Page 24 of Pages of Amber
It was Jacob, Beverly’s boyfriend who broke the air.“What’s happening here?”
Amber put on her best smile and got to work.“You all know Noah, our…incrediblestudent body president.”Noah tossed a wave, his casual bearing at odds with her nerves.“He needs to fill out a little assessment and you’re the lucky students he’s meeting with first. He’s going to ask a few questions about the cafeteria facilities and any comment is welcome. It won’t take long.”
Silence hung in the air when she finished. Amber fidgeted in her seat, wondering if she hadn’t sold that as well as she thought she had. Beverly blinked at her like she couldn’t believe her eyes and Lexi just stared at Noah like he’d dropped from another planet. Willow and Casey’s expressions weren’t off the grid. Willow might have had her suspicions by the look she gave Amber in the hall earlier, but her wide eyes said she probably hadn’t braced herself for this. Jacob and Sean, a guy from the football team, looked like they’d probably been lost from the start. Poor guys, she was incorporating them into her Noah drama.
“Amber, honey,”Beverly said her name in a whisper that wasn’t a whisper at all.“If you’re doing this against your will, all you have to do is blink twice.”
Okay.Not the first thing she’d expected to hear from her friend. At least she didn’t seem angry, more concerned for Amber’s safety. She would take Beverly speaking to her as a small win.
“I’m fine, Bev. I know it seems strange. Noah and I sitting together and for some weird reason, posing a united front about something and trust me, I never thought it would have happened either. Never ever in a thousand, million years.”
Noah’s head swiveled.Was it that impossible to imagine?his scowl said. She ignored him and continued,“But this is real and I’m just helping out our President. That’s all.”
A snort came from Sean, turning eyes around the table. He narrowed his gaze on the slit of space barely between her and Noah’s arms.“Our President? So now he’s aware he has a duty to students?”
Noah glanced at him.“I’ve always been aware of my duty, not only to students but to the school and its staff. When it became difficult to reach the students, I asked Amber for a few tips.”
“Yeah, right.”Sean pointed his finger around the table.“None of us believe that for a second. You’re taking advantage of her kind, sweet nature to make her do your bidding. We’ve all seen you bully her in an effort to constantly fish for her attention.”
His words left a ringing in Amber’s ears. Why was he talking to Noah like that? Sure, he could be a jerk sometimes but no one deserved to be talked down to. Amber had known Sean only as long as Beverly had been dating his friend, but they had barely spoken to each other. She was grateful for it if this was who he was.
“He wasn’t bullying me.”Amber defended.“Yes, we argue but there’s no bullying and I probably start those arguments half the time.”
In a condescending tone, he said,“Amber, you might never have thought that way but this is how guys work, okay? Noah, over here, is definitely reaching for something he shouldn’t have. He must have succeeded in getting it, too.”He chuffed, his lip curling. It wasn’t a pretty look and served to intensify Amber’s irritation.“I mean, why else would Amber waste her time with some scholarship student, President or not?”
Noah’s jaw tightened. Amber tensed up at his side, trying to convince herself she had heard wrong.
“Hey!” Beverly and Willow protested.
Jacob wasn’t far behind. He shoved Sean.“Dude! What are you doing? Shut up.”
Lexi and Casey sat in stunned silence. Under the table, she caught Noah’s hands clenching as he fought for control. She took a breath herself, attempting to tamp down the flare that had risen in her chest. They couldn’t do anything brash or they would get in trouble. This was supposed to improve Noah in the eyes of the students, not the opposite. Beverly and Willow’s yell had drawn attention to their table. One wrong move would get them whispering. It was hard to bite her tongue though. Much harder than it had ever been, especially as she could probably count on a single hand the number of times she’d gotten furious in her life. This one was definitely up there.
“How foolishly arrogant could you be to look down on someone because according to you he’s‘some scholarship student?’”
Sean froze when he met her cold glare. Good. Her blue irises weren’t the only thing she got from her mother.
“Do you realize getting awarded a scholarship into Redmington is nearly impossible unless you have a ninety-five percent score on entrance exams? Ninety-five percent, Sean. That’s twenty-five more than a regular student needs to get in, which means not only did such a student prove they deserve to glide through high school on a hefty scholarship but that student also proved he or she is academically gifted.”
“I didn’t mean…”
“I’m not even talking about the fact that you could have had Mommy and Daddy buy your way into school when these scholarship students earned their way in all on their own.”She heard Beverly choke on her laugh but kept her eyes on Sean. Apparently, he needed to be re-educated on how their Academy policies and common manners worked.“I’m gonna ask this once. Do you have something against this spectacular set of students or is jealousy mixed in there?”
The dark haired jock shrunk into his seat, looking thoroughly chastened. How he could criticize someone so harshly while being unable to take the same criticism was beyond her.“I don’t. No jealousy at all,”he murmured.
“Glad we got that out of the way. Now apologize.”
He avoided Amber’s eyes.“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said any of that. I was out of line.”
“You shouldn’t have.”Amber folded her arms, willing her anger to dial back.“I’m not the one you owe an apology, though.”
Sean swung his gaze to her left. His hand gripped his neck.“I’m sorry, man. I really shouldn’t have said that.”
Amber narrowed her eyes. She turned to ask Noah if he was satisfied with the apology, however the words swiftly died on her tongue when she found Noah had his attention on her.
If she thought his eyes were dark, now they flared a mesmerizing gold, luring her in. He leaned back in his chair, his head tipped to the side. His hair fell over his brows, his lips curved in a soft grin. His gaze swept over her face, almost a physical caress. In what felt like hours but was barely a minute, he seemed to scour every inch, every pore, every bit of her face. Then those devil eyes fell to her lips. Her face heated so fast Amber could have sworn she had been lit on fire. She turned away, her fingers digging hard into her sleeves. Clearing her throat, she dragged her mind back on track, trying to erase the memory of Noah’s burning stare.
“Willow too. She’s an exceptional scholarship student who had to sit there, listening to you belittle her.”
