An Accidental Murder

Chapter 18

"Hi Sweetie, it's mom. Just wanted to let you know your dad and I will be coming home in a few days. We're only going to be home for the weekend, but I can't wait to see you! I've missed you so much! Can't believe you haven't called us even once. We have so much to catch up on - see you soon! Muah!"

I rolled over onto my back in bed and stared at the ceiling, watching the rays of sunlight flicker about as they reflected off the wind chimes in my window. The sun was shining brightly It was beautiful, peaceful - everything my life wasn't. And now, my parents would be arriving in just a couple days. Things were about to get even more complicated.

I hurriedly jumped out of bed as I remembered my car was missing. I started texting Ryan and then realized I'd better not. Police are sneaky and I know they can dig up texts from forever ago; I couldn't take that risk. I called him instead.

"Ryan, my mom just called," I told him.

"Okay...and?"

"She and dad will be back stateside tonight. I still don't have my car back."

"So? We've got until tonight to figure it out. Let me call my brother and see what's up."

"Ryan, my car has to be here when they get home."

"And if it's not, you'll have to lie. Just make something up."

"I can't lie to them. They'll know. They'll ask all kinds of questions and I won't be able to answer. What if I say the wrong thing?"

There was a deep sigh on the other end of the phone. "Amber, I gotta go. Let me call my brother and we'll worry about the rest later. See ya."

I made a face as the call disconnected and I threw the phone haphazardly down onto the bed. I only had about twelve hours to make myself seem normal. That was going to take a lot of work. One look in the mirror and I figured I may as well get started.

School that day dragged forever, but I made it through third hour successfully before things started happening. During fourth hour, while listening to the monotonous drone sounding voice of my trigonometry teacher, I glanced over my shoulder to pass a note to Hails and saw someone walking passed the window just outside. I knew who it was, but I knew it couldn't be and I tried to ignore it. But he just stood there staring at me!

For a good ten minutes I did my best to pretend that he wasn't there, but every time there was a pause in the lesson and I stopped writing my notes, I would look over and still see him there. His eyes were so dispirited and pleading, I began to feel sad again myself. I mouthed, I'm sorry and looked away; but even when I wasn't looking, I could feel his presence. It burned into my back like a hot branding iron.

I put my head down into my hands. I wasn't sure why, but the class hand suddenly begun talking. I heard someone laugh, "why is he just standing there?" My body instantly tensed - other people were seeing him?! Someone else murmured, he's waiting to say something to Amber. I looked up just as I felt his hand on my shoulder and I lost it...

"No! No! Don't touch me!" I screamed throwing my notebook at him and falling backward out of my seat. "Leave me alone! Stop following me!"

The teacher rushed over to my side, helping me up. "What's going on over here?" He asked. "Amber, what happened? Steve, what's the problem?"

Steve shrugged his shoulder cooly, "nothing," he replied. "You told us to find a partner, I was about to ask Amber and she just freaked out."

Everyone in the class had their eyes on me, standing there visibly shaking and near tears. I was humiliated, angry, and confused. I didn't know what to do, so I hastily shoved my things into my backpack and fled into the girls' bathroom where I threw my things down onto the floor and started kicking and punching angrily at the stall door.

Shortly after my arrival, a freshman girl came out of the stall looking at me crazily and scampered away like a frightened little mouse. Humiliated, I slumped down against the wall and sobbed. I cried for a good long time before Hails and Cassie came into the bathroom and sat next to me.

"Amber?" Cassie started, "I don't know what's wrong with you and I won't ask, but I want you to know that we're here for you." She took my hand and held onto it for a while, but her words only caused me to sob harder.

Of course you're here for me, I thought. That's because you don't know what I've done. You wouldn't be here for me if you knew I was a murderer. You wouldn't be here for me if you knew I'd killed someone...So long as I'm your precious Amber, little miss perfection, little miss sunshine. How long would it take for you to stop caring about me if you knew the truth?

I stood up and walked to the sink to splash cool water on my face. Cassie handed me some tissue and Hails brushed my hair back into its perfect style. I did have some really great friends.

"Do you want to talk abouot it?" Hails asked, quietly.

"No...it's nothing really. I'm just really emotional lately, Feeling lots of pressure with volleyball, dance, homework, college applications - you know? Everything seems like it's happening too fast."

"But what's different from any other year, hun?" Cassie asked. "you've done all this stuff before and you've always done well at it. I think you're just being overly hard on yourself. I know there's a lot of pressure this year, especially with college coming..."

"Are you and Ryan still planning to go away to the same school?" Hailey probed cautiously.

"Yeah," I mumbled back.

"You guys doing okay, though?" Cassie continued.

"Yes, guys, everything is fine. I'm fine...I need a break, that's all. I just need some sleep or a cappuccino and I'll be fine. You guys going out for lunch today?"

"Of course, Hails replied. "You going to come?"

I laughed, "absolutely, so long as I can get my caffeine fix!"

Lunch with the girls made everything seem a little better. We bantered on and on about the frat party that Saturday and how much fun it was going to be. Cassie and Hails teased Jessica about which guy she'd hook up with and how great she was at plotting to make these guys fall head-over-heels for her. We all knew that almost everything she owned had come from some poor lustful boy toy willing to drop every nickle and dime on her. It was always fascinating watching her do her thing though.

I wasn't the type to be bought, plus I had the best boy in the state already, so I wasn't exactly looking.

Hey, Have you heard from your brother yet? I texted Ryan.

Your ride isn't ready yet babe. He texted back. But I have a plan. Talk to you after school, okay?

This should be good, I thought sarcastically to myself as I took a bite of my burger. So far Ryan's plans had done nothing but get me into more trouble.