Chapter 17: Amelia Haughton

*Ink, she’s not my woman. But damn it, she’s still mine. She needs both of you. - Athos*

**Trigger Warning – Teen Suicide**

Just before the sun came up the following morning, a loud anguished scream ripped through the top floor of Evie’s house. Athos reached for the pistol that he kept next to the bed as he sat up. Priscilla turned off the white noise machine that he always slept with.  Neither heard his brother nor Ink rushing down the hall or stairs, and they both relaxed slightly.

“What the hell?” Priscilla quietly asked.

“I don’t know.”

They each strained to hear through the wall separating his room from the master suite. Faintly, they could hear soft sobs between the two men talking. There might have been a third male voice, but neither was certain.

Leaning over, he pressed a light kiss to her temple. “I’m going to go start breakfast. Go get a shower, your soap is in the cabinet.”

“Thanks.” She muttered as he got out of bed and went into the bathroom that was shared between his room and the guest room next door.

Rolling over, she grabbed her phone off the charger. Her charger was purple, Camille’s was purple, and the black one would go to the phones that both Aramis and Porthos had. Knowing Evie, one of the guest rooms also had chargers for Aramis and Megan.

Powering up her phone, she checked the multiple messages that were showing. There were a few in the parent chat that acknowledged that she was staying with Aramis. Momma Becks asked her to call when she got up.

Without looking at the time, Priscilla clicked on the button to call her mom. Becks would already be up for at least an hour by the time the rest of the world crawled out of bed. As the call connected, Athos came out of the bathroom and motioned to ask if Priscilla wanted coffee.

Nodding, she greeted her mom, “Morning.”

Athos gave a thumbs up and headed out the door into the hallway.

“Hey, sweetie, did you sleep good?”

“Yes, ma’am,” she laid back and snuggled down under the blankets.

“Everything okay?”

“Yeah…”

Becks chuckled from her end of the line. “You don’t sound very convincing.”

“Momma, did you lose your virginity to daddy?

She laughed this time, and Priscilla could picture the smile on her mother’s face. “No, I was about your age. It was with, oh, God, what was his name?”

“Was it that long ago?” Priscilla laughed.

“It was quite a while ago, but it was also very unremarkable. Sean Marshall, I think that’s his name.”

“Mom, I don’t need a thrust-by-thrust description.”

“Well, that’s about all there was to it. A few thrusts, he was done, and I was wondering what the hell the big deal was about. He was like, that was great, and I was like – it was? Anyway, I fixed my clothes and went to class.”

“Mom!” Priscilla hissed as she sat up. “What do you mean you went to class?”

“We were in the teacher’s bathroom at my high school.”

“Seriously?” she asked her mother with a hint of disgust in her voice. “You lost your virginity on a school bathroom floor?”

“Oh, gross, no.” Becks laughed while making a gagging sound. “I was leaning over one of the sinks.”

“That doesn’t make it any better,” her daughter informed her.

“Well, the best part about it was that I was not late for class.”

Laying back down and pulling the blankets back up, she shook her head, “Mom, that is so sad.”

“I was already failing, the last thing that I needed was to be late.”

Priscilla laughed at the nonchalant way that her mother was talking about losing her virginity. There was no romance, no special memory, she barely remembered the boy’s name. Priscilla wanted more. She wanted a special memory.

Even if she wasn’t with Leo years from now, she wanted to drive past a place and have fond memories of her first time. When her children asked about it, she wanted to get all gooey in the tummy as she thought of her first love. And she wanted to love the person that she lost her virginity to. Maybe that was why she thwarted all of Leo’s attempts.

“Something happen last night?” Becks asked, bringing her daughter back from her thoughts.

“No… I thought something would, but then… it just…”

“Wasn’t what you wanted it to be?”

“Exactly,” Priscilla sighed out, grateful that her mother understood.

“Anything that we need to tell your father about?”

“NO!”

She remembered last February when she had gone on a date with a guy from her history class. He had taken her to a seedy hotel, and she had called Athos who called Molly. She was rescued by her dad and other club members. Priscilla did not know exactly what happened, but the guy avoided her from then on.

“Okay,” Becks chuckled. “Anything any of the club brothers need to know?”

“No, Athos knows, and he’ll let them know if he thinks it’s needed.”

“Okay, hey, your sisters are starting to get up. Are you going out to North Star today?”

“Probably, I think Michelle is out there today,” crawling out of the big bed she headed for the attached bathroom.

“Okay, let us know when you’re headed home. Love you, Priss.”

“Love you, too.”

Ending the call, she turned her music app on and then sat the phone on the counter. Automatically, she locked the doors because that was the only way to guarantee privacy in her own home. With the water heating up, she stripped out of her clothes and tossed them in the hamper before finding her soap and shampoo in the basket in the cabinet next to the shower tub.

After washing herself and her hair, Priscilla wrapped a towel around her head and another around her body. Grabbing her lotion out of the basket with her name on it, she went back into Athos’ room. Neither she nor Camille wore panties on a regular basis, so she was not worried about wearing them today.

Just as expected, she found some of her leggings on a shelf with shirts and jeans hanging in his closet. What she did not find were any of his hoodies. Opening the drawer to the built-in storage in the closet, she found his collection of hoodies and other sweatshirts. Grinning, she pulled them all out and hung them on the empty hangers.

Priscilla walked downstairs in her skinny jeans and his gray hoodie with the blue and gold Worcester State knight, Lancer, declaring SHIELDS UP. Athos was plating some eggs and looked up as she jumped the last few steps to the first floor. His eyes landed on his shirt, and he groaned in defeat.

“Don’t worry, I hung the rest of your hoodies up for you.”

“You are so kind,” he told her dryly as he placed her plate and coffee on the bar.

“You’re welcome,” she grinned as she sat on the high back stool, “Did you find out what happened?”

“Yeah,” he grabbed his plate and coffee and sat next to her. “Ummm… do you know Amelia Haughton?”

Priscilla nodded as she stirred up her scrambled eggs and shredded cheese. “She’s the student council president. I interviewed her at the start of the school year. Smart as fuck, but I feel like she has these impossible expectations put on her.”

Pushing his own food around on the table, he nodded in agreement. “She killed herself.”

The words were spoken so softly that she almost did not hear them. Dropping her fork, she hugged her friend and offered him some comfort.

“How is Evie taking it?” she asked, and he shook his head before swiping tears away.

“Amelia, um, she had a fight with her parents because she had one B. That one B kept her from having all A’s on her report card,” he said softly and haltingly.

“One B? I saw her schedule, she was in hella tough classes.”

“She was in some of Aramis’ dual credit college classes,” he nodded. “Smart as fuck, but it wasn’t good enough for her parents.”

“Her brother is the freshman QB. He’s good on the field, but nothing like she is in the classroom,” Priscilla said as Athos placed an arm around her. “I always got the impression that she was stuck in his shadow.”

Athos nodded. “Yeah, Colton said he might be great on the team. But he seems to just coast through class.”

They were silent for a moment before she asked, “You want to go to the Star with me?”

“Yeah, I do. She told them that she was sorry that she would never be the perfect daughter, but at least they had the perfect son. And do you know what her father told her?”

“What?” Priscilla whispered.

“She needed to get over herself because everyone has problems.”