Chapter 2- Amber
Amber slammed the door of the bedroom behind with as much force as she could. She knew it was futile. They all slept in this one room. Her mother and brother were going to trudge in here before she could even have a moment to herself. It wasn't like this at Damien's. There they had all the space and time in the world. It was perfect. He was perfect.
Amber sunk onto the dusty bed and furiously rubbed her eyes to stop the tears that hadn't had a chance to fall yet. Her mother was so stupid. What did she know about men? Nothing, obviously, or maybe she wouldn't have picked such a deadbeat husband. She didn't know about Damien. He loved her! He had told her he loved her. What more was there to understand?
Amber pulled her shirt off angrily to change into her pajamas. The bedroom door squeaked open.
"Mom, get out! I'm changing."
She whipped around to see Drew hovering in the doorway. "I'm sorry," he muttered, averting his eyes from the sight of his sister in her bra. But not before he noticed something.
Amber saw his eyes focus on her arms. The bruises. Damien could be a little rough with her sometimes. He never hurt her. Never. Sometimes he just got carried away. She pulled her pajama top on quickly.
"It's nothing," she said quietly to her little brother.
"Um.." Drew mumbled, hesitantly wandering over to the bed and sitting down quietly next to her. He took her arm in his hands and inspected the bruise closely. Amber was so shocked by the directness of her brother that she didn't stop him.
"Does it hurt?" he asked, his curious, frightened eyes looking up into hers.
"No," she said quickly, pulling her shirt sleeve back down. "I'm fine, it's fine."
"Amber..."
"Drew, I said it's fine!" Drew flinched at the raise of her voice. She sighed, feeling guilty. "I'm sorry, I'm just... tired," Amber said, laying down and curling up on her bed, facing away from Drew.
Drew sat still for a moment, then said "Amber, do you remember when mom used to have bruises like that?"
"It's not the same thing," Amber said quietly. "It's not, Drew. I promise."
Amber must've fallen asleep at some point, but she didn't remember doing so. She rolled over as quietly as she could. Her mom and Drew were still fast asleep. She fumbled around for her phone and winced when she saw it. Over forty missed calls from Damien. A barrage of angry texts bombarded her still sleepy eyes. Boy was he angry. Not even at her, she didn't think. Just angry.
She snuck out of the bedroom and dialed his number. She knew it by heart. It rang once.
"What the hell, Amber?" came the gruff voice from the other end.
"I'm sorry, honey, I'm so so sorry."
"Does she think I'm some kind of rapist or something?" Damien was getting angrier.
"No! No, don't be ridiculous. She's... she's just overprotective of me, I guess."
"Why? You're pretty much an adult. You can look after yourself, you don't need her."
Last night, Amber would've jumped to agree with him. But when he said that- 'you don't need her'-deep inside, Amber felt a pang of something.
"I mean..." she mumbled.
"What?"
"You're right, baby, I don't need her. And she was being stupid, driving around to find me like that it's just..."
"Just what?"
"We've had it kind of rough, my mom and Drew and me. We were always sorta moving around everywhere, no money, different apartments, motels, dad being drunk and loud and so... so... it's stupid but... we always just sorta stuck together... and as long as we did then we'd be ok."
"Are you defending her right now?"
"No, no." Amber sighed. "You're right baby, she was totally out of line. Believe me, I told her that. I hate her, she's the worst."
She could almost hear Damien calming down on the other end of the line. He didn't take well to disagreement or seeing the other point of view.
"Ok, well. I'll see you later today then."
"What?"
"I'm guessing you want to get outta there ASAP then? So come over whenever."
"But I have school."
"Has that ever stopped you before?"
"Damien I can't leave my little brother again. He gets so freaked out."
"Oh, Amber come on. If you really loved me that wouldn't matter."
Amber nodded. "Ok," she murmured. "See you later."
