Chapter five

Amber spotted the girl wandering through the parking lot. It was nearly dark and she looked too young to be out without supervision. It was just after sunset and she and Dal were heading to the Cineplex in the mall to spend their allowances. It was to celebrate their surviving their first day in High School.

"What's she doing out here on her own?"

Dal looked uninterested. His only concern was getting to the movies on time. He'd waited weeks for the release of "Spider Man" and he wanted to make sure they got good seats. He wasn't quite in the mood for one of Amber's attempts to save the world.

"Who knows?"

"Maybe she's lost."

Dal shrugged as he kept walking. It was a couple seconds before he realized Amber hadn't just stopped following him but was heading for the girl. He sighed and watched her with exasperation.

"Amber!" He called. "The movie!"

She shushed him with a wave of her hand as she approached the girl. She didn't look any older than nine and she was clutching a teddy bear which made her appear even younger. Her dark hair fell neatly on the shoulders of her gingham dress. She was a beautiful child with her dark skin and big eyes. She looked as though she'd never been on her own before. Perhaps she'd lost her way from the nearby playground or the elementary school.

"Hi there," Amber made her presence known.

The little girl eyed her with interest but said nothing. If she was lost she didn't seem bothered by it.

"What are you doing out here so late?"

Still no answer. Dal caught up to them and looked at the girl as though she were a rodent.

"What are you doing?" He asked, annoyance in his voice.

Amber ignored him. "It's alright, we're not going to hurt you. I'm Amber and this is Dal. What's your name? What are you doing out here alone?"

Dal sighed as they were answered in silence. "Let's just go."

"She needs help. She's lost."

He met her glare. "She'll be fine. We're not exactly in the jungle are we. Her parents are prob'ly looking for her."

"Dal, do you have any idea how many kids go missing each day?"

He sighed hiding his amusement at her tone. He didn't have any idea but he was sure she knew along with the other countless number of statistical facts that floated around in her head. Amber couldn't help it if she wanted to change the world. She wasn't the type who simply claimed to care about what was happening to their planet. Amber actively did something to make the world a better place every day. Whether it was volunteering her time for public works, or recycling every item of trash, or saving lost children from the street. But right now he wasn't interested in saving lost kids. All he wanted was to get to the movies and watch his favorite comic on the big screen. So what if he wasn't out to save the world. He was only fourteen and being a young teenage boy was tough enough.

Amber smirked at the girl's stuffed toy. "I bet I know his name. It's teddy right?" The little girl nodded with a smile. "And what about you?"

"Cloe." She finally spoke up.

"What are you doing out here Cloe?"

"Playing."

Amber smiled now that she was making some headway. "Can we play?"

Cloe shrugged. "If you like but there's no room on the swings. Patsy and Paul are hogging them." She frowned for a moment before brightening. "There's a slide. You can play on that."

Amber nodded. "Sure. Maybe I will." She looked at Dal's disappointed face and apologized with her eyes. "You'll have to see the movie without me." Dal's scowl didn't fade. "I'm not leaving her." Amber insisted.

Finally he relented and sighed. Though he hated to admit his contentment went hand and hand with his best friend, he didn't want to see "Spider Man" without her. It wouldn't be any fun.

"That's okay. We can see it tomorrow night. But you owe me."

With that they encouraged Cloe to lead them to where ever it was she'd wandered off from. She skipped off ahead of them as they walked quickly to keep up.

"I'm not even sure it will be any good." Amber spoke up referring to the movie.

"Are you serious?"

"'X-Men' was awful."

"True but this can't be any worse." Dal shrugged. "Besides 'Spider Man' is a far better super hero."

"I agree but that doesn't mean the movie will be any good."

"I thought you wanted to see it. You've changed your mind?" Dal frowned at this betrayal.

"No I haven't." Amber turned to him as they followed Cloe across the street. "I do wanna see it. I'm just not in the rush that you are."

"Yeah," He mumbled. "I've noticed."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Dal stopped and looked at her. "It means you're different Amber."

She stopped and stared back. "Different? Just because I don't want to see some stupid movie?"

"I knew you didn't wanna see it." He glowered.

"So what, that makes me different?" She folded her arms.

"It's not just the movie Amber." Dal tried to keep his voice even. Though he was annoyed he wasn't necessarily upset with his friend. "You've been acting strange since Summer. You don't want to do the things you used to like. You're not interested in any of it anymore. And that boy today at lunch. I saw you staring at him. What, do you like him now? Because you said dating was pointless."

Amber swallowed and tried to keep her eyes from betraying her emotions. The boy had caught her attention like no one ever before him. He was so handsome and kind looking. She wasn't familiar with the butterflies that fluttered in her stomach at the very sight of him. Everyone at his table seemed to like him and listen to whatever he said. And the girl he was with, the pretty girl with the beautiful dark hair, he was so gentle with her. The way he whispered to her or touched her. Yes, dating was a pointless venture in Amber's mind but there wasn't anything wrong with taking notice.

She sighed and unfolded her arms. "No Dal. I don't like him. I don't know why every thing's different now. It simply is."

He looked at her and smirked a little to ease the small gap. "Next you're going to say that we're growing up, right?"

Amber chuckled and hit his arm. "Well we are."

"As long as we're not growing apart."

"Never." She shook her head with a smile. "And I promise I'll see 'Spider Man' with you tomorrow night."

Dal shrugged now back to his usual good natured self. "That's okay. I'll make Jack go with me. Someone's gotta get him away from the computer."

They both laughed and continued to follow Cloe. It was darker now with the sun having set and her small frame was hard to follow in the deepening shadows. She led them down a street to a neighborhood park. There stood a red headed girl looking frantic as she scanned the area around her with her eyes. Behind her two children played seemingly oblivious to her plight. A girl with light brown pigtails and a boy wearing a fisherman's cap. Both hogging the only swings in the park as Cloe had claimed.

"Cloe!" The worried teen cried as the little girl skipped into her arms. "Where were you?"

"I followed a kitty." Cloe didn't seem at all fazed by her care giver's concern.

Dal and Amber walked into view. "We found her a couple streets away." Amber explained.

"Thanks for bringing her back." The girl smiled at them. "I'm meant to be watching them but I can't stop her from wandering off. She does as she pleases."

Cloe left them to play on the slide. The other girl greeted her but didn't move from the swing set.

"How do you know her? Babysitter?" Amber asked.

"Foster sister." The girl explained. "All three of them live with my parents and me. Mum and Dad were supposed to take them to the fair tonight but Dad's working overtime. I thought they could have a play before dark. I didn't even realize she was missing until it was time to go." She looked familiar to Amber though she couldn't remember where they might have met.

"I'm Amber by the way. This is Dal."

"Salene." She looked them over. "You go to Phoenix High don't you? Are you Freshmen?"

"Yeah," Dal nodded. "How'd you know?"

She shrugged. "Lucky guess. I'm a Sophomore."

"Well well look what we have here."

The trio jumped and turned to see a dark haired boy and his tall companion creep out of the shadows. Salene narrowed her eyes nervously in recognition. Amber and Dal shrank slightly back at the menacing figures. They looked only vaguely familiar and they didn't appear friendly. The dog that Amber and Dal hadn't noticed with the kids bark protectively.

"What do you want Lex?" Salene attempted to sound threatening. Even though she knew him personally, it didn't make her feel any safer in his presence.

Lex circled the group as Ryan watched from the sidelines. Though he was taller, Amber noted he didn't look as dangerous as his dark haired friend.

"Don't be so rude." Lex smirked devilishly at the red head. "Aren't you gonna introduce me to your pretty friend?"

Amber narrowed her eyes as she smelled the alcohol on his breath. "Who are you?" She asked standing protectively in front of Dal.

"I'm you're dreams come true, babe."

Amber scoffed feeling less afraid of him. "You wish."

"What do you want?" Dal asked not hiding his apprehension as well as Amber. He was shorter than most his age and could never compete with someone like Lex.

"Go away Lex." Salene was uncomfortable with the way he leered at she and Amber. She looked to Ryan for help even though she'd never known him to speak a word.

"I'll leave when I'm good and ready." Lex snapped.

"Come on Amber." Dal tugged her arm as if walking away would make the bigger boy disappear.

"Nice name, Amber," He stopped circling them and ran a hand through his long hair.

She frowned as her name escaped his lips. No one had ever made it sound so evil before.

"Leave it out Lex." Ryan finally spoke up with little conviction. "We have to meet Billy Boy, remember?"

Lex didn't take his eyes off Amber at first seeming as though he hadn't heard his friend. She felt like his eyes were burning holes into her chest but she didn't falter as she glared back. Finally he smirked and stepped back.

"See you around." He winked at the girls before joining Ryan and walking off into the darkness from whence they came.

Amber let out the breath she didn't know she was holding. She turned to Salene. "And what's he supposed to be?"

She shook her head, red curls dancing on her shoulders. "He's my neighbor. He just likes to start trouble. I'm surprised you haven't run into him before. He loves to torment the younger kids."

"Guess we've been lucky." Dal sighed eager to move to a place better lit. "Come on Amber. Let's go."

"Can we walk you home?" Amber asked Salene.

The girl smiled. "I have my parents car. If you like I'll give you a ride."

Nodding, Amber returned the smile. "Sure, thanks."