Falling For Amelia Manning - 12 Crime and Punishmen

Phoebe’s mom wasn’t lying when she spoke about cleaning the kitchen floor on her hands and knees. They arrived home slower than Phoebe wanted. She had to sit through her mom chewing her out and then an unbearable silence that followed. It even carried into the house with a slam of the front door. Her mother only pointed to things in the house that needed to be cleaned spotless before heading to her own room and closing the door angrily there too.

It didn’t take Phoebe long to get to the very last thing on the demanding list pointed out to her. She was currently on her hands and knees with a scrub brush and a bucket of soapy water, getting all the nooks and crannies the kitchen had to offer. Her arms were getting sore from the previous vacuuming and dusting and if she wasn’t in the type of shape she had currently, she would have tapped out an hour ago. Unfortunately, all those push-ups and weights she uses in the gym after school have paid off and she was nearly done with all the demanding punishments she was given.

Tossing the dirty brush into the bucket, she pulled herself off the tile floor and dragged the bucket to the sink. Careful as to not get the dirty water all over, she slowly poured the black tea-colored water into the sink. It didn’t take her much longer to toss the bucket outside to dry, after rising it out, and wishing her life was over now.

Turning around, she nearly walked back over the clean tile floor with her dirty bare feet. Cursing under her breath, she reached for a kitchen table chair and carefully dragged it over from the back door where she stood half in and out of the house. Climbing onto the seat, she teetered the legs of the chair until she was closer to the kitchen table and not the back door. Stretching toward the table, she gently climbed onto it among the salt and pepper shaker, being sure not to knock anything off and onto the clean floor.

Crossing her legs and taking in a deep breath, she looked around the kitchen at her handy work. The floor shined with a nice clean gloss, the counters mimicked the shimmer of the tile, the cabinets and appliances have never looked this good. Smiling to herself, she reached around to pat herself on the back when her mother walked into the kitchen.

“I would say not bad, but I don’t want you to get a big head on those shoulders,” she started off with an attitude that made Phoebe roll her eyes.

“Did you get everything? Top of the cabinets, fridge, even the toaster?” Her mother glanced at her from the side of her eye. “Yes, my liege, I got everything you asked for. Including the living room and foyer, they are spotless, get a glove and check.” She motioned to the hall where the rest of the rooms were after giving her mother a fake bow.

“That’s enough of your attitude, Phoebe Michelle, you did something terrible at school and you deserve to be punished for it. Did all that cleaning not show you that?” It was rare that Phoebe’s mom got really, truly, mad at her. It took a lot for the red face to appear and seeing it now only made her feel worse.

“I know I messed up, it’s just that,” Phoebe started but dropped her head before she could continue.

“Just what?”

“Amelia, she gets under my skin! She’s always in my way and making fun of me. I bet she’s the reason I haven’t made the varsity team!” Phoebe accused with a loud booming yell through the kitchen.

“Now, Phoebe, you can’t just think this girl is out to get you in every aspect of your life. She has her own life, what would make yours so interesting to her?”

“Owe, thanks for that mom,” she flared a mock hurt and threw her hands over her heart to protect it. “I’m not that boring, but it’s not just that, she’s been pranking me every year since we were in elementary school! She’s the one that pants me in front of our sixth-grade lunch period!” Phoebe yelled again and as her mother came closer to the kitchen table, careful not to track dirt over the clean floor, she pulled herself onto the table to sit next to her.

“I remember that you wanted me to talk James’ father into moving to another country with us. Something I hadn’t agreed to, and he nearly went for it. That was just after Prim left them and everything seemed to be going down the toilet. Luckily, smart adults decided to make you go back to school and face your fears.” Her mother reminded her. Nudging her shoulder with her own, Margaret tried to bring up the elephant in the room.

“Tell me about this girl, why do you think she does stuff like this to you?”

“I’d like to say it’s just because she’s a bi- “Phoebe stopped herself. “Sorry mom,” her mom nodded for her to continue. “I want to say it’s because she’s mean, but I think she’s still getting back at me for something I did when we were ten years old.” Phoebe shrugged but her mom wasn’t buying it.

“If it was something that long ago, she should be over it by now, it’s been eight years. What was the incident, was I notified about it?” She asked.

“Probably not, it was a rumor just after my first sleepover that wasn’t at James’ house.”

“Okay, I remember that. Wait, Amelia is little Mia?” Her mom asked, shocked.

“Yeah, she’s not so little anymore. She’s almost six feet tall. But that’s not the point.” She waved her mother off. “I overheard something during the sleepover that I wasn’t supposed to hear. Amelia saw me out of bed and when the news was spread all over school the next week, she thought it was me. But I swore to her and I’ll swear to you now, I didn’t say a word. I told James a little bit of it but not enough for her to have started the rumor either. She didn’t believe us.” Phoebe hung her head lower this time, remembering the look on Amelia’s much younger face when she thought she betrayed her.

“You’ve been holding onto that guilt for a long time, maybe it’s time to let it go?” Her mom nudged her a little. “How can I let it go when she thinks I’m the one that told the whole school her father was leaving her mother for a teenager! That’s so embarrassing and she missed almost a week of school because of everything happening with her parents. It only made things worse for her when she came back.” Phoebe shook her head and noticed a few tears escape when she did. Pulling her head back, she tried to occupy her attention on the popcorn ceiling above her.

“You are not the one that broke that family up, her father did. He ran off with someone half his age and left his family behind. He is the one that didn’t find a different solution to whatever their problems were. It didn’t help that Amelia’s mother shut down afterward as well, I’ve heard that her oldest daughter takes care of Amelia for the most part. You saw her earlier today.” Phoebe just nodded her head. She forgot that her mom was tied in with just about everyone else’s at the school. “All you could have done was be a good friend, but if she was too angry to see that or too upset to want you around, that’s still not your fault.” Her mother finished but it didn’t make Phoebe feel any better.

“I made her the way she is, even if I didn’t start the rumor. I didn’t help her afterward. I was so angry that she thought I could do something like this…That I just shut her out. When she would mess something up of mine, I would take it further. When she made the Lacrosse team, I had to make it too. I had to be better than her.”

It had been years since Phoebe’s mom thought about the real reason, she wanted to play this sport. The reason behind her heightened ambition, and here she was telling her straight out why she’s been acting like this and it was almost too unbelievable for words. It was all because of a girl that she wanted to be better than everyone else. That she wanted to be better than the school’s best Lacrosse player. That she had all straight As and excelled at just about anything she tried to do. All because of Amelia Manning.

“Phoebe Michelle Edan,” her mother started again after a great long pause between them. With a furrowed brow, Phoebe looked over at her mother who had her soft, kind face back.

“I love you. I love you more than any mother has loved their child, and that will never change, you hear me?” Phoebe slowly nodded her head but didn’t say a word.

“After today, I want you to let all of this go. I want you to forgive yourself for not helping her when you could have – not should have – and I want you to have a sleepover with James on Friday. I will talk to her father.” That last words tumbling out of her mouth shocked Phoebe so hard that she nearly fell off the table.

“But, my punishment?” She questioned and the teenager living in her head wanted to punch her in the face for the reminder.

“Consider what you’ve already done and what we just talked about being your punishment. But I want a promise from you, right now.”

“Whatever it is, as long as I get my phone and Lacrosse gear back,” she bargained and with a nod of her mother’s head, she won.

Sliding off the table, she was pulled into a tight hug before she was able to getaway.

“Remember, no matter what, you are my daughter. No matter how you handle your life or any lifestyle that may bring.” Pushing her out of the hug, her mother squeezed Phoebe’s face in between her warm hands while she talked to her about stuff Phoebe didn’t really understand. She tried to talk back to her, but the fish face her mom’s hands had created prevented any words from coming out.

The moment she let go, Phoebe took a step back before talking again.

“I love you too mom, even when you’re speaking with broad strokes on things that sort of apply to me but don’t really make sense. If I find out you’re dying, I will be so pissed!” Her mother laughed a bit before composing herself. “No, sweetie, I’m not leaving you any time soon. I just know a lot of mothers that don’t tell their kids how much they love them. I never want that to be me.” She explained.

“Thanks, mom, I hope you’re never a mother that hides how you really feel about me,” with a wink, Phoebe dashed out of the kitchen and up the stairs to her room after stopping in her mother’s room for her phone first.

Margaret Edan, on the other hand, had some explaining to do to Paul. They had made the punishment pact before entering the school earlier that day. She didn’t want to seem like the soft parent, but he might be the only other person that would understand this situation. If anything came out of today, aside from a sparkling clean house, is that her daughter would rebuild a bridge that’s been burnt down for too long.