Sam is mine and I want you to stay away from her." Beth slowly turned to face Trish, her green eyes staring out from beneath her bangs, "Are you finished?" She inquired, unaffected by the girl's attacks, "I'm not interested in Samantha the way you are." She stated firmly. Trish stopped dead in her tracks and blinked in disbelief, "Your not? Then what was with you and her the other day?" She asked curiously. "Since I bumped into her during the first day of school I got a strong feeling she was in trouble." Beth explained simply, "Last night I found myself wandering the streets, in search of something, but not sure what. I felt Sam was in great danger, but could not focus on what that danger was and now I feel I'm too late. Before long I found myself standing outside of your house." Trish starred at the girl, puzzling over the girl's words, "You have been following Sam around because you felt she was in danger?" Elizabeth nodded, "I could feel the anxiety coming from your house the past while and thought maybe you had news about what happened to Samantha." Trish slowly nodded, "There was an accident and she is in the hospital." Worry crossed Elizabeth's face, "The hospital!?! What happened to her?" This was the first time since Trish met the girl that she saw her show any emotion and made her realize that Beth was just like everyone else, that she just conceals her emotions a little too well. She glanced at her house to see her mother walk over to the window and wave to them. "Listen..." Trish let out a deep sigh and pushed all her disgruntled feelings for Elizabeth off to the side, "If you like you can come with us to the hospital to visit Sam." She offered. Elizabeth blinked as if she could not believe she was hearing the offer correctly, "C... Can I really come with you?" She inquired uneasily. Trish smiled, this time genuinely, and held out a hand to the girl, "My mother is making breakfast and invited you to come join us if you like. We can visit Sam afterwards and together we can find out what happened last night." Reluctantly Elizabeth's hand slipped out from under her cloak and took Trish's hand. Trish was surprised to find it was chilled and she began to wonder how long the girl had been standing out in the cold air. Deciding to leave the questions for later she gently pulled Elizabeth across the road and back to her home. ***** To be Continued . . .
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