Page 59 of Pages of Amber

“I was only sharing what I thought. You didn’t need to kick me.”

Evelyn stuck her tongue at her twin, her gaze returning to Amber with a concerned glint in them. “Don’t listen to him, okay?”

Too late, she wanted to say as panic threatened to rise in her throat. Emmett’s words had unfortunately found soft soil and had begun sprouting doubts in her. She didn’t want to be separated from the twins. Their jovial manner, open kindness and constant rivalry made her laugh. They pulled her out of her head, she relaxed around them. She enjoyed their company immensely. She and Noah had kissed twice, and a little bit more. They had shared their dreams and hurts. He saw her. He understood her. For the first time, it was like there was someone who had her back unconditionally. She didn’t want to lose that. She couldn’t.

“Hey, hope I’m not too late.” Noah settled in the seat next to Amber almost forty minutes later.

“You are.” Evelyn glared as she zipped her bag. “Amber wanted to ask you some questions, but we have to get to practice.”

Noah’s eyes fell to her, then to the notebook before her. “Give me five minutes. Ask me whatever you want.”

“It’s fine.” Amber shook her head. “We really have to go.”

He sighed, raking a hand through his hair. “I’m sorry. I would have gotten here earlier but Principal Ellis wanted to check the textbooks at the delivery truck to be sure we got what was ordered.”

“Oh, the new textbooks have arrived?” Evelyn asked.

“Yeah, and some new bookshelves too.”

“Sweet,” Emmett added. “That was quick though. Isn’t there a longer processing time or something?”

“It was probably a rush order.”

Distracted by the news, Amber jumped a little at the warmth of a hand on hers under the table. Noah grasped her hand in his, spreading sparks up her arm. Her face flushed as his gaze pinned her down in her seat. She wavered towards him unintentionally, drawn to him in a way she didn’t care to understand.

“I’m sorry I’m late. I owe you a tutor session.”

“And a strawberry milkshake for making me wait so long,” she joked.

“With two cherries? Done.” His lips curved, those eyes flashing with amusement. Amber could easily recall the way they had reflected the stars and that mesmerizing golden glow within them.

He started to say more when the soft call of his name turned their heads. Their hands fell away from each other as Mrs. Filch walked by, rolling a cart with several shiny textbooks piled on it.

“We can start shelving these,” she said. Running her eyes over everyone, she added, “I’m starting with the Geography section.”

“I’ll be right there,” Noah answered.

“The job calls, Mr. Never-Off-Duty President,” Emmett snickered.

“Maybe. But I’m not doing this one alone.” He thumped Emmett’s shoulder. “Let’s go.”

Emmett’s smirk wiped off his face. “What? Why?”

Noah ignored him as he and Amber stood. He held out her notebooks to her, a soft smile creeping onto his face.

“We’ll talk later.”

Amber smiled back, unable to resist. “I’ll be waiting.”

The bedside clock glowed eight minutes after ten. Amber sighed as she stared blankly at the journal on her lap and the dark phone screen on the pillow beside her. She should have been getting ready for bed, but after another tense dinner shared with her mother, she had needed to do something with her thoughts.

Up in her room, she had been eager to dig her journal out of its hiding place – a drawer in her closet where she stuffed all her writing notebooks and journals under a pile of blankets – so she could continue the next few chapters. Her mind had been swirling with so much inspiration since going to the meadow. She had successfully written the starry night scene after being stuck on it for days. More ideas poured into her brain the more she wrote, the words coming to her easily, the imagery stitching together at the scratch of her pen. It was an amazing feeling. A freeing one. Like what Noah gave her. The warmth she felt when she was around him was new and inexplicable and…precious. Noah filled her head and her heart with hope. She wasn’t willing to let go of him. At this point, she wasn’t sure she would ever be.

Her gaze fell onto the book in her lap. Her stories had always been trapped in them, for her eyes only. The only person who ever saw them was Noah because she kept them hidden away like some dirty secret. Would they ever be able to see the light of day? Would she ever be able to stand proudly and claim her stories as her own? She ached for that more than anything. Writing was her passion. Her stories were her lifeline. But they weren’t anything her mother would condone. She had made that clear the day she’d walked into Amber’s room and had seen thirteen-year old Amber scribbling away when she should have been on her way to the theatre for ballet practice.

Her words as she snatched the note from Amber would remain a scar on her heart forever.

“You will not waste time on writing silly stories when you should be building your career. The moment you put on those shoes, you chose your path. I won’t let you throw away everything I’ve done because you want to spend your time on some stupid writing!”

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