The Star of the Team (Amber Liu x Reader) (Lesbian Stories)

Before the Storm

"Say cheese!" Jackie yelled with a burst of optimism. She focused her camera to take a quick shot of your group standing outside of the school gymnasium. The camera flashed making all of you blind for a split second.

"Alright, now one with me and (Your Name)!" Your brother jumped into the group from behind and pushed everyone else out of the way.

"Did you really have to come along?" you asked through a gritted teeth smile.

"Smile for the camera!" he shouted. The camera flashed taking your forced picture. He placed his hand on your shoulder and leaned down to whisper to you. "We'll talk about all of this later. Now is not the best time. You need to have fun and enjoy your..." He paused then continued loudly, "...DATE!"

"Shut up!" Your fist made direct contact with his broad shoulder. He held his arm tightly and feigned being terribly injured while laughing. Your eyes narrowed and filled with intense heat. Jeez. What was his problem?

Jackie dragged Amber over to her and held up her phone to take a picture of the two of them together. Your attention was pulled away from your brother as Amber smiled. The setting sun bounced off of Amber's highlights and made her skin glow. She was dazzling, and you couldn't take your eyes off of her. 

A small, blue rose contrasted flawlessly against the darkness of her suit jacket. A matching corsage wrapped around your wrist and glimmered in the evening sunlight. While your group was busy at the salon getting gussied up for the dance, Jackie had spent her time scouring the entire city with your brother to find a perfectly matching pair. Luck was on her side, and she found them at the very last store they had time to stop at.

"Hey. Why don't we take one together?" Amber's voice pulled you from your thoughts.

"Sure!" you exclaimed. 

Her arm wrapped around your shoulders forcing your heart into your throat. Your pulse echoed in your ears drowning out the sounds of everything around you. Amber leaned in closer to you and held up her phone. The picture started normal with small unnatural smiles, but it wasn't long before you both began to make faces at the camera. She swiped through them and both of you chuckled as you looked back at them.

"All of these are keepers." Amber stuck her tongue out imitating your expression in the last one.

"Alright then kiddos. You all go ahead. (Your Brother's Name) and I need to go check in and then we'll join you." Jackie moved over to stand next to your brother.

"Wait. Why are you even coming in at all?" Your gaze shifted to your brother as your eyebrow raised. What was he up to now? He was going to do something to embarrass you. You just knew it.

"We volunteered to be chaperones at the last minute." He lips curled into a cheeky grin.

"Oh no you're not." You marched up to him and pressed your index finger into his toned chest. "What kind of school is this anyway? Allowing teenagers to be chaperones."

"One that enjoys donations. How do you think you were allowed to stay in the house by yourself all this time?" He removed your hand from his chest and crossed his arms.

"Because we told them that Aunt (Your Aunt's Name) was staying there," you retorted.

"And she does. When she isn't traveling the world with whatever new husband she has. What number is she on now?" He drifted off into another topic.

"That doesn't matter. Stop changing the subject. You can't chaperone," you commanded.

"Too bad. I already signed up, and I don't go back on my promises." He grabbed Jackie by the elbow and pulled her away from your argument before it turned into a shouting match.

"Don't walk away from me, (Your Brother's Name)," you huffed. He waved casually to you and continued strolling away.

Amber crept up behind you and gently placed her hand on your shoulder. "Hey. Don't worry about it. We'll just ignore him all night. As long as he keeps to himself then you'll be fine. I'm not thrilled about Jackie being here either, but what can we do? Let's forget about them and go enjoy ourselves, okay?"

You glanced over at her gentle smile and nodded. It wasn't your brother's fault you were so on edge. You had this bad feeling that someone was watching you. You could have sworn you saw Beth-Anne out of the corner of your eye when your group first arrived, but when you looked no one was there. Your body shivered at the thought of dealing with her after what she did to your dress. The girl was clearly damaged to mutilate an innocent piece of cloth so violently.

"Cheer up!" Your best friend wrapped her arms around the two of you squishing you closer together. "Who cares if your siblings are here! We're here to par-tay! Plus, I think Eric and Amber have a competition to finish. I'm so recording it this time." She grinned from ear to ear.

A smile forced it's way through your grimace. "You're right. Forget them. Let's go have fun!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once he was out of your line of sight, your brother stopped and leaned up against the cold, shadowed wall under the overhang between two of the school's wings. Cicadas chirped loudly as the sun created warm gradients across the sky among the darkening clouds. Jackie stared at the colorful sky and stood next to him. It reminded her of every romantic comedy she had seen. If this was some cheesy romance then he would profess his undying love for her even though they just met this morning. The atmosphere was perfect for it at least.

She turned to him and smirked, "If I didn't know any better, I would say that you were using this as an excuse to be alone with me."

"N--no. It's not like that," he stumbled over his words. "I just needed my sister to calm down. She can be so fiery sometimes."

"I was just kidding," she snickered. "Though, she sounds like Amber when she's overly passionate about things. Like your sister for example."

"That's what I'm worried about. They won't be safe until we can catch whoever is behind all of this. I was told through some connections of mine that a girl at this school is the one behind everything." He stared down at his phone and tapped his foot impatiently.

"So, that's why you insisted we volunteer. I was wondering about that. I mean, I'm always up for some fun so I don't mind. I just figured you would rather do something else on a Saturday night." She shrugged.

"And give up spending the evening with a beautiful, older woman?" He flashed her a sly smile. "Sorry. I know that was lame." He chuckled and ran his fingers through his bangs.

"Yep. Totally lame," Jackie giggled. Though she had to admit to herself that under circumstances that line would have worked. 

"Yeah..." His cheerful demeanor faded and his expression took a serious turn. "This is the least I can do for (Your Name). Our father sent me here to handle some things that I know she won't like. I want her to be happy before I have to give her the bad news."

"Bad news? What does that mean?" Jackie grilled him.

"Our father is--" Your brother's phone rang, interrupting him. He held up his index finger and asked her to wait a minute so he could answer the call.

Jackie paced around the shadowed, concrete floor. What could be so bad that he traveled all the way from South Korea just to tell his sister? It had to be something that couldn't have been said over text or a simple phone call. Oh no. What if their father was sick or dying? Her mind jumped from one bad scenario to another.

"Understood. Thanks again. I owe you one. See you later." Your brother ended the call with a happier expression on his face. "That was my informant. He just gave me details of what she looks like and what she's going to be wearing to the dance."

Jackie pushed her negative thoughts back into the recesses of her mind. As much as she wanted to ask, she didn't want to darken the mood again. The best she could do was focus on the immediate threat. She rolled her eyes. "You talk like you're an actual detective."

"Because I am, Watson. Now, let's go. We have a villain to catch."