Never As It Seems

Chapter 4

The shrill ringing of the alarm brought Amber out of a deep sleep. She silenced it and groaned putting her head under the covers and revelling in the warm darkness. Just as she began to drift back off, she remembered the reason for the alarm. Again she groaned as she pushed the covers back, knowing that Dessa would be there soon. When she trudged sleepily toward the bathroom, she caught sight of her clothes from last night in a heap on the chair. She smiled at the memories they stirred.

Two hours later Amber and Dessa were sat in their favourite coffee shop. Dessa was bursting with a mixture of excitement and anger. Amber was enjoying this. She had refused to tell her friend anything about the night before until they were sat with their coffees in hand.

"I might get something to eat. What do you think?" Amber teased.

"Just shut up and tell me everything." Dessa leaned forward ready to hear what Amber had to tell her.

Amber chuckled, "I can't do both."

"What?"

"I can't shut up and tell you. That's impossible."

Dessa looked like she was about to explode so Amber decided it was time to stop playing with her and talk. She also decided to omit any information about Jay just yet. She knew it would get lost in Dessa's excitement over Keeper.

Half an hour later Dessa leaned back in her chair satisfied. "I can't believe you actually met them! I don't know why you didn't watch the show though. It was nice of Matt and all to let you stay backstage and..." She trailed off. "Matt was so nice to you. I told you they were awesome." She stopped as she gazed into the air until she snapped back to her previous thought. "I mean, what did you do all that time? Backstage I mean. It has to be cool to see it of course but surely it's got to be boring after a while when all the action is on the other side."

"Oh it wasn't all that bad." She said with a slight smile. "It was a bit boring to start with but then someone offered to show me around." Her smile grew a little more.

"Oh okay." Dessa responded as she stood up from her seat. "Want more coffee?"

Amber nodded. She felt a strange pang of disappointment that Dessa hadn't asked any more about her tour guide but at the same time, she didn't really want to tell her either. It was nice having the memory to herself for now and Dessa would only try to exaggerate the facts into a full blown relationship... and probably even marriage! Amber smiled. She loved her friend. She yawned remembering why she had been so adverse to her alarm that morning. She had been unable to sleep as her mind recounted the evening before, over and over. She had gone over every conversation with Jay a thousand times and smiled at the thought of their chat on the rooftop. She sighed. It wasn't like her to get a crush and certainly not this quickly. Amber's history with guys was a short one. There had been a few dates with a couple of different boys in school and a three month relationship with one of Dessa's cousins - Tom. But after that experience, she hadn't thought of wanting to meet someone again. Not yet anyway. Her time with Tom had been great in the beginning but he soon became jealous and controlling. He wanted more of her time and she just didn't have any to give considering her family's schedule. It had ended in a massive argument when Amber and Tom were out one night. He stormed off and left her in the middle of the city without any sign of coming back. Amber had called Dessa who sent her Mum to get her. When Tom's rage subsided he came back for Amber, only to find her gone. This sent him into an even bigger rage and he turned up at the Willis house shouting for Amber to come out. A neighbour called the police and they took Tom home. She refused to answer his calls and messages after that until one day they didn't come any more. She and her family waited for a report of a disturbance at their house in the news. Much to their relief, it never came. She had heard stories since, that Tom had been suspended from his school after starting a fight and there were even tales of him physically hurting another girlfriend. Amber chose not to believe everything she heard. Tom hadn't been that bad and her only issues with him had been a little bit of over possessiveness.