Apples and Tim Tams

Chapter 12

A/N So here it is! An insight into the quagmire of Ambers mind. This was harder to write than I thought it would be but also fun to try and be a nasty person. I've written it in a different way to the rest of the story because I didn't want to find myself being sympathetic to Amber. She's a straight up bitch and I've tried my best to convey that here. Now it's time for me to plan for the party to end all parties....poor Travis....

AMBER

Amber always hated Emma. That was the one true fact in a life built on deception and manipulation. She used whatever means she could to hurt Emma just because it made her feel good. When Amber realised that Emma liked Travis, but was doing nothing about it, a plan was formed to make sure that Emma and Travis would never get together. She spent days flirting and talking with Travis even though her bored her shitless. Seriously, what did Emma even see in him? But the end justified the means so she continued on until she finally got him. For two years she endured his company and listened to his endless drivel. Jesus, she deserved a medal. But maybe the medal was watching Emma's face every lunch time when she would sit on Travis' lap and kiss him. It was so obvious to Amber how Emma felt but none of her stupid little friends seemed to notice. Did it make her a bitch for using Travis? Who the hell cared! All she wanted was to get to Emma and it was working. Amber had met Emma in primary school and, at first, thought she would be the perfect friend. She seemed like she would be easy to manipulate, even though at that age Amber didn't even know what that word meant. But, Emma didn't do what she was supposed to. This enraged Amber and so began her years of hatred. She did everything she could to make life hard for Emma. There were times she told teachers that Emma cheated even though she hadn't and then sat back to watch as Emma got in trouble. Being the clueless idiot she was, Emma never even knew it was Amber setting her up. Things got a bit harder when West, Abby and Evan came into the picture. Those girls were fiercely protective of Emma, especially Evan. Those two had an extremely close bond and this annoyed Amber even more. She didn't understand letting anyone get that close. She had friends but they were more just people she kept around so she didn't look like a loser on her own. Amber was pretty content with her own company most of the time and hated needless small talk and the inanity of girl talk especially. When she wanted to be with people, she wanted the attention on her, not on whoever she was with at the time. Even her family annoyed her, with the exception of her little brother. Andrew was the only person Amber truly loved and she would do anything to make sure that he got what he wanted. He was four years younger than her but he also loved Amber as much as she loved him and they stood as a united front against their mostly absent parents. Amber had spent most of Andrews life as his parent figure and it always surprised her how he was such a sweet boy. She didn't get it but she accepted it.

Everything was going fine until the day Travis told her he didn't want to be with her anymore. What the fuck? He was not supposed to be the one who broke up with her. Amber went into a rage and slapped Travis and then told him he could not tell anyone that he did the breaking up. If he did she would make sure that he would never get Emma. Because, yes, she knew that he had feelings for Emma and that was why she stayed with him for two years. Travis truly believed he didn't have a chance with Emma and Amber was very good at making him feel wanted and needed so he stayed with her. Now, though, she didn't know what had changed. Why? There had to be a reason for him to suddenly do this.

After thinking about it, Amber decided to have a party and work her way back to getting Travis back. Even though she felt very little towards him, her end goal was still to hurt Emma. But that backfired on her when she saw them kissing. Before losing her shit she quickly snapped a photo and sent it to Emma's mother. She had met her just recently and had convinced her that she was only looking out for Emma and would send her any info she could about Emma's behaviour. Now, Amber knew that she was a bitch herself, but Emma's mum was a psycho bitch. Nothing had ever made Amber as happy as hearing her mother run down Emma in such derogatory terms. Amber looked at her as inspiration. After sending the photo Amber then went through with her planned meltdown and was super happy when Emma ran off. What didn't make her happy was Travis running after her. But, in the end, things worked out as Emma was kicked out of home and left school. Even though her attempt to get her in trouble at work hadn't worked she had managed to find out where Emma lived. Jed was a goldmine of information about the four friends and Amber was proud of her work at breaking up him and Evan. She even kind of felt something for Jed which was unusual for her. When she heard about Emma getting beat up by her mum she did feel a moments remorse because she didn't know that's what would happen but she quickly got over that as she stood in the shadows of the trees at the school fence line and watched Emma and Travis have lunch together. As she watched, a plan slowly started to come together in her mind, and she let a wicked a smile curve her lips as Emma got out of the car and started for the bus stop. Travis was in for a birthday party no-one would forget for a long time.