A strange stare

Getting back home that day, Amber went to her room and changed into a casual cloth before joining her mother in the dining room to eat. When they were done eating, Amber cleared the plates before going to join her mother in the living room.

She took her seat on one of the chairs and called, “Mom?” When her mother turned her head to look at her, she asked, “Can we go visit Emma and her Aunt on Saturday?”

“Why not? Let’s do that,” Mrs. Morgan replied her and a smile came to form on Amber’s lips.

“Can we sleep over at their place too?” she asked, knowing what her mother would say.

“Do you want to?” Mrs. Morgan asked and Amber nodded.

“I just feel like spending these moments with Emma. I want us to revise together and make these moments count. You know she would be leaving for the States after our graduation,” Amber tried to hide the sadness in her voice and her heart ached.

“Sure! Let’s do that,” Mrs. Morgan said with a smile and Amber returned it.

The thought of Emma going to stay with her parent in the States broke her heart. She was happy for her best friend but at the same time, she never wanted to be away from her, but then, what could she possibly do? The thought of having to make new friends saddens her more because she feels that only Emma truly understands her and know how she really feels.

“Mom?” Amber called in a low voice and when her mother looked at her, she asked, “How did you and dad meet?” She has had a long day and she didn’t want to think about Kevin right now. She wanted to hear the sweet love story of her mother and start fantasizing about a romantic guy like her father. If that was what would make her forget about Kevin completely, she was ready to listen. At least, that was what she thought.

Mrs. Morgan smiled and said, “We met at school. I’ve always admired him secretly whenever I am studying in the library. Actually, he was the reason I started going to the library because he always spends his free time there, studying. I was having a hard time getting a math solution one day and I wasn’t aware that he had been staring at me while I battle with it. He suddenly came to where I was and helped me with it. He later volunteered to help me in my studies because I was really way behind. During those moments of studying, there was a spark and then we fell in love with each other. We finished school and got married and then we had...” the smile on her face was slowly replaced with a frown.

“Me,” Amber completed it for her with a smile.

“No,” Mrs. Morgan suddenly said and Amber looked at her, confused.

“No? What do you mean no?” she questioned her mother.

Mrs. Morgan’s expression shows that of a confused person. “I mean, yes but I think—”

“You think what?” Amber looked at her mother with knitted brows as she looked as confused as she was. “Mom?” she called, “What is wrong?”

Mrs. Morgan looked at her with a lost expression and she apologized with “Sorry” before standing up and walking inside.

Amber watch her mother leave and she wondered why she behaved like that. ‘Was her mother forgetting things already? Did she forget that she gave birth to her or was it hard to say?’ Amber asked herself as she looked in the direction of where her mother went.

At school the next day, Amber informed Emma that they would be coming over on Saturday and Emma couldn’t be more than happy about it. They did their reading together and when it was time for lunch, they both left the classroom for the lunchroom.

As they sat down to eat, Emma suddenly brought up a question.

“Will you be present at the bonfire on Friday?”

Amber had not thought much about that as it wasn’t on her mind. “I think I will skip that. I haven’t thought about it so I guess no,” she answered and then asked, “Are you going?”

“Yes,” Emma replied with excitement in her voice. “I already told my Aunt and I thought you also will be going. I should have asked you first,” the excitement in her voice died.

“It’s fine,” Amber said but Emma shook her head.

“It’s not,” she responded. “I can’t be there by myself so I don’t think I will be going either.”

Amber thought about it for some seconds before saying, “Alright. Let’s go together.”

She saw Emma’s face lit up and she said, “Great! Let’s do that.”

When they were done eating, they cleared their plates and walked out of the lunchroom. They had not walked far when Amber heard her name being called from behind. Turning to look at who it was, she saw that it was Kevin but before he could walk to where she stood, some guys met up with him and from the look of it, they seem to be heading somewhere.

Amber didn’t bother to wait anymore and she resumed walking with Emma. They both head back to the classroom but before they got there, they met two junior students on their way; a boy and a girl, arguing with each other where the boy doesn’t seem to be having it.

Amber looked away from them and was about to take a step when she heard the sound of a slap. Her eyes widen and when she turned and looked at their direction, she saw that it was the boy who had landed a slap on the girl’s face because the girl soon held her face as tears began to flow from her eyes.

Amber saw the wrong in it and she said to Emma, “Give me a minute.” She walked to where they stood and cleared her throat to gain their attention. She asked, “What is going on here?”

The boy, who stood tall, ruffled his hair and stared down at her. He then said, “Why do you care to know?”

Amber scoffed as she realized that she was dealing with a rude student who looked down on her. She put up a bold face and answered, “As a senior, I think I have every right to know because I just witnessed you raise your hand on a girl which is against the law of the school.”

The boy clicked his tongue and said, “Look, why don’t you stay out of this. I don’t see how this is any of your business when you have other things to focus on.”

“Excuse me?” Amber frown her brows and took a step towards him. “What are you trying to say to me?” she asked.

“I am just saying that you should stay out of this and let me finish what I started,” the boy said and with that, he roughly grabbed the girl’s arm and wanted to leave but Amber held the girl’s other arm to stop him from taking her. The girl looked from both of them and started sobbing again.

Feeling annoyed, the boy glared at Amber and said, “What is even wrong with you, senior?” he said the last word in disgust. “The whole school knows that you are incapable of handling a guy so then what is your problem with me?”

Emma couldn’t believe how rude the boy spoke to her friend and she was about to interfere when Amber stopped her with a hand, telling her not to.

Turning her head back, she dragged the girl away from him and pulled her to the back before coming to stand in front of the boy.

“Are you trying to test me, junior?” she asked as she felt her blood boil at his words.

The boy smirked and replied her, “And what are you going to do about it?” and with that, he pushed her shoulder lightly.

At the light push, Amber felt a force rise up in her and without holding back, she slapped the boy hard across the face and the sound echoed in the quiet corridor.

The boy quickly held his face as he felt a sting of pain. He had not expected her to land a slap on his face and also, there was something about the force at which she slapped him.

“Am I incapable of handling a guy now?” Amber asked him, still feeling annoyed as she watch his pained expression.

The boy gave her one last look as if marking her face and he left the place. The girl, who held a frightened look after witnessing what happened, thanked her and immediately left the place.

Amber calmed herself and just then, she felt her hand go weak. When she looked at her palm, she saw how red it was and she realized she must have use some great energy to slap the boy, but then, it doesn’t look like that and it got her confused. When she raised her head to look at Emma, she saw her best friend staring at her with a strange look on her face.