I was jittery on Monday morning, wondering if Nell would be in school and how she would act toward Amber, Michael and me. Michael picked me up as usual, but our ride was much quieter than it normally was.
“So, how were your parents today?” Michael inquired. I knew that he was worried about how they viewed him, now that they knew the truth.
I made a face. “They’re still not happy about all the changes they see in me. It’s my own fault, really. If I had been up front with them from the beginning, they would have had time to process everything little by little. Now it’s all hitting them at once.”
Michael sighed heavily. “I’m sorry it’s so rough on you. Not what you needed after this weekend.”
“Well, maybe not. But I think they’ll come around. I tried to be as reasonable as I could without giving in completely.”
We pulled into the parking lot and walked hand-in-hand to my locker. The walkways were fairly empty; we’d made it in early. I didn’t see any sign of Nell or her crowd, but as I pulled books from my locker, Amber approached us.
“Hi,” she smiled, almost shyly. “I’m really glad to see you. My mom dropped me off early, on her way to work, and I’ve been wandering around, afraid of seeing—well, afraid of what was around every corner.”
“I think you’re pretty safe here,” Michael said. “But you should probably watch your back when you’re alone outside school. Is your mom picking you up today or are you walking home?” I felt the concern that he was trying to hide, and I picked up random scenarios flitting through his head.
“Yeah, I’m covered,” Amber confirmed. “I have a feeling that my parents are going to be a little overprotective for a few days, at least.”
“Overprotective is good for right now,” I put in. “You’ll have plenty of time to stretch the apron strings once things settle down.”
“I guess so,” Amber agreed. “I can’t imagine how bad it would be if I’d told them I was actually in physical danger. They’d have probably shipped me off to boarding school. Or a convent.”
We all laughed, somewhat ruefully because we knew how close to the truth it was.
In French, Cara and I rehashed Friday’s dance. She told me that she had enjoyed hanging out with Dan but assured me that they were just friends.
“I like him,” she whispered as the teacher began the lesson, “but not anything heavy, you know?” I nodded and was suddenly tempted again to listen into Cara’s thoughts, remembering the suspicions I had picked up from Anne about Cara’s feelings for Michael. If she had some sort of crush on him, that could explain why she didn’t want to get involved with Dan. But after the talk with my parents over the weekend, I was determined to keep my motives pure when I decided to use my talents. This would definitely be a selfish purpose.
I was on edge as French ended and I walked to Chemistry. My palms were sweaty, and I felt slightly sick at the prospect of confronting Nell. As I turned the corner of the walkway, I heard my name—not spoken aloud, but thought somewhere near me. I glanced up to see Michael leaning against the building, smiling at me.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, surprised. His Physics class was nowhere near my Chemistry classroom.
“I knew you were going to be jumpy about going to chem. today, so I thought I would hang here, just to remind you I’ve got your back. She might be nasty, but she won’t do anything in front of the class, or especially in front of Ms. Lacusta, I think. Be strong.”
My nerves eased, and I smiled up at him. “You know, you’re fairly wonderful. What did I ever do to deserve someone like you in my life?”
He grinned back. “That’s a topic we can explore later. For now, go on in and deal with Chemistry. I’ll see you at lunch, okay?” He planted a swift kiss on my cheek, so quickly that no one watching would realize he hadn’t merely leaned down to whisper in my ear. Then he was gone, around the corner.
I knew he was right. I was perfectly safe in class. I lifted my chin and went inside.
Nell was in her seat, facing the front of the room. Casey and Liza had their heads together, whispering, but Nell was ignoring them. In self-protection, I concentrated on keeping up my mental wall and sat down behind her.
Ms. Lacusta began class immediately, and thankfully, it was an intense lecture, requiring all my attention and note taking abilities. Although I didn’t hear anything from Nell’s mind, it was a relief when the bell rang and I could leave.
In English, Amber smiled at me as she took her seat, and I marveled at the contrast between what I felt from her today and the Amber I had first met nearly two months before. Despite her underlying anxiety, she was much more peaceful today.
We walked to lunch together after class. Julie DiNardo and Casey passed us, and they both flashed glares of intense dislike at Amber. I half waited for her to wilt beneath their obvious anger, but she merely looked away from them.
Once in the cafeteria, I broke away to join Michael at our table while Amber filled her tray. I smiled at the changes I saw; Anne and Jim were sitting close together across the table, and Brea’s junior boyfriend was next to her. Cara threw me a quick wave as I sat down next to Michael.
He took my hand in his and drew me closer to his side.
“How did it go this morning?” he murmured in my ear.
“It was fine. Just like you said, nothing happened. She ignored me completely.”
“Good. I passed her on the way here, and it was the same story. She didn’t even look at me. Maybe she’s a little embarrassed by the whole thing. You know, now in the more reasonable light of day and all that.”
I snorted. “Yeah, maybe. I don’t think ‘reasonable’ or ‘embarrassed’ are words that I associate with Nell Massler.”
He shrugged. “As long as she’s leaving all of us alone, I’m not going to sweat it.”
I nodded and began to eat some of the sandwich that Michael pushed in front of me. “I don’t trust her. I don’t see her being that easily dissuaded. That’s why I’m going to check in every now and again, just to make sure she’s not still plotting evil and mayhem.”
Michael frowned. “You mean purposefully listening in on her?”
“Not all the time. Just now and then. You know, kind of like when someone’s on parole and there’s an officer to make sure the rules are being followed. I’m Nell’s parole officer.”
Amber joined us just then, sitting next to me but looking uncertainly at the rest of the table. I turned to include her in our group. As I had predicted, there was a warm welcome from the whole crowd. Anne was particularly kind, and I could feel Amber’s gratitude. Only Cara looked slightly perplexed by the turn of events. I figured I was in for a grilling during History class.
She caught up with me outside the classroom, right after Michael had left for his own class. I waited to walk in with her.
“So… what’s the deal with Amber?” Cara didn’t waste time with any preliminaries. “I thought she was tight with Nell Massler. Now she’s sitting with us?”
“Long story. Basically, Nell finally pushed her too far, and Michael and I happened to be there for her at the right time. Amber’s had a tough time of it lately, and she needs friends. That’s about it.”
“Huh.” Cara and I sat down and waited for Mr. Frame to arrive. I could feel that Cara knew she wasn’t getting the whole story about Amber, but I chose not to elaborate. My silence provoked her into comment.
“She seemed like kind of a loner, before. When I moved here last year, I tried to talk to her a few times. But she was so quiet, I could never really get a conversation going. She looked completely different today at lunch.”
I shrugged. “Who knows? Maybe she just needed to realize that she doesn’t have to be lonely anymore.”
Cara looked at me with one eyebrow raised, but she didn’t push it any further. Mr. Frame came in to begin class, and I was relieved to have an excuse to turn my attention elsewhere. As much as I liked Cara, I wasn’t entirely sure that I trusted her yet.
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