Chapter 7

Lilly hung around the surf shack for the remainder of Amber's work day and flirted with the girl and was pleasantly surprised Amber even flirted back. Lilly watched the Goth girl as she was pouring a large order of drinks and smiled. She told Amber the truth on the beach earlier, she was falling in love with the girl and it was so easy to do. Amber was very pretty and extremely sexy; that was obvious to anyone who saw the small brunette. Even with the rocky start the two girls had, Lilly saw how sweet and caring Amber was by the way the Goth girl took care of the girl Natalie and how she seemed to love the little girl very much. Lilly sighed, and then there was the kissing. When Amber kissed her on the beach those kisses were so full of a passion and intensity Lilly never felt before. Lilly only had sex with three people, Miley, Oliver, and Allison; but she kissed quite a few people (both girls and boys and even one man who was 25) but she had never been kissed the way Amber kissed her when they made out earlier. Lilly never felt such passion in a kiss before. And those eyes Lilly finally saw when they were alive. The first time Lilly saw the girl her eyes were dead and dull, but when they made out on the beach Lilly got to see the eyes spark to life and she had never seen such a brilliant shade of green before. Lilly finally saw the eyes that made Amber infamous to her friends, lovers, and even her enemies in Seattle. Of course there were the secrets Lilly knew about her as well. The abuse she suffered and the losses she endured in her life and for someone like Lilly, a girl who liked to take care of and have pity on people who are hurting, falling in love with Amber was very easy to do and when Amber dared her to fall in love with her on the beach, Lilly knew at that moment it was too late, she already did. Lilly giggled when Amber caught her staring at her and the Goth girl rolled her eyes. Lilly was glad to see Amber smile as she rolled her eyes. After she completed the large order from a group of boys, who tipped the Goth girl very well, Amber walked seductively over to Lilly and leaned across the counter.

"So…see anything you like, miss?" She teased.

Lilly smiled, "I see something I like very much. I have been staring at it all afternoon and thinking how much I would like to have it."

"Umm…is that right...and I hope those thoughts were of the dirty kind."

Lilly giggled, "Oh yeah…very dirty…so dirty I should be ashamed of myself, but I'm not."

Amber laughed and when she did Lilly it came to Lilly she never heard the other girl laugh before, truly laugh, she liked it very much. To her the laugh sounded like finally tuned bells chiming to a perfect rhythm. Amber brought her hand up and caressed Lilly's cheek seductively.

"God…you are so pretty and sexy. I wish I could give you what you want, Lilly. I really do, but you are not ready yet…maybe one day you will be, but right now you aren't." Amber said sadly.

Lilly turned her head to catch Amber's hand in a kiss and gave the girl a confused look. Then she smiled at Amber's teasing of her, "Oh…I think I can handle you, Amber." She winked.

Amber sighed sadly, "Oh, baby, of that I have no doubt…but that is not what I meant. You will understand soon…I just hope you can deal with it. Remember what I told you earlier today…I gave you the chance to run…and remember what I told you on the beach when I kissed your lovely lips…pray not to love me, Lilly, I mean it, baby. Run before it is to late…for both of us." Amber briefly got another spacey look in her eyes for a brief moment before a customer called for her attention. She smiled happily at Lilly, winked in a slow seductive manner, and then went to take the customer's order. Lilly watched her closely and wandered what the girl meant.

As it became closer for Amber to get off work, Lilly felt her love grow for the strange Goth girl as she got to witness Amber's mood change from the sad abused girl to the flirty happy girl. Amber flirted not only with her but with the customers and Lilly thought she was good at it…very good. Lilly watched the girl closely all afternoon and as seven o'clock approached she saw Amber glance up to the road and the sad girl came back as quick as a lightning flash. The thrilling spark she saw in those green eyes became dead and dull again. Lilly followed her gaze and noticed a black BMW parked close to the road. Lilly knew it was the girl's uncle. She felt pity and pain for her new love. When Lilly turned back around she noticed Amber standing close to her and had some money bills in her hand and a white piece of paper.

"Lilly, do me a favor…take this money and list and buy the things on it and give it to me at school tomorrow. And pick me up a catalog for a nice…but not to expensive…clothing store for children. I…I have to go now…I want to kiss you so bad, but I can't. I…I'm sorry, Lilly. I'm sorry I did what I did."

"What did you do?" Lilly asked as she took the money and list.

"For daring you to fall in love with me…it's too late now...I don't want you to run anymore." Amber turned and walked up the hill quickly to the waiting car. Lilly sighed and unfolded the list and saw it was a list of school supplies for a child and at the bottom were words asking Lilly to buy a children's back pack and it gave the name of Natalie's favorite cartoon character. Amber wanted Lilly to buy Natalie school supplies so she would not be teased at school for not having what she needed and so the girl would not have to borrow anything any more.

Amber got into the man's car and she buckled her seat belt hoping he would not make her put him in her mouth.

"Who's the girl you were talking to? She's is pretty and has a great ass."

"No one…just a girl from school who needed help in her math class..." Amber felt her anger rising.

"And why the fuck did she come to you. She must really be desperate to ask you for help. I was hoping she wanted to fuck you…the three of us could have had some fun." The man laughed at her.

"For your fucking information, I am very smart and a whiz at math and almost anything. Something you would never know about…" Amber felt the man's large palm of his hand hit her face and her head was thrown against the car window with such force it made her dizzy. She cried out in pain.

"Don't get smart with me, whore, don't ever get a smart mouth with me, you stupid cunt!" The man grabbed her hair and pulled hard as he raised his hand again and Amber stared at him with cold dead eyes. The man laughed louder

"You think you are so tough and unbreakable don't you. Sure you let fuck you without protesting and you cry when I hurt you. But you think I cannot break you, you little whore. You think you already suffered so much…little poor Amber lost so much. First her parents and brother and then a couple of her friends…Yeah I know it all. But you can be broken, slut. I have not even tried to break you yet. Everyone has a breaking point, cunt! Everyone! I have not even begun to hurt you. I don't want to mark your pretty face and body to much, but it will come. And then there is Natalie." The man grinned as her saw Amber's watery eyes grow wide. "Yeah…you love her and it hurts you to see her hurt. That is your breaking point, cunt. That is what is going to break you." The man pulled her hair harder and Amber began to cry. She cried from the pain but mostly she cried from the threat of Natalie being hurt. The man let her go by throwing her head against the window again. "She broke the microwave today. Her mom does not know, I told her it was me…but I wonder what her mother would do if she knew Natalie broke it? Any idea what she would do, Amber?" The man gave her an evil grin.

"No…please…no…I…I will do anything you ask…please just leave her alone. Please. She is just a child." Amber begged.

The man laughed. He enjoyed seeing the girl's spirit broke. "I know you will do anything I have you do, but from now on I want to see you more enthusiastic when I fuck you. I am tired of you just laying there. From now on you are going to like me…to beg me to fuck you. Understood?"

Amber nodded and reached over and started to rub the man's crouch. His penis was already erect and Amber rubbed massaged it. "Y…yes…I…I want to put it in my mouth. I…I…please let me suck you." Amber begged through her tears. The man grinned, "That's a start. You will also continue to take Natalie to work with you on the weekends…get as close to her as possible…she likes you and I want you to be her sister. Now, slut, unzip my pants and give me a blow job and make me cum before we get home." Amber nodded and did as the man asked. As she sucked him she silently begged to die.

That night the man came to her again and Amber had sex with him as a lover does and not as a girl being raped. Amber lifter her butt off the bed to meet his thrusts, she got on top of him and rode him like a lover, and she faked moans of pleasure and ecstasy as he fucked her. She felt no pleasure as she pretended to love him. She avoided Natalie all night and it broke her heart to see the little girl run to her room in tears telling her she hated her and she was not longer her best friend because Amber would not tell her a story as she got used to when Amber gave her a bath at night. Amber knew they were just the words of an eight year olds tantrum but they stung anyway. At one time when the man was on top of her grunting and thrusting Amber looked over to the side of the bed and saw the White Lady watching her. Amber reached out and the White Lady took her hand and held it as the man thrust in her hard. The White Lady smiled at her in pity and Amber smiled back and felt safe.

Lilly watched Amber walk to the car and she ran around the surf shack and through a path that was posted as authorized personal only. It was a path Lilly used as a life guard over the summer and she knew it would lead to the road and she would get there before Amber did. She watched as Amber got into the car. The man's windows were tinted but not dark enough to where Lilly could not see the man hit Amber and pull her hair and then slam her head to the window. Lilly, with tears running down her cheeks, saw Amber bend down and her head disappeared in the direction of the man's lap. When the car drove away, Lilly dropped to the sand and sat on her butt. She put her head in her hands and cried. She wanted someone to talk to and a shoulder to cry on. She thought about calling Oliver and then she thought she could not stand to touch a man or have a man touch her right now after what she just saw. She was ashamed of herself for thinking like that about Oliver of all people but she could not help it. Right now the male species disgusted her. She cried and wished Miley was back. She never missed her best friend as she did right then.

Lilly sat next to Amber during lunch and gave her the items from the list. Amber smiled and thanked her and then focused on her food. She was not hungry and played with it instead of eating. Lilly tried to make small talk with her, but Amber ignored her and just stared at her plate playing with her food. Lilly looked at Amber closely and saw the same dreamy expression in her eyes she had at the beach the previous day.

"Hey…you ok, baby?" Lilly finally asked.

Amber looked up and smiled, "Yeah…just not hungry. Did I thank you for getting this stuff for Natalie?" Lilly nodded and Amber smiled and went back to her plate.

"Amber…I…I love you, you know that right?" Lilly asked. Amber looked up and smiled.

"You're so sweet." Amber said nonchalantly and went back to playing with her food.

"Amber, you…you can tell me anything you know…I…want you to know that." Lilly said. She did not like being ignored and she wanted the girl to acknowledge her love and be the girl she saw yesterday. The girl who smiled and flirted with her and her customers and who charmed everyone who approached the surf shack, but that girl was not here today. Lilly felt her anger rising and stood up.

"Well…if you are not going to talk to me…I…I'll just go sit with Oliver." Lilly said in a harsh voice.

Amber looked up with her dead eyes, "Ok, Lilly. See you later, sweetie." The girl said calmly and in an uncaring tone and turned her eyes back to the plate. Lilly stormed off and left the cafeteria ignoring Oliver waving for her to join him.

The blonde girl made it to the gym and then inside the empty girl's locker room before she started crying. She cried because Amber refused to acknowledge her love, because the girl ignored her, and she cried because she was a bitch to the girl she loved who needed help. Lilly hated herself for not understanding what Amber felt. How could she? She hated herself for letting her pain overcome the pain Amber felt. Last night Lilly finally understood what Amber meant when she said she was not ready for her. When she laid in bed trying to think of making love to the sexy Goth girl, all Lilly could think about was the scene in the car and the things the man did to Amber. Lilly now knew that was what Amber meant and the girl was right. She was not ready. And she hated herself for that as well.

The rest of the day was the same and as Lilly sat on the stool at the surf shack to watch Amber it was the same as school. The small brunette would take and prepare orders with efficiency and give the customer a charming smile as she took their money or acknowledge their attempts at flirtation. When not serving a customer, the girl would stand in front of Lilly and stare at the ocean in the distance with a spacey look in her eyes. Lilly would try to talk to her, but Amber would just smile at her from time to time and make a comment and go back to looking at the ocean. A couple of times Amber would push Lilly's hair behind her ears and tell her she was sweet and pretty and go back to her stares. Lilly had to fight her rising anger at being ignored. She hated being ignored and was not used to it, but she kept her anger under control and would continue to talk to the girl as if she held Amber's complete attention.

The next day at school a different Amber showed up. It was the Amber Lilly enjoyed two days ago. The charming girl who smiled and talked and flirted and charmed people was back. Amber laughed and flirted with Lilly shamelessly and even one time when the girls were walking the hall of the school to lunch, Amber pulled the blonde into the bathroom and then into one of the stalls and kissed her with a fierce passion that left Lilly breathless. After the girls made out for a long time Amber pulled back and giggled and told Lilly she loved her and pulled the girl out of the bathroom and held her hand as they walked to the cafeteria. The Amber Lilly fell in love with was back that day.

It was the same over the next two weeks. One day Amber would be in her own little world and ignore everyone around her and stare off to the distance with the glassy look in her eyes and the next day she would be the happy, flirty, affectionate girl Lilly enjoyed. Sometimes her happy mood would last a couple of days but then the sad girl would come back. Students at the school would whisper and tell each other it was drugs, but Lilly knew that was not the case. Lilly knew it was because of what the girl had to endure at home. The blonde girl got used to it and stayed by Amber's side during her dark periods and during those times, Lilly would just be with her in silence. The weekend Amber brought Natalie to the beach and Lilly would take the girl and watch her while Amber worked. Lilly loved spending time with Natalie and taught her to swim in the ocean and even surf the small waves. Lilly could sense a strain in the relationship between Amber and Natalie and noticed Amber became even more protective of the girl than before, something Natalie did not seem to enjoy since Amber's protection was too much at times. She watched Natalie like a hawk when she could and would scold the girl if she talked to anyone else but Lilly, Jackson, or Rico. Lilly did not pry by questioning Natalie or Amber. She just promised herself to be there for the two girls. During one of Amber's good days, as Lilly called them, the two girls made love for the first time.

It was a Wednesday and Amber was in a terrific mood and flirted and teased Lilly to where it was driving the blonde crazy with desire. As the two girls walked hand and hand to lunch Amber stopped them and kissed Lilly in the hall and ignored the whistles and comments from the other student. Amber pulled back after the quick but passionate kiss.

"Lilly, your mom works, right?" She asked the blonde.

Lilly nodded and looked at Amber with lust and confusion.

"I feel like skipping the rest of school today. Can we go to your house?"

Lilly smiled, "Sure…my mom gets home at five so it would not be a problem."

Amber kissed her again quickly, "Yeah…I have to be back at four anyway to go home. Let's go." Amber grabbed Lilly's hand and the two girls snuck out of school and as Lilly was driving Amber held her hand and ran her fingers over it seductively. Whenever Lilly had to stop at a light or a stop sign, Amber would pull the blonde to her and kiss her passionately and whisper in her ear she loved her. She was driving Lilly crazy with desire. They got to Lilly's house and Amber sat on the couch and Lilly asked her if he wanted to tour of the place. Amber smiled and patted the area next to her and shook her head. "Please…just sit next to me and hold me." Lilly smiled and did just that. As soon as she sat down, Amber twisted her body and straddled Lilly and kissed her and ran her hands through the blonde's hair. Lilly moaned in pleasure and pulled Amber tighter to her. Amber started kissing her neck and nibbling her ear. Lilly squealed in her pleasure and felt her self get more aroused.

"Are you ready, Lilly? Can you handle it now?" Amber asked as she ran her tongue over the blonde's neck. Lilly just moaned her response. "I want you, Lilly…I love you and want to feel you…to taste you…to make love to you." Amber said between licking Lilly's neck.

"Ohhh…yes, Amber…I want you too…love me…I…I love you, baby…Ohhh…please…make love to me." Lilly moaned out her desire. Amber got off the blonde and giggled at Lilly's whimper and looked at her.

"Lilly, take me to your bedroom." She said as she held out her hand. Lilly stood and walked Amber to her room. Amber sat on her bed and did not even look around the room she had never seen. Her eyes were only on Lilly. She looked up and smiled and held her hand up as Lilly started to sit on the bed next to her.

"No…not yet…first…promise me, Lilly, promise to think only of me and my desire and love for you. Do…do not think of anything else. Don't think of the…just think of us…you and me…promise me, love, promise me." Lilly noticed that while Amber was smiling she had tears in her eyes. Lilly enjoyed when Amber called her "Love". It sent a thrilling shiver up her spin every time.

Lilly nodded, "I…I promise, Amber…I promise." Amber wiped her eyes and her smile turned into a grin of lust.

"Undress for me, love, I want to watch you and worship your body. I want to love you and feel your love." Lilly grinned and took her clothes off slowly. She did not do a cheesy strip tease but she took her time and posed her body in ways to enhance the view Amber was getting. Lilly was always comfortable with her body and she had good reason to be. There were other girls in her school prettier than her, but not many had the shape she did and not many could fill out a bikini as Lilly did. Her stomach was flat and tight, her butt was firm and nicely shaped, and her breasts were slightly larger than most girls her age and they were firm and tight and tipped with perfectly shaped light brown nipples. Amber gasped at the girl's body.

"God…you are so beautiful…I'm jealous." Amber pouted teasingly. Lilly giggled and walked over to Amber's waiting arms and straddled her and kissed her deep and passionately. Amber moaned as her hands roamed over the wonderful body and then teased Lilly's hard erect nipples. Lilly gasped in pleasure. She rolled off Amber and lay on her back with one leg pulled up and the other laying flat. Amber smiled in appreciation of the sexy pose.

"Now you…I want to see you." Lilly commanded as she gently pushed Amber off the bed with her foot to stand up.

Amber smiled and removed her clothes and Lilly thought she was lovely. She was smaller than her in everyway. Her body was small and petite but not in an unhealthy way. Her breasts were small but well shaped, slightly upturned and tipped with sexy rose colored nipples. When she turned to tease Lilly, the blonde saw her butt was also small but had a perfect shape and she gasped in desire. Lilly could not wait any longer. She stood and grabbed Amber and they girls kissed and their hands explored each others bodies in desire. Lilly pulled Amber to the bed and gently pushed her down and straddled her and kissed her and both girls whispered words of love as they began to make love for the first time.

Later…much later…Amber had her head on Lilly's chest with her legs snaked around the blonde. Her fingers were tracing the outline of Lilly's right breast. Lilly was on her back with her arms hugging Amber tight. Both girls were breathing hard. Neither one spoke for a long moment. Lilly thought it was the best sex she ever experienced. It was nothing she never did before, with the exception of when Amber rimmed her butt with her tongue (which she found she enjoyed), but nothing else was new to her. It was just that Amber was so full of passion and intensity and desire that made it incredible. She kissed Amber's head.

"Wow…I do not want to be like a cliché…but…wow!"

Amber smiled and kissed the girl's nipple gently, "Yeah…me too…that was wonderful. I forgot how pleasurable sex could be." Amber said not thinking. She really enjoyed Lilly and the love making and got lost in the pleasure and the comfort of the aftermath of the sex.

Lilly stiffened a little and Amber did not seem to notice. She kept her promise to Amber during their love making and only thought of her, but now the image of the girl's uncle using her, raping her, and abusing her came crashing into her mind. Lilly noticed the scattered bruises, some fresh and some almost faded, on her lover's body but ignored them as promised. Now she had images of how those marks got there. She forced herself to hold back her tears as she hugged Amber tighter. She felt Amber's body shake as the small brunette pressed her head tighter to Lilly's breast. She looked down and saw Amber had tears in her eyes. Amber looked up and smiled sadly.

"I'm sorry, Lilly, I'm sorry I cannot go on dates with you. I…I want to so bad. I want to walk the beach with you in the evening and make love to you on the beach at night in front of the pier you love so much. I want to spend the night with you and make love to you in your bed all night. I want to cook dinner for you and enjoy your company for hours and hours. You are so good to me. So kind to me even when I am away and hear the…when my mind wanders…I'm so sorry, Lilly…I'm so sorry…for everything…I…I do love you, Lilly, but I never should have dared you to love me." Amber cried as Lilly whispered it was ok and that she loved the girl as well. Amber smiled at those words and cuddled with the blonde girl even tighter. Lilly wanted to talk to Amber and comfort her and let the girl cry in her arms. Lilly wanted to protect her. The two never discussed what happens to Amber at her home and Lilly never pried. She felt Amber would tell her when the time was right. The two girls ignored it. But Lilly wanted to now. She felt after what they just did and the confessions of love they felt for one another it was time. Lilly felt if Amber could talk about it she could help her.

"Amber, I…I am here for you and I will help you anyway I can. I…I want you to tell me, Amber. I want you to talk to me about it. I want to help you."

Amber kissed Lilly's breast and snuggled closer. "No, Lilly…you don't want to know. I can't tell you, baby. It is cruel and terrible and…and…you won't love me anymore. I can't lose you now anymore than I can lose Natalie. Natalie taught me to love again. I love her as I would a sister. I love her for her innocence and she taught me there is still innocence in the world that has not been corrupted yet. But you, love, have taught me to be in love again. You showed me there is kindness in the world I have forgotten was there. I could not have loved again without either of you. One was not enough, baby, I needed both of you to know love again. Please, love, please don't make me tell you. You…you read the journal…you know already so please don't make me speak it aloud. Written down it is like a bad dream now that I have you, but if I say it aloud it becomes too real. Don't make it real, Lilly…please don't make it real." Amber cried and Lilly felt her tears wash over her breast.

"Ok, baby, I will not ask again. Just know I am here for you and I love you and I will not leave you. It…it is just hard sometimes to know about it and what happens and when I think about it…it drives me crazy and I want to…" She was silenced when Amber pressed her fingers to her lips. Amber seductively snaked her body up Lilly's and replaced her finger with her lips. She kissed Lilly gently but in a way Lilly thought was so seductive and full of love for such a small kiss.

"Shhh…no, love, do not think about it anymore. Do not ruin what we have. I just ask you to understand why I have to do it and for who I do it for. Just never think about it again. It will end soon...it will not last forever...I'll be eighteen soon and can escape." Amber pressed her lips against Lilly's again but this time kissed her with passion and allowed her tongue to enter Lilly's welcoming mouth. She kissed her as her fingers gently spread the blonde's willing thighs. Lilly gasped when she felt Amber's finger enter her wet pussy. Amber broke the kiss.

"Make love to me again before we go back, love. Love me and desire me, love." Amber whispered in a seductive voice. Lilly and Amber made love again and again before she had to drive Amber back to the school to go home. If Lilly had any doubts about her love for Amber they were erased from her mind the glorious afternoon when she made love to Amber for the first and last time. Lilly never asked Amber again about what happened to her in her home. She later regretted that she never did, because if she did she would have understood she was dealing with something beyond her help. Lying in bed with Amber, Lilly was hypnotized by the Goth girl and her love for her blinded her for what was to come in the following weeks. Lilly Truscott thought she truly knew how love felt for the first time in her life when Amber wrapped her body around hers after they made love several times that afternoon.

Lilly was sitting on her bed already dressed as she watched Amber put on her clothes and giggled. She got dressed quickly in her plaid Capri pants and polo shirt but it too Amber a little longer to put on her skirt, white thigh highs, and a blouse with a number of complicated buttons. Amber gave her a teasing look and smiled.

"Glad to see I amuse you. It you did not dress…"

"Boyish?" Lilly said with a laugh and Amber blushed. She had forgotten she described the girl's dress like that in her journal.

"Just because I said boyish does not mean I don't like it. It reminds me of someone." Amber said as she hooked her bra.

"Samantha? Who…who was she?" Lilly dared to ask. She saw the named mentioned in the journal several times almost in reverence and knew the girl was dead.

Amber looked at Lilly and frowned as she pulled on her blouse. "She was someone I cared about very much. Don't be jealous of a ghost, Lilly, it does not become you." Amber said in a stern voice. Lilly turned red and looked at her sneakers.

"I…sorry…I just want to know you more. For you to talk to me about your past. Your mom and dad and brother. You friends in Seattle. I…I was not jealous."

"What is there to talk about. My mom was beautiful and sweet and kind and a lady of the highest class. My dad was strong, loving, handsome, and wonderful. My brother was one of a kind. He was protective to where it drove me crazy, handsome beyond belief to where all my girl friends were in love with him, and he was full of honor and duty which got him killed. My best friend was…she was awesome and she loved me beyond belief. And Samantha was wonderful and I loved her very much and she was stolen from me twice. Once by another girl and the next time by a bullet in the brain. So what's to explain. They are all dead and gone. That is my life in Seattle, Lilly! End of story! Leave the dead alone, Lilly! Do not be jealous of someone lost to me!" Amber was almost screaming by the time she finished.

Lilly stared at her and smiled. "See…know I know a little more about you." Lilly gave the girl a teasing smile. Amber laughed and jumped into Lilly's arms and kissed her.

"I'm sorry…I need to trust again and it is hard. Please be patient with me."

Lilly grinned and kissed Amber back quickly, "I am…hell any other girl I could not get into my bed after two days I would have kicked to the curb."

Amber got off Lilly and laughed, "I knew you were a terrible, terrible person! Well…was I worth the wait?" She said with a wink as she buttoned her blouse.

Lilly faked a yawn, "Yeah…but another few days and I would have let it go." Amber grinned as she brought her left leg up behind her to slip on the strap of her high heel shoe.

"Ohhh…you are awful!"

Lilly stood and walked over to her and wrapped her arms around her from behind and whispered in her ear, "I would have waited for this afternoon for years, Amber. It was incredible." She heard Amber moan and Lilly gently bit the girl's ear and was rewarded by a slight whimper of pleasure as Amber pressed her butt against Lilly's pelvis.

"Stop…I am getting horny again and we have to go." Amber said and it came out in a pleading voice. Lilly let her go and turned her around and kissed her quickly and then released her.

On the way back to the school the two girls held hands and kept mostly silent as both thought of that wonderful afternoon. As they approached the school Lilly broke the silence.

"So, baby, where are you going when you turn eighteen? Back to Seattle?"

Amber brought Lilly's hand to her lips and kissed it, "No…Seattle is dead to me now. I have nothing there anymore. I was thinking about someplace sandy. I am growing fond of the beach." Lilly smiled but she knew it was a lie. She knew as well as Amber did; she knew Amber would never leave Natalie alone in that house. Lilly knew Amber would allow herself to be abused to protect Natalie. Lilly frowned when Amber turned her head to look out the window. She knew Amber was thinking the same as her.