CHAPTER THREE
THREE MORE MINUTES, THE note read.
Amber glanced at the seat beside her. Beverly did a full body wiggle that somehow went unnoticed by the teacher. She could barely keep still and had been buzzing all morning. Amber expected lightning to shoot from her hands any second. But she had to admit, Beverly’s excitement had spurred hers. It didn’t help that their last class of the day dragged on endlessly.
Amber checked the wall clock.
Two minutes.
She had tried getting another clue to where they were going but Beverly was a locked vault now that Amber needed her to spill everything she knew. Lexi hadn’t been any help either and Willow and Casey had been hard to track down all day. Amber flipped through the notebook on her desk and cringed at the empty pages. Since she had gotten a few of her bearings the past two days she’d been back, she had spent yesterday making a note of the things she had missed. Amber had been right. The work awaiting her was enough to make a horse keel over.
She was already exhausted from thinking about all she had to do before the midterms.
The trilling bell was accompanied by a whoop from Beverly. Amber laughed as her friend jumped out of her seat like it had caught on fire. Mr. Loughrey sent Beverly a look she didn’t see as he rounded his desk. She stood with the rest of the class, tucking her note in her arm and picking her purse. The accessory had been a gift from Beverly for her recent birthday. The purse was everything a girl could love. It was pink, glittery and comfortably held her essentials. Her phone, lip gloss and a compact mirror. It wasn’t the best choice for a student but Amber loved it and carried it around as often as she could, even if she had to sacrifice her arms for the day.
A few steps away from the door, Mr. Loughrey called out to her,“Miss Coleman, may I see you for a minute?”
Amber hesitated, searching for Beverly but her friend had escaped class the minute the bell had rang. Amber would find her later but she doubted Beverly would be happy that she had to wait longer. Her teacher folded his fingers above a stack of papers and met her eyes from behind the lens of his glasses.
“Welcome back, Miss Coleman. How are you?”he began.
“Good. Thank you, Sir.”She wished he would drop the formality of her last name but the school insisted on it as a way of promoting decorum and cordial conversations. In her opinion, it was a little unnecessary.
Her teacher nodded.“Have you been able to work out what you’ve missed while away?”
“I have. Beverly and Lexi have been helpful in sharing their notes. I’ve gotten the notes for other classes too.”
“That’s good to hear. You’ve been my student in one class or the other since starting at Redmington, correct?”At her nod, he continued,“Then I feel obligated to encourage you. I know you have always managed good grades despite your extracurricular activity but as this is your last year at Redmington, I thought you should know its concerning that you may not be able to finish the year strongly.”
Concerning? Her stomach took a sharp dive.
“Why? What makes you say that? Is there a problem with my grades?”
“Nothing urgent.”He attempted to placate her, reading the distress on her face.“With your recent absence, I’m merely concerned that you’re behind with the course work. The midterms are coming up soon so I thought to ask if you would need assistance.”
Amber took a breath.“I know I still have a few things to catch up on in class but I’ll be fine, Mr. Loughrey.”
“I understand, but my class isn’t the only one you take, is it? Don’t hesitate to ask for help. My honest suggestion would be that you get a tutor.”
“A what?”
“A tutor, Miss Coleman,”he enunciated.
Oh. So she had heard what she thought she’d heard.
“While I would not encourage another leave of absence, it is likely that you may need to be called away from school when your extracurricular demands it. You have quite a number of lessons to catch up on in all your subjects so wouldn’t it be best to engage the services of a tutor? Even if temporarily?”
Amber hated to admit she saw his point. She didn’t know of any more ballet competitions coming up but it wasn’t unusual for her mom to suddenly announce that she had enrolled her in one. But getting a tutor? It made Amber fidget to think about it. She had never really needed one before. She had always caught up with her classes on her own even when she struggled to understand a few things. Her hand clasped at her notebook. Amber’s mind went to the dinner with her mother. The order had been for Amber to finish well this year. No complaints. No excuses.
Sure, she had caught up on her own in the past but she had also never been away from school for a whole two weeks. She had checked the things she had missed and the list had seemed insurmountable. Shouldn’t she accept the help of a tutor if it could help her catch up faster?
Mr. Loughrey must’ve seen the steam blowing out her ears with how fast her wheels were churning. He softened his tone, a smile tugging up at his features.
“You’re a good student, Miss Coleman. This is a simple suggestion that could help you before the midterms start. It doesn’t have to be a huge thing. There are students at school willing to add tutoring to their records. In fact, I have an idea of someone who would be perfect for this. He’s top of his class, and as head of the student’s board, I would say this falls under his duties.”
Amber groaned, her head spinning.“Please don’t be who I think it is.”
“The student body President, Noah Rhodes.”
Of course. Amber shut her eyes and counted to five. Figures the one person Mr. Loughrey suggested to tutor her was the last person she wanted to receive anything from.
There was no way Noah could know she was struggling with her classes. She could bet he would love to lay his hands on that information if only to taunt her with it. She shuddered from imagining the droll tone in his voice as he’d rub it in her face. She couldn’t let him win another round so soon. He was already a point above her. Mr. Loughrey was still talking about his insane collaboration idea but Amber was barely listening. She took the distraction to fish her phone from her purse. If this could work in movies, it could definitely work for her too. All she needed was to channel the theatre kid in her.
“Did you hear that? It sounds like a ringtone.Is that my phone?”
The older man paused his rant, his head tilting quizzically.“I didn’t hear anything.”
“I definitely heard a ring. Oh, there it is again. It’s probably an important call. I need to take this.”Amber dove for her phone as she spoke.
“Miss Coleman, aren’t all phones to be on silent during class hours?”
Obviously, no one was buying this. But she had already gotten this far. Press down and push through, Amber.
“Um, yes?”She swiped on the blank screen and brought the phone to her ear. Her steps were quick as she moved away from the desk, aware of the high pitch of her voice as she spoke to the non-existent caller.“Bye, Mr. Loughrey. I need to go now.”
“Miss Coleman, we are not done here. Hey, wait a minute!”
Amber hurried into the corridor without looking back. She collapsed against the wall of lockers a safe distance away from the classroom, her hand pressed against her fluttering chest. That was one heck of a disaster. Tension had built up in her neck over the past two days that she couldn’t wait to stretch out at ballet practice. A sigh left her.
Working with Noah?
Her teacher questioning her grades?
What was happening?
Her phone buzzed in her hand, distracting her. A buzz, she realized, would have been handy a few moments ago to sell her act. Too late now, she rolled her eyes. The messages came in a stream from their group chat.
BEVERLY
Amber!
You have to let us know if you’re dying in a ditch somewhere or already dead. Give me something here.
LEXI
I don’t think she’d be able to say much if she was dead.
BEVERLY
Not the time for jokes, Lexi.
She could be in trouble.
We have no idea why Mr. Loughrey called her back.
LEXI
Hello.
‘Dead men don’t talk?’
BEVERLY
The book or the movie?
LEXI
What the…?
Look, I’m pretty sure she isn’t in trouble.
Maybe Mr. L wanted to welcome her back to school or something.
AMBER
He did.
But there was another surprise waiting for me.
BEVERLY
There you are!
I’ve been panicking.
You weren’t answering and Lexi mysteriously disappeared from my side in the hallway.
LEXI
I told you I was dropping off textbooks in my locker.
BEVERLY
You’re not in trouble, right?
What was the surprise? Does it beat ours? I don’t think it can. I’ve been waiting for this forever.
AMBER
I’m sure it doesn’t. It wasn’t a fun surprise.
A certain someone’s name came up in the conversation.
LEXI
Are we talking about the ‘nemesis’ now?
BEVERLY
Oh, guessing game!
Does his name happen to begin with an N?
AMBER
Bingo!
She’d barely pressed send when she turned the corner and bumped into someone. The collision caused her to teeter on her feet and her purse slipped her grasp.
“Really, Amber? We’re going for clichés now?”
Why did it have to be him?
Amber glanced up, her glare at the ready. Noah fixed her with that dark stare, his brow quirked when she shrugged his hand off her elbow.
“What is this? Talk about the devil and he appears? Why are you everywhere?”
“You must talk about me a lot.”That infuriating blasé tone sent a flush across her cheeks.
Was he joking? He had to be. She sized him up, taking in his dark hair mussed over his head. His lips pulled to the side, his possibly contoured jawline following the movement. His arm gripped the satchel hanging on his shoulder, his jacket unbuttoned and tie loosened from its knot. The school day had barely ended and their stuffy student president had already let himself go. Any student who saw him like this would probably be shocked down to their toes. Thick brows hooded his dark eyes and lashes that had spiked envy in her more times than she could count. Seriously, why were they so long and pretty? The eyelashes, not Noah.
“Whatever. How do you even bump into someone in an empty hallway? You fishing for attention, Rhodes?”Amber held back her smug smile. She had been itching for the next round so badly, she wasn’t going to waste this. Better to get ahead now.
“Resorting to last name insults, Coleman? I thought you were smarter than that. Then again, all those leaves of absence must finally be catching up to you.”
“Those have nothing to do with how smart I am.”
“Yeah? What do your grades have to say about that?”
Low blow. She swore her eye twitched. A victorious gleam dawned in his dark eyes but there was no way she was letting him win this round. She could go lower. Tipping her chin, Amber summoned her iciest glare reserved for his truly.
“We know you get good grades, boy genius. Not all of us want to sacrifice our social lives. Oh wait, you don’t need to because you never had one in the first place.”She pointed downwards.“Be a gentleman and pick my purse. It’s clear I’ve won this round.”
The air grew stiff but Noah said nothing. After years of this little dance, Amber liked to believe she knew his tells. There was the tiniest ripple in his cheek when he knew he’d been bested. The slightest darkening of his eyes as he prepared to spew his venom and her favorite, the light flush that spread across his nose and made those dark brown freckles more apparent. Usually, the combination of those things made her smug. Today, they made her heat up.
Noah held her eyes as he dipped, his height slighted as he retrieved her purse. He stepped closer, bringing them nose to nose as he dangled her purse from a finger. It looked so tiny in his hold. Amber straightened. She would not be intimidated by his stare down. She swallowed roughly when a scent of honey met her nose. Why was he suddenly so close to her? And why was she noticing tiny flecks of gold she’d never seen before in his eyes?
A smile traveled into the corner of his lips. Oh god, maybe he could hear how hard she was thinking. Her heart was suddenly missing a few beats too many. Noah looked at her like he could see right through her.
“My purse, Noah.”She held out her hand, trying to distract him from looking at her. Her face warmed and Amber sucked in her cheeks. This was not the time to be blushing.
Her tactic worked though. Noah’s eyes finally left hers and Amber tried to remember how to breathe. She quickly forgot again when his hand enveloped her wrist. The heat of his skin on hers was diabolical. Her eyes widened, fixed to the spot where he held her. With a yank, Amber stumbled right into Noah. A single step closer and she would be pressed up against his side.
“What are you doing?”she stuttered.“Let me go and give me back my purse.”
The corner of his lips tipped up. Amber watched like it was in slow motion.“Patience, m’lady. I’m trying to be a gentleman like you asked.”
Noah? A gentleman? This was the exact opposite of what a gentleman should do. He was holding her wrist captive. Noah lowered his hand holding her purse and with a softness she would’ve never attributed to him, he slid her hand into the purse strap until it rested in the crook of her elbow. Noah didn’t step away immediately. No. His gaze fell on her again, coasting over her nose and lips. Amber wondered if he could see her blush as fiercely as she could feel it.
“I let you win this one,”he rasped.“Till next time, m’lady.”
The bristle that rose in her chest shook her out of the daze. This definitely didn’t feel like victory. It felt like she had somehow played right into his hand. He’d turned the tables and where she once was a towering statue of ice, now she was merely a blubbering puddle at his feet.
Her jaw tightened. He had called her that nickname again, his acid tongue rolling over the title like he thought she didn’t deserve it. Amber was convinced he called her that as some kind of mockery or maybe it was because he knew she didn’t like it when she didn’t know what it meant. Noah was gone before she could threaten him for the nickname, his words hovering in the air with a quiet promise. Most probably a promise of retribution. Amber could barely focus on that. She ran her hand over her wrist, a tingly feeling covering the spot he had held.
“There you are. Why didn’t you pick up?”
Amber blinked. Beverly materialized before her, hands on hips and narrowed eyes that demanded explanation. She cleared her throat in an effort to start up her vocabulary. Beverly had called her? Amber glanced at her purse, realizing she had slipped her phone in right before bumping into Noah.
“I was already at the door. I didn’t see a need to,”she fibbed.“Are we going or what?”
“I should be asking you that.”Beverly rolled her eyes so hard Amber wondered if it hurt.“Come on, Lexi’s already in the car.”Beverly grasped at her, marching at a fast pace to the front doors. Amber didn’t dare ask if she could stop at her locker to drop off her note. Guess she was taking it home with her.
“Your car or hers?”
“Give me some credit, Amber. I want us to make it there alive.”
“Well then, I hate to break it to you, Bev but if you pull my arm off, we might have a different issue on our hands.”Feeling had already gone out of her arm.
“Not a word from you, Amber. We’re late. I had to call in so we don’t miss our reservation.”
“It’s a reservation?”
Beverly huffed,“I didn’t say that.”
Amber laughed and increased her pace to match her friend’s. They pushed into the open courtyard and marched to the parking lot in silence. Most of the cars had cleared out, leaving the spacious lot empty. She could see Beverly’s venetian red Subaru and Lexi’s blonde head peeking out the open window.
“Finally,”Lexi called out.“Let’s go, ladies. We’re ten minutes behind surprise schedule.”
“I take partial responsibility,”Amber defended. Her lip curled as she said,“The rest goes to Mr-I-bump-into-people-in-empty-hallways.”
“Is this about Noah again?”Lexi groaned.
“You bumped into him? After talking about him with Mr. Loughrey?”Her friend’s grin widened with every word. Amber was not a fan of that look.“It’s like fate.”
“Some kind of sick fate, sure. Except I don’t care for any of it.”Yeah, she didn’t care for the fact that he smelled like honey or had arresting dark eyes or that the spot he had touched her was still tingling. Of course she didn’t care.
“You can’t control fate. You’ve got to tell me everything.”
“Oh joy. Now we’ll be even later than ten minutes.”Lexi rolled her eyes.
Amber laughed, pulling open the back door. She’d dropped her purse onto the seat when a familiar honk caught her attention. She turned, meeting the older man’s gaze as he stepped away from the metallic grey car he had parked a few feet from Beverly’s. Amber alternated between a frown and smile as he approached.
“Hi, Nigel. What are you doing here?”
“Didn’t mean to startle you ladies.”He tipped his head in greeting and she tried to quell the unease at seeing him. Beverly and Lexi waved at him, both sporting twin looks of confusion.
“It’s fine. We were about to leave. You didn’t have to come. I told you I was leaving with the girls.”
“I’m sorry, Amber. A different order was made and I was told to return this afternoon.”
Her stomach fell. Her hand shook on the door.“Don’t say it.”
He obliged her but it was easy for her to figure out what he hadn’t said. She had known Nigel for years. He had driven her to school every day since she had started at Redmington. With so many car rides spent making jokes, exchanging stories or simply sitting in silence, Amber could read him as easily as he could her. The apologetic expression on his face did nothing to soothe her, it only made her feel worse.
“Amber. What’s happening?”
Oh god. She almost didn’t want to face her friends. They would know immediately that something was wrong, if they hadn’t already sensed it. When she didn’t answer, Lexi opened her door and stepped out.“Nigel, what’s going on? Say something.”
Nigel fidgeted in his spot, his hands running down his charcoal suit jacket.“I’m afraid Amber won’t be joining you this evening. Prior engagements have been scheduled and Mrs. Coleman is expecting her presence to meet with a guest.”
“A what?”A disbelieving scoff left Beverly.“I thought you told her we would be spending the afternoon out.”
“I did,”Amber reassured her friend, despite feeling uncertain herself. Her stomach pinched as she remembered the conversation with her mother.“Maybe she forgot. She’s been really busy with work and probably–”
“You’re not leaving, right?”
She couldn’t look at her friends because deep down, she knew. Her mom hadn’t forgotten. Yes, she had brushed over Amber mentioning the surprise to her but she hadn’t told her she shouldn’t go or expressed anything more than a disapproval of her friends. So why was she sending Nigel over?
Beverly was not pleased with her silence. She turned on Nigel and Amber winced at the fierce glare she hit him with.
“She won’t be leaving with you, Nigel. She’s coming with us, whether you like it or not.”
“I understand this may be upsetting, Beverly but Mrs. Coleman has asked for her daughter. My instructions were to pick her up from school and drive her straight home. I’m not to return unless it is with her. I can hardly disobey that order.”
“Of course you can. She can, too,”Lexi jumped in.“She’ll do it right now. Amber deserves to have fun for once. She’s earned this time out and we’re going to give it to her.”
“She’s going with us and that’s it. Tell him, Amber.”
The stone sized clog in her throat wouldn’t let her. She hated making tough decisions. Unfortunately for her, there was no right answer to this one. Her friends had been so excited to plan this –whatever it was –that Beverly hadn’t stopped talking about it since Amber returned. She had been so excited to hang out with them and find out what the surprise was.
But this wasn’t a request from her mom. This was an order. Amber could choose her friends now but she would still go home to face her mom later. She resisted a shudder at the thought of her mother’s disappointment and anger if she disobeyed her. She couldn’t leave Nigel to suffer the brunt of that anger either. Her mother had called her home and ordered him not to return without her. Wasn’t she putting Nigel’s job at risk if she went with her friends?
“Why aren’t you saying anything?”Lexi demanded.
Amber took a deep breath and faced her best friends. It only took seconds for them to realize why she was quiet. Beverly gasped.“No. You can’t be serious? You’re gonna blow us off?”
“I’m sorry.”Her words rushed out. She attempted a cheery smile as she said,“You and Lexi can go and have fun. You don’t have to cancel anything. We can plan another outing for all of us.”
Lexi folded her arms and said,“We won’t be going to Riong’s without you, Amber.”
“Lexi!”Beverly screeched.“Why would you tell her? The whole point of the surprise was for it to be kept a secret!”
“She needs to know where we’re going if she’s going to stay, Bev. This is important to you.”Lexi refused to back down from Beverly’s glare. She was always so easygoing and laidback that seeing the fire in her eyes threw Amber for a loop.
She said Riong’s. Earlier, Beverly slipped that they had reservations. Amber wanted to smack herself as it all clicked into place. Beverly had talked for months about her favorite cousin finally embracing his dream of opening a Chinese restaurant with a nod to Sichuan and Hui cuisine, Bev’s favorites. She’d been itching to go to the opening for months, constantly checking on its progress and suggesting dates for the opening that corresponded with the Chinese calendar.
Beverly sighed, her fingers pinching at her nose. Under her breath, she said,“My cousin finally got everything ready and he opened the restaurant a week ago. I’ve been dying to go but I thought,‘why not wait until Amber gets back so we could all go together. It’ll be more fun with all of us.’”
The sick feeling in Amber’s stomach only got worse. How could she have forgotten how much Beverly had wanted to go for the restaurant opening? She mentioned it every chance she got and had even once brought a draft menu to show Amber and Lexi.
Beverly continued,“My cousin got us a spot. Best table of the house. We’ll be one of the first people to dine there. He was so happy that I got my friends to support him, he kept saying he couldn’t wait to meet you and Lexi.”She looked away from Amber.“A part of me wanted to believe you were playing along for the surprise, but you didn’t even guess it was the restaurant I’ve been talking about for months. I get that you were busy and that it may not have been important to you, but it is to me. You haven’t given us an answer, but we’re your best friends. We know you. If you’re going to back out on this like it means nothing, at least have the guts to say it to our faces.”
Amber had never felt as horrible as she did then. Despite standing in a half empty parking lot, it felt like walls were closing in. Maybe the afternoon sun was getting to her too. Stuck between a rock and a hard place. More like being crushed by a boulder and then a mountain.
She hated that she had already chosen. Beverly must have known that too. The longer the silence lasted, the harder her friend’s gaze got. Beverly crossed her arms.“What’ll it be, Amber?”