Never As It Seems

Prologue

Amber had grown up knowing how the celebrity world worked. Her mother had been in politics since Amber was very young and for the last seven years, she had been mayor of their City. Amber knew that being in the public eye had it's benefits... status, money, free stuff. However she also knew the dark side... corruption, exhaustion and the absolute non-existence of a private life. She wasn't naive, she knew that in the grand scheme of things, the pluses by far outweighed the minuses and she was grateful for all she had gained from her mother's position but for some reason, she hated it. Why she hated it she didn't know. Perhaps it was the way her childhood had been so regimented. Not because her parents were strict but because they were caught up in elections and campaigns. Amber's parents wanted the best for their children, she knew that but she had often wondered what it would have been like to have been able to chill in front of the TV after school or to have nothing to do at weekends. As it was though, for Amber and her brother and sister, every minute that would have been spare was filled with public engagements or preparing for them.

Sarah and David Willis had tried hard to keep life as normal as possible for their three children and early on in Sarah's political career they had agreed to weekly family-only time and regular family holidays but as the years went on, to Amber even these felt over organised, with no space for time set aside for absolutely nothing.

It was at one of these family times - a meal in a private booth at the family's favourite restaurant - that Amber declared she had had enough. She was turning 18 in a few weeks and that night she told her family from her birthday onwards, she would refuse to attend any public events with her mother and that what she did after school (for the last few months of it) and during the summer break, she would decide for herself. She had expected an argument and had planned all her answers but was surprised when both her parents agreed to her requests without question.

Not only did they agree to Amber's terms but they adhered to them too. Amber found her new life of freedom everything she hoped it would be. She watched T.V. and even got into a couple of shows she never could have had the time for in the past. She explored the city and fell in love with the parks in town and open spaces just outside of it. She chose the books she wanted to read rather than only having time for the books her school work prescribed and enjoyed laying by the pool that the family had never had the time to use. As the summer break approached, Amber planned three months of complete lack of agenda. She could not wait!
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