Page 4 of Pages of Amber

“Nope. No clue.”

“And I’m not telling, so don’t bother asking,”Lexi added. Beverly caught Amber by the shoulders as they walked past the prismatic fountain proudly displaying the school crest. Lexi fell into step beside them, watching the choreography of the water.“We’re making it a little celebration of your win too.”

“You didn’t have to do that, Beverly.”

“’Course I do. My girl basically set a record for winning second place at regionals. This is happening whether you want it or not.”

“Fine.”Amber paused.“You’re not budging on the no-clue thing, huh?”

Beverly shrugged but her shoulders did an extra jump and she had to bite her lip to hold in her smile.“I was trying to hint at it this morning, but we were distracted. Come on, Amber. You know what it is. I talk about it only all the time.”

She scratched her gloves against her head. Where would she begin? Beverly had a million things running through her head every minute and she usually blurted them out as fast as she thought them up. Amber squinted, trying to recall anything that had made Beverly as excited as she was now. She blew a frustrated breath when nothing clicked.“I have no idea.”

Beverly looked over her face, like she was trying to be sure if Amber was kidding or not.“Really? You don’t remember anything?”

“It’s been a crazy few weeks. Guess you win this time.”Lexi had skipped past them while Amber had been brainstorming. Ahead of her, Willow and Casey were already stepping into their cars.

“Yeah. Guess I win,”Beverly said, but the excitement had bled out of her voice.

Amber looked over at her friend.“You okay, Bev?”

“Of course I am.”Beverly shook her head, wisps of her dark hair escaping and clinging to her temple. Her smile returned to her face as she said,“It’s better you don’t remember, actually. Don’t want to ruin the surprise.”

Sure, Amber didn’t want to ruin the surprise but if it was something Beverly was sure she should know, then she could make an effort to recall it a little harder. Before Amber could try her luck once more, she spotted Nigel parked a few feet away from them. She waved him in greeting, catching Beverly and Lexi’s attention.“I’ve gotta go, girls. Lexi, want a ride home?”

“No, thanks. I got my car from the shop yesterday.”

“Back to terrorizing the streets with your driving,”Beverly teased, back to her exuberance. She darted out of the way as Lexi swiped at her.

“That car came out of nowhere. It was totally my turn to go at green.”

Amber turned away to hide her snort but was sure Lexi caught it by the dirty glare she sent her. Where Lexi was great at ballet and school and a million other things, she was not so great at steering a car. The first time Amber had climbed into her friend’s car to cheer her on getting her driver’s license was the last time she would ever do it. She and Beverly had melted out of the car and onto the ground, thanking God that they were alive to see the rest of the day. It had been that bad. Amber wasn’t exactly in a spot to comment though. She didn’t have a license and not even the slightest idea the first thing when it came to driving.

“Yeah, yeah.”Beverly laughed.“I don’t need a ride. Jacob picked me up today. We’re going to see a movie at his place.”

The flush on Beverly’s face when mentioning Jacob brought a smile to Amber’s. The two of them had been flirting for a long time before the jock had finally asked Beverly out. After almost six months together, they were hopelessly in love and it was written all over her friend’s face.

“Don’t think we don’t see that smile,”Amber teased.

Bev’s blush deepened as she laughed.“That’s because I wasn’t trying to hide it. Now, group hug.”

She yanked Amber and Lexi to her, squeezing hard. Amber held her friends, sending a little thank you to the universe for them. A day in their presence and the stress of the past weeks had faded into nothing. She loved these girls. They’d stuck with each other for years and she knew they would have her back like she would for them. They separated and Beverly blew them kisses before hurrying across the lot to where Amber spotted Jacob and a few of the guys from the football team standing around. She let out a happy sigh watching her friend jump into his arms.

“They look so happy together,”Lexi spoke softly.

“They do, don’t they? I’m happy she’s happy. Jacob is good for her.”

Lexi nodded. At the stall of silence between them, she turned to Amber.“They’ll be happy to have you back at the theatre tomorrow. They might roll out a red carpet.”

“I don’t know about the red carpet, but I know I’m glad to be back.”Amber chuckled.

“Beverly is right, you know. It’s a big deal that you got into the regionals in the first place, not to talk about walking away with second place. You’re basically a representative of the Fleur Elysian. They were singing your praises before the results were announced.”Lexi met her gaze as she continued,“I know you’ll say it’s only second place, but that second place was at regional finals which almost never happens for kids like us still in high school. It’s your reality but for so many other dancers out there, it’s still a dream.”

The air around them felt hot at that moment, like the serious tone in Lexi’s voice had chased away the chill of the afternoon. Amber tucked her gloved hands into her coat jacket and offered her friend a smile. It was small and strained but she held onto it, eager to get away from the conversation. The amount of times it had been brought up today alone was enough to last her the rest of the week.

“You’re right. I shouldn’t take it for granted. I’m lucky to have had the experience at all. Most of the time, I feel like I don’t deserve it.”

They had watched the performance, but she had lived it. Where they saw grace and choreography, she saw missteps and poorly executed positions. When they saw her gliding across the stage, she saw the faceless crowd, felt eyes digging into flesh as every move was judged and scrutinized. When they heard music pouring over the speakers, she heard the loud pounding of her heart, her blood rushing into her ears and her mother’s voice on repeat in her head.

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