Hi everyone! This is a new story I'm starting; you can probably assume how it's going to be set up. Each chapter will be one month, so there will be twelve chapters total. I'm excited about this, and I think it's going to be fun. This is going to be one of those rare stories I write where it's NOT Amber/Corny, NOT Amber/Shelley, NOT Amber/Link. Just Amber.
I don't think Amber gets enough credit on her own.
Let us begin. Enjoy!
January
Amber Von Tussle had never been particularly fond of New Year's. She didn't much see the point in it; people made foolish wishes and resolutions, only to abandon them by early February. Girls were the worst; they made empty, careless promises to themselves, vowing to make a change in their life, and yet they never followed through. They never lost that extra weight, or dedicated themselves to better grades in school. They would complain the entire previous year about the forgotten promises that were made to them; cancelled dates, broken plans, and yet, they themselves were the biggest hypocrites of all. They abandoned promises to themselves without hesitation, and Amber wondered if they realized how genuinely moronic they were by doing so. In her mind, after all, any person who was given the chance to think for themselves without their mother's inflated opinion being involved, was a lucky one. She would sit quietly and listen to the other council girls chatter about what they would do this new year without hesitation, and when the rare occasion came where one of them would look toward her for input, Amber would roll her eyes and scoff. Pretending not to care about resolutions was easier than admitting that she couldn't keep one for herself. Her mother made all of the New Year's resolutions for her that Amber could handle, and between a new diet, less sleep, and more dedication to her beauty routine, there was no room for such trivial things as working harder in school, or cleaning her room more often. Amber could only maintain the beauty of one aspect in her life, and if nothing save her the perfection of her eye make-up could be completed on a certain day…well, in Velma's opinion, that was a day well spent.
New Year's Eve was spent at her house; Amber had never brought in the new year anywhere else. There really was no point, because Velma, who always worked late on New Year's Eve, and well into New Year's Day, always ordered her into the studio by eight the next morning. Because of this, Link usually spent that dreadful night with her, to calm her mother's concerns that she may sneak out to, God forbid, a populated place for a party. She and Link would chat casually and somewhat uncomfortably, and Amber often wondered what it would feel like to bring in the new year with someone that she actually wanted to spend time with. They would sit side-by-side on the couch, not touching, and when the clock chimed twelve, the beginning of the new year, he would kiss her softly on the lips. It was, Amber hadn't failed to realize, one of the very few times he ever kissed her in private. There wasn't much sense in it otherwise; they were each other's arm candy, and there was no need to take that a step further than was necessary.
"Happy New Year," he said the words quietly, and Amber nodded, repeating them numbly. There had never been a happy year in her life. But, for some reason, as she sat beside Link, WYZT's New Year's Eve celebration blaring in the darkness of the living room, her hands folded into her lap, she felt differently. She allowed herself to study his profile for another moment in the flashing blue light of the television, let herself take a deep breath of his cologne, and told herself to take in everything about this moment.
It was in that very minute, the first one of the new year, that she decided this would be the last time she would sit silently beside Link, waiting for her life to pass her by. And so, despite everything she believed, and all the things she didn't, she made a silent resolution to herself.
This year, no matter what, she would find her happiness.