Make it Rain (Ed Sheeran)

Chapter 10~ Ed

Amber grabs her keys, and we head outside. She locks the house behind her. The weather is much brighter, and warmer, than it was yesterday.

We walk to the truck, and Amber swings herself in expertly. I get in far more gracefully than I did yesterday.

Amber starts the truck, and drives over her driveway and through the creek. She stops at the end of the driveway, and gets out. She walks across the road, to her mailbox, and gets the mail. On her way back, she picks up the newspaper. "No post on Sunday. This must be from yesterday."

She looks through the various bills and such. "Nothing for me, as usual."

I chuckle. Amber grins at me, and drives onto her bumpy road. The ride to the gas station is very peaceful. When we pull into the gravel lot of the gas station, I see quite a few rednecks milling about. Amber pumps gas into a can, and I just watch her.

She puts the full gas can in the back of the truck, and as she's lifting it I see her arms flex. She has very muscular arms. "Amber?"

She shuts the tailgate, and blows a piece of hair out of her face. "Yes?"

"How did you hide those big muscles of yours when we were flexing yesterday?"

One side of her mouth cocks up,"I wasn't flexing, Ed. I don't want some people to know I'm strong. It's better to look weak, so you can surprise them with how strong you actually are."

"Wow."

"Yeah," Amber agrees. We walk in the store, and Amber acts like she's going to pay for the gas.

"No. I've got this," I tell her.

"No. I'll get it. You can pay for a full tank later. I'm planning on giving you just enough to make it back here. I can save the rest for something else."

"Okay."

Amber pays the girl behind the counter for the gas, and we return to the truck.

Amber looks in the rearview mirror. "Get down."

"What,"I ask.

"Get down!" Amber pushes me down into the floorboard.

"What's going on?"

"My uncle is coming! He will get the wrong idea. I don't want to be hassled right now." Amber throws some jackets over me. "Be quiet. You'll thank me later."

"Okay." I sit in silence, peeking through a hole between two coats.

Amber rolls her window down. "Hey," she says to someone outside.

A man that sounds like he's smoked for a long time says, "Hey. You alright?"

"I'm doing fine. What are you doing?"

"I'm just getting some cigarettes, and some lunch meat." The man coughs. "The kids came in this weekend. You outta come down to the house. They would be glad to see you."

"I may come down a little later, then. I've gotta get to the house right now, though."

"Oh. Well... see ya later then. Call me if you need anything."

"Okay."

"Love you."

"Bye, Rick." Amber waves at the man, and rolls her window up. The truck rumbles to a start, and she says,"I hate it when people look at me like that."

She drives onto the road. "When people look at me with pity like that it just makes me want to claw their eyes out. I hate it. It's been almost five years. I can take care of myself."