I've been looking for a savior

SIX: IN BETWEEN

                                                                                                                                               Copyright © 2019 Cassey9  

Chapter 6

                                                                        AMBER

“Amber!” Matthew yells at the bottom of the stairs to get Amber to exit her room. It was seven in the morning and Matthew was ready to leave for school. “Amber come on! I’m gonna be late for school.”

“Amber!!!”

“Hold your horses Mat…”

“Amber Hermione Aldrich! I won’t call you for you again,” her mother calls for her this time from the kitchen when she does not hear her daughter coming down. She goes to stand at the base of the staircase and calls her again. Her stern voice always worked on the two because seconds later Amber trudges down the stairs from her room while adjusting her socks.

“Sorry mom,” she says kissing her mother’s cheeks and goes ahead to greet her dad good morning. Amber chuckles at her brother who is grumbling at the doorway shooting her daggers. He looked like a puppy itching to be let out of the house.

Mrs. Aldrich finishes packing her lunch and hands it over to her.

“Come on let’s get going slowpoke,” Matt says grabbing her stuff for her from the kitchen counter, Amber laughs slightly at this before bidding her parents farewell and following her brother out.

It was still quite early for school but Matthew wanted to arrive at school before time so he could practice for lacrosse some more before classes started. School would start at 8:30 Am but Amber always used the extra time to carry out her class president duties and getting things in-order before the rest of the student council got to school.

Since they always left early her mother always packed breakfast for the two of them and Amber would normally eat hers in her small office.

“Come on pick up your feet jeez! What’s wrong with you,” Matt shouts at her as he gets into his grey discovery 4. Matt vehemently offered to drive Amber to and from school ever since he learnt what happened that fateful Saturday.

“I’m like right behind you Matt,” she says back getting on the passenger side. The engine roars to life and they pull out of the driveway and start their ten minute drive to Bell-Air High. How she awfully missed her Lexus UX SUV.

The news of her kidnapping came as a heavy blow to him and Matthew was angry beyond belief. He continuously swore to seriously hurt however dared hurt her sister if he ever came across them. That’s why Jude turned from her friend to bodyguard. Matt had tasked him with the duty of looking out for her, James too but he unlike Jude was more subtle.

At some point Matthew blamed himself for not being around to prevent the incident. Amber had still kept the secret of the cut she got, she did not want him to blow this out of proportion. Matt would surely handcuff himself to her if that gave him total assurance that Amber wouldn’t get hurt. She pulls out her IPhone 11 and Billie Eilish suave voice fills the car and Amber hums slowly bobbing her head to the melodious songs.

Matthew could never get how Amber could never get tired of the same songs over and over. Amber loved Billie Eilish and her song library had all her songs and covers by different people. If Billie was a cult Amber would have been a devoted member. Through time he’d come to get used to the voice once in a while he’d sing along with her in their drives.

“Thanks A,” he huffs pulling the car into his space at the school parking lot. He looks at his Cartier watch, “Now I get to have an hour of practice because of your lazy self.” Amber giggles at her brother’s reaction and this lessens the glare in his face.

“Lock up my car,” he says leaving her in there. Jogging into the building in shorts, a black shirt and sneakers. He would later change into his school uniform before classes started. Amber couldn’t help but admire his brother’s dedication to lacrosse, he even ditched sleep to arrive a bit early for practice.

She knew Jude would be waiting for him in the fields. Those two had been friend since elementary and both shared a huge love for the sport. Jude was the captain and Matt his co-captain and they worked so well together.

The hallways are deserted with the exceptions of a few students and teachers who she warmly greets her as she passes them by. The school had allocated her a small room with an office in the Block C section of the school. Being class president was a prestigious honor, the students had chosen her to lead and be their role model which she appreciated and would follow through.

Amber was grateful for this, every morning she would head straight there and set things in motion for the day. Two of her friends were in the students’ council with her and they helped her a lot while the rest where either disinterested or too busy with sports and other school clubs.

The school bell rung signaling the beginning of the school day, it was time to leave the comfort and peace of her small office and ensure students headed straight to their classes. It was her duty to ensure no students were caught roaming the halls before the tardy bell rang again. Part of her students’ body helped her with this task due the large number of pupils in the school. She only had to deal with the seniors mostly.

After making her rounds Amber decides to head to class, the teachers never gave her problems with coming in late due to her responsibilities. Amber however managed to make it to class as the tardy bell rang, joining the rest of her class to start their morning classes.

Her first class of the day was Biology with Ms. Clare, she was a good teacher in her mid-twenties and gave tricky tests that Amber always managed to pass. It was rare to find a student dozing in her class because Ms. Clare kept them on their toes. Her rule was that if she ever caught you sleeping you’d join her at the front and lay down there. Which was quite embarrassing.

Once Matthew had fallen asleep at the back and it really did not end well for him. Ms. Clare made him come to the front and sleep at the floor in front. The entire ten minute that Matt had been there was so funny, being tall he occupied the entire chalkboard length and it was hard for the teacher to write whenever she wanted to.

Ms. Clare made him go sit down but I couldn’t stop laughing at Matthew the entire time and the entire week. After that no one dared fall asleep in her class.

Thinking of Matt, I looked at the back of the class where he always sat with Jazmin and her band of friends together with Matt’s. He was taking notes while Jazmin sat there her notebook open checking her manicured nails. As if feeling a stare on her she lifts her head and her gaze looks with mine.

Her bored expression turns to a scowl which she rewards me and I turn in my chair to face the front. I could never know what I did to Jazmin to make her hate me as she did. Her piercing gaze whenever directed at me would be full of hate and her smiles were always laden with malice.

“Miss Pierce would you tell us a bone found in the leg,” Ms. Clare’s voice rings in the class bringing me out of my daze, Ava answers correctly earning snickers from the back.

To put it simply people who sat at the back apart from my brother and Jude could be such a pain. They always felt as if they were better than the rest of us despite the fact that they never got any questions correctly.

“Darren, Jazmin and Bridgette I would appreciate if you kept your mouths shut if you do not have anything intelligent to share with the rest of us,” Ms. Clare says silencing their whispers at the back of the class. Ms. Clare knew when to be strict so as to obtain a level of respect from the students, no one dared pull a stunt in her class especially the back of the class full of the high and mighty.

When the lesson came to an end Amber walked out to find Luke was waiting for her outside the classroom. She shared a few classes with Luke and biology was not one of them, this year he got assigned to another bio teacher. The senior’s class was divided into four bunch each group with 30 students.

The students were allocated to different teachers almost similar timetables but had different teachers for the same subjects. Luke had biology with Mrs. Levington and Amber had Ms. Clare for the same bio.

“Morning Babe,” Luke greets Amber with a kiss on the cheek as he took her books from her. Turning to look at him Amber gauged his facial expression but Luke did not seem as upset as he was yesterday.

“Morning,” Amber replies smiling at him, “How was your bio class,” she asks as they make their way down the hallway to her locker.

“Same old same,” Luke answers drily making Amber chuckle, “Nothing is exciting in Levington’s class Amber.” He explains further. Amber just nods to his statement.

Luke was his boyfriend of two years. They had been friends at first before the kiss that led to them being together. He was a blonde like her with baby blue eyes and a tanned complexion. He stood at 5’9 feet tall and played football.

“I wish I had Ms. Clare like you babe,” he groans.

“Sorry Luke but Mrs. Levington isn’t that bad,” Ambers says to Luke who rewards her with an ‘are you kidding me look’.

“Levington is as old as the hills,” he says bluntly ignoring the fact that he just spoke rudely off a teacher to the class president. Amber opens her locker and takes the biology books from him and neatly places them inside.

“You need to be headed to class Luke,” she tells me after looking at her watch, “you have three minutes before the bell rings.”

“Come on babe,” Luke coos, “I’m your boyfriend don’t I get a free pass?”

“Nop”

“Babeeey”

“No Luke. Now skedaddle”

“I feel hurt,” he says feigning pain in her voice and face. Luke captures Amber’s lips with his before pulling back and giving her a sweet peck.

“Bye Luke.”

“Bye Amber I love you.”

“Love you too.”

As Luke runs to his class Amber grabs her English lesson books and starts her work of removing pupils out of the halls into their respective classes before she finally settled in hers. It may be hard work but she loved it. Besides being school captain would look pretty good on her college applications in addition to her other successes.

Her mother, Louise, had been extremely proud of her when she won the class president seat with a landslide. She did feel bad for Jazmin but what mattered was that Amber won. Louise was a winner and she loved having her daughter as a champ just as Matthew was one in lacrosse.