Amber found it unfair that Luna was forcing her to go to school when she was still recovering. It was Tuesday now, and Luna insisted Amber was just fine. She might have been physically fine: she was rested, her foot did not ache as bad, and her stitches were'nt hurting. But mentally, she was completely unprepared for a new day at school. She could not handle anymore drama that had already been given to her.
But there she was, in the car with Luna on her way to Dark Shadows. She had managed to avoid Eva up until that morning, but it's not like they spoke, they only stared at one another, not knowing what was to be said.
Amber sighed and leaned her head against the window. It was September first. Amber had been here for two months now, although it seemed more than twice that amount of time.
"Be good," Luna told Amber in monotone as she climbed out of the car. The woman had lectured her ever since she had left the hospital, so the only up side to going back to school was getting away from her mistress. Oh, and of course, the possibility of seeing Hailey. At the thought of Hailey and wondering if she was back, Amber remembered something she had completely forgotten about: Detention! She was suppose to have it for a week, but now it was too late to go, as the school day was about to begin.
"Amber?"
Amber blinked, realizing she was still standing beside the car. "Oh...Bye Miss Luna," she said before shutting the car door.
She ran as fast as she could inside the school and glanced at a clock and almost began to cry. She had missed the entire detention time.
Amber sighed and ran a hand through her hair as she made her way to her locker then first period. Hopefully Hailey would understand...if she was even in the building. Unlike Amber, she did not have anyone to force her to go to school a day after leaving the hospital.
As Amber sat in English class, she blocked out her teacher with other thoughts. How was such a gorgeous and wonderful woman like Hailey single? Who could pass that beauty up? And what would they say to each other the next time they were together? They for sure had something; whenever Amber saw her, she had the extreme urge to kiss her.
"Amber!" A female voice whispered from beside her.
Amber followed it and found a red-headed girl to be peering at her. She did not say anything else, but her grey eyes stared right at her.
"Uh, yes?" Amber asked, shifting uncomfortably in her desk. This girl just looked creepy.
"How are you doing?" She asked and her eyes darted down to the black cast which wrapped around Amber's ankle. "I saw what happened on the news."
Amber gaped at the girl. "On the news?! I was on the news?"
She watched as the girl blankly nodded. "It looked like an awful crash."
Amber was going to speak but was cut off by the teacher's scoldings. She did not bother to acknowledge him, though, as she tried to imagine what the news had said. Did they know Hailey was Amber's teacher? Did they know they were kissing right before they collided with that tree?!
Amber's heart was pounding and she jumped as the bell rang. She was now completely paranoid about what the staff might think, but then again, this town might not even know who Amber was. She did not live here. She was kidnapped for Heaven's sake!
Despite what the town thought and did not know, the school was aware of her identity and who she was. She wished she had pulled more information out of that creepy ginger.
She was practically shaking as she entered Hailey's classroom. Her eyes flashed directly towards the woman's desk and landed on her, clad in a loose and short cheetah skirt with a black tank. Her feet were halfway exposed as they sat in black flats and her hair was pulled into a loose ponytail, with tiny curls dancing around her face with each movement. The large bruise on her face had faded, but it was still quite noticeable. Amber knew vampires healed quickly, and was thankful she was half of one for this.
Hailey froze as she made eye contact with Amber, but she was left her view as she walked to her assigned desk. Amber happened to glance at the door right when Lucy walked in, and she could already imagine everything the girl had to say.
Lucy's eyes lit up as they touched Amber, and she darted straight towards her.
"Dude!" She shrieked once looming over her desk. "Are you okay?! I heard what happened."
Amber smiled up at her friend. "I'm feeling much better, thanks."
Lucy let out a dramatic sigh of relief. "Good, good. I was so worried. Don't you have a phone so I don't have to worry so damn much?"
Amber could feel her face drop. She wished she did, if only she was more discrete when she found it. Or maybe if Luna was less nosy!
"No, I broke my old one and my stepmother refuses to buy me another. I always break 'em," Amber fibbed with a fake laugh. She might not be the best liar, but she could always manage to come up with a reasonable lie on the spot.
Lucy proved she believed her as she gave her a sad smile. "Nice, klutz."
Amber let out a real laugh this time. "Shut up!"
Lucy stuck her tongue out at Amber and made her way to her seat as the bell went off. Amber knew that was only the first of Lucy's quiz, but she would wait until later to answer the rest of her concerns. Right now, all her focus was on her teacher, who stood in front of the classroom with a small smile. She was always so pleasant to the students, except for when they pushed her over the edge. Amber had had a hands-on experience with that one.
"Hello, class. I'm sorry I was out yesterday. As you can see by the looks of me," she told everyone with a gesture towards her whole body, "I got into a pretty unfortunate mess, so I hope the substitute teacher was not too harsh on you yesterday."
So she was not here Monday, either. Amber scooted slightly down in her seat, for once not wanting any attention brought to her in this class.
"It was just fine yesterday, Ms. Deprey. Are you feeling any better?" Called out a voice from behind her which Amber immediately recognized as Asher.
She watched as Hailey smiled at him, exposing her white teeth. "Yes, I am. Thanks for asking, Asher."
Amber scowled. She still hadn't an idea of what the two of them had been speaking of, but it was making her itch. She hated all these secrets!
Hailey clapped her hands and turned to stand by the white board. "I suppose we ought to get started with our lesson!"
Her announcement cued Amber to tune out, and she sat in her desk doodling pictures on a blank piece of paper. She swore that everyone in the class continued to glance at her warily, but she blamed it on how paranoid she was. It was really no ones' business anyway on what her and Hailey were doing.
The bell eventually freed Amber, but Hailey's voice captured her right back. "Amber Hunting, I need to see you!" She yelled over the voices of the other students.
She was not sure whether to be terrified or ecstatic. She stopped in her tracks and let the kids flow out past her, leaving her alone with Hailey. She stood in the middle of the classroom; in between multiples of empty desks and watched as Hailey closed the door.
She turned back to face Amber, and her eyes were once more filled with visible sadness. Amber felt herself wanting to do anything to make them light up to their usual glistening brown.
"If you continue keeping me after class like this, my next period teacher will be after you," Amber joked as she walked closer to Hailey.
Hailey only slightly smiled at Amber's statement and she moved her eyes to the floor beneath her. "Are you any better?" She asked the tiles.
Amber finally reached her and gently lifed Hailey's chin with her finger. Hailey moved her eyes up to look into Amber, and they confused her as she watched them fill with water.
"I'm just fine. What about you?" She asked, slowly removing her finger from Hailey's smooth skin.
Hailey unexpectedly grabbed Amber's hand back and clutched it tightly. Amber gasped as this gave her the impression Hailey was trying to hurt her. One glance into the woman's eyes, though, told her the very opposite.
Amber had tensed up with Hailey's action, but now relaxed in her grip. It was definitely tight, but Amber felt protected and safe as they stood there holding hands, staring into each other.
"Let me take you somewhere after school. I'll explain everything I only began to explain in the car," Hailey offered, her face expressionless.
Amber was going to jump right on the suggestion, but then thought about Luna. She sighed and shook her head. "My stepmother would not let me."
Hailey unexpectedly let out a laugh. "You don't have to refer to her like that, I know she is not your mother."
Amber smiled at the woman. "Okay...But still, she wouldn't."
Hailey leaned on one hip, still holding Amber's hand. "Hm...Just tell her you have a tutor session and tell her to come pick you up at the coffee shop only a block over."
Amber hesitated. "She'll probably be pissed if she drives all the way here and I tell her she needs to go on back."
Hailey sighed and grabbed Amber's other hand and pulled them close to her, forcing Amber to collide with her body. The two of them stood with their fingers laced and their bodies pressed against each other. "Please, Amber. I can't wait until tomorrow. And I know you can't either, you're dying to know, and I am dying to tell."
In a way this sounded like a trap to Amber, but as she stared into Hailey's drooping eyes, something told her to believe her words.
She nodded. "Okay. I'll go with you after school, and tell Luna what you said to tell her."
Her sentence brought a smile to Hailey's lips. "Great, just don't tell her it's me you're going with. Say it's with another teacher, and that he or she would like to go outside of the school since the school will be closed before you're done with the tutor."
Amber let out a laugh. "That sounds like this teacher is making an excuse to get me out and alone and rape me!"
Hailey chuckled. "You got any better ideas?!"
Amber hesitated to think this over. She soon found that Hailey's idea was really the only one that could possibly work. She pondered on the idea if she told Luna she was going alone to work on homework, but Luna wouldn't let her alone- that would be too suspicious.
"Nah, we'll carry out with your's," Amber told her after constructing useless plans.
Hailey lifted her index finger to graze over Amber's cheek. Their hands were still interlocked and were held high. Their hands sat between their chests, so Hailey was capable of reaching Amber's cheek without letting go.
She felt her cheeks turn pink, but was puzzled as Hailey's small smile turned upside down. "You missed your detention this morning," she reminded her.
Amber bit on her bottom lip and spoke through her teeth. "Yeah...I'm sorry about that, I completely forgot."
Hailey giggled softly. "It's alright, you can make it up for me by adding another day to your week-long detention list."
Hailey had to know Amber didn't mind being in detention with her- in fact, she loved it. Especially since she got to stare at those lovely breasts of her's for an entire hour. What would make a better deal than that?
The second bell then sounded, indicating Amber was late to AP History. She cursed under her breath and let go of Hailey to retrieve her things. "I'll see you after school, Ms. Deprey."
Hailey continued to wear her smile as Amber left the class room, a smile just as big on her lips as well.
****************************************************
Lunch soon turned the corner and Amber found herself seated alone, wondering where Lucy was at.
Her mental question was soon answered as the girl popped into view. "Sorry, Amber, I had to talk to Mr. Yut after class about something."
"It's cool," Amber said before tossing a grape into her mouth.
"So...details about the crash," Lucy demanded as she sat across from Amber.
Amber avoided the urge to roll her eyes. "What would you like to know?"
"Um...the main question here, is why the hell were you with Ms. Deprey?!"
Even though Amber saw this coming, her hands grew moist in fear Lucy would find out her true secrets. "I needed a ride home and she offered it to me. We were driving and I wasn't giving her good directions, and she was confused, and it all ended in the crash."
"She offered you a ride home?" Lucy curled her nose in disgust. "Wasn't that...awkward?"
Amber let out a laugh. "How would it be awkward?" She took a spoonful of her warm noodle soup, which sent chills down her arms it tasted so amazing.
"Because she's your fucking teacher?!" Lucy nearly shouted at her. "Hello!"
Amber casually shrugged. "It was cool, she was just fine about it."
Lucy stared at her blankly before coming up with something else to ask. "Wait, so how did she know you needed a ride?"
Amber hesitated. She hadn't thought about this part. Shit! "Oh...I was just standing outside when she left and she offered me a ride, and since it was taking my stepmother so long to get there, I just took her up on the offer."
Lucy chuckled. "She must be a pretty bad driver."
Amber wanted to defend Hailey and proclaim the fact that it was truly her own fault, but knew that would only complicate things. She was just eager to reach the end of the day.