Betty went to get Amber the Brave from her backpack. As she made her way back to her desk, holding the book, she wondered what would happen next.
Opening the book, Betty found the place where she had left off. The crocodile dragons were about to bite Amber, but soon enough, Amber had tossed all of them onto the shore, where they burned and eventually turned into a pile of ashes. Go, Amber!
Before Betty knew it, the ten minutes had flown by and Mrs. Shumpridge announced “Class, put your books away.”
As Betty slid her book into her desk she felt that it was going to be a long day. With her book probably gone for the rest of the school day, how would Betty ever get her proper dose of adventure?
The class finished writing, math, and science in the morning. During each subject, Betty felt like taking out her book and reading, but resisted, knowing she would get caught. It had happened before.
Thud. Science textbooks closed. Thump, thump, thump. The third-graders made their way to the cafeteria, where they all sat down at the lunch table. Betty knew she had to tell Peggy and Shelly about what happened that morning, but she was pretty sure they weren’t going to understand.
“So,” Peggy said.
“Right. Okay. Well, this morning, I woke up late! And so I went downstairs and ate and read—”
“Ate and read?” Shelly interrupted.
“Yes! I’m a multitasker.” Betty said impatiently. Peggy laughed, but was silenced by Betty’s glare.
“And so, I missed the bus because I was reading Amber. Then your mom came and gave me a ride here,” Betty concluded. “But she said some weird stuff.”
“Like what?”
“Uh…nothing,” Betty said. How was she supposed to tell Peggy and Shelly what happened when she wasn’t sure herself?
Now out of things to say, Betty awaited the twins’ response. It was an awkward silence and Betty found herself staring at their outfits—the morning hadn’t given her much time to look.
The twins were identical and often dressed the same—today, they were both wearing tie-dye shirts over denim skirts. Their bony faces had sharp features—pointy noses, high cheekbones, and hazel eyes that often seemed browner than green. The only difference was Peggy had glasses and braces, while Shelly had a deeper tan, due to the fact she spent more time outside.
Still nothing. The silence was frustrating, and Betty found herself looking at the clock, waiting for them to say something. It was 11:30. Betty sighed.
“So, you were late because of Amber?” Shelly finally asked.
“Well, it’s Amber the Brave!” Betty replied in defense. “I’m telling you, it’s wonderful! You guys should totally read it—”
“I like mysteries,” Shelly said. The athletic twin didn’t read much, but when she did, it was always mystery. “Have you ever read a Nancy Drew book?”
“Well, no, but Amber—” Betty was cut off again.
“I love realistic fiction. Amber is just so unrealistic. I mean, fighting dragons at the age of what, nine?” Peggy chuckled.
Betty was deeply hurt. Amber was wonderful, so heroic, and so selfless.
Peggy was wrong.
Wrong, wrong, wrong.
“Okay, Amber is not nine, she’s ten. That’s one whole year older than us. We can’t say bad things about her!” Betty exclaimed.
“Why not? You always say bad things about your older cousins,” Shelly pointed out.
“But that’s different!” Betty half-shouted, exasperated. The whole table turned to stare, and, while Betty seemed oblivious to the attention, Peggy and Shelly blushed deeply in embarrassment.
“This is Amber! Amber the Brave!” Betty stood up and threw away her lunch in a nearby trash can, even though she had barely touched it She stormed out of the lunchroom, feeling angry and betrayed. The room returned to its regular chaos, but Shelly whispered to Peggy, as if the cafeteria were as silent as a graveyard, “She does know Amber’s made up, right?”
Peggy, who was biting into her apple and staring at Betty’s empty seat in disbelief, whispered back, “I hope so.”
After lunch and recess, the class went back to their room to finish the last day of school. Betty was feeling considerably better, but she had still spent recess alone, and Peggy and Shelly didn’t try to cheer her up. They knew she would get over it eventually.
The class cleaned out their desks, removing all the school supplies, papers, artwork, and the occasional treats from Mrs. Shumpridge that had been jammed inside without second thought. The room was filled with happy chatter—cleaning was way easier than math. For Betty though, it was mission impossible.
And once again, she imagined herself as the heroic idol she wanted to be: Amber.
Amber was looking for something. She had dropped the device in this drawer about a year ago. It was something the agency had given her, something to test out, yet it had seemed so pointless Amber hadn’t even tried. Now, though, she needed it.
It was a flying disc, small and silver. The disc could nail anything or anyone from about a mile away.
Amber looked back at the door. Professor Scorp had run out that very door a few seconds ago. He had taken something—something, that if exposed, would reveal her top secret agency. She needed to get the disc.
She needed to stop him.
Anxiously, she threw everything out of the drawer until her hand closed on the disc. It was brand new. Amber wondered why she hadn’t tried it. She tried to remember the day she had first seen it.
It had been a Tuesday. The contraption had arrived in a box with no return address. Amber had opened it and grabbed the disc, slightly disappointed. It didn’t look special at all—more like a dog toy. She had looked back at all the other devices, so grand and helpful. The disk had ended up shoved in the back of the drawer, where Amber kept weird things like tools, half-eaten sandwiches, and useless presents that had accumulated over the years.
That was before she found out it had razors.
Professor Scorp had destroyed all the other devices, even the ones on her belt. This was her last chance.
Amber glanced toward the door. Professor Scorp couldn’t have gone far.
She whispered his name to the disc and threw it. She watched it soar through the air, the sun glinting on its clean metal.
Suddenly, the razors shot out and the disc became engulfed in a hot crimson fire. Amber backed away, but it was not aiming towards her.
“Ow,” someone cried.
“Betty, what are you doing?” Shelly asked her. Betty blinked twice.
“Huh?”
“You just threw your math notebook at me!” Shelly, said, rubbing her head.
“Oh, I am so sorry! I thought you were Professor Scorp and I was Amber and I was trying to find this disc…” Betty trailed off. Shelly probably didn’t want to hear it.
“Hey, it’s okay. Just don’t do it again,” Shelly answered.
“No way,” Betty answered, taking the garbage from her desk to the trash. She was one of the last to finish cleaning her desk, for she, along with Shelly, was terribly unorganized. Peggy had finished a while ago. She had a neat desk.
As Betty sat back down, Shelly whispered something in her ear.
“What!” Betty half-screamed, trying not to attract attention. She had already received too much today, in the morning and at lunch.
“It’s true!” Shelly continued.
“So you’re saying the sequel to Amber the Brave is coming out this month?”
“Yup. I heard someone talking about it.” Shelly nodded.
“What day?”
“Not sure. Maybe today,” Shelly answered.
“Today! I have to get it!”
The rest of the afternoon went by pretty fast. Betty was looking forward to going to the bookstore and getting the second book in the Amber series.
“Okay class, it’s time to start yearbook signing,” Mrs. Shumpridge announced. “I will pass out yearbooks, and I suggest you start going around the room right away, because we only have twenty minutes. You are not allowed to go in any of the other third-grade classrooms to get signatures because they have already done their yearbook signing and you would be interrupting them. We will finish at three-fifteen and then we will pack up and I want to give each of you a little present. You may begin now,” Mrs. Shumpridge said, as her students got out their yearbooks and markers.
Betty waited anxiously for a yearbook with her name to come her way.
“What do you think the presents are?” Betty quietly asked her friends as they signed her yearbook.
“No clue,” Peggy answered.
When yearbook signing ended, Betty had signed all of her classmates’ books and she had a yearbook for herself filled with sayings like “Have a great summer (H.A.G.S.)” or even “Hope you’re in my class next year.” Some people had written a paragraph about her and some had just signed their name. At the end of it all, Betty had the signatures of every student in the classroom, expect for Tyler, a red-headed boy whom she hated. She hadn’t signed his and she didn’t even care if he didn’t or did sign her yearbook. If he signed, Betty would put Wite-Out over it.
Seriously.
Betty and her class soon lined up in a not-so-straight line. Mrs. Shumpridge, in a short-sleeve red shirt and white jeans, looked like Santa, especially since she had a heavy red sack slung over her shoulder.
As people got their presents, the words “Awesome,” or even “Awww,” filled the room. Betty impatiently waited for her present, and as Mrs. Shumpridge got closer, Betty saw the presents were books, which was fine with her. Everyone seemed to be getting different books. What would Betty get?
Mrs. Shumpridge was soon face-to-face with Betty, looking at her with warm eyes.
“I wish you a wonderful summer!” she said as she handed Betty a book. The cover showed a girl rafting on a ferocious river. On the top were three words: Amber’s Big Adventure.
“How, w-w-hat? Huh?” Betty stammered.
“I bought two copies—although, being an Amber fan, I’d suspect you would have known about the new book.”
“Well, I heard it was coming out, but—but this is amazing! Thank you so much!” Betty felt like hugging Mrs. Shumpridge, but didn’t want to be branded a teacher’s pet for the rest of elementary school.
Mrs. Shumpridge had reached the end of the line. Betty looked happily at the new book, and felt her backpack for the first one in the series. She felt so good right now—nothing could spoil her mood!
Well, except for the school bus.
Betty had soon boarded the bus—a terrible vehicle covered in gum, dust, sweat, and fear. Since it was the last day of school, it was nosier than usual. Even the big kids, who considered themselves too old to do so, were chanting with the kindergartners, “School is over! School is over!” The bus driver had put on loud classical music to drown them out, and although Betty wanted to, it was impossible to read. So she looked out the window at the scenery—the green trees and warm sun. There were a few stores on the way home, and one of them was the bookstore.
Betty loved the bookstore. She loved its long rectangular shape and the smell of books, a bit like new erasers. She loved the posters stuck to the windows, advertising new books. And then she saw it.
A poster.
A poster saying Amber’s Big Adventure was being released June 22. It was now May 29.
The book was in Betty’s hands.
In a trance, she got off the bus at her stop and walked up to the door. After exchanging quick hellos and how-was-your-days with her mom, she walked up to her room, staring at the second Amber book in puzzlement. Betty could hear her mom asking her to come down and tell her about her day, but she was too confused to do anything.
She had the book.
Yet no one else did.
Chapter 4
Sitting on her bed, Betty took some deep breaths. Everything in her room was spinning; everything in her mind was spinning. She saw her desk—a wooden table topped with about a million papers—pass her a couple of times. Betty didn’t use it, and she didn’t even try to clean it. Her dresser and vanity were messes too, littered with things like game pieces, rubber bands, and hair pins. It was “abstract.”
Betty lay on her bed and stared at the book in her hands. It was twice as long as Amber’s previous book. Even though she was shaking with excitement, she couldn’t help wondering how her teacher had gotten a copy.
Breathe, Betty told herself. She put Amber’s Big Adventure down and grabbed Amber the Brave from her bag.
Betty lay down on her orange comforter and opened her book. Even though she was confused and slightly tired from thinking so much, she knew it was nothing another chapter or two of Amber couldn’t cure. She found her page and sat back contentedly.
Chapter 5
Amber saw a patch in the ground that didn’t look like the rest of the dirt floor. Could it possibly be a secret escape door? Amber wondered, but there wasn’t enough time to think about it too much. The evil professor was already pushing her toward a large machine that looked like a high-tech dentist’s chair, with mechanical arms on the sides to keep Amber in place. A desk next to it had all sorts of different tools on it, from the simplest hammer to the weirdest looking wrench she had ever seen. However, Amber knew they weren’t just regular tools—they were enchanted…
In the end, Amber escaped, went back to her house in the woods, sat down on her couch with the holes and patted her pet lion Zenthia until she got word of another evildoer. And that was how the book ended, leaving Betty to wonder how Amber would defeat the next villain.
Betty closed the book. All thoughts of the second book left her mind as she recalled the fire in the Professor’s eyes when his plan failed. The only thing Betty wanted was more information. More information about Amber. What was her past like? Betty hoped the next book would tell her more, and she reached for it.
Wait.
The next book.
With shaky hands, Betty lifted Amber’s Big Adventure from the bed.
“Betty! Dinner!” her mom called.
Betty sighed. “Coming!”
She ran downstairs and stepped into the kitchen. She stretched to reach the plates from the cupboard above the counter, grabbed the glasses from the shelf above the water dispenser, and placed some napkins on the table. Vegetable sandwiches weren’t a personal favorite of Betty’s, but she knew better than to ask for ham and cheese instead. Her mom was on this crazy tofu kick, and refused to have meat in the house.
Betty sat on the island and propped her feet up on the counter near the sink. She loved sitting like this. It was different, being up so high. The bright light above her made her feel as if she were in the spotlight. She felt like the King of the Kitchen.
Well, at least until her mom told her, “Get off the island!” Betty hopped down while her mom sighed and tried to calm herself down. In an effort to remain calm, Betty’s mom counted to ten and tried to ask her questions about the summer. For a month now, she had been going on and on about summer plans, and oh, did she have plenty of them.
“So, what do you plan to do during summer? Betty. Betty? BETTY!”
“Huh?” Betty asked, looking up. Now that she had nothing to do, her mind had wandered on to Amber and the new book.
“So, what are you going to do this summer? Sheesh Betty, do you have gum in your ears?” her mom asked. So much for staying calm.
“I don’t know,” was all Betty could say before thinking about Amber again.
Betty’s mom shook her head in disapproval and started chopping onions.
During dinner, all Betty could think about was Amber’s Big Adventure. How did Mrs. Shumpridge get it early, and why did she give it to her? Di
d Mrs. Shumpridge know the author, Lana Mungo?
Betty did some serious thinking, occasionally taking small bites of her sandwich. Concentrating on Amber, she didn’t even realize what she was eating.
“So, how’s the sandwich?” Betty’s mom asked eventually. Betty woke from her deep thought and looked at her mom blankly.
“Oh, that. It’s good,” she said, then stared down at what she was eating. She looked at the food on her plate, and then felt it in her mouth.
Vegetables.
She hated vegetables.
Running to the bathroom, she tried not to swallow the food in her mouth. When she reached the bathroom, she scraped the food off her tongue and gargled. The taste was still there.
There was no way that Betty was coming back out unless the sandwich was being ground up in the disposal.
Betty watched herself in the mirror. She realized that all was quiet here. No sandwiches, no people telling her what to do. No one saying, “Get your nose out of that book.”
And that brought her back to Amber. Amber. The series that didn’t yet have a second book released.
A sudden knock on the door startled her.
“Betty?”
“Yeah?”
“Was it the vegetables?” her mom asked.
“Yeah,” Betty answered.
“Well, it’s almost seven o’clock. Come on out.”
And just like that, Betty was sat back down at the dinner table.
“C’mon, please, mom! I—I can’t eat that sandwich! You know me,” Betty said, putting her hands on her hips. She stretched out her arm and made the talk-to-the-hand signal. “You know I don’t do well with vegetables.”
“Well, Betty,” her mom reprimanded her, remembering her rule to keep calm. “Vegetables are good for you. You need them.”
“No I don’t! I could go a whole day without eating vegetables!” Betty exclaimed.
“Not what I mean,” her mom said, looking around the kitchen. Then, meeting Betty’s eyes she said, “And you know that, Betty.”
The Adventure of a Lifetime Page 2
