1985
September
Amber McLain hugged the books to her chest as she made her way down the halls of her school, ignoring the looks her classmates shot her.
"One more year of this, and I'll never have to see any of these freaks again..." She hissed to herself.
Opening up her locker, she pushed aside her guitar picks and lyric books and reached for the books she needed for her next class when, "Hey, McLain!"
Amber turned in annoyance to find the main quarterback, Flash Richards, staring at her.
"What do you want?" She asked, annoyed. "I have class!"
Flash smirked and leaned over, closing her locker.
"What the..." Amber began.
"Class can wait." He began, "I want a word with you."
Amber glared back at him. "Oh? Aren't you afraid of your jock friends seeing you talk to the freak?"
Flash looked around, as if someone was hiding in the shadows.
"Nah. Now..." He reached out a hand.
Amber gulped and slapped his hand away. While there was a part of her that had a crush on him for a couple years, she refused to throw herself at him like he expected.
"If you want my homework answers, you got the wrong girl." With that, she turned and made her way down the hall, her classmates parting as if they were afraid she would do something.
Throughout class, Amber couldn't concentrate. Every time she tried to concentrate, her mind would go back to Flash.
What was he trying to ask her? Looking up from her notes, she looked over at Flash. He looked over at her and winked, causing her to sneer and flip him off.
"McLain?" She looked up at her teacher. "Something you would like to share with the class?"
Amber shook her head, and went back to her notes, her mind still racing. When class was let out, Amber went over to Flash. "Okay... What do you want to talk to me about?"
Flash looked around. "Not here. By the dumpster."
"Keep convincing me you're not ashamed of me... you're doing a GREAT job." She hissed.
Flash rolled his eyes. "Let's go!" He began, grabbing her hand and towing her behind the dumpster.
As soon as the two of them got behind the dumpster, Flash pulled out a cigarette.
"You smoke?" Amber asked in surprise.
"Surprised?" he asked. "Don't you?"
Amber shrugged. "I've had a couple puffs in the past, but never a full one..."
Flash tipped the box towards Amber who took one and lit it.
As the two smoked, Amber turned to him. "So, what did you want to talk to me about?"
Flash took a long drag and exhaled. "Well..." he began, "Do you like horror movies?"
Amber raised an eyebrow. "Duh." She replied, taking a drag.
Flash looked down. "Well, I was wondering if you wanted to see Phenomena with me."
Amber looked down at her cigarette. "Did you really just ask me out?" She asked in surprise.
"Why surprised?"
Amber rolled her eyes. "Since freshman year, you have ignored me, avoided me... your plaything jocks tried to dump blood on me once like Carrie... Why shouldn't I be surprised?"
Flash looked down at her. His eyes looked so serious, but... Before she could ask again, Flash had leaned down and kissed her. He tasted smokey and... slightly like an energy drink, but it wasn't long before she surrendered into his kiss.
Once they broke apart, Flash brushed a strand of hair aside.
"So, I'll pick you up at eight?" He asked.
Amber could only nod. "Do you have paper?" she asked.
He pulled out a notepad, and Amber quickly scribbled down her address and phone number.
"See you there." He began, kissing her again.
Amber watched in surprise before shaking her head and running home.
"Hi!" She called out to her parents as she ran upstairs. "Going back out later." She added as she threw a brush through her hair and added a quick touch up on her make up.
Looking at herself carefully, she threaded two earrings into each lobe and tied her hair up. "Maybe I should dye it blue..." She thought to herself, laughing.
Heading downstairs, she nervously sat on the couch.
"What's the occasion?" her father asked, laughing.
"Going out with... a friend tonight..." Amber began, nervously.
Her parents exchanged a look.
"Sounds like our baby has a date." Her mother squealed.
"Mom... It's not like that!"
"So, who is he?" Her father asked.
"Flash Richards." Amber replied.
"Wait... I thought he bullied you." Mrs. McLain began.
Amber shrugged, and peeked out the window.
"When is Romeo coming to get you?" Mr. McLain asked.
"Eight..."
"Well, you have time... Come eat. I made your favourite."
After dinner, it was almost eight.
"He should be here soon..." Amber began, nervously looking out the window.
As time passed, Amber still waited by the window, watching, her heart sinking. As soon as 11:30 hit, Amber sadly got up and slunk upstairs.
"He probably fell asleep..." She began, washing off her makeup and changing into her nightgown. As she stared out the window, a tear slid out, but she quickly wiped it away.
"I'll ask him about it tomorrow..." She whispered.
The next day
"Hey Richards!"
Flash turned around from his locker and found himself staring into the angry glare of Amber.
"McLain?" He began. "What do you want?"
"What happened to you last night?" she asked. "I waited up..."
"What are you talking about?" he asked.
"What am I talking about, what are you talking about?" Amber asked, annoyed. "Yesterday you invited me to see a movie with you and you never showed up?"
Flash shrugged. "I don't know what to tell you, McLain, but are you really so deluded you would think I would date you?"
With that, he closed his locker, pushed past her and left.
Amber glared back at him. He was right, how could she be so deluded to think that? Turning around, she ran to her own class, ignoring the stares and snickers of the other students.
By the end of the day, word had gotten out about what happened between Amber and Flash.
As Amber walked home, her ears were filled with the taunts and snickers. When she finally got home, she ran upstairs to her room, ignoring the calls from her parents. Looking at herself in the mirror, all she saw was a pathetic loser staring back at her. Glaring hard, she punched her reflection, ignoring the pain as the shards pierced her skin.
"So I'm a loser..." She thought. "Well he's a sick..."
She closed her eyes as tears streamed down her face.
"Amber?"
Amber looked up as her father opened the door to her bedroom.
"I heard a crash. Are you okay?"
Amber looked down at her right hand, which was now covered in blood.
"I'm okay." She lied.
"Anything you want to talk about?"
Amber shook her head.
Her father sighed. "Well, your mother and I are always here in case you want to talk about it. We love you."
"Love you too." Amber replied, trying to hide the blood.
Her father sighed and closed the door.
Amber finally found a long, black glove. "Perfect..." She thought, slipping it over her hand before joining her family for dinner.
The next few weeks, Flash was even more distant from Ember, treating her like she was a ghost, the encounter was mostly forgotten, as instead they were gossiping about the next scandel, but Amber couldn't forget, and the cuts from the mirror, which she hid with the glove, served as a reminder.
One night, she got home, and to her surprise, found a note from her parents:
Dear Amber
We've had to head out for the night. We left you pizza in the fridge. See you tomorrow
Love
Mom and Dad
Amber smiled.
Opening the fridge, she found the pizza. Pulling out a slice, to her dismay, it was kind of cold.
"I'll warm it up." She decided.
Turning on the oven, she slid it in, grabbed her guitar and began jamming out a new song she wrote, no lyrics, but still a catchy melody.
Once she finished, and had her dinner, she decided to go to bed.
As she lay in bed, she stared up at the ceiling. One day, she'll be a top Rockstar, and those losers would...
She smirked as she thought of herself as a top celebrity, and her classmates all washed up has-beens, and maybe she could stand up Flash, see how he likes it.
She quietly snickered to herself, when a loud alarm began ringing through the house.
She bolted upright. A fire? She got up and made her way downstairs. The whole downstairs was in flames.
"How could this..." She began, trying to find an exit, when she noticed the stove, "I forgot to turn off the stove!" She exclaimed.
Trying to escape, the fire grew around her, the oxygen depleting.
She dropped to her hands and knees and tried crawling, but everywhere she turned, there was fire. Her vision was beginning to blur. "Help me!" She croaked, trying to get to the door, but she lost all her strength and collapsed.
"Hey!" a deep voice called out.
Amber looked up in surprise. A dark hooded man was standing in front of her.
"What's happening?" She exclaimed. Looking around in horror, she found herself lying in ash.
"It's okay, my dear." The man began, laying a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You died in the blaze, hon."
"I'm dead?" Amber exclaimed.
The man nodded. "Now, before we do the paperwork, we have to attend your funeral."
"My funeral?" Amber asked. "Isn't that kind of dark?"
The man chuckled. "Not really, my dear. It's so you can see how loved you truly were."
The two of them floated towards the funeral where Amber saw a coffin.
"I'm in there?" She asked the man.
He nodded. "No more questions. Once your funeral is over, we'll discuss what happens next."
Amber watched as a group of mourners showed up to her coffin and... Flash? Amber glared at him as he bowed in front of her coffin.
"Get away from there!" She yelled. "You have no right to mourn me!" Once he finished, he left. Amber glared.
Her parents came up to her coffin, crying hard.
"Our little girl..." They kept crying. "Our beloved Amber... may you lie peacefully in the ashes and embers."
"Ember..." Amber thought, an idea coming to mind.
Once her funeral ended, Amber turned to the man.
"Are we able to... recreate ourselves in the afterlife?"
The man nodded. "As a matter of fact, you can." He pulled out a piece of paper and a pencil that looked like it was carved from bone. "You write your name down and you immediately become the person you wish you could be."
"Ember..." The ghost girl began as she wrote it on paper. "From now on, I'm Ember."
As soon as she put the pencil down, she went through metamorphosis. Her outfit remained mostly the same, but her dark hair turned into a lovely shade of blue, and her ponytail was replaced with fire. Removing her glove, she saw her scars were gone. Smiling at the new her, she rolled her gloves back up.
"Now, is there any unfinished business you have?" The man asked.
Ember smirked. "Yes." She began, "For most of my life, I have been a background decoration. By next year they'll forget about me. I can't let that happen."
The melody she was playing filled her mind as she looked down at her classmates who had come to pay whatever respects they thought they had.
"You will remember my name." She gently sang.