Page 62 of Pages of Amber

Amber smiled. “Okay. We’ll remove Emmett. Don’t forget you have the school’s top student in your corner too.”

Evelyn’s head popped up. “Oh yeah. Why do I always forget about that?”

They were interrupted by Trent and Karl running up to them. They looked frazzled. Karl kept running his hands through his thick hair and Trent messed with the folder in his hands.

“Hey, guys,” Amber greeted. “How is the new equipment coming in?”

“Great. Principal Ellis wants to help us get them early,” Trent answered. “But there’s something we wanted to tell you.”

“We were walking by. We didn’t mean to eavesdrop,” Karl blurted out in a rush. “Principal Ellis had called us in to talk about the shipping date and when we could have our stuff.”

Trent glanced at his friend, his hand popping at this collar. “Yeah, we heard the shouts when we got to the door. We didn’t know what was happening but we tried to see who it was. The voice sounded familiar too so we thought…”

“Hold on. If someone was yelling in Principal Ellis’ office, it was probably a pissed-off parent. Why are you guys being so weird about it?” Evelyn darted her gaze between the two of them.

Their eyes fixed on Amber and a chill crept up her arms. Out of nowhere, a feeling of doom latched onto her, making the frown on her face the least of her worries.

“Because it was Amber’s mom yelling in the office,” Karl answered.

A record scratch echoed through her brain. Why was her mom here?

“We heard her ask about the interview.” Trent cringed. “It was playing on one of the screens in the administrative lounge.”

“Then she asked why you were doing silly interviews with us when you should have been catching up on your studies and preparing for the midterms. Principal Ellis said something about a deal with another student to tutor you for classes. She tried to explain, but your mom…she exploded, Amber.”

Three pairs of eyes locked on her, nervous and worried but she could barely think past what they had said. The cold feeling now flooded her veins.

Her mom was here.

Her mom knew about the deal with Noah.

Her mom was yelling about it in the Principal’s office.

Her feet took off before she realized she had moved. The hallways blended together, the corners hazy as she zipped past them. Behind her, Evelyn called out her name, but Amber was too strung up to stop. She needed to get to the office. She had to draw her mom’s fire away from Noah. She wouldn’t let her mom tear him down like she had done to Amber for years.

The receptionist’s desk was empty. Shelly had probably fled once the raised voices reached her outside. Her hands trembled as she heard it, her mom’s voice loud and demanding while the principal’s voice was low and placating. Amber stumbled forward, feeling like she was slugging through mud. She jerked the door open to the sight of her mom leaning over Principal Ellis’ dark oak table, a finger pointed at the head of the school.

“You are the reason my daughter is losing interest in the Theatre. She has a bright future in dance. One you will never understand, and you want to distract her by relegating her to mere student body duties? How dare you!”

Amber’s head spun. Had she stepped into some sort of alternate reality? Her mom never yelled. She was calm, composed, in control with only the strength of her gaze and the command in her voice. Amber thought she feared her mother’s calm, but her storm was something else entirely to behold.

“Mom,” she called out, regretting opening her mouth when her mother turned fiery blue eyes on her. “What are you doing here?”

Her mom narrowed her eyes. “Is there a reason I can’t come to your school? Other than what you were hiding, of course.”

She floundered, unable to give an answer. Principal Ellis stepped around her desk. “Miss Coleman, I have this under control. You may go back to your class.”

“She’s not going anywhere.” Her mom dropped her bag onto the desk. “Step outside, Principal. I need to have a talk with my daughter.”

“Mrs. Coleman, this is a professional environment. You can keep this between the teaching staff and yourself. She doesn’t need to be here.”

“Out, Principal Ellis. This is between me and my daughter. You’ll have your turn when I get to you.”

Principal Ellis tried to stand her ground but few people had done that before her mom and won. Unfortunately, the school’s principal would not be one of them today. With a sigh and a squeeze of Amber’s shoulder, Principal Ellis shut the door with a resounding click. The silence of her exit didn’t last long.

Her mom’s gaze dug into her, the anger in them simmering barely below the surface. Principal Ellis had only seen the tip of the iceberg.

“Tell me the truth, Amber. Which one of them set you up to do this? I told you no excuses and no distractions this year and you somehow get into this mess? If your friend hadn’t mentioned this to me, you would have continued to hide this nonsense from me!”

---