Turn N' Burn

Chapter 6

The rodeo was a sucess, winning $1,500. She planned to put half of it in a bank, and use the rest to help afford Rocky. But, of course, you can't make a living barrel racing. She was headed off to her second job, working the checkout at the store nearby. Can't wait. She thought. The radio wasn't turned on and it was dark. The store wasn't far away, and got there quickly. As she got out of her truck, a wave of cold air slammed onto her. Didn't know it was winter already. She thought begrudgingly. It was warmer inside. She put on her ugly uniform and sat at her line at opening time.
Amber passed time by checking Instagram, and texting. She never got caught. Before long, a woman with a young child came to pay. Baby wipes, formula, canned tuna, and corn. A bit odd of a list. "That's 23 dollars and 74 cents." She said with a fake cheerful attitude. The woman paid and left.
Even though her job is boring, her night wouldn't be. There was a party that Emily was throwing, and was open invite. At home, she changed from her uniform, to a crop top and shorts. They weren't that, how do you say it, "popular" at school, and predicted that it would only be the five of them.
She was shocked at the number of cars parked by her house, and the stereotypical crashes and blaring music was present. "Oh my god, Emily what have you done." At the same moment, she realized what she was wearing. Nope. She checked her phone. 11:30. It was past curfew, and probably shouldn't leave. Whatever. She thought, Who am I kidding, my life is going to be over after tonight. More confidently, she thought, Might as well go out with a bang. She smirked and walked inside, and was again surprised at how everyone else was dressed. Exactly like her, and most of the guys weren't wearing shirts. This doesn't seem like something Emily would do. I went to find her, likely in her room.
As Amber suspected, she was in her room, blocking out the noise. At the sight of her, Emily said, "Can you belive what happened here? I'm not going back out there." She was obviously angered, so she left her be. In the living room, was her old crush, Max. Still as hot as the day I left. He must have seen her staring and walked over to her. A huge wave of nervousness hit her like a train. "Hey. You haven't been at school lately, where you been?" He noticed I was gone?
"Well, I've decided to become a professional barrel racer, and I couldn't do that if I was still stuck there." Trying to hide the shake in her voice.
"Honestly, that's hot." He paused before continuing, "Sorry." He looked down at the ground, and Amber smiled in an awkward curve.
She chuckled and said, "Its ok. How has school been? Besides hell on earth."
"You basically summed it up, but Jamie and Angela got in a fight."
"I always miss the good drama. Who won?"
"Jamie did after she slammed Angela's head into the lockers."
"Holy crap." His only response was a chuckle. He moved closer to her, but she couldn't back up because she was against the wall. This made her uncomfortable.
She nervously laughed and avoided eye contact. He narrowed his eyes and whispered in her ear, "Now that we are out of school, I should probably tell you that I've had huge crush on you for a long time." Relief flooded her, but was replaced by embarrassment. "Honestly, I like you too."
"Well, then do you want to go bowling tomorrow night?" I'm usually off by 4:00. I can miss training for a night. And, I've always wanted this. "Yeah, I'm free."
"Around 6?"
"That's fine." As she finished the sentence, Max kissed her. It caught her off gaurd, but it was soft and warm. Amber wished it would last forever. They stopped and he hugged her tight and said, "I've waited so long to do that."
"Me too."
Max left around 2:30 in the morning. Amber was spent at the end of the night, and fell asleep at Emily's house.