Chapter 9

Iwoke with a hangover so strong, but also with memories of my final exam ending, it made me smile, knowing that I didn't have to study again, even if it meant that I had to go out into the actual world and find a job. I struggled to open one eye, only to discover that we weren't in our dorm. Somehow, we ended up in someone else's room. The question was, whose?

"Kiara, you awake?" a familiar voice asked. I rubbed my eyes and blinked several times to see if my ears were deceiving me. I looked at her blue eyes which were facing mine, revealing that I was where I suspected I was.

"Amanda, yeah, I'm awake."

She smiled. "Good. I'll make you guys coffee. Lucy's in the bathroom."

I tried to get up from the floor, and she stretched out a hand to help me up. I stood up with my skirt back-to-front and my bra sticking out of my top.

"Damn!" I said as I stood up and tried to straighten myself out.

"Yeah, you were trying to undress, then you just passed out on the floor. We were worried, but we weren't in a fit state to help you get out of the dress ourselves."

I looked around and could see that. Amanda's parents were rich, well her dad was anyway, some kind of property tycoon, and she loved to flash her cash around. If I remembered correctly, last night she did that with Lucy and me.

I scratched my head and decided as soon as I saw Lucy leaving the bathroom that I would do the same. I was in dying need of a piss.

As I passed her and rushed to the bathroom, I closed the door. Amanda had an apartment all to herself, something that most students would dream of having. Then I remembered we planned to hit the clubs, but then she invited us to the party that she was having at her place, and we came. Judging by the look of things, not only did we go, but we ended up staying.

I washed my face with one of the white towels that she had piled at the side, and as I looked in the mirror, it appeared as if all the blood had rushed out of my face. I had a pale complexion, but it was a sign that I needed to go out more and stop spending so much time indoors. Now that I didn't have studies to hold me back, I had nothing to stop me from doing just that.

"You coming out of there or spending the night in the bathroom?"

I laughed as I opened the door. "Lucy, I'm out. Happy!"

She looked exactly the same as she did last night, with her backless red dress, and her hair pulled up with a couple of strands out, which was a lot more than could be said for me. Even if I got my bra back on, and put my skirt on the right way, she still looked better.

We headed toward the kitchen where Amanda had made some toast with coffee.

"I didn't know how you guys liked it, so I left the milk and sugar on the table. Sit down. Drink. Eat," she commanded. She was wearing what I assumed were her PJ's. A silk, lacey white matching set with shorts and bunny slippers. It was the first time in four years that she looked kind of human, not some evil bitch that I always imagined her to be back in her apartment.

As we all sat and started passing the milk, sugar and spreading butter and marmalade on our toast, I had to ask the burning question.

"Amanda, when were you ever nice to us?"

She chuckled as her perfect white teeth seemed to reflect in the sun while we sat at the breakfast table.

Lucy chimed in, "The day she came to me and said that she was sorry about the fight."

I started sipping on my coffee, which tasted so good. I took a note of the Nestle Expresso machine in the corner and realized, as I suspected, it wasn't instant coffee.

"My dad died. Seems he was in some freak accident or something a few weeks ago," Amanda said casually.

"Sorry."

She waved her hand. "Nothing to be sorry about. He was a pig. Treated me like crap and mom even worse. Anyway, I don't want to get into it right now. But I realized something. I hated my dad because of how he treated me, but I did the same thing to everyone else. And you can call it a lightbulb moment or something, but it just made me realize the error of my ways. I didn't feel like going out or even spending money on my friends or my so-called ex, and he dumped my ass just like that."

"A-hole!" Lucy said.

"Amen to that!" Amanda replied, and I couldn't help but laugh.

"So, I saw Lucy one day and said to her, 'Hey, my dad's dead and life's too short and all that. We're about to graduate. Let's move on.'"

Lucy nodded her head. "I agreed, after being dumped myself by another boyfriend."

"Well, at least you had choices. I only had one," Amanda said.

They both giggled, probably realizing that they had more in common than they'd both realized.

"Yeah Lucy, you had three, now you're down to one."

She waved her finger. "Remember, Kiara, I told you that once I'm out of here, I'm down to none."

"That's tough girl. Your parents having your life mapped out like that..." Amanda said and then she nibbled on her toast.

"My parents have been talking about law school and me fitting into the picture that they've painted of my life since the day I was born, but - and there's always a but - my dad has softened up over the years and said that once I graduate, if I want to go to design school, then he would support me."

We were listening to Lucy, and then I realized I had nothing to complain about. If I called mom and told her I was flying to the moon, she would be at NASA waving me away. If I told Nan that I had three sexy Seals, well, Nan would most likely ask for their phone numbers and call them. My family was flexible, and I knew they loved and cared about me, and I could tell them whatever was going on in my life and they would be there to support me.

Amanda asked, "How could you live like that, having your life all planned out for you like that?"

"The joys of being Japanese. Some families are more flexible and modern, and some, like mine, are so old-fashioned. Saying no and standing up to them means never seeing my family again, most of all my sisters. I couldn't imagine life without them." Lucy summed her life in a nutshell; family was more important to her than anything else in the world.

I shook my head, thinking that we should think of fun things to do. It was our last summer before we would no longer be students and officially adults. We should enjoy it. Not worrying about the rest of our lives; that part would come later.

"All I know is that I don't want to go back home. Now that he's dead, I know that I'll be going back home to mom," Amanda sighed. "Not an option."

"How come?" I said.

"Because she has a drug and alcohol problem. I used to feel sorry for mom, tell her she should leave my narcissist dad, until I discovered she loved the money more than the torture that she was putting herself through by living with him."

"Damn, that's rough!"

"Yeah. I'm not going back to babysit her. No way!"

Amanda was ready to go out into the world, even if it meant that she would do it alone. I had a family waiting for me, yet I complained about them constantly. It made me realize that I really had to grow up and realize that I was fortunate. That was what Lucy had done, which was why even if we felt her parents had her in chains, she saw it as a bright future.

I knew that I would have to go home soon, but until then, I now had two friends, not just one. I realized as we sat down and talked that I'd not enjoyed my college experience how I should have. But, as they say, it is never too late, and I intended to enjoy the last few weeks with my two friends.