Amber sat in the plane and thought back to the days when she didn't have any friends. It hadn't started out that way. She used to have her little group of friends to hang out with. They had been pals since preschool. Amber knew that she might not have been the most popular girl in school, but she had had friends. But as soon as they had found out, they had ditched her. They completely forgot she existed. So much for being friends forever. So Amber had gone on, pretending that it didn't hurt. She faked that she didn't mind when her ex-friends laughed without her. Even though they had probably been laughing at her. What Amber couldn't understand was why they had left her. Why hadn't they been there for her like they said they would have during tough times? Why had they let her down? Amber couldn't figure out what went wrong.

At least she had a true friend now. But doubts still crept into and took a hold of Amber's brain. She had thought that her friends at her old school were true, and look what happened. But Amber desperately wanted friendship, so she tried to cast her fears aside.

After all, Terri had been really nice about it and she truly had looked sorry about Amber's dad being ill.

Amber cursed the man that she had called her father. He had left their family when they could have used his support. Because of him, their family was struggling to continue on. He was the reason why Mrs. Sullivan looked so much older than she actually was. She looked fifty-five; she was thirty-six. And Corey had basically been growing up without a dad. Amber didn't even consider him a part of their family anymore.

Amber had been crumpling up her napkin full of peanut crumbs in anger. She realized this and dropped the napkin on the tray in front of her. Amber wished that Mr. Sullivan would hurry up and die already.

Ms. Kwan stood in front of the classroom. "Amber Sullivan is going to be out for quite a while due to an emergency family situation. Now, we will be very busy in the time that she is gone, and I will not have the time to explain it to her later. It will be better for one of you to collect the homework, and maybe explain it to her. Any volunteers?"

A crop of hands rose immediately in the air. Among the volunteers were Terri, Craig, and Spinner. With some deliberation, Ms. Kwan chose Craig. After all, he was doing well in her class.

Craig was glad that Ms. Kwan chose him. It was an excuse to go see Amber. Maybe he could comfort her, which in turn, might make her like him. He felt lucky that he had gotten this chance. But, he thought, There wasn't much competition. I mean, come on! Spinner? No teacher in their right mind would choose him to take care of schoolwork for someone else. He's my friend and all, but you've got to face the facts. And Terri's a sweet girl, but she failed that one big assignment. Of course, I was clearly the only good choice.

With a self-satisfied look on his face, Craig faced the board and attentively listened to Ms. Kwan.

Mr. Sullivan lay in his hospital bed, unable to know what was going on around him. His daughter walked in the room, and sat down next to the dying man's bed.

Knowing it was too late, and knowing that Mr. Sullivan was unable to hear her, Amber told him, "You know what, Dad? You're dying. And I'm glad that you're dying. Did you hear that? I'm glad. I can tell you how much I hate you, and you can't do anything about it. Why? Because soon, you'll be dead." Amber laughed shakily. She spat, "You've caused a lot of problems for us. You don't know how much you've hurt us. Have you seen Mama? Have you seen what you've done to her? She's been crying. You've hurt her." Amber wanted to shake the man on the bed beside her. "Everything would've been so much better if you had never existed. You've ruined my life!" Amber's chest heaved after she had screamed those last words to him.

The door opened, and a nurse walked in. The nurse took Amber by the shoulders, and in a soothing voice, told Amber, "It's okay, dear. It'll be fine now. But you need to go out of the room." The nurse led the shaking Amber through the door. Amber looked back, and glared once more at Mr. Sullivan's body before the door closed.

Craig approached Terri. Craig noticed that she looked odd without Amber by her side. They had seemed inseparable before. When Craig finally reached Terri, he tapped her on the shoulder.

"What?"

"I was just wondering what was wrong with Amber."

Defensively, Terri said, "There's nothing wrong with her! Her dad is sick, that's all."

"Oh." Then, after a moment, "I guess her parents are divorced."

"Why do you say that?"

"Ms. Kwan said, 'For a while.' If Mr. Sullivan lived with them, Amber could still go to school, because Mr. Sullivan would be in a hospital nearby."

Approving of Craig's logic, Terri responded, "I see what you mean. Poor Amber."

Sharply, Craig said, "Amber wouldn't want you to feel sorry for her. She wouldn't want to be pitied."

Terri didn't reply. Instead, she just walked ahead.

Amber looked through her black veil at the coffin in front of her. She was hiding behind the many flowers because she wanted to get away from all of the drawn faces of strangers.

Amber looked at her weeping mother. Having run out of tissues, Mrs. Sullivan was wiping at her eyes with the sleeve of her black dress. Amber felt angry at her mother for caring so much about Mr. Sullivan's death and for crying in front of the guests. It looked as if Mrs. Sullivan was weak, when she had been strong enough to go through more hard times than anyone else there.

Amber hadn't shed a single tear during the whole thing, but Amber couldn't help her eyes from watering when the coffin was being lowered into the ground. She turned away from the sight and ferociously wiped away the tears that had fallen down her cheeks. Amber felt that Mr. Sullivan didn't deserve any tears. She felt that since he had never cried any tears for them, so they ought not to cry for him. Amber thought, He deserved to die.