Amber walked through school alone. Terri was avoiding her, and Craig was nowhere to be seen.
Amber's shoulders drooped as she went through the hallways. She had tried to get out of school that day, but her mother insisted that Amber had to go. Amber had given in, but she really wished she was at home. She watched her shuffling feet, and so she did not see the curious stares she was getting.
Nadia crossed Amber's path, and Amber stopped. She had nearly collided with Nadia and her wheelchair.
"Sorry," Amber said apologetically.
Sweetly, Nadia replied, "Oh, it's okay. For a second, I thought that I was going to run you over!"
Amber chuckled obligingly. Then, Nadia's necklace caught her eye. It was an elegant silver chain. On it was a tiny charm that had two girls with their arms wrapped around eachother's shoulders. In between them was a heart with a red jewel inside. Etched on the heart were the words, "Friends Forever." This necklace was exactly the same as the necklace Terri had given Amber for her birthday.
Casually, Amber asked, "Nadia, where did you get that necklace?"
"Oh, this?" Nadia touched the charm. "Kendra gave it to me for Christmas. Why?"
"Just wondering...I had a necklace like that, but I lost it."
"I could ask Kendra where she got it."
Amber brushed the offer aside. "No, no. It's okay. Thanks, anyway."
"You're welcome!" Then, Nadia's voice lowered. "Hey, is it true that you have a retarded brother?"
Amber jerked away. "Where did you hear that?"
Nadia shrugged. "I just heard it from a bunch of people. It's just a stupid rumor, though. I wouldn't worry too much about it." Nadia pushed herself away to class.
Amber stood in the hallway while everyone else pushed around her. The anger she felt pushed at her from the inside, threatening to explode.
Who could've spilled her secret? Amber needed to know.
Then, it occurred to her. Terri.
With Jimmy's arm around her waist, Terri was smiling contentedly as Jimmy talked to her and Ashley. Ellie was filming for her co-op job and was asking them some questions.
Then, Amber stormed in and shakingly pointed at Terri, her eyes ablaze.
"You! How could you?"
Ashley and Jimmy stared, clueless as to what was going on. Ellie lowered her video camera and gaped also.
It seemed as though Terri was just as clueless as the rest of them.
"What are you talking about?" Terri coldly asked.
"You told! You...you...I trusted you!"
Terri's expression was still blank.
Amber hissed, "Corey!"
"What about him?"
"You told about...about..."
Then, Terri understood, and it was her turn to be angry.
Terri vehemently said, "I didn't! I'd never to do that!"
"Well, you must've! No one else would betray my trust!"
"What do you mean, no one else? You mean, you told someone else?"
Amber admitted, "I told Craig, but he wouldn't tell anyone! He told me he loved me!"
Terri scoffed, "So, just because he told you he loved you, you're going to believe him instead of your best friend?"
"Terri, we're not best friends anymore."
Amber still wasn't over her bad mood. Amber had always had a mean streak in her, but she rarely let it show. However, she was furious at the moment, and she thought that she didn't care if she hurt Terri.
What Amber didn't know in her brain but felt in her heart was that she was hurting herself, too.
Craig had managed to convince Joey that he was sick and needed to stay home. Yet, in some ways, this was worse than going to school and facing Amber. Joey had left to go with Snake and Angela was at school, and that left Craig alone. Staying home alonegave Craig too much space and too much time to think about how he had betrayed Amber. He trusted Marco to keep quiet, but Spinner was a different story. Craig wasn't sure if Marco had gotten to Spinner.
Craig leaped up, grabbed the phone, and started to dial Marco's number. After a couple of rings, he gently put it back after realizing that Marco would be at school.
Craig glared at the clock. Time was passing way too slowly. There were two more hours until Craig could call and figure out how bad a mess he made.
Spinner laughed to himself. His day had been awesome. Paige had been more happy to see him than she had ever been, he had beat up a couple of kids (JT and Toby), and he had pretty much ruined Amber's life.
First of all, Spinner thought about Amber's necklace. He had taken it a long time ago, but it seemed as though Amber had forgotten about it.
At first, he hadn't known what to do with it. He couldn't give it to Paige. It wasn't the kind of necklace you gave to your girlfriend. After all, it said "Friends Forever", and a girlfriend was more than just a friend. Plus, the figures on the charm were girls and Spinner happened to be a guy.
He eventually decided to give it to his sister, Kendra. He said that he had found it on the floor at school. Kendra had believed him. He didn't know what she had done with it after he gave it to her; he didn't know she had given it to Nadia.
Secondly, Amber's brother came to mind. It was purely luck that Craig had told him about it. It would've gotten out anyway, but Spinner had just gotten the ball rolling. That's all.
Marco had called to ask that Spinner not tell, but it was too late by then. Spinner had already started spreading it.
Spinner had been surprised when Craig had spilled the beans. He had expected something else to be the case. He couldn't see why Amber was making such a big deal. But hey, you take what you can get. Right?