CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
HER SHOES ECHOED IN the empty corridor as she made her way to Principal Ellis’ office. She’d never been sent to the office on an infraction. The march there was especially lonely. At least no one was here to see her shame.
After lunch and a shower, Noah had driven her to the school. Only her pleas had kept him in the car when he’d wanted to follow her in. But she was done placing him in the line of fire. She was a big girl. She could handle this hurdle on her own.
A heavy breath left her at the sight of the principal’s doors. Few seconds later, she knocked and was ushered in by Mrs. Wilson. Principal Ellis sat behind her oak desk, looking stern and authoritative. Amber struggled to swallow the lump in her throat.
“Please have a seat, Miss Coleman. This won’t take long.”
That wasn’t a good sign. Amber rubbed her damp palms on her jeans, taking a seat in the leather chair across the desk. Mrs. Wilson stayed standing. A tense silence settled in the space for a moment. Principal Ellis opened her mouth, but was interrupted.
“I want to apologize for everything, Amber. I didn’t mean to cause you trouble. I acted in good faith, but with no caution of how badly things could backfire,” Mrs. Wilson rushed out.
Amber blinked in shock that her teacher was apologizing, never mind that she’d ignored protocol and addressed her by her name on school grounds.
Principal Ellis sighed. “We talked about this, Mrs. Wilson.”
“The poor girl needed to be put out of her misery,” Mrs. Wilson shot back. “She looked so pale, I was afraid she would keel over. No offense, Amber.”
None taken, she wanted to say but her tongue was heavy as lead in her mouth.
The principal continued, “As Mrs. Wilson should have eloquently put it, we saw the need to apologize for the huge inconvenience to you. As adults, we should have predicted your guardian’s reaction and its after-effects. I gave Mrs. Wilson the green light to broker the deal between you and Mister Rhodes, and I’m so sorry it went horribly.”
Amber nodded, her brain slow to catch up to the strange events unfolding before her.
“Mister Rhodes and Coach Pratani were quick to report about your ankle on the day of the incident. With the doctor’s report, we had to give you mandatory two weeks of rest, even if that meant it interfered with taking your midterms. Looking at these issues, it’s clear you’ve had a lot on your plate this term.”
Amber couldn’t agree more. The term had been rough from the start. She was sad her last year at Redmington hadn’t gone as well as she’d wished.
“In light of recent events, we have decided to give you the chance to retake your midterms and submit your assignment for grading,” Principal Ellis finished with a flourish.
She took a second to pinch herself. Had she started hallucinating somewhere between the school’s front doors and the office?
Mrs. Wilson’s muffled laughter caught her attention. “There’s no need to pinch yourself, dear. Principal Ellis and I guarantee this is real.” Pointing at Amber’s bag, she asked, “You brought your assignment?”
Her tongue loosened. “Yes, I did.” She yanked it out with more force than was necessary, realizing that her hands were shaking as she smoothed the edges of the paper and handed it to her teacher. “You mean it? I get a second chance to write my midterms? I thought I’d failed the year.”
“You’re an excellent student, Miss Coleman. Putting that and your circumstances, it wasn’t hard to make this decision.” Principal Ellis smiled at her. “Welcome back. We expect to see you bright and early on Monday.”
Amber thanked them profusely as she stood, trying to command her body to put one foot in front of the other. She was almost scared to question if this was a stroke of luck or if things were finally turning round for her.
“And you were right.”
“About what?” She paused, her hand resting on the doorknob.
Mrs. Wilson’s smile reached her eyes. “The freesias smell wonderful.”
“And they gave me a second chance. It feels like I’m still dreaming.”
Noah chuckled, her head bouncing where it laid on his shoulder. “You earned it. I’m happy for you and for myself.”
“For yourself?”
“Yeah.” He smiled down at her. “I get to see my favorite person at school again.”
Her cheeks heated, her nose scrunching at his ensuing laughter. She rolled her eyes, the enchanting night sky bright with stars as it had been the last time she and Noah had come here. He had way too much fun with making her blush, but how could she resist blushing when he said things like that?
My favorite person.
Noah was definitely her favorite person too. He’d been at the forefront of everything from the beginning. She bit her lip as a question came to mind.
“Hey, Noah.” When he hummed in response, she continued. “Why did you ignore me the first time I talked to you? We wouldn’t have started out fighting.”
She’d told his family how they’d met, but there were gaps in the story she was eager to fill in. She had never asked for his side of things. A sigh left Noah, one that carried regret.
“I should have come clean years ago, but it all happened so fast. I opened my mouth and ruined everything.”
She turned to face him, laying her head on the blanket instead of his shoulder so she could watch the emotions play out on his face. “What do you mean?”
“That day, when you spoke to me, I was surprised you had bothered to acknowledge myexistence. You had the cutest braid and a bow in your hair. You used to love wearing bows. And your eyes, they were so blue and beautiful, I felt like I was drowning in them. Honestly, I didn’t hear a word you’d said because I was so busy staring at you. When you backed away, I thought I’d creeped you out.” A low laugh left him. It wasn’t a happy one.
“When you approached me again, I was determined to say something. Anything. An apology, a ‘hello,’ as long as you wouldn’t think I was this creepy kid who couldn’t stop staring at you. Instead of telling you that there was no need for you to give excuses for our teacher or apologize for something that wasn’t important, I said all the wrong things.”
As he spoke, the memory of that day came to her. The silence that had echoed between them. The way his eyes had widened after the words left his mouth. The angry flush that had dotted her cheeks as she wondered what she'd done to deserve his rudeness.
Her stomach twisted dangerously. “Why didn’t you say anything? Why let me take it so far? I made you into the enemy. I used to call you my nemesis! I was horrible to you.”
Noah shook his head immediately, his eyes begging her to understand. “No, you weren’t. You showed me a part of you that no one else saw. You brought out a part of me that I didn’t know existed. All those arguments and I was stuck in your orbit, unable to fight my way out. I didn’t want to.”
Her brows creased as she struggled to believe him. “But those were so many years wasted.”
His hand reached for her cheek, his warmth sinking into her and chasing away her dread at discovering the truth. “I don’t regret a single thing. Not when it brought me to you.”
She leaned into him. “Why? Why suffer through that?”
“Let’s just say, I was ready to have you hate me until the day I could tell you the truth. You finally see me.”
“Of course I see you, Noah. How could I not? We’ve known each for years.”
He shook his head softly, dark strands falling into those dark eyes that reflected the stars again. Maybe this was her favorite and not the sunset skyline picture she’d saved as her wallpaper.
“You’ve been looking, but you’ve never seen. Until now.” Even softer, he said, “Thank you for seeing me.”
Amber closed her eyes against the onslaught of emotion that swept over her. How long could she hide it when he tugged at her heartstrings with each word, each look and every touch?
She reached for him, her lips meeting his. They shared a kiss in the meadow where she and Noah had seen the true versions of each other, under the same stars that she dreamed of nearly every night. It was a dream come true to be back here with him. She never wanted to wake up, but little by little, she was learning to stop running from her reality.
Pulling back, she allowed herself to collect her thoughts, her heart thumping crazily in her chest.
“I think I want to quit ballet.” She gasped. “It might not be forever, but right now, I have a much more important dream to chase. I don’t want to disappoint anyone, especially my mom. I have no idea what she’ll say or if she’ll speak to me again if I do this. I haven’t told Evelyn or Dottie or–”
“What do you want?” Noah asked, his arms tight around her.
There was only one answer in her mind and heart.
“I want to follow my own path. Chase my own dreams. I want to be an author someday. I want to be happy.”
“Okay, let’s do that.”
“Yeah?”
“I’m ready whenever you are. It’s you and me, Amber. We don’t have to apologize for following our dreams.”
The smile that curved her face couldn’t be hidden if she tried. Her heart was full, much fuller than it had ever been before. And it was because of this incredible boy. She couldn’t stop herself anymore. Let her heart be open for everyone to see. She didn’t care. As long as she had him by her side.
“I think I’m falling for you,” she whispered, her hands sinking into his hair as she unloaded the secret she’d carried for weeks.
Noah didn’t skip a beat. He didn’t hesitate. He didn’t back away. He smiled as brilliantly as the stars above them. “M’lady, I’ve been falling for you since the day you robbed me of my senses in a school hallway.”