Amber's Star Page 4

  “We can’t move!” I shouted louder than him. Mom and dad looked at me, wondering the reason for my scream. I stood still, waiting for one of them to say something, anything.

  “Why not? Do you have a girlfriend next door too?” asked mom.

  “No,” I answered fast.

  ***

  On my way to school, I decided I would tell Daniel about my small crush, maybe that way he could confess to me about his crush on Skylar, which was more than obvious. Dad dropped me off ten minutes earlier, which gave me time to look for Daniel. He was hanging out by the basketball court as he usually did.

  “Hey, I have to tell you something,” I said.

  “What is it?” he asked, throwing the basketball at the hoop.

  “Something important,”

  “Like what?” he asked. I try not to think over it and finally say it.

  “You know the new girl, Amber,”

  “Yeah, what about her?” he asked interrupting me.

  “I think I like her,” I said fast. Daniel interrupted his free throw and looked at me.

  “Amber, are you sure?” he asked in a weird tone.

  “Skylar is much prettier, besides I don’t mind us liking the same girl,” he added.

  “Skylar might be pretty, but that’s all she has, she’s annoying and mean,” I said.

  “But she has beautiful eyes, and Amber’s face is full of freckles,” he said, missing his free throw.

  “Well, maybe I like freckles,” I said.

  The bell rang, and we made our way into the room, I hadn’t liked Daniel’s answer about Amber and he had noticed it. I tried sitting somewhere else, somewhere I wouldn’t be close to him, but all the other seats had been taken. Ms. Flowers started the day by telling us all about our science projects, and for a moment I forgot all about Amber. Science was my favorite subject, and I was excited about the science fair but knew it was still a good four months away. When Ms. Flowers started giving us examples of what a good science project should have, my attention went back to Amber. I saw her sitting still and quiet. As if something was wrong. Could she be sick? I thought. What if her mom is the type of mom that doesn’t let her skip school under any circumstances?’ Luckily my mom wasn’t like that, I could fake having a stomachache and mom would let me stay home for the day. I stared at Amber, trying to figure what was up with her. But then I saw it, Skylar. She would often look behind her shoulder and laugh at Amber. At first, I thought I could be wrong, but the smirks and distinct faces Skylar made at her told me she was making fun of her.

  “Stop staring at them,” whispered Daniel. I couldn’t help it. I knew Skylar was making Amber uncomfortable, and I needed to stop it. I saw Skylar pull out a piece of paper and began writing something on it. Before I was able to do something Skylar had folded the piece of paper in half and it slowly made its way back to Amber’s seat. The piece of paper reached Andrew, who sat right in front of Amber. Andrew leaned back and whispered something into Amber’s ear. Amber held the paper but didn’t open it. Instead, she asked to go to the restroom and placed the paper in her back pocket. I saw Skylar giggling while Amber made her way out into the hallway. I was worried for Amber, worried Skylar had done something. I stared at the classroom’s clock wondering what time Amber had left, and knew it had been at least five minutes by now. The bathrooms weren’t so far away, and I’d doubted Amber being a new girl would dare to go number two. Most kids don’t go number two at school, at least we boys don’t. It’s a waste of time to have toilets in the boy’s restrooms if you ask me. I only knew one boy in the entire school who’d gone number two, and he was one of the weirdest kids in school. I looked back at the clock and noticed Amber had been gone for over ten minutes. I had to do something. I knew Ms. Flowers didn’t allow two of us at the restroom at once, but I was a good liar and was hoping today it would be different. I stood up and raised my skinny hand high in the air.

  “Noah, do you know the answer already?” she asked. I looked up at the board and saw a fraction problem that I had been ignoring for the past ten minutes.

  “No, I don’t know the answer. I just need to go to the bathroom,” I said, crossing my feet over the other to make my acting more believable.

  “Oh no Noah, you know how it works. Wait until Amber comes back,” she said, looking at her wristwatch and lifting her eyebrows. I stood up again and did my acting again, this time I started jumping on one leg so it seemed more believable.

  “Ms. Flowers, I really need to go,” I said in a desperate voice. She looked at me and saw how I moved from my waist down and finally agreed.

  “Go,” she said. I sprinted out of the door, grabbing my lower stomach, and into the hallway. I turned left and headed for the girl’s bathroom. I looked around making sure Ms. Flowers wasn’t in the hallway otherwise she would wonder why I turned left and not right where the boy’s bathroom was. I strolled down the hallway, hoping Amber came out. I disliked the idea of a teacher coming out and seeing me wander around in the hallway. Luckily right before I passed the girl’s bathroom Amber walked out. I saw her and knew something was wrong. Her eyes were red and swollen.

  “Is everything okay?” I asked. She nodded yes in reply but I knew something was wrong, I wanted to ask her if Skylar was the one bothering her, but didn’t want her to think I was nosy.

  “I once dared to go number two in the third grade and there wasn’t any toilet paper,” I lied, hoping to make her laugh.

  “I had to wait until my friend Daniel came and saved me, I was just making sure the same thing hadn’t happened to you,” Amber laughed and that made me feel great.

  “No, I was just bored in class and needed a little time off,” she said turning her face down as she spoke. Her eyes were still watery and knew it was best to let her go.

  “Okay, I’ll see you later,” I said. She walked away, and I stood there waiting for her to go inside. I walk around the hallway for a few more minutes and finally went back to class. I looked at Amber and saw her smiling as I walked back in. Seeing the girl you like smile, is one of the best feelings there is. I stared at her as I walked to my seat and came close to bumping into a desk. I took a seat and leaned over to tell Daniel about the chat I’ve had with her.

  “I made her laugh,” I whispered proudly.

  I read along from my textbook and then heard Ms. Flowers say she’d leave the room for a few minutes. I started telling Daniel how I went looking for Amber and the small chat we had in the hallway.

  “I made her laugh,” I said again.

  “How?” he asked, but before I could answer I saw Skylar walking towards Amber. I saw Skylar place her filthy hands on Amber’s shoulders and I immediately tried to stand up, but Daniel stopped me. Skylar smiled like a maniac, like a crazy woman.

  “It’s time everyone knows your secret,” she said first. I could see Amber trying to get away, but Skylar sat her back down.

  “Come on, tell all of us what you’ve been hiding!” she screamed. I saw Amber saying something, but I wasn’t able to hear what it was.

  “I can’t hear you,” laughed Skylar. “I have to do something,” I thought.

  “Nice hair Amber,” said Skylar. What Skylar did next was what ended up pulling my trigger. She pulled hard on Amber’s hair and it came off. Just like that, it took me a few seconds to realize what had just happened.

  “Amber has cancer,” laughed Skylar. I felt Daniel’s hand let go of mine and I walked towards them. I looked down on Amber who was still sitting and she looked devastated. Tears rolled down her face as she looked around for something she wouldn’t find.

  “Come around and I’ll tell you your future with the crystal ball Amber has for a head!” screamed Skylar. I wish I had reached her in time before she could have said that, but I didn’t. What Skylar said had made Amber cry even more.

  “Stop!” I screamed, looking directly at Skylar. She went on with the bullying and pretended to pat Amber on the back of her head.

  “Stop!” I screame
d again. For a second I remembered what dad once told me in kindergarten about never hitting a girl, at this point, I was disagreeing with dad. I waited for a few seconds to see if a girl stood up to Amber but none did not even Emily who sat next to her. I decided to stop Skylar. I knew it was wrong to hit a girl but knew that what she was doing was much worse, I walked up to Skylar moved some desks out of my way, and pushed her with all my strength causing her to fall over and slam hard onto the floor.

  “You can’t hit a girl, you coward!” screamed Pete.

  “Yes I can, and I can hit you too!” I screamed, punching Pete across the face. Pete fell next to Skylar and was close to coming back up, but the scream from Ms. Flowers stopped him.

  “Noah!! What are you doing?” she asked, screaming from the door. Ms. Flowers approached me and did something I’d never thought she would. She grabbed me hard by my shirt and walked me out of the room.

  “Stay here,” she said with mad eyes for only me to hear.

  “What happened?” she asked.

  “Skylar is making fun of Amber!” I heard Emily say. Amber couldn’t stop crying. I went back inside and stood as close as I could to Amber. Ms. Flowers tried to help her up, but she refused. My focus was on them and before I knew it, I saw Skylar sprinting my way, wanting to tackle me. I tried moving away, but it was too late. She was all over me and had stuck her yellow nails inside my cheeks and forehead.

  “Skylar!” screamed Ms. Flowers so loud that Mr. K stepped inside our room

  “Help me take this boy directly to Mrs. Jones’s office!” screamed Ms. Flowers.

  Mr. K grabbed me from the arm and pulled me directly into the hallway. He said nothing until we reached Mrs. Jones’s.

  “You’re in huge trouble,” he said, sitting next to me.

  Moments later, I saw Ms. Flowers walk in with Skylar and Pete by her side. She explained what had happened to Mrs. Jones and left the room. Skylar didn’t seem sorry. I could still see her smirking every time she could. My face stung, I touched it and felt four lumps on it. Skylar had sharp nails and had made me bleed close to my left eyebrow. I was in pain, but not enough to cry. What finally made me cry was the stupid laugh and smile Skylar still had on. I had gotten the worse part, my face was full of marks, and Mrs. Jones was getting ready to call my parents. Skylar had nothing, I had only pushed her and Pete would only get a black eye. Mrs. Jones took all three of us to a room and told us what was about to happen. Mrs. Jones called our parents in and explained what had just happened. Mom arrived first and when she did I knew she wasn’t happy. Pete’s mom arrived second, and Skylar’s mom didn’t show up. Mrs. Jones told my mom and Pete’s we would be suspended. My mom agreed and asked when I would be back.

  “Pete Miller will return on November 16th,” said Mrs. Jones. She took a slight pause and continued explaining.

  “Noah Paxton and Skylar Nierling will return on November 26th,” she added. Mom didn’t say a word to me or Mrs. Jones. Mom and I were dismissed while Skylar stood behind, still waiting on her parents. Inside the car, mom looked furious, I wanted to tell her my side of the story but knew it was best to let her cool down. She drove fast and honked at the cars in her way, I was in big trouble.

  Chapter Seven

  Amber: Ms. Flowers walked back into the room and hugged me. I cried like a baby in her arms and couldn’t wait for the day to be over. I wanted to tell her how much I hated Skylar. She had ruined the rest of my school year; I hated her and wanted her expelled. Ms. Flowers rubbed my back and placed something on my head, I noticed it was my wig and I placed it on. Ms. Flowers took me to the teacher’s launch and had me lay on a sofa while she made some calls. I was crying too loud to notice the person she had called was my mom. She arrived moments later and seemed terribly sad. I knew it hurt her to see me like this so I toughen up but broke down again when mom hugged me. I knew it hurt her more than it hurt me for me to have cancer. While she hugged me I remembered the day I had overheard her and dad cry over me saying I was dying and there was nothing they could do. I remember the way mom cried, and it wasn’t much different from the way she cried now. I wiped my tears and patted mom on the back.

  “I’ll be fine,” I said, trying to sound brave. Ms. Flowers gave me permission to leave early, and mom took me for ice-cream before we went home.

  “Amber honey,” she said slowly. I ate my ice-cream but looked up at her to tell her she had my attention.

  “You are so brave, you know that, right?” she asked. I nodded and held back my tears as I finished my chocolate ice-cream. Mom ate only a couple of tablespoons from hers, and gave me the rest once I was done with mine.

  “I love you, Amber,” she said slowly. I ate the ice-cream in my mouth and answered back.

  “I love you too mom,”

  On our way home, I saw mom look back at me and smile from time to time. Dad wasn’t home, and neither was Grace, and that gave me time to shoot some pictures of Ernest in the living room. Ernest looked great on all the photos although he was asleep on most of them.

  “Maybe one day you can become a professional photographer,” said mom as I sat Ernest on the living room’s rug.

  “It’s great,” I said. Grace walked in and almost stepped on Ernest. She dropped her backpack onto the floor and slammed the door.

  “What’s wrong?” asked mom, but Grace didn’t answer. She sat down on the living room’s couch and placed her headphones on.

  “Grace, is something wrong?” asked mom. Grace completely ignored her and turned up her music, I could hear what she was listening to and so could mom.

  “Grace, I am talking to you!” shouted mom. Grace turned her music down and turned to face us.

  “Leave me alone,” she said and walked to her room.

  Mom followed her, and I stayed to photograph Ernest. I could tell he enjoyed being photographed; he liked all the attention and liked me changing him into different spots inside the room. After photographing him all over the house I knew it was time to go outdoors. I found the perfect spot with enough sunlight to get the best photos of Ernest so far. I spotted dad honking at me from the corner of our street. He had a big smile on as he normally did, and by the way he waved at me, I knew he didn’t know about the incident that had happened to me at school.

  “What you doing?” he asked happily as he drove in the driveway.

  “Photographing Ernest,” I answered.

  “You want me to get a picture of you with Ernest?” he asked. I hadn’t taken pictures of myself with my camera and knew it would be great to have my first one with Ernest.

  “Sure,” I answered grabbing, Ernest close to my face.

  “There you go,” said dad, handing me back the camera.

  “Robert, come in here,” we heard mom say. I knew she would tell him all about what Skylar did to me and after that they would both call me in to discuss why others treated me like they did. I waited for mom’s call, but it didn’t come. I photographed the tree branches and let the sky be its background. Ernest had fallen asleep on my lap and I took advantage to photograph him from up close. Dad always tried to defend my bullies from my previous school. I was begging he didn’t do the same with Skylar. To him those who made others feel bad or made fun had lots of problems to deal themselves and that was their way of showing it. Which was complete nonsense, I understood what he tried to say, but it didn’t apply on Skylar. I believed she was only mean because she wanted to. She appeared to have no problems at home and according to the boys in my grade, she was one of the prettiest girls around.

  “Amber come in here,” I heard dad say. He had a distinct face on, much different from the one he had when he took the photo of Ernest and I.

  “I think you should stop wearing your wig to school,” said dad as I sat down. Mom looked at him with confused eyes, and so did I.

  “You can’t be hiding this from everyone,” he explained.

  “It will only make things much harder for you,” he added.

  “I don’t think that’
s a great idea,” said mom. I wanted to tell mom and dad exactly how I felt, but decided to wait. I wanted to tell mom and dad that I preferred to be homeschooled. I needed no one else other than them, Grace and Ernest.

  “Amber needs to show them that no matter what they say, words can’t hurt her,” dad said. I wished dad was right, but the truth was words did hurt me. The fact of just remembering what Skylar and the others had said kept hurting me.

  “We have to understand that whoever makes fun of you is going through their own problems and one day they’ll understand that what they’re doing is wrong,” said dad. I closed my fist and tried hard not to complain, but there was dad again defending my bullies.

  “I go through lots of problems and don’t go making fun of others!” I finally screamed.

  “I know you don’t and that’s the way it should be,” said dad. I saw mom and dad arguing, and I got up and went to my room.

  “It would mean so much to me if you showed yourself exactly how you are,” said dad.

  “Maybe that way everyone can realize how beautiful you are,” he added. I looked at him firmly wiped my tears, and locked myself in my room.

  I heard Ernest scratch the bottom of my door, but not even he could make me feel better. I wanted to make dad proud but couldn’t go to school with no wig and make everyone stare at me. The next morning I thought heavily about wearing my wig or not, but ended up wearing it anyway.

  Neither Skylar, Noah nor the boy that Noah had punched attended school the next day. Ms. Flowers didn’t talk much about the yesterday’s incident, although we all wanted to know what had happened. Deep inside me, I wished Skylar had been expelled and the other two could come back on Monday. Emily avoided talking to me as much as she could that day; she sat with me at lunch but didn’t bother to look at me. I practically ate alone. I knew she was upset about the fact that I hadn’t told her about the cancer. After school Emily said goodbye to me and so did I, as I walked through the schools yard I could feel everyone staring at me. The staring went on for a few days. Students and parents all whispered something to each other, something that definitely was about me.