Craig had pinned up the picture of Amber and the other boy. It was on the wall by his bed. He now felt that if he saw the boy in the street, he'd recognize him. He looked at the picture often, and each time, his jealousy increased. It was so heightened that he wanted to strangle the boy in the picture. In fact, he had ripped the picture in half a couple of days ago and he had thrown the half with the boy away into his desk drawer. However, he later took it out and put it back up on the wall. Craig needed to know what the boy looked like if he wanted to beat the boy up later.

Craig was gazing at the picture when little Angela walked in.

Upon seeing the picture halves, Angela questioned, "Is that the girl you're in love with?"

"I don't know if I'm in love with her, but I like her, yeah."

"Who's the guy, then?"

"No one."

Sensing that the conversation was over, Angela headed out.

Amber arrived home, a little woozy. She pressed the button on the answering machine and listened for messages. There were two.

The first one went, "Hey, Amber! This is Terri. If you want to talk, call me later, okay? Or we can talk at school."

Amber wanted to talk to Terri, but she didn't think she could face civilization for a while.

Then, the second one came on. "Hi, Amber. This is, uh, Craig. Um, I have your homework and stuff. So call me, and I guess I'll come over and give it to you. Uh, yeah. So call me, okay? Yeah. Right. Bye now."

Craig had her homework? Oi. Amber had no choice but to call him. She felt a little dazed, but picked up the phone to call him.

Craig prodded his hair once again. He wanted to look good for Amber, but his hair wasn't cooperating. He eventually gave up and left.

Unfortunately, Craig had no coat, he had left the homework behind, and he had no idea how to get to Amber's home.

So, he rushed home (in the meantime, ruining his hair), called Amber, picked up the homework off of the kitchen table, and rushed back out. Craig was thankful that his conversation with Amber had been over the phone. She didn't see how red he was.

Craig rang the doorbell, and waited expectantly on the faded doormat. He could faintly read the word, "Welcome." Craig scrutinized the house as he bounced impatiently on the porch. It was an ordinary house, and it was not outstanding in any way. It matched Amber perfectly. They were both plain, and the house was even painted the same mousy brown color as Amber's hair.

The door opened, and out stepped a boy. Craig stepped back. It was the boy in the picture. It was the exact same boy!

The boy was about to say something, but Amber walked out at that instant. She nudged the boy back inside, and told him, "Go inside, dear. I'll be back inside in just a second."

Craig was so astonished that he just stood there, gaping. The boy obeyed Amber's instructions, and silently crept inside. Amber stepped out on the porch and closed the front door behind her. She was close to him. Really close.

"So. My homework?" Amber asked.

"Oh, right!" Craig took the crumpled papers out from his pockets, and started to hand it to Amber, but stumbled. Amber held on to his arm and helped him stand up, even though he was much bigger than her.

Embarrassed, Craig coughed and said, "Thanks." He gave her the messy bunch of papers. Then, "I'm sorry about your dad. Is he okay now?"

"No, he died."

Craig tentatively put an arm around Amber's small shoulders, intending to be comforting. "I'm sorry. I understand how you feel, though. My dad died, too."

Amber had just started to get comfortable with Craig's arm around her, but backed out of it.

"You don't understand. I hated him."

"I used to think I hated my dad, too."

Amber was sarcastic. "And, let me guess. Now you don't?"

"I realized that he's made some mistakes, like any human being. And I forgave him for his mistakes."

"I'll never forgive him."

They stood there awkwardly for a while until Amber asked, "Why was Manny so mad at you, anyway?"

"What? Oh! She got mad at something I said and broke up with me."

"Oh."

There was silence again, but eventually Amber said, "I have to go in now. See you at school tomorrow, Craig. Bye."

"Bye."

Craig went halfway through a wave, and then regretfully headed home.

Amber sadly watched him go away. Mrs. Sullivan walked out and queried, "He doesn't know, does he?"

"No..."

"You have to tell him sometime."

Amber's shoulders dropped. "I know."

Craig heard all this as he walked away, and wondered what Amber had to tell him.

Amber was thinking about what Craig had said. He had said that Manny had broken up with him, not the other way around. So he hadn't broken up with her because he liked Amber. Even though Amber had said that she didn't care, this fact disheartened her a little. She still sort of wished he liked her. After all, she had liked it when Craig had put his arm around her shoulders.