“Maybe, we'll see. I might finish it before class is over,” Amber said.
“I thought I told you two to leave the romance for outside of my classroom,” Mr. O'Bannon said.
Amber blushed, sinking down low in her seat, silently wishing she was invisible.
After school Amber told her dad that she didn't need to go to the library.
“You okay? Are you sick or something?” her dad asked.
“No,
why?” Amber asked.
“Because you don't ever not need to go to the library. You'd live there if they'd let you,” he laughed.
“I don't need to go,” she shrugged, “I don't have any homework.”
“What's up, Kiddo?”
“Nothing, really. I just want to go home and read.”
Chapter Eight
Tuesday
Amber walked to school Tuesday morning. She didn't want to talk to Joshua Kirk again. Something felt wrong about it. His smile gave her butterflies, but also made the hair on the back of her neck stand up. Not to mention, he kept getting her into trouble in class. Why didn't he just leave her alone?
After first period Amber dashed into the nurse's office and lied about having a headache.
“I've already taken medicine this morning,” Amber lied, “I just really need to lie down for awhile.”
“Okay, Amber, you lay down here for a bit. If you don't feel better soon, we'll see about getting in touch with your dad so you can go home,” Nurse Holly smiled.
Wednesday
Avoiding Josh on Wednesday presented more a problem. She couldn't hide in the nurse’s office two days in a row without arousing suspicion. Amber went to class and worked with her head down. Josh tried to get her attention, but she ignored him. It wasn't too difficult. The bulk of her attention centered on her aching calves. She wasn't used to the long walk to school and doing it two days in a roll had taken its toll on her.
“Hey, what happened to you yesterday?” he asked after the bell rang.
“I had some stuff to do,” Amber said.
“Oh, cool,” Joshua grinned, “So how about hanging out today?”
“Maybe,” Amber shrugged.
“We could go to the coffee shop or something,” he suggested.
“No thanks, I have stuff I have to do at the library today. I stay pretty busy,” Amber said, quickening her pace.
“Okay, some other time then,” Joshua said.
Amber's heart sank into her stomach. His tone sounded similar to Greg's when she told him she couldn't be his girlfriend. She took a deep breath and walked quickly to her locker.
“What's up?” Tamara asked.
“Nothing,” Amber shook her head.
“That looks like a big nothing,” her BFF laughed.