Falling For Amelia Manning

"Fe, fi, fo, fum – "

Floor shaking stomps filled the quiet home.

"I smell –"

"Don't you dare finish that," a screeching shout comes from the room at the end of the hall pausing the vibration for a second.

"I SAID – I smell the blood of an Englishman!" The voice shouted and their words bounced off the walls in the small hallway. The vibrating growl of words was nearly cut off a second time when the angry voice from before groaned out in frustration louder than the chant was before. When the last door on the left swung open, the angry shouting girl came face to face with the annoying voice from the hall.

"James, is it really necessary to do that every time you come over?" Phoebe asked, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms over the wrinkled shirt she accidentally slept in. With a groan, James' current annoyance mirrored her form as she crossed her arms as well.

"Well, how else are you going to know it's me, Phoebe?" James asked her. Cracking a smile knowing she wasn't really mad at her. James playfully pushed Phoebe's shoulder and walked past her and into the room behind her as if this was a regular occurrence.

"You could just call my name and come to the door like a normal person. Instead, you sing the same rhyme they used to chant at me when we went to sports camp as kids. Something I hate and wished would go away forever." Phoebe reminded her best friend James as she began to pick at the clothes scattered on the floor and bed. Smelling and looking over parts of the clothes, she tried to find something fresh to wear.

"Yes, well, I'm your best friend and those rules don't apply. Are you not ready to go yet? It looks like you just woke up!" James shouted again and she had a point. Phoebe looked down at the wrinkled white and blue shirt she fell asleep in. It smelled like sweat and dirt from her practice last night on the field by herself. Her Crosse was still sitting in the middle of the room, thrown there after her tired hands couldn't hold onto it any longer.

"I had a late practice last night, sue me. It won't take long to get ready." She busied herself around the room trying to find something clean to wear. Finding that nothing on her floor was clean, she huffed and puffed, then headed to the bathroom for a quick shower. "Don't touch my socks, you always stretch them out." She warned James, without even looking back at her, before closing the door to her bathroom.

The second the door clicked closed, James hopped off her bed and started for the top drawer on her dresser. Seeing the only items of clothing she could borrow since her last growth spurt, she began to take out pairs of socks trying to find what her new love would be.

"Oh, she has the glow in the dark ones, I've been meaning to grab a pair like these!" James talked to herself, not caring if Phoebe heard from the bathroom.

When the bedroom door opened, James froze while putting on a pair of the new socks Phoebe hid in the back of her drawer. When she saw that it was Mrs. Jameson coming through the door she finished putting the socks on not caring if Phoebe's mom saw her doing so.

"Oh James, I didn't realize that was you at the door before. Usually, I hear that thing you sing. What is it again?" She asked her while James shoved her larger than Phoebe's foot into the small sock.

"The giant rhyme, I did it as I always do, were you outside?" She asked casually. "Yes, I was, the tomatoes have a little gremlin eating them. I have to got get new cages for them and see if they have pest spray or something at the store. Are you two going back to school shopping?" She asked her while piling the clothes on the floor into the basket on her hip. James silently smiled to herself when she noticed the scarf on Mrs. Jameson's head. They've been friends so long that her mom didn't care if she saw her with messy hair carefully tucked away under the vibrant scarf.

"If your daughter would ever get out of the shower, yes, we're going to the new mall across from that deli," James spoke as she put the second sock on and quickly laced her new shoes her father picked up at the store the other day. "You know her, she takes the longest showers but takes two seconds to get dressed." Throwing the last of the clothes in the basket she looked over at James and noticed the new face of makeup she didn't usually wear. "I love that color on your eyes, is that new?" She asked her. "Yes, I finally used my summer job money toward something I wanted instead of something boring like insurance and gas. I found it at Target, I can bring it by next time!" She said, excited to see it on Mrs. Jameson's face.

"That would be fantastic. Hopefully, this school year doesn't keep both of you too busy, I want to sit her down and see what she plans to do after school. All this Lacrosse business isn't great for the future." Quickly changing the subject before her daughter came out of the shower, she picked up Phoebe's Crosse and tossed it into the closet. James looked around and was pleasantly surprised she could see the floor now.

Holding back the urge to hate Phoebe for having such an amazing mother that she didn't have to get a summer job or do her laundry. James knew that Phoebe worked hard in different aspects of her life and their lives differed greatly, that's what made them such great friends, but it made James miss her mother just a little bit. Even if that wasn't a thread she wanted to pull on right now.

"I don't think either of us will ever understand why she loves that stupid sport so much. She's great at so many things, hell she could be a biochemist easily, but she wants to catch small balls with a little basket on a stick. I don't understand it." James shrugged just before laying back on the bed. Mrs. Jameson only stared at the bathroom door wondering it James was right; would they understand why she liked the sport so much? As her mother, she would support anything Phoebe wanted to do, but she never understood her love for this sport.

"She takes after her father, he tried out for every sport in high school. He never made a single team; this was before they did B teams and stuff. Seeing her sit on that bench till the end of the games when she's put in because the others are just barely better than her hurts. She did so well on the debate team in middle school. Once you two hit high school and she saw her first game, it was history, she was in love. I fear it's something we will just have to accept, whether we like it or not. We both will." She threw a look to James who was sitting up on her elbows waiting for the door to open.

Rolling her head back, she knew Mrs. Jameson was right, they needed to give her support. She was more stubborn than a mad goat.

When the bathroom door finally opened, Mrs. Jameson had left the room with her basket.

"Who were you talking to?" Phoebe asked while the steam followed her into the bedroom.

"Your mom, we were just dishing. You know I only get the best gossip from her." James teased. Rolling her eyes, Phoebe walked to her closet and found a shirt to cover up the only thing she was wearing; her underwear.

Having known James since third grade, things like this have never been an issue. James either, it was as if they'd known each other since birth the way they behave around each other.

"Are you ready yet?" James groaned.

"I'm sorry I woke up late, you came over ready, give me a second!" She shouted back from the inside of her closet. Finally finding a shirt and a pair of shorts that would work for their trip to the mall, she finished getting dressed and moved to her sock drawer.

"James, can I ask you an important question?" Phoebe piped up all of a sudden and James was all ears. "Of course, what's on your mind?" Her voice was filled with a quick sense of worry for what she was about to be asked. Turning toward James, Phoebe looked her up and down trying to find the right words.

"Did you take my new glow in the dark socks?" She asked finally.

Feeling the air leave her body, James wiped her brow and smacked the mattress with relief.

"I thought you were going to get deep on me for a second." She took a breath. "Yes, I thought they were cool, and I stole them. I'll give them back later." James stated.

"You weren't supposed to steal my socks! That was a new pair and I wanted to wear them today!" She fought back. James stood up and walked over to her by the dresser. Standing over her by nearly a foot, James looked down at Phoebe who hadn't changed her face from the twisted pucker face James and Phoebe's mother knew all too well.

"How long are we going to stand like this?" James asked while they both kept deep eye contact.

"Until I'm ready to go," she pushed back with a sharp tongue.

This is usually how they dealt with things. James knew she could lay her out, she had the strength and the size, but Phoebe was nothing to mess with. James has pulled her out of more fights than she can count since their camping days. Phoebe is a spitfire, anyone that's met her could tell you that.

Seconds ticked by and when Phoebe finally broke eye contact, she grabbed her bag and headed to the bedroom door as if nothing happened. Choosing a different pair of socks and the shoes by the door, they were ready to head out the door.

"Bye mom, I'll be back late. I'll show you the clothes when we get back!" She shouted by the front door knowing her mother was probably outside with the back door open.

"Stay safe, love you guys!" Her mother shouted back just as they walked out of the front door.

Hopping into James' hunter green civic, Phoebe throws her bag into the back seat as the car revs to life. The strange sound of a strong engine surprised Phoebe.

"You got Steven fixed?" She asked.

"Yes, finally I know, it cost an arm and a leg, but he's not dying on me anytime soon," James spoke while pulling away from the house and heading toward the mall. Pushing the buttons that would lead her to the right spot, Phoebe played their favorite songs on the old mixtape that was jammed in the cassette player.

"Do you ever think we'll have a car that uses Bluetooth?" James asked, almost longing to have something brand new in her grasps.

"Why would we want that? This car is perfect, and that tape has made it through a lot of years. If we want something new, I'll play it on my phone and turn the volume as far as it will go." Phoebe pushed aside the thoughts of something new and shiny, knowing that James put a lot of effort into getting this car. She knew that if anything negative came out of her mouth about the car, James would sulk and whine about it for the longest time.

"Phoebe, you are my best friend, you know that, right?" James told her while turning into the parking lot for the crowded mall.

"Of course, I know, what makes you say such nice things?" She asked, suspicious. James took in a deep breath and soon the air around them became thick with a tension Phoebe hadn't expected.

"I'm keeping these socks, and there's nothing you can do about that," she finally said after a long pause and heavy eye contact.

"Damn it, James! Fine, only because your feet are so big, I can't even start to rip them off!" Phoebe complained just before they both got out of the car and headed toward the crowded mall arm in arm.