Earth Angel Chapter 3: Sincerely A/N: I am sooooooooo sorry. I had this chapter written and the next, and then I had to turn my computer back into the school to be fixed. All my hard work....poof! Gone. Bye - Bye!. And I had thrown away my hard copies. But, enough about me, let's get on with the story. Still don't own 'em but still want them. MERRY CHRISTMAS; HAPPY HANAUKAH; HAPPY KWANZAA: HAPPY HOLIDAYS :-)

"I am going to fail. That is all there is to it." Pitt's moaned, looking over his history notes in study group one night in Amber's room "It can't be that bad." Amber said, reaching over and grabbing his notes. "Or, it could be...did you get anything out of the review?" "I tried. It's just so boring." The other boys nodded in agreement. Amber rolled her eyes in exasperation. "It might be boring the way it's taught, but it's not boring if you look at it the right way. Look, we've been going over the Civil War. I come from a town with monuments to all the great Southern leaders, like Robert E Lee. I'm from the capital of the Confederacy for goodness sake. I kinda have no choice in being immersed in the war between the states. Let me see what I can do to make this more interesting." With that Amber all but retaught the lesson, making history come alive with her passion. Even Meeks was taking notes. By lights out, the boys seemed to get enough to at least get a B.

"An 'A'. I got an 'A', on a history test." Pitts looked pleased.
"This was the only time I didn't second guess my answers" Todd half-whispered, smiling shyly as he held up an 'A' paper "Harvard, here I come." Meeks said, as he looked at his paper with satisfaction.
"Like you weren't all ready, Meeks. But, Amber, you've officially earned the rank of history genius. Look at this 'A'." Charlie said, with even more self-confidence than normal. "Yeah, 'A' for anatomy. Come on, aren't you a little old to be doodling on your papers? And naked women? Come on, that's for thirteen year-olds just discovering Playboy." Amber gently teased with a smile. "What? He went over it, and I got bored"
Charlie said with a shrug.
Amber decided it was time to change the subject. "How'd you do on the test, Knox"
Knox looked up from his paper. Without a word, he leaned in and kissed Amber on the cheek. Amber stood stunned for a second, then, with a faintly nervous laugh, asked "That good, huh"
"Good? Try amazing! I didn't do so well in history last year, this is the perfect way to start my year off." Knox said, smiling more at his boldness than the achievement. The group headed off toward dinner, but Amber stopped Knox abruptly, grabbing his arm and pulling him aside.
"What the hell was that all about? And don't say good grades"she demanded, in a harsh tone to cover her true feelings.
"It...just...I don't..." Knox stammered, not sure what to make of Amber's tone.
"Knox, your babbling. Now, like an intelligent person, what was that kiss about? I know,
and I know you know, it was about more than grades. Spill!" Amber said, less harsh than before.
"Amber, you probably are going to want to deck me after this, but I ... your..I like you, a lot, like in a 'I want you to be my girlfriend' kind of way. I just felt that it was the right moment. If I'd known you wouldn't have liked it, I wouldn't have done it. Damn it, I'm such an idiot." Knox hung his head.
Amber leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. "Not an idiot, not at all. It just startled me.
But Knox, we can't, I repeat, CANNOT, start much of anything between us." Her tone was gentler than Knox had ever heard.
"Why?" He asked, sounding much younger than his 18 years.
"Because, we live less than 2 feet apart. If we broke up, it would be so awkward." Amber hated when her logical side took over. "What if I promised..." Knox started.
"Don't make promises you can't keep. It's about the only good thing my mother taught me."Amber said, biting her lower lip.
"I can keep it, I swear." Knox looked so desperate that Amber kissed him on the cheek once more saying, "We'll see. Now lets get to dinner before we get in trouble." She ran off, leaving Knox in stunned silence.

"Gentleman, and Amber, I'm renouncing my given name. I'm going back to Nuwanda"
Charlie announced at a meeting that night.
Amber looked a little confused as the others laughed. "Don't worry about it. Charlie here decided that he was too passionate for his given name last year. So, he became Nuwanda." Knox explained.
Amber just nodded. That boy got stranger and stranger every second of the day.
"Okay, Gentleman, Amber and Nuwanda, here's a question I've been giving a lot of thought to lately. What five things do you want most in the world? No order, not logical,
just what do you want most?" Meeks spoke up out of nowhere "Easy. Endless smokes,
Lifetime subscription to Playboy,to legally change my name to Nuwanda, a girl for one arm, and a girl for the other." Char ...er... Nuwanda said.
"Can I hit you now or should it wait?" Amber said, waving the book threateningly in his general direction. "Hey, your the one who wanted to be treated like everyone else"
Nuwanda pointed out.
"Damn it. You've got a point." Amber said, twisting her mouth up.
"Okay, Meeks. You posed the topic. What five things do you want most in the world "
Charlie asked. "To something Nobel prize worthy, To travel to some exotic place, To meet Marilyn Monroe, To settle down with a loving wife, and to be a millionaire." Meeks said. "Todd, what five things would you like most"
Todd looked up shocked. Meeks always passed questions on to Pitts. "Um, well. I want to settle down, that's for certain. I hate to admit it, but I'd like to have a million dollars. I want the world to be equal. I want more self-confidence. What I really want, though, is for once, for my parents to see me outside of my brothers shadow. I'd trade it all in for that." Todd looked so forlorn that nobody spoke for a minute. "What things do you want most in the world, Pittsie?" Amber finally broke the silence.
" I guess I'd like to travel to Europe. I know I'd like to be rich. I want people to be equal,
women with men, blacks with whites, everybody with everybody. I'd like to get married but I'd take her name so people would stop teasing me about mine. And I'd give good money if I could just grow into my body." Pitts said, wrapping his long arms around his even longer legs. "Don't worry about it, Pitts. When you do grow into it, you'll be a very tall and rather attractive young man." Amber said, giving him a friendly pat on the back.
"What five things do you want most, Knox?" "Well,hmm. I'd like to be allowed to study what I wanted in college, not law, that's for sure. I'd like people everywhere to be equal.
I'd like to settle down, if I find the right woman," here Knox looked knowingly at Amber who shot him a look that said "Cool it". Quickly Knox continued. "If they don't have to be logical, then I'd really like to be able to see Neil again or speak to him, somehow. I know it's impossible but it's what I want. I'd also give almost anything if Mr. Keating could come back as a teacher here." Everyone was silent for a few moments. Even Amber understood, little bits of the past had been given to her in the past few weeks. "Well, all that's left is me I guess. Let me just say this now and put in on top of my list. I too want the world to be equal, but I think I'm the only one who truly means that. You guys are white males. The world is yours right now. Sure, women can vote, but we are hardly equal enough. Maybe I'm being hard, and maybe you do want equality, but it's so easy for you. Try being on the other side of the fence. I don't mean to be harsh, it just had to be said. Now, to the lighter side of my wants. I'd give good money. if I had it, to meet Lucille Ball. She's been an idol of mine for a long time. I'd like to meet my father, to know what he looks like, something. All I know about him is what my mother tells me, and that's not favorable to say the least.
This is going to sound weird, but what I want most is an apron and a sewing kit, a really good kit, complete with fabrics, and buttons, and do-dad thingys. My mother never wanted me to learn womanly arts. I learned how to do most of them in home ec, and my grandmother always let me help her bake, but I'd really love those two things." Amber said, showing the rare glimpse of her softer side.
"Well, I hate to say it, but I say meeting adjourned. I can't afford too much trouble this year." Nuwanda said, standing up.

When they got back to the dorms, Knox stood outside his for a second, watching Amber.
She'd seemed so tired the past few weeks, not sick, just run-down. Plus, she'd had a cold that she said she just couldn't shake. Sure enough, Amber laid her head on the cool wood of her door before going in. Knox watched with keen eyes, then slipped into his room. He didn't see Charlie sitting up on his bed, doing some last minute Latin homework with a flashlight held closely to his book.
"Gotta stop worrying about her. She's just not used to Hell-ton yet. It's a lot on a body at first."He said, causing Knox to nearly jump out of his skin. "Jesus, Charlie, you scared me." Knox said, catching his breath. "But, I don't think it's just that. Something else is wrong. She's sicker than she's letting on." "You worry too much, Knoxous. Calm down for a while. If she's still run down in a month or she gets any worse, then you can worry. "
Charlie said, trying to reassure his friend.
"I don't know, Charlie, I just don't know. " Knox said, as he climbed into bed