by Ruth Houston
I flung open my bedroom door and stood in the doorway, my chest heaving and my eyes flashing as I glared at the figure that stood bent over his suitcase on the opposite side of the room.
Tristan straightened and turned at my loud entrance. "I didn't think that you'd be home so early or even come in to talk to me if you did. But, anyway, I've been meaning to ask you: have you seen my brown shirt anywhere? I can't find it."
He isn't even man enough to own up to what he did? I thought furiously as I stepped further into the room.
"No, I don't know where your shirt is. But when you find it, you can stick it RIGHT UP YOUR ASS, YOU FILTHY JERK!" I screamed, the end of my sentence rising in a crescendo of anger.
Tristan's eyes widened as I stepped toward him, still hurling insults at him at the top of my voice, so loud that the back of my throat was raw and stinging. I swear I saw his hands tighten around the pair of socks he was holding.
Good, let him be scared, I thought as I shouted.
"YOU ARE THE MOST INSUFFERABLE, BIG-HEADED, LOUD-MOUTHED, ARROGANT, SELFISH ASSHOLE I'VE EVER MET!" I shrieked, angry tears splashing down my already sopping cheeks.
As I furiously brushed away these fallen tears, I paused slightly as what looked like hurt cross Tristan's features. He couldn't be feeling bad because I was crying, could he? Well, let him feel bad.
"DON'T YOU REALISE HOW THESE POSTERS HAVE AFFECTED ME?" I cried, my voice choking as I subsided into furious sobs.
Tristan looked confused. "Posters? What posters?" he asked.
My mouth dropped open as my eyes narrowed at him. "You've got to be kidding me? You're going to lie about this?" I said in a deadly whisper. After Tristan continued to look stumped, I continued, "OK, let me refresh your memory. I'm talking about the posters saying 'Call me a thief… Amber Jones sure did when I stole her first kiss'! The posters you stuck up around the whole school! The very same posters that the entire student body is currently talking about!"
When I finished, Tristan looked completely shocked.
"Amber, I swear I didn't put up those posters. I haven't breathed a word about that kiss, I promise," he said.
How dare he still lie to me when I've so obviously caught him out? I thought furiously.
In a moment of complete rage, I seemed to lose control. I stomped over to his half-packed suitcase, picked it up and hurled it out of the open window. As I watched the bag hit the dirt below, I felt a twang of guilt.
OK, that was uncalled for, I thought, biting my lip.
My regret was soon replaced by a fresh wave of anger as Tristan yelled, "What the hell are you doing, you idiot!"
I whirled around to find him glaring at me, his 'confusion' obviously replaced by anger.
"That will teach you to embarrass me in front of the whole school! I'm so glad you're leaving!" I shouted.
Tristan glowered at me. "I've heard that before."
I was at a temporary loss for words as shock settled through the angry vibes shooting through my brain. How did he remember…?
"I'm so sick of your shit, Amber," Tristan snapped as he stormed to the bedroom door. "Good riddance."
With that, he slammed the door behind him, causing the window panes to rattle.
* * *
Amber sat in the grass, breathing in the fresh, cool air that blew through the paddock. She turned back to her Barbie doll and toy pony, a smile crossing her face. She picked up the toys and began to play.
Suddenly, three long shadows fell over the spot where she sat, eclipsing the sun. Amber slowly raised her eyes to the three people that stood over her, a feeling of dread gradually growing inside of her.
Her feeling was proved right. There stood Trent, Luke and Darcy, their arms crossed in front of their chests as they stared down at her, smirking evilly.
"W – What do you want?" stammered Amber, her eyes flicking to the houses behind the three bullies.
Where are you, Tristan? Amber thought desperately. He'd only gone in for a drink and he'd been gone for ten minutes. Surely he'd be back soon to save her from these mean boys.
Before Amber could react, Trent reached down, snatching her Barbie from her limp fingers.
"No! Give her back! Please don't hurt the princess!" Amber begged, leaping to her feet and reaching desperately for her stolen toy.
The bullies broke out in loud laughter as they began to throw the Barbie around. Darcy dropped the doll in the dirt before grabbing it tauntingly in front of Amber's face.
As Amber lurched wildly for the toy and landed sprawled in the dirt, another shadow joined the others. She looked up hopefully to see Tristan approaching the scene slowly, his eyes flicking between her and the three bullies.
"What do you want, girly?" Luke snapped to Tristan, who's cheeks went red at the older boy's comment.
He stopped in his tracks, his eyes still darting between Amber and Trent. Finally, he stepped up to the three boys, his eyes avoiding Amber's. This didn't seem right.
"I wanted to see if I could join in?" Tristan said.
Amber's jaw dropped to the ground. What?! But he's supposed to be sticking up for me, she cried silently.
"Sure," laughed Trent, throwing the doll to Tristan.
"Tristan, what are you doing?" exclaimed Amber, climbing to her feet as Tristan threw the Barbie to Luke.
"Don't talk to me, bed-wetter," said Tristan, his eyes still looking anywhere but at Amber.
Amber's eyes flooded with tears.
Darcy laughed. "What's this, Amby-Wamby? Do we have a bed-wetter on our hands?"
Tristan joined in with the laughter, although his seemed slightly forced. "You bet! She wet her bed only last week!"
"How could you?" cried Amber, tears spilling down her face as the bullies roared with laughter.
Abandoning her toys, Amber turned on her heel and sprinted away. She ran all the way down to the park down the road and sat underneath the playground, sobbing into her hands.
Her best friend… No, her only friend had just joined those mean bullies into bullying her! How could he?
"A – Amber?"
Amber looked up through her tears to see Tristan standing over her, digging the tip of his shoe into the ground. Sniffing, she staggered to her feet.
"What d – do you want?" Amber sobbed, wiping her wet cheeks.
"I'm… I'm sorry," Tristan said softly.
"You're sorry! You said you'd always protect me! And you're leaving tomorrow, too!" shouted Amber, her temper rising as she started to cry all over again. "You know what, I'm glad you're leaving!"
A sudden thought drove through her mind and Amber slid the pink ring Tristan had given to her so many weeks ago off her finger.
"I HATE YOU!" Amber yelled.
She threw the ring in the dirt at Tristan's feet and ran off, tears flowing freely.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Four days later and the whole poster thing still hadn't blown over. I thought the people at my school would actually have lives to live without tormenting me about my stolen first kiss, but apparently not.
I had to endure insults and jeering comments being thrown at me from all directions as I shuffled down the school hallways between classes. Finally, I decided to wear a disguise every day so people would just think I'm some strange new kid. These disguises generally just consisted of dark sunglasses and a hat. I had considered a wig but I hadn't had time to get out and buy one.
My disguises seemed to be working until the second decoration committee meeting. I was sitting in between Georgia and Haylee, my baseball cap drawn low over my dark shades when I heard someone come up behind me.
Suddenly, my hat and sunglasses were whipped off my head. I twisted around in my seat furiously to give the culprit a piece of my mind. My words died in my throat, however, when I saw Ashley standing in front of me, my feeble disguise in her hands and a smirk on her face.
"Oh, please, Amber," Ashley tittered, giggling girlishly. "You didn't really think that this disguise was working, did
you? Come on, we're not stupid. We'd be able to spot a kissing-virgin anywhere."
Ashley threw the hat and sunglasses onto the table in front of me and waltzed off. Her gang of friends giggled as they followed her to the opposite side of the long table the decoration committee was all sitting at.
My cheeks flushed as I heard everyone – except for my friends – sitting at the table begin to snicker behind their hands. I glanced to my left and my eyes met Tristan's. His expression was unreadable as he looked me in the eye for a moment or two before turning away.
I groaned inwardly and sunk lower in my seat, my forehead becoming level with the tabletop.
"OK, everyone, be quiet," Rachel said from where she stood at the head of the table. It was obvious she was trying to bite back her grin, which was something, considering she rarely smiled when talking business.
"SHUT UP!" Rachel roared, all hints of humour vanished as no one was listening to her.
The table fell silent almost immediately and everyone's faces turned to look at her. Even though Rachel wasn't a teacher, she still had a fierce air about her that commanded respect. Besides, everyone knew that if they didn't get anything done now, it'd be one big stress-out in the last days toward the dance.
"OK, people, now is the time to stress," Rachel said once everyone was quiet. She leant forward over the table, her hands planted on the tabletop and her eyes surveying every face carefully. "We only have two months until the dance. We need ideas for the theme and decorations, now."
Of course it's up to the decorations committee to come up with the theme. It's not like we're going to be really busy designing decorations in the next couple of months or anything, I huffed silently and sarcastically.
"How about an Under the Sea theme?" one girl suggested.
Everyone groaned.
"Too done," Rachel said. "Moving on."
"The Jungle?"
"No, we don't want animals running around."
"A barn dance?"
"Ew. No."
"Gods and Goddesses?"
"Too formal."
Rachel sighed, sinking down into her chair and rubbing her temples to soothe a headache obviously caused by the shouted ideas. She closed her eyes and said in a soft yet firm voice, "We need a modern theme. Something everyone can get into and enjoy but can still have a fun time and not worry too much about costumes."
I had already lost interest in the conversation, as I didn't even want to be there in the first place. As the table buzzed with suggestions and rejected ideas, I opened a notebook and began to absently write some ideas.
Star-crossed lovers, the outback, fluro/neon, superheroes…
"I've got it!" Haylee exclaimed suddenly from my right.
Everyone fell quiet at her raised voice. Hey, no one was really used to Haylee having an idea besides "let's go shopping" or "let's go get his number". You get the idea. So when Haylee volunteers a suggestion in a serious discussion, everyone is too surprised to override her.
"How about… a fluro or neon theme?" Haylee continued, her eyes fixed on Rachel.
I frowned. Where had I heard that suggestion before? Looking down at my notebook, I saw where. But I didn't really mind that she had taken my idea.
Rachel looked thoughtful for a moment before she began to nod slowly. "That sounds… good. I could imagine now… tons of glow sticks, lots of flashing, coloured and strobe lights. Everything glowing." She began to grin. "OK, committee vote. Who wants to do a neon theme?"
Everyone's hands flew into the air bar a couple of people who were either dozing off her flicking boogers at each other (ew). I smiled. I didn't mind that Haylee had stolen my idea, it was just good that the committee was actually going along with it.
That was when I saw Ashley. She was smiling at Haylee and I saw her wink sneakily at her. Haylee returned the gesture with a smirk and flipped her hair behind her shoulder.
I frowned. What the heck was Haylee doing, communicating with a dog like Ashley? Generally Haylee was the one bitching about the mean things Ashley and her friends did.
Even though I didn't believe that Haylee was beginning to like Ashley, I couldn't help but survey her out of the corner of my eye for the rest of the meeting. She seemed to be more bitchy and girly than normal.
But Haylee would never go to Ashley's group… would she?
* * *
My next few weeks were mainly spent at meetings for the committee. We had to work out the decorations, the lights, the measurements… practically everything, actually.
Sometimes it made me wonder what the other committees were doing. Probably sitting on their backsides, joking about how they had dumped the whole workload on us. But I didn't really mind. At least it kept me busy and also it helped to let the kissing-virgin thing blow over.
"Amber, I need you!" called Rachel during a particularly stressful meeting where people were just running everywhere in the gym with measuring tapes.
I turned from where I was helping Georgia figure out a stubborn tape measure and saw Rachel standing in front of a ladder. My eyes widened as I surveyed the death-trap, sitting innocently behind Rachel.
There's no way I'm climbing that thing, I thought stubbornly.
I had half a mind to pretend to ignore Rachel's summons, but I caught her eye and saw that she was gesturing for me to come to her frantically with her hand. With a sigh, I told Georgia that I'd be right back and hurried over to Rachel, trying to ignore the sinking feeling in my stomach.
"What's up, Rach?" I asked, stopping in front of her.
Rachel shoved a tape measure in my hands and pointed to the ladder while saying, "I need you to climb up there and measure the highest windowsills."
"B – But… why?" I whined, my hands trembling as I stared up at the indicated windows.
"Because I said so!" Rachel stormed. "Get up there, measure them and then get me the measurements as soon as possible!" With that, she jogged off to help Wilson Karter, who had managed to tangle a tape measure around his neck and was on the floor, choking.
I bit my lip, staring up at the top of the ladder. Oh well, better get going, I thought in a resigned way before climbing the ladder as fast as possible so I could get it over and done with.
I measured the windowsills easily and was beginning to calm down as I began to make my way down the ladder. As I stepped down two rungs, the ladder gave a wild lurch.
I gasped and clung to the ladder for dear life. Glancing down quickly, I saw Ashley smirking evilly up at me as she reached out to shake the ladder again…
"DON'T!"
Too late.
The ladder shook wildly and the ladder slid from my grasp. As if in slow motion, I began to fall backwards, the tape measure going flying from my fingers and spiraling to the floor below.
Screaming, I fell toward the floor.
I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to –
"Oof!"
I'm going to… Hey, I'm alive!
I cracked one eye open to see that I wasn't, in fact, sprawled on the floor, lifeless, but instead in the arms of someone with a very toned chest. I opened my other eye and turned to see Tristan staring down at me.
Tristan… Tristan caught me?
"Hey, Tristan, gonna plant a wet one on her?" called a snout-nosed red-head guy who was passing by with a box full of decorations in his arms.
Suddenly, Tristan dropped me.
Oh, yes, that's right. Forget broken leg, Ashley. Try broken butt… and a bruised ego.
I looked up to snap at him, but Tristan had already walked off, his back posture rigid. What a butthead. He didn't even pause to see if I was alright!
Grumbling to myself and rubbing my sore butt, I staggered to my feet. I cast a dark look at the still-swaying ladder that towered above me before my eyes swept that gym looking for that blonde-haired bitch: Ashley.
My gaze, however, settled instead on Georgia, Harry and Haylee who were all hurrying over to me. They had obviously just witnessed the whole horrif
ic ordeal.
"OH MY GOSH, AMBER, YOU KLUTZ!" screamed Georgia and when she reached me, she hit my arm.
"What was that for?" I cried, rubbing my arm. Like I wasn't in enough pain already.
Georgia's eyes narrowed at me. "I thought you were going to die! Couldn't you at least wait until you were at least half way down the ladder to fall off? You could have really hurt yourself!" she exclaimed.
"What?" I gaped at her. "I didn't just fall, Georgia. Ashley pushed me!"
Georgia's face took on a whole new expression. Her eyes darkened and she looked around, scowling and muttering, "Where is she? I'll get that little slut-face if it's the last thing I do…"
"It's OK, Georgia," I muttered. "I just have a sore butt… and now sore arm thanks to you."
"Oh, right, sorry about that."
Haylee had turned to me and was frowning. "Why did Tristan drop you on your ass? I mean, I knew you guys have your differences but I thought he would have at least checked if you were OK."
I sighed. "Yeah, he probably would have. But that was before the whole poster incident." My insides twisted at the thought of it.
Haylee frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Oh, don't you know?" Harry asked quickly. Before waiting for a reply, he continued, "Well, it turns out Tristan was the one to put the posters up and so Amber spent that night screaming herself hoarse at him. Then she threw his stuff out of the house and he left. They haven't talked since."
Haylee looked even more confused than before. "Tristan admitted to hanging up the posters?" she said.
"No," I said. "The loser had the nerve to deny it all when I had so obviously found him out."
Haylee's lip twitched as though she was trying to bite back a smile. I frowned at her as she started to laugh.
"Uh, what's so funny?" I asked.
"You think Tristan put up those posters?" Haylee giggled.
"Well, yeah, who else would do it?"
Haylee stopped laughing and suddenly her stance was more self-assured, almost cocky, as she looked at me with one eyebrow raised. "You really don't know do you?" she said.
"Er, no. Do you?" I asked.
