Page 88 of Pages of Amber
He looked at her expectantly.
“You’re supposed to guess, Noah.” She huffed when he raised a brow, a tiny smirk dancing on his face. “Spoilsport. Anyway, Dottie came by. We talked for a while and she brought my journal for me. You know, the one you illegally read from and proceeded to use as leverage to learn my secrets.” At least he had the grace to look embarrassed about it. “I came to a decision.”
At her dramatic pause, he sighed. “Are you going to tell me about it?”
She snickered, but decided to put him out of his misery. her heart never so certain as she was in that moment. “I want to finish writing my book and try to get it published. I want people to read my stories. No more hiding. I’m ready to chase my dream of being an author.”
Noah blinked, his eyes wide. Then a smile lit up his face. “Amber, that’s incredible.”
She grew shy under his praise. Although her mind and heart were in complete agreement, she couldn’t help the pinch of doubt. It was a huge leap she was taking outside of everything she had been confined to. “You don’t think it sounds silly? What if I can’t do it?”
“I wouldn’t believe that for a second.” Noah was quick to shut down those doubts. “You succeed at everything you put your mind to. You’re an amazing friend, you love to help people, you’re a talented dancer and a brilliant writer. You’re choosing to share another gift with the world, and this one will be your greatest treasure yet because it’s coming right from the heart of who you are. It’s your truth written in your own words. The pages of Amber in all its glory.”
“I was excited about it before, but you made it sound even more magical.” She smiled at him, half wondering if he could see the stars in her eyes. Her heart had melted down to goo in her chest.
“Then maybe I found a talent for myself. You’re already way ahead of me in that department. I have to catch up if I’m gonna prove myself worthy of you.”
Did she say her heart was goo? The rest of her joined the melted mass as she sunk into Noah’s side, cuddling into him on his bedroom floor.
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.”
