Amber was in English class and they were supposed to be working on an in class essay on Edgar Allan Poe's The Tell Tale Heart, which they had read for home work yesterday. The essay was supposed to be about a personal experience that related to the story. In other words they were supposed to write about a time when they did some thing wrong and their conscious made them confess what they did. The guy in the story killed someone and buried him under the floorboards of his house. That was so similar to what she and Tammy did. While everyone else would probably write something about how they lied to their parents or started some false rumor, she actually could relate to the story but she didn't and never will confess nor could she put that in her essay. She couldn't think of anything else to write about so she was just staring at a blank page. She looked over at Tammy, who was on her third page now. What was she doing? Was she writing about how she went to Corny's house and killed him then they ditched the body? It was the only thing Amber could think of that she could be writing about.

"Tammy," Amber said in a loud whisper but Tammy kept on writing so she said it again.

"What?" Tammy said impatiently looking at her.

"What are you doing?"

"Just the assignment Amber. Why?" Tammy said impatiently.

"Why are you writing about it? Are you crazy?"

"Oh please Amber I'm not writing about last night. How stupid do you think I am?" Tammy said then turned back to her work. Amber was surprised at how calm her friend was. She had expected Tammy to be felt with guilt over what she did or not be able to function like she was. Tammy was acting like nothing happened last night. She met with her, Luanne and Vicky in front of the lockers as usual and while Amber was quiet, Tammy was laughing and talking like she always did. The only time she made any reference to last night was when they were alone and it was just to make sure Amber kept her mouth shut. When the bell ran, Amber just went out the door since she didn't have a paper to turn in. It was the second time that day she got an F. She was probably going to have straight Fs at the end of the semester at the rate she was going. She might even have to drop out of school. At lunch she couldn't eat anything and her eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep.

"What's wrong Amber? You've been out of it all day." Luanne asked her. She looked quickly over towards Tammy who just wore her usual smile. How can she smile knowing what she had done?

"I'm okay. I just didn't sleep well last night." She said and then looked down at her tray.

"So does that mean you are going to skip the show today?" Vicky asked her.

"There's not going to be a show." Amber said and then felt Tammy kick her in the shin. She shot Amber a warning glance.

"What do you mean?" Luanne asked confused.

"She means she's not going to be on the show because she's sick. Right Amber?" Tammy said giving her a warning look.

"Right," She said looking down at the table. She got up a second later and ran to the ladies' room. She locked herself in the stall and cried. She couldn't take this anymore. She had to tell someone what happened, if not she was going to go crazy. She heard someone come inside the restroom.

"Amber!" She heard Tammy's voice say. She didn't want to talk to Tammy alone right now. Maybe if she ignored her she will go away.

"Amber, I know you're in here I saw you come in." She said and then stopped in front of the stall door and knocked. "Amber open up we have to talk." Amber pulled the door open and Tammy pulled her out by the arm.

"I can't do this, Tammy!" She cried

"Amber, you promised! Plus you helped me ditch Corny's body so you are as guilty as I am!" She said and looked at Amber coldly.

"I wasn't the one who killed him! You just dragged me into all of this!" Amber said crying.

"I didn't have a gun to your head Amber! You have to get yourself together! That was really close you know! Unless you want to spend the rest of your life wearing stripes you need to stop this!" Amber couldn't believe Tammy's assertiveness. She was usually the dominating one in their friendship, while Tammy mainly just went with the flow of things. Now, that Tammy had killed someone she had become more in control.

"What is wrong with you Tammy? We can't do this!" Amber pleaded

"Yes we can! It's already been done. I told you we just have to play it out! After awhile no one is going to care or know where Corny's body is. You just need to get yourself together." Tammy said and then left the restroom. Amber went back to sit on the toilet and cried again. She had no idea how she was going to keep such a big secret.

She skipped the rest of the school day and went home. She called her mom to tell her she wasn't feeling well and won't be at the show today. When her mom told her that Corny didn't show up for the meeting that morning and didn't answer her phone calls, she almost lost it and confessed everything but kept her cool. She lied down on her bed and tried to sleep but couldn't. She couldn't get the image of dumping Corny's body out of her mind. She knew if she walked around like she hadn't had any sleep for days she would look guilty. She went to her mom's room to get some of her prescription sleeping pills and took four of them and laid back down. She went to sleep right away.

"Amber! Amber wake up!" She said feeling someone shaking her.

"Oh no not again," She moaned having a déjà vu feeling of when Tammy did the same thing the night before.

"Amber what are you talking about?" She heard her mother say. She opened her eyes and sat up on her bed. She had been asleep for quite sometime because it was night now but she still felt groggy.

"Nothing mom just a dream. What's going on?"

"What's going on with you? It's nine at night. Have you been asleep since you left school?"

"Yeah mom. I told you I wasn't feeling well. How did the show go?" She said yawning and not thinking about what she was saying.

"There was no show. Corny never showed up! He's better have a good explanation for this or he's getting fired!" Amber just stared at her mom. She wanted to tell her that Corny had a great explanation for not showing up. It was because he was dead!

"Amber, honey you look pale. Do you want me to go out and get you some soup from the café or maybe I can get you some cold medicine?" She offered and felt Amber's forehead.

"I'm fine mom. I just need some more sleep." She said and laid back down.

"Okay, honey. Hopefully tomorrow you will feel better and you feel well enough to do the show. Because it won't matter if Corny is there or not there will still be a show." Amber buried her head under the sheets.

"Amber is there something you need to talk to me about?" Velma said sitting at the end of her bed. Amber wished she were a little girl again so she can just climb in her mother's lap and cry and tell her the whole story. She couldn't do that now because she knew her mom would probably call the police and have her and Tammy arrested. "No mom I'm fine. I'm just not feeling that well." She hoped she felt better when all of this blew over like Tammy said it would. She would just have to try to stay calm until then.

"Okay call me if you need anything." Velma said and left the room. Amber drifted back off to sleep when she heard the phone ringing. She groaned but shortly later it stopped ringing. Her mother must have answered it. Velma appeared in her doorway again.

"Amber get up I have to tell you something." Velma said frantically

"What is it, mom?" she said scared

"It's bad news actually. Really bad news."

"What's bad news?" She said not even sitting up nothing could be worse then what happened last night, so she was sure she could take anything her mom said to her.

"Corny's dead Amber! Some workers found his body in these woods! They think he was murdered!"