It was gym class, and they were picking teams for basketball. Out of the whole class, there was only one person left: Amber. She fumed at the thought that even the class nerd had been picked, and she hadn't.

Finally, Jimmy, as team captain, chose Amber. She sulked as she went over to join the others, but when she saw that Craig was on the opposite team, she brightened a little.

The game started. Amber ran, following the ball, but the game seemed to only be between Jimmy and Craig. Surprisingly, Craig was pretty good at basketball. The game was evenly matched; Craig was full of energy, and Jimmy was a bit listless. However, Jimmy's competitiveness drove him, and he still tried to play well.

Gym class was nearly over; there was only two minutes left. The game was tied, and Amber's teammates cheered. They booed the other team, and screamed things like, "Come on, team!" and "One more basket!"

Jimmy had stolen the ball, and was sprinting down the court. He was about to shoot, but Spinner was blocking him. There was no way he could shoot over Spinner.

He looked around. Everyone was blocked but Amber. She was just standing there, and nobody was paying attention to her.

"Amber, quick!"

Jimmy passed the ball to her. For a second, she just stood there, startled at the ball in her hands.

"Hurry up, Amber! Shoot!"

After that, Amber didn't pause, and she threw the ball. Up, up, it went, and it curved nicely before swooshing into the basket.

"Yeah!"

Amber was still watching the strings of the basket swing back and forth, when the rest of the team cheered and jumped. Terri was beaming, and she mouthed to Amber, "Good job!"

Amber's teammates headed toward her, but Jimmy got to her first. He half hugged her and said, "Good job, Amber."

"Thanks," Amber managed, before the rest of the team swarmed over to her and surrounded her.

Afterwards, Terri and Amber had linked arms and were walking down the halls, when Terri commented, "You're pretty good at basketball. Who taught you?"

Amber simply said, "My dad," and nothing more.

Craig had plopped down next to Amber again in English class, and he was attempting to get somewhere with their project.

"Amber! We need to get going!"

Amber sighed, and turned around to face him.

"Okay then, what?"

Craig was excited. She was speaking to him. This was a definite step up.

"Well, we won't have enough time to work here at school." He paused, then casually mentioned, "So, we'll have to go to each other's houses."

Uh oh was Amber's immediate reaction.

She blurted, "We can't work at my house."

"Why not?"

"Uh...umm..." Amber stuttered, "Well, uh...my mom is sick."

"Well, she'll probably get better before the project is due."

"B-but..." Amber couldn't bring herself to tell him the truth. She had to come up with an excuse. "And...umm...my grandparents are staying with us, and the don't like guests and there's no room..." Amber was making it up as she went along. She felt guilty about lying, but she thought it was necessary.

Craig, a little downhearted, responded, "Oh. Okay."

Amber was relieved and managed to listen attentively to Craig the rest of the hour.

Terri and Amber were sitting on a bench, chatting, when Amber remarked, "You know, it's my birthday on Friday."

Terri squealed. "It is! Why didn't you tell me? Now I only have two more days to buy you a present!"

Amber blushed, and insisted, "Aww, Terri! You don't have to get me a present!"

"No, really! I will! And then, we'll sing 'Happy Birthday' and...Oh, this'll be so much fun!"

Amber was even more embarrassed by now. She tried to stop Terri, but Terri's enthusiasm couldn't be stifled. Eventually, Amber gave up and she just let Terri ramble.

Craig sat at home and thought. Amber had piqued his curiosity, and now he was desperate to find out what was wrong at her house. He needed to know what she was holding back. Amber was a bad liar, and he hoped that eventually, she'd trust him enough to tell him her secret.