Chapter 6

The following day was a public holiday, one of the rare days where the students could laze about doing nothing. Amanda woke up bright and early, vowing to put all her mysteries behind her. She was going to enjoy the day to the fullest and the first thing she did was to invite her friends over. Her parents weren't at home but she wasn't surprised since her mother had called earlier to inform her that she would be traveling with the rest of the archaeologists for a conference.

Amanda had no idea how long but she hoped it was soon. Deep down, she really missed her parents and wished they could hold off on their numerous travels and business trips. The loud chime of the doorbell disrupted her thoughts as she quickly rushed towards the door to let them in. Emily and Leslie bounded in, carrying bags filled with snacks. Amanda had no idea they were bringing this and was quite surprised.

   "Oh guys, you shouldn't have done this." she said.

  "Let it never be heard that the great Emily came to your house empty-handed. It mustn't be heard." She said, placing one of the bags on the table.

  "You're always so dramatic." Leslie laughed.

"Thank you guys but really, you didn't have to do this." Amanda said.

She made her way into the kitchen, placing a kettle on the gas stove. 

"I hope you guys are hungry, I'll make toast." she said.

  "I don't know about Les but you bet I am." Emily said.

Half an hour later, the girls were seated at the dining table. The t v was on as they watched a rerun of their favorite movie.

  "I think Justin is a player, he doesn't really love Samantha like he claims." Leslie said

 "We can't really say Les until we watch the whole movie." Amanda said.

  "It looks certain though. I hope Samantha realizes this soon, it would be so disastrous when she finds out that his intentions aren't pure." Emily said.

"Hmmm speaking of intentions, has Michael confessed to writing all those love letters. Amanda said, sipping her tea.

Emily choked on her tea as Leslie rubbed her back, grinning secretly. She knew that Emily was affected by Michael but as the tough girl she was, she didn't want to accept it.

       "No besides, I haven't seen him all week." she finally said.

   "Oh so you're keeping tabs on him. How sweet." Leslie laughed.

Emily threw a pillow at her but she ducked right on time. Amanda laughed at her friend's antics as she changed the movie to another one.

   "We're not done watching that." Leslie whined.

  "Yes we are. We've watched it countless times Les, let's watch something else." Amanda said.

  "So, did you inform your parents about Parker's bullying?" Emily asked quietly.

She knew it was a touchy subject, one that Amanda wished desperately to erase from her memory. The issue with Parker was a delicate one and there was no telling what would happen if he isn't reported.

    "No, I didn't. I couldn't work up the nerves too, my dad would raise the whole school down when he finds out about my constant bullying." Amanda said.

  "Oh darling, you should really tell someone. Okay, even if you can't inform your parents about it but let the school authorities know about it. It's no good keeping it tok to yourself." Emily said.

Amanda knew was right but for the life of her, she didn't have the courage to do that. She felt humiliated and ashamed of herself for letting herself get bullied. First it was Ian and his friends now, Parker whom she expected to be different was even worse. Her whole life for the past few days seemed to be going downhill more than she could keep up with. Her parents were always absent and what's more, she suffered constant bullying.

  "Don't think about it too much darling. We're here if you need us and if you need someone to help you report this issue, you can count on us." Emily said, giving her hands a gentle squeeze.

    "Thank you guys, I really appreciate everything you do for me. Sometimes, I don't deserve you but you stay with me no matter what comes my way." Amanda said.

    "Oh, that's nonsense. We're your friends and you're stuck with us till well, whenever you decide to ditch us." Leslie laughed.

Well, she'd ditch you first because there's no ditching me now or never. Accept it baby girl, I'm stuck with you like glue." Emily smiled.

         "I'm not ditching anyone, I wouldn't even dream of doing that. You're my bestest- if that's a word friends I could ever have." Amanda said.

   "Well that's good to know. Enough of these mushy mushy talks, let's play some games." Emily said.

  "Okay, let's play. Leslie said.

**********************

When her friends left an hour later, Amanda made her way to her room. She powered up her laptop, deciding to surf the net for some juicy news. A particular page caught her attention as she clicked on the page to find out more about it. The news was about a certain man named Ronald who was arrested for a scam. According to the reporter, Ronald was responsible for stealing millions of dollars in stocks and wiring the money into a Swiss bank account that couldn't be traced.

The report further claimed that Ronald was in fact the head of this scheme and was in the habit of recruiting people who worked with him. Amanda couldn't imagine the pain that the victims of these schemes were going through. It was a nightmare, one that she wished never to fall in. Leaving the page, she scrolled further to related searches. She was shocked when the picture of a man that looked so much like Brandon popped up on the screen.

According to the news feed, this man just relocated to New York City because of his business which crumbled in London. He had another partnership business in New York and decided to move his family here. Reading further, Amanda discovered that the reason for this man's failed business was as a result of the same scheme which Roland had employed. The man's name was Jacob Henshaw.

Picking up her phone, Amanda dialed Emily's number. She needed to confirm this last name. Emily picked up on the third ring, yawning into the phone.

 "Whattttt" Emily groaned.

 "Sleepy head, sorry for disturbing you." Amanda laughed.

 "No no, it's fine. What's up." Amanda smiled.

"Err... This might sound weird but what's Parker's last name?"

 "Lucas. Why, what's wrong?"

  "I think I know why Parker is here."