Friends and Alibis

Time passed quicker than I'd thought and next thing I knew I was trying to figure out what to wear. Of course I wanted to make a good impression, Maria and James were like a second set of parents to me growing up. I didn't want to look like I'd tried too hard but I didn't want it to look like it didn't mean anything to me either in case Zack was there, too.

I had always been kind of a tomboy because I felt more comfortable in hoodies and sneakers but I still had a love for fashion which resulted in me and my job.

After a twenty minute long discussion with myself I settled on one of my favourite dresses and was out of the door as soon as I had finished everything else.

I grew quiet nervous on the ride to Mrs. Baker, most of all because I wasn't sure if Zack would be there or not. I think you can tell that I had never really gotten over that crush. But I really hoped that if he was there, that Amelia wasn't with him.

I soon arrived at Maria and James's place and made a beeline for the front door as soon as I saw an additional car on the drive way, and rang the door bell. But just as the door opened, I wished that I had declined Mrs. Baker's offer.

"Amelia, nice to see you." I said with a lot of fake enthusiasm, while Amelia didn't bother to hide her disgust.

"What are you doing here?" She scowled.

"I got invit-" I was cut off by Mrs. Baker herself.

"May! Wonderful, you're here!" She chimed.

"Of course I am! Thanks for inviting me, again." I said, this time with a genuine smile. You couldn't not smile when you were around Mrs. Baker. Just then I noticed that Amelia had stormed off and I had to smile to myself that I had such an effect on here by simply showing up. I was never someone to make enemies (except for the police officer I once accidentally bit) but she left me no other choice. Although I wouldn't try and lecture Zack about his fiancée, I would still show my discomfort with her.

Mrs. Baker promptly led me into their dining room where everybody, including Amelia, was sat at a table, waiting for the food. Apparently the ride had taken me longer than I had expected.

"So... how do you like living here again?" Mrs. Baker asked me while we all dug into the Lasagna she had prepared, which was - just as I remembered it - heavenly.

"It's like I've never really left, I love it." I told her. During the small talk we made I could tell that both Zack and Amelia were stealing glances at me, but the latter probably shot daggers at me. Anyway, the dinner was nice and quite uneventful.

That was until Amelia decided to open her gob.

"You know, I really like the dress you wear, May." She told me with a thoughtful expression. I, of course, was quite taken aback at her compliment but couldn't help to question it.

"Um, thanks. I guess."

"It must have been pretty hard finding such a pretty dress in your price range, wasn't it?" She asked with an innocent expression on her face while I tried not to choke on the spoon of vanilla ice cream I was eating.

"Excuse me?" I finally choked out, my voice laced with shock. Zack was, conveniently, engaged in a conversation with his dad and didn't even notice his fiancée's spitefulness while Mrs. Baker just sat there with her mouth wide open, her eyes widened in shock.

"Amelia, I don't thi-" She tried to chime in but Amelia cut her off mid sentence, not even letting me respond.

"Or did you buy it at some sort of designer second hand shop? It looks like a Dolce & Gabbana dress to me but surely that isn't possible, I mean-"

"Shut. Up." I cut her off with a scowl on my face while I was seething with anger at her bashfulness. By the smug expression on her face it was evident that she had waited for a reaction like this.

"What? Did I say something to upset you?" She cooed with fake sweetness.

"First of all." I responded and took a deep breath to stop myself from lunging at her. "Do you even know what my job is, or better, how would you know my salary?" I asked with my eyebrow raised.

"Zack told me you're a journalist, and we all know journalists don't make much money, except the really good ones, so that wasn't hard to figure out." She replied while leaning back in her chair, like she had no care in the world.

"Yes, I am. But do you know what kind of journalist?" Now it was my time to be the one with smugness in her voice and I knew it had an effect on her when she started shifting in her seat. "I thought so." I clicked my tongue and leaned towards her to seem intimidating. "I'm a God. Damn. Fashion. Journalist, which means I meet the designers you adore and they pay me to write about their clothes, while you probably haven't even met the big ones yet. Do you even know how much some of those designers pay so they're in your good books and you'll write something nice about their collection? Even better when you're a blogger with lots, and I really mean lots, of readers. So please do me a favour and don't ever start to talk crap like this again." After my rant I was out of breath but I soon regained my posture for my finale sentence. "And yes, it is a Dolce & Gabbana dress." I smiled at her and just by the look on her face I could tell how uneasy she suddenly felt although she tried to conceal it.

After a few seconds of watching Amelia's reaction I saw that Mr. and Mrs. Baker were trying to hold back a laugh while Zack just sat there with a baffled look. Normally you would've expected him to stick up for his fiancée but somehow he didn't even make a move. Rather, he just shrugged when Amelia's eyes searched his for help. After a few moments of silence and awkwardness I decided to put an end to this ordeal.
"Anyways, thanks Mrs. Baker for the wonderful dinner. I better get home now, it's late already. Have a nice evening." I said with a confident smile and stood up to hug her.

"That was magnificent, you've always been my favourite." She whispered in my ear so only I could hear and my smile grew wider at her words. It seemed like she didn't like Amelia either.

"You too, Mr. Baker." I shook his hand while he just beamed up at me. "Zack, Amelia, I'm pretty sure we'll see each other soon again." I smiled at Amelia and spared only a small glance for Zack since I was still way too angry at her to focus on anything else.

I bid good bye again and left with a smile. Actually I was really proud for standing up for myself since it had never been one of my strengths but Amelia left me no other choice, she'd made me too angry. So I found myself sitting in my car on my way back to my apartment, phone in hand, dialling Matt's number and waiting for him to answer.

"Yeah?" He answered when he finally picked up.

"I'm in."

There was a moment of silence. "Are you really sure?"

"You can bet your ass."

Notes

that one's a bit longer than the rest but it's a pre-written chapter (it was the same in the old version)
a re-written chapter would've gone to shit anyway bc I'm not in the right mindset and everything's going to shit 'round here at the moment and it's very tense. baby's in hospital again and everyone's just really concerned and in a shit mood. what ya gonna do