CHAPTER FIVE
THE LUNCH TABLE WAS unusually tense.
Few words had been spoken since their first class. They sat in the dining hall, chattering around them high as students took advantage of the break from lessons.
Amber slowly lifted the spoon to her lips, eyes on her pink manicure chipped at the corners. She needed a re-coat before her mother noticed. Across from her, Beverly shifted in her seat, her focus firmly on her tray and her head tilted pointedly away.
Her hair was up in two space buns with tiny butterfly clips in it. She looked beautiful and Amber wanted to gush over the hairstyle inspo with her. Bev was a Pinterest girly through and through and had converted Amber from the start. Her best friend’s aura was so prickly though; Amber would probably have more luck striking conversation with a wall.
Lexi sat beside Bev, her gaze alternating their faces, phone in her grip and her meal eaten. She hadn’t said a word since they’d sat down but Amber had seen the put off look in her eyes.
Amber glanced at the clock across the room. Ten minutes to the end of lunch. If she didn’t break the ice now, they’d have to wait until the end of the day. The atmosphere between them was already unbearable. She hated this suffocating feeling. It wasn’t often Beverly got so angry with her that they got on no speaking terms.
She crossed her fingers. Here goes. “I know you’re mad about yesterday,”Amber began. Beverly didn’t give any indication that she’d heard her. Lexi looked over at her but said nothing.“I’m sorry for missing out on the restaurant. I was really excited for it. You know I was. I’m sorry I couldn’t go but I promise to make it up to both of you. I’ll plan another day out. I’ll get everything ready, fix the schedules and pay for everything too. I promise.”
Nothing.
Not a word or reaction.
“Are you going to say something? Anything?”
A heavy sigh left Beverly and she dropped her spoon with a clang. She looked right at Amber for the first time that day. Amber couldn’t find it in her to hide the feeling of relief. One step at a time, right?
“It wasn’t just any restaurant, Amber. I’d been excited about it for months and you knew that. You promised you would come then, didn’t you? Well, look what happened.”She scoffed.“I could even forget that you hadn’t been there but not the way you ditched us because it wouldn’t be the first time. We could plan a million surprises or day outs and be excited for it but the moment she calls you completely abandon us, so what’s the point anyways?”
“I didn’t do it on purpose–”
“Don’t.”Her hazel-green eyes met Amber’s, cold and unyielding as she said,“Don’t say anything if it’s going to be another excuse. We’re your best friends, Amber. It’s not fun getting left behind like that.”
“What Beverly means is,”Lexi cut in, her gaze dragging from their friend to Amber.“We stuck up for you. We tried to get you to stay and if you’d said the word, we would’ve gotten you out of there. It hurt that you didn’t even hesitate to ditch us.”
“I didn’t- I’m sorry, okay? I’m not trying to hurt anyone. I’m only trying to do the right thing.”
“Right by who?”Beverly flung her arms, her voice exasperated.“Your mom? When are you going to start doing right by us? By yourself?”
It felt like a hush had fallen over the cafeteria, like everyone’s eyes were on her. Prodding and poking, judging and condemning her. She couldn’t breathe, her jacket suddenly feeling constricting, despite being unbuttoned.
Lexi laid a hand on Beverly’s arm.“We need a minute, that’s all. We know you didn’t mean to hurt us, but it happened anyway. None of us can fix that, but give us a while to process it.”
“Okay,”Amber choked out.“I’ll give you guys your space. I– you have to know I didn’t mean bad. I’m sorry.”
They fell silent again. Lexi’s hand left Beverly, her lips pressed together and shoulders slightly shaking under her jacket. Amber closed her eyes, looking away. She wouldn’t be able to bear it if they cried because of her. Her hands trembled as she picked her spoon to resume eating but motion beside her made her pause. A blushing sophomore stood at the end of their table, wringing her hands. She flushed even more when Amber met her gaze.
“H-hi. Hi, Amber. The teacher, sorry, I mean Mrs. Wilson, she’s asking for you. She asked me to get you. Yes, that,”the poor girl rambled. She was obviously nervous and Amber smiled, trying to ease her.
“Thank you. What’s your name?”
“I’m… uh, my name’s Chloe.”
“Thanks for letting me know, Chloe. I really like your braid.”
The girl gaped for a moment, her hand flying to her hair like she wanted to be sure it was what Amber had referred to. She somehow flushed even deeper and squeaked a thank you before scurrying away from the table, her cheeriness leaving with her.
Amber turned back to her friends now watching her with curious eyes. She could feel the question sitting at the tip of Beverly’s tongue but she said nothing as Amber said goodbye, picked her tray and left the table.
The hallways were empty of students causing her shoes to echo in the high-ceiling corridors as she took the turns to Mrs. Wilson’s class. She ignored the ache in her toes as she climbed the stairs to the next floor. Instead, Amber reminisced the first time she’d stepped into the class. Her mother had been on a trip when she’d needed to pick her classes for the year. Amber had snuck in Contemporary Literature and Composition. She remembered being so excited for the lesson, only to come face to face with Noah in the doorway. They’d glared at each other for a minute before walking in and choosing seats as far away from each other as possible.
She’d had two classes with Mrs. Wilson since resuming, but she couldn’t think of any reason to be called in to see her. Amber knocked at the partly open door and peeked in,“Mrs. Wilson?”
“Come in.”Her answering voice was muffled, coming from the tiny closet off to the side of the classroom Mrs. Wilson used to keep assignments, class projects or equipment when she wanted them to do audiovisual analysis. Amber stepped in, shutting the door behind her as Mrs. Wilson emerged, carrying a mini watering can to her windowsill.“Hello, Miss Coleman. Have a seat. Give me a minute to freshen up my flowers.”
The flowers, beautiful freesias sat in four separate pots. She watched as Mrs. Wilson gently watered them, her arm going in smooth circles to feed the soil.
“They’re coming in beautifully,”Amber said, the words slipping out.“The flowers,”she clarified when her teacher paused.
“They are.”Mrs. Wilson beamed.“I received the seeds as a gift a few weeks ago and decided to add a little colour to the class. I heard it has a good scent too.”
“An amazing scent. It’s a sweetness tinged with a hint of citrus and feels like taking in a breath of fresh air. The combination might sound weird but it’s lovely when it kicks in. They have the prettiest colors too. Have you seen the petals reflecting off the sun? It’s gorgeous.”
Mrs. Wilson slowly set down her can and faced Amber, a half-amused and half-intrigued smile gracing her face.“I didn’t know you knew so much about flowers.”
Amber blinked, realizing she’d been rambling on to her teacher about flowers. She flushed.“I-it’s not a huge deal. I dabble in a little gardening sometimes.”
Her teacher nodded, her smile still in place.“Nevertheless, I’ll be cracking the windows open more often to catch the petal glow. You’ve got me looking forward to the scent of fresh citrus filling the room, Miss Coleman.”
Amber flushed even deeper, a warmth growing in her chest at the words. Mrs. Wilson sounded like she meant them. She’d listened to Amber’s babbling and had liked what she had to say. Amber smothered the crazy smile from spreading on her face, remembering she had been called here for a reason.
A knock at the door interrupted her from asking. At Mrs. Wilson’s response, it pulled open and Amber gulped at the sight of the two figures that came in. What was happening? And why was he here?
“Mr. Loughrey,”her teacher greeted her colleague, oblivious to Amber shuffling in her seat,“I see you brought Mr. Rhodes along. Thank you.”
Mr. Loughrey tipped an imaginary hat, the impression well done but Amber was focused on glaring at the dark haired boy who had insinuated she was stupid only yesterday.
“What is he doing here?”
She couldn’t keep the bite from her voice. No one seemed fazed though, Noah least of all, if the smile that tugged at his lips was any indication.
“What a warm welcome, m’lady,”he drawled. He pulled the seat from beside her and folded himself into it, manspreading into the aisle between them. Amber scowled at the nickname and focused on the two teachers now whispering among themselves. She politely cleared her throat to get their attention.
“Can I have an answer? Why am I here? More importantly, why is he here too?”
Mr. Loughrey threw Mrs. Wilson a pointed look that said ‘See?’ but she waved him away and faced them.“No need to be jumpy, Miss Coleman. You’re not in any serious trouble. This is in relation to a recent discussion you had with Mr. Loughrey.”
A shudder passed through her.
Oh no.
“I did say the conversation wasn’t over,”Mr. Loughrey gave her a wry smile, deepening the pit in her stomach. He turned to Mrs. Wilson.“I’ve done my part, Irene. I trust you have this under control.”
And he swaggered out of the class, leaving Amber to spiral into further confusion. She swung her head to Mrs. Wilson, her eyes wide.
“Let’s get down to it, kids.”Her teacher sighed and stood before her desk, facing them.“I found a disturbing omission while looking through your class record, Miss Coleman. You’ve only had a couple classes with me since resuming back so I didn’t have an opportunity to address this. I also had no solution for you. Fortunately, Mr. Loughrey mentioned he’d had an earlier conversation with you that could solve this problem. Is that correct?”
Amber was sure her brain was short-circuiting. She couldn’t outrightly say no. That would be lying against her teacher. Again, she didn’t want to say yes if it would give Mrs. Wilson a prelude to continue this nightmare of a discussion. She stalled instead.
“But that conversation wasn’t serious, Mrs. Wilson. Mr. Loughrey was only offering advice to his student. Nothing needs to be set up. Everything’s fi–”
“Let me stop you right there, Miss Coleman.”Mrs. Wilson’s palm came up sharply. Her bangles echoed a tinkling sound that would otherwise have sounded pleasant. To Amber, it sounded like warning bells.“You need to know what’s seriously on the line here. A couple weeks ago, an assignment was given by the substitute in my place. Maybe due to your absence, she didn’t notice that you hadn’t done the assignment because at the moment, I have nothing of yours to grade.”
She continued,“I could have waived it if it wasn’t an important assignment that counts for majority of your grade and part of the assessments you need to have to pass this literature class. In normal circumstances, it would mean you had failed.”
A dull throb began beneath Amber’s eyelids. Failed? An assignment? With everything she was doing to catch up on her classes, she had failed. Mrs. Wilson had graded the class papers and Amber hadn’t given her anything to grade. She had failed her class.
No.
This couldn’t be happening.
Not after her mom’s warning. Not now. Not ever.
Mrs. Wilson’s brows creased as Amber spiraled,“Your friends didn’t mention this? At all?”
Amber looked away, searching her memory.“They may have,”she stuttered out. With the lessons she had to study, notes to copy and practices to attend, it must have slipped her mind.
“You said‘in normal circumstances’,”Noah spoke, pulling her out of her daze. In actuality, she had almost forgotten he’d been there. He was leaned back in his seat, an arm flung on the desk, his expression wiped of the smug expression that always visited whenever he saw her. He kept his focus on Mrs. Wilson even as she knew he could feel her gaze boring into the side of his head. “Does that mean this is an exception? Is there something she could still do to pass?”
Amber couldn’t believe she was about to agree with him,“Yeah, he’s right. You said you came up with a solution. What can I do?”
Her teacher nodded.“As these events weren’t the standard way of things, I’ve decided something. You need that paper to pass this class. You’ll need to write a summary and an analysis on a literature novel . The rest of the class had an average of two weeks to complete theirs. With tests approaching and the other classes you need to catch up on, I realize that might not be feasible for you so Mr. Loughrey and I reasoned that you might need a little assistance. This is where Mr. Rhodes comes in.”
Noah frowned, his forehead lined beneath the tips of his hair. He folded his arms.“Apparently I’m in need of a bit of help.”
He sounded like the notion that he needed help was ludicrous. Amber almost rolled her eyes.
“I’m afraid it’s more than‘a bit’, Mr. Rhodes.”She folded her arms too. Amber looked between them, tempted to make it a trio of folded limbs.“You could very well lose your position as President.”
Amber was at attention.“I’m sorry?”
Noah stayed silent. Mrs. Wilson brought her hand up to push back a few strands that had escaped her bun. She cleared her throat, looking uncomfortable as she began speaking.
“As student body president, Noah has excellent leadership skills and knowledge to hold the position. You and I can both agree he’s a good president.”No, she couldn’t. She barely liked Noah as a person most days, she hadn’t exactly followed up on his political career.“However, simply being able to lead isn’t all the positon requires. A good president should also be approachable and have the people skills necessary to manage students. Noah, well, he happens to fall a little short of those people skills.”
A short, sharp laugh escaped Amber without prompt. She glanced at Noah and couldn’t resist.“Wow! Really? I would never have guessed. Now that you mention it, he does have the unusual talent of inspiring murderous tendencies.”
Noah glared at her head so hard, her hair was probably falling off but she was thoroughly enjoying herself. The lightness in her chest had returned now that they were off her topic in more familiar territory, riling up Noah.
“You couldn’t lay down the barbs for even a minute? I backed you up when it was your turn,”he groused.
“Fine, I’ll stop. This is my serious face. I’ll even prepare my own quip to help. Will that make us even?”
Mrs. Wilson tried to hide her smile at the exchange.“In any case, Noah has been trying to work on that. With the possibility that he could lose his position, he’s agreed to source for help. You, Miss Coleman. He needs your help.”
Her laughter got sucked right out, heading fast down the drain. She choked,“Wait. What?”Noah’s smug expression was back. A devious grin spread across his face as his eyes drank in her shock. How wasn’t he having the same reaction she was, and why?
“Hold on. You’ve highlighted some major issues, Mrs. Wilson but Noah and I working together?”
Noah rolled his eyes.“You’re blowing this out of proportion, Amber. Besides, you’re the one who would make it impossible to work together anyways. You’re stubborn, you want to please everyone and you’re always listening to the opinion of others above yours.”
Her anger flared, despite how true his list was.“At least I listen. You think a lack of people skills is your only problem? You couldn’t hold a conversation with a wall if your life depended on it.”
“Because I don’t have the overwhelming urge to befriend everything and everyone around me. I’m only saying not everything needs your help before it’s fixed.”
“Excuse you, Noah. You’re probably jealous that people actually ask my help to fix things even though that’s basically your job description. You know why? Because I have a friendly persona and don’t resort to scowling all the time like it’s stamped on my face!”
“Friendly persona? No one is that happy and bubbly all the time. Not even you. We both know how sharp and callous you are. Maybe it’s time you showed your real colors to your adoring fans too.”
“You are such a little pri–”
“That’s enough!”
They both startled, their gazes turning to their teacher. She threw one last death glare but jerked back when she saw how close she and Noah were. They had both leaned so far into the aisle that they were up in each other’s faces. Clearing his throat, Noah moved away. He shifted in his seat, his hands pulling at the knot of his tie. Amber pushed out a breath, her legs crossing at the knee.
“Listen up, both of you.”Mrs. Wilson massaged her temples. Clearly saying she’d had it with them.“Neither of you really has a choice here. Mr. Rhodes, you’re one of my best students. I’m asking you to help Miss Coleman with her paper so she can be done with it in record time. Miss Coleman, you are well-known and adored amongst the student population. I need you to use those exceptional skills to elevate the student’s impressions of Mr. Rhodes as someone they can approach with their issues.”
She looked between them, finality in her tone.“Without this deal, you could fail this class and you’ll be removed from your position. In other words, you have no options here. I’ve done my part and it’s time you do yours. What you decide next is up to you.”