It took a moment for them to snap back to reality and flock around the door of the car. Luke, who enjoyed the look on their faces, indulged with them for minutes before telling them to get in. Since they were quite a few of them, it took some time for everyone to settle in while Cosette got out to talk to Fay and Sarah.
"Where's Amie?" asked Cosette, watching the two look at each other before looking back at her.
"Her parents didn't allow her to come," said Sarah while forcing a smile. "Amie was never allowed to go on unplanned trips."
"Really...?"
"She'll be fine," Fay reassured, although her eyes told Cosette otherwise. "She's used to it. It's not like this is the last trip we can go."
Cosette frowned and pursed her lips. But before she could agree, she turned her head back when they heard Luke's voice.
"Hey, it's time to go." Luke tilted his head after seeing their somber expression. This wasn't the expression he was expecting.
"Any problem?" he asked as soon as he reached the three girls.
"No, everything is fine." Sarah elbowed Fay so the latter could back her up.
"Ye — yes. Everything is fine," Fay backed up with an awkward nod.
"Amie didn't get her parent's permission." While the two didn't want to bother Luke, Cosette confessed with a deep exhale. "It was a little sad that she can't go, since it would be good if the four of us were complete."
Sarah and Fay looked at Cosette and smiled subtly. They had always felt Cosette, although kind to them, was someone who could replace them easily. But it seemed they were wrong. Cosette treated them as precious as they treated her because they were friends.
"Hah..." Luke planted his hands on his hips. "Then, let's ask for their permission!"
"Huh?" The three looked at him and cocked their head to the side in unison.
"Amie is your precious friend, and she is also mine! It won't be the same if she isn't there." His lips stretched from ear to ear, seeing the shock on their faces.
"Wait, but her parents are strict!" Fay blurted out, but Luke's confidence simply shot up.
"You'll understand the meaning of strict parents if you meet my grandparents. They will give you hell! Even my father turns to a completely different person as if he just came out straight from the temple whenever we were visiting them!" he bragged, making the three of them look at him with conflict in their eyes. Was that something he should also brag about?
"Come on! We have a friend to rescue!" he urged, walking behind the three and pushing them towards the car.
With that being said, this trip to unwind had become an adventure that would strengthen the foundations of their friendships, which would last forever. But... no one had yet known that now. All they knew was that this summer would be one of the many more unforgettable memories they would bring until adulthood.
*****
Meanwhile...
Amie sulked in her room, lying on her stomach on her bed, head in her folded arms. She was biting her lower lip, a little emotional at her parent's refusal for her to join her friends. She wiped the tears that rolled across the bridge of her nose.
It wasn't like she didn't understand her parents. She knew they were simply worried about her since she was an only child. They wanted to protect her. However, she had been doing her best to do well in school, even though she still fell in the last section.
She just wanted to go on a trip with her friends at least once.
"They probably met already," she mumbled, thinking they had already set off. "I hope they have fun."
knock knock...
Amie immediately hid under the blanket the second she heard the knock from outside before it creaked open. From the other side of the door, a woman in her late mid-fifties with a neat low-bun while wearing an apron sighed.
"Can I come in?" came out a soft voice, but no answer. She still entered the room carefully and sat down on the edge of her daughter's bed.
"Amie," she called, patting the mound on the bed where she was hiding. "Amie, sweetheart, can we talk?"
Amie sniffed before she slowly pulled down the blanket and sat upright. She wiped her tears with her arm, clearing her throat, and avoiding her mother's gaze.
"Sweetheart, you understand why we're doing this, right?" her mother asked in a gentle tone, waiting for her daughter to meet her eyes. "Do you hate us?"
Amie shook her head mildly. "Of course not. How can I hate you?" her voice cracked as tears flooded her eyes once again.
"I was just a bit upset because my friends will all be there and I'm the only one who isn't there," she confessed as her face contorted while tears continued to stain her cheeks. She cried until she was hiccuping, showing how she truly wanted to go on this unplanned trip, and not being able to have fun with her friends upset her to tears.
Her mother sighed quietly and waited for her to calm down. "Amie," she called and open her arms. "Come."
Hiccuping, Amie jumped to cry in her mother's embrace to release her frustrations. Her mother said nothing and simply rubbed her back until she had calmed down after five minutes.
"I didn't know you will be this upset," her mother confessed as she let her daughter go, brushing her daughter's short bob-cut hair. "We just want to protect you, but of course, I hate seeing you cry. That is why... I talked to your father about this trip."
Amie shook her head and wiped the lingering tears from the corner of her eyes. "It's alright, Mom. They probably left already and I'm alright now. Thank you."
Her mother smiled, brushing her cheek. "You have great friends, sweetheart. I don't think they would leave without you." She then cocked her head in the door's direction.
Amie's brows furrowed and slowly set her eyes on the door. There, four heads were peeking from the side — Fay, Cosette, Sarah, and Luke — with a large grin on their faces, making her eyes dilate before gasping when she set her eyes back at her mother.
"They were quite persistent too," her mother added. "Always take care of yourself and don't forget to have fun, alright?"
"Mama!" Amie jumped to her mother and embraced her tightly.
Meanwhile, Cosette, Fay, Sarah, and Luke looked at each other with bright smiles on their faces. Their smile spoke the same: mission success!
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