Convincing Amy (Amy, #1)

Chapter 22: Reminded

Chapter Twenty-Two 
REMINDED

Matthew woke up Sunday morning to an incoming phone call. It was ringing loudly from his jeans pocket and he was too sleepy to see who it was that was calling. Whoever it may be, he decided to call them back after at least another two hours' sleep. Sundays were for relaxing, not worrying about insignificant things that did not matter. The ringing stopped and Matthew rolled over in his bed, welcoming the warmth his blankets provided him. His eyes were closed for not even five seconds when the ringing started up again. Matthew groaned again, but still did not answer it. Instead, he grabbed the second pillow from the other side of the bed and placed it over his exposed ear. The sound was muffled, but not entirely erased.

The phone continued to ring consistently. The phone rang nine times in only five minutes.

Swearing and cursing to himself, Matthew heaved himself out of his warm bed and began searching his many pairs of pants on his bedroom floor to find which ones contained his irritating mobile phone. It wasn't too long a search: it was clear that the phone was in the pair of pants that was vibrating along the floor. Matthew dug the device out of the pocket just as it finished ringing... again. But it started up again only moments later and Matthew answered it with a sigh, not even looking at the caller ID.

"Someone had better be dying," he groaned. The only person he could think of who could be calling this early would be Jake, and a greeting like this would be perfectly acceptable. However, Pippa did not think so.

"Excuse me?!" Pippa spat angrily. "Why on Earth haven't you been answering?!"

Matthew swore to himself, out of both shock at who was on the phone and the severity of their voice. "I was asleep. What do you want?" He sat down on the end of his bed and tried to wake himself up some more. He didn't have to though, not after Pippa's reply.

"Matt, you need to come over now." Pippa's voice was desperate. "Amy's an absolute mess. She's screaming and crying and getting angry at me and kicking and breaking things and I don't know what to do!"

"Wait, what?" Matthew said as he stood up immediately and began dressing himself in a rush. Whatever the situation - however serious - Matthew was determined to be there for Amy.

Pippa's voice shook with fear. "I think she's drunk, I'm not sure. She keeps yelling at me and hitting me whenever I get too close to her. She's gone insane or something."

"Drunk? At seven o'clock in the morning?" Matthew asked, dumbfounded. He collected his keys from his bedside table and began racing down the stairs to the garage where his truck was parked patiently, waiting to take him to Amy.

"I told you, she's a mess. Please, just help me out."

"I'm on my way," said Matthew as he climbed into his truck and started the ignition. "Where are you?"

"Out in the hall. It's too dangerous inside."

"Okay, I'll be there soon." He ended the call and began reversing out of the garage, heart pounding louder and harder than ever.

What was Amy doing to herself? What was she doing, drunk, at seven o'clock in the morning, running a riot? Had she received her mid-year study results? Had she failed or received a less than average mark? Maybe it was something else. Maybe there'd been a complication in her sister's pregnancy, or her mother had been injured severely. But, could any of these be so depressing that Amy should turn to alcohol and violence? There was something wrong with that picture. Matthew pressed his foot further down onto the gas pedal, a slight sweat breaking out across his forehead.

Matthew arrived at Yale fifteen minutes later, the length of the journey being shortened due to his illegal speed, along with the empty roads. He parked his car roughly in the carpark, covering four parking bays, before racing into the main building and up towards Amy's dorm. He was delayed slightly as he tripped on his way up a staircase, but recovered well and sprinted down the abandoned corridor. Turning the last corner, he saw Pippa standing outside her dorm, pacing in circles, looking scared.