Page 65 of Pages of Amber

“Are you doing okay?”

“We saw what happened yesterday and wanted to check on you,” Emmett continued where his sister had trailed off.

“Yeah, you ran off while Trent and Karl were still explaining and the next thing, you were…” Evelyn looked away. “We tried calling you after school.”

She hadn’t picked up. She hadn’t wanted to answer questions or deal with their concerns. She wasn’t in the mood for it. “I know,” was all she said.

The twins shared a wide-eyed look

“You didn’t want to pick up? We were worried.”

“Why? I was fine.” She shrugged, closing her locker and brushing past them. She turned a corner without hearing them behind her and thought she had escaped, but no such luck. They popped up at her elbow, Emmett to her left and Evelyn to her right.

“What do you mean, why?” Evelyn sputtered, “We wanted to talk to you and be there for you. After that fight–”

Amber planted her feet. “Look,” she said, her voice calm. “I don’t want to hear anything about what happened. I don’t want to talk about yesterday. I don’t want you to talk about yesterday. I am fine. Everything is fine. Change. The. Subject.”

She had barely finished when a hand laid on her shoulder. “Amber, are you okay? I’ve been trying to call you. Evelyn told me about the fight with Beverly yesterday. I almost couldn’t…” His voice trailed off as he looked over her head. She glanced back. Evelyn and Emmett were waving wildly, their hands slashing the air against their throats in an unsuccessful signal to get Noah to stop talking. “What’s going on with you guys?”

“For someone who claims to be the smartest guy at school, you should start acting like it. For example, take a hint and leave me alone.”

Noah went still. “What?”

She tilted her head. “You heard me.” His hand fell to his side. A twinge sprang in her chest as she walked away from him, but she refused to turn back and apologize.

She should never have allowed him in. She was a fool to think they could ever be two sides of the same coin. They were destined to stay apart, the line drawn solidly between them. For years, she’d chosen to protect her territory from him but he had wormed his way in. He’d struck at her center and held her up when she was weak. But they were both sinking now. She would stop being selfish long enough to choose him. Noah didn’t deserve to be put in the middle of the wreck that was her life. Her mother had already set her sights on him and Amber didn’t need to give her more reason to have anything to do with Noah.

Shifty eyes followed her into every class, past every corridor. They dug into her skin, speculating, wondering, judging. No one approached her though. Amber was thankful for that small mercy. The day crawled by. The bell rang for gym and Amber groaned under her breath, eager for the day to be over.

Her sunshine was barely lukewarm. She hadn’t worn her mask right today and it was slipping by the second. Noah and Emmett had kept their distance, but Evelyn had found her after her first class and stuck to her like glue.

She hadn’t said anything. Amber hadn’t asked what she was doing. They headed to the girls locker room together. It was rowdier than usual. Girls gathered at different corners, all talking over each other and leaning closer to hear what they were saying. Amber could take a guess that she and Beverly were the hot topic of the day. She was right. The room descended into an almost painful silence when she and Evelyn walked in. Then it picked back up the farther they walked into the room. By the time they reached their lockers, loud whispers filled the air.

Amber ignored it all.

A few minutes later, the door opened and the room fell into another silence. Beverly walked in, Lexi and Willow behind her. She looked around the room, a noticeable sneer aimed at everyone staring openly at her. Amber looked away before they could lock eyes.

Outside on the field, their gym teacher, a stocky woman with a healthy set of lungs that favored whistle-blowing, ordered them to run eight laps around the track field. The class grumbled in unison. The field for their gym class was of average size but with the incoming heat of spring, no one wanted to run that many laps and end up sticky and tired.

No one but her. The sooner she finished this class, the faster she could end the day and return to her solitude at home where there was no one to shoot her judgmental looks or harass her with their concerns. The sound of her taking off drew the attention of the class. For a few seconds, no one said anything then quietly, one by one, they joined her on the field. The faster runners quickly overtook her but many students kept the same stride she did. Noah and Emmett passed by after the second lap. She kept her face away from Noah but rolled her eyes when Emmett shot her a wink. In the middle of the third lap, someone fell into step beside her. Amber almost stumbled when she recognized the swing of blonde hair.

Lexi kept her eyes forward, her speed matching Amber’s.

“Hey,” Amber said. She hadn’t seen Lexi in the hall yesterday and they hadn’t talked much outside of practices lately. She hadn’t returned to practice with Amber and Evelyn at the theatre. Amber hadn’t forced her to.

“Enjoying yourself?” Lexi puffed.

“What?”

Lexi glanced at Amber, her lips pulled in a thin line. “You picked a fight with your best friend, accused her, shoved her apparently. Anyone else would have been shunned for doing that to their friend. But I guess you aren’t just anyone, huh?”

Amber frowned. “It’s no one’s business that I fought with Beverly or are you taking her side?”

Lexi laughed without humor. “I mean, why not? You don’t need us on your side, Amber. Your loyal posse of students will follow you to the ends of the earth. Somehow, you’ve robbed them of both their sights and senses.”

Amber clenched her hands. The air around them grew warmer or maybe it was her. She could feel her anger surging, rising faster and higher the more Lexi spoke. “I have never forced anyone to bow down to me or to like me, Lexi.”

“Of course you haven’t. Somehow, you always get what you want even when you don’t deserve to have it gifted to you.” Lexi met Amber’s eyes, a dangerous glint in hers. In that second, her friend looked wild. “Don’t worry, I’m going to enjoy stripping it away from you.”

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