Chapter 21: A Diary

The same day, at the Haunted Mansion, Amber was looking for Cato. She went up to his room hoping he'd be there.

"*Knock* "Knock* Cato, are you in there?" Amber asked.

After a few moments of silence, Amber let herself in only to find a messy room.

"Oh my gosh, he really needs to learn to clean up to himself."

Amber tried to sort out his stuff and made his room tidy but to no avail, she gave up halfway. There were too many stuff to clean up. Amber rested on his bed and letting out a sigh of defeat for failing to clean his room, even if it wasn't her job.

"This is gonna take forever!" Amber grunted.

Then, she heard a loud thud. Sounded like a book fell to the floor. Amber went to check it out and found a book, no, a diary more like it.

"Hello, what do we have here?" Amber asked herself with a sly grin. It read "My personal Journal". Her temptation to open the book was beyond words.

She finally opened the book and looked at the first page. It was way back to when Cato was in kindergarten.

"3/27/2007
I guess this is where I start recording all my stuff. Today, my teacher gave us a book specified for us to "record our life events". I never understood what she meant, so I'm gonna start with this day. I hope this book will be filled with happy memories."

Amber flipped a little further into the book until it reached to when he was 7, the point where he had to leave to Florida.

"1/16/2009
My dad said that we're going to leave Elmore today. I didn't want to go. I wanted to stay with Gumball, Darwin and Lexy, and they wanted to stay with me. Why did we have to leave? If only Dad didn't have to switch positions in his job, we wouldn't have to leave. This world is so unfair."

She flipped a little further more and found an event which caught her eye.

"9/30/2009
I still got bullied, the people in my school won't stop teasing me for being white-skinned. There were two bears who beat me up. It hurts so much. When I wanted to play soccer with them, they told me to go away. So I went to the stairs near the field and wanted to sit there. Then, I met her. A ghost who was bullied as much as I was. She looked really innocent and cute. I said hi but she thought I wanted to bully her. After I told her I wasn't, she introduced herself. Her name was Amber. Amber Caeser."

This brought her emotions deep in her heart as she remembered clearly of that day, like it was yesterday. She started thinking of the what-ifs.

"What if he never talked to me in the first place? What if I never bothered to talk to him? Would I be in a much worse state?" She started thinking.

The teen ghost turned a few pages and kept reading.

"9/30/2010
It literally has been a year since I talked to Amber, now we're like really close friends. It felt like it was the two of us against the entire world. Me and Amber got along well over the year, but something doesn't feel right. I feel like we're more than just friends. I wanted to tell her how I felt sometimes, but I couldn't. I never had the courage to do it. Is this...what you call 'love'? I hope she doesn't find this."

"This was when he started liking me. He actually liked me that long? Why didn't he tell me?...Why didn't I tell him?" Amber said to herself as she continues to turn the pages. The questions lingered around her head when she found out about her boyfriend's long crush for her. She actually had a crush for him soon after he first talked to washed away her thoughts and continued reading.

"11/12/2010
It's my birthday! I finally get to celebrate my birthday with a friend. It's been so long since I had this feeling. I was happy to see Amber smiling throughout the entire party. Maybe she cared for me? This day couldn't get any better!"

"Wait, 12th November 2010? That's close to Breaker Mall '10. Could he...?" Amber questioned filled with curiosity as she noticed the date.

She turned to the next page and sure enough, the next log was a few days, probably about a week after Breaker Mall '10.

"11/20/2010
My life is broken. I just lost my mom and dad. I was crying through the entire funeral. Out of anyone, only Amy and Amber calmed me down while Andrew was trying to hold up his tears. Guess I'm the crybaby of the family. My little brother is still holding his tears while I'm just letting it all out. To make things worse, Amy left me and Andrew to live with her friend, and Andrew left me to live with his group of friends. I was all alone. Nobody helped me. Mom, Dad, I wished you were still here. I could feel it. They're gonna send me to an orphanage soon. I don't want that. Please, help me."

This log almost brought Amber to tears. She knew that Cato had problems during that period of time, but she never thought it would be up to the point where he would give up.

"12/2/2010
Mom, Dad, I finally found a place to stay with someone. Amber convinced her parents to take me in. I'm so happy, not only because I don't have to go to an orphanage, but I get to stay with my friend. Someone who actually cared for me when I needed someone the most. Her parents also kept the gifts you bought for me. I love it! The shirt had my initials on it and the jacket looks awesome! Thank you so much, guys! Wish you could see me in it."

"12/20/2010
It's a snow day today! Amber and I did a lot of fun stuff together at the park. First, we played with snowballs and built snowmen. Then, we rolled around in the snow and made snow angels. It was really fun. Maybe because it's because of her? Ever since my parents died, she tried to keep me as happy as I can. Trying to do things even if she can't. She really cares for me this much. Does she like me the same way I do?"

The deeper she goes, the more she wants to know and remember the things they went through together.

"6/5/2011
It was the start of summer break, Amber said she wanted to hang out with me for awhile. So I agreed and left after telling her parents..."

Amber started blushing as she remembered that day.

"...We went to the park and rested under a tree. I asked what she brought me here for, but she didn't say. Then, she started talking. She said the words that I've been wanting to hear, ever since she took me in. She said...she likes me. She said I always gave her a happy time. I gave her everything it means to have a happy life. I...gave her a life. A life that she never regret living. A life that's worth going through every problem with. As long as I was with her. The things she said actually struck me. I told her I like her and she blushed. It was the first time I saw her blush. It was kinda cute. There was a lot more I wanted to tell you. I wanted to thank you. You gave me a second chance to live. You gave me a great time whenever you were with me. I hope you know that. That feeling came back to me. The feeling I got before. I think...I think I'm in love."

Amber went down crying reading this. He was really passionate about her, back then and now. The love he had for her was that strong. It took awhile for Amber to be on the same state and both of them started a relationship. She cried but with tears of joy. She was very thankful to have a boyfriend like him. Caring and kind in every step of the way.

After that log, he never touched the journal for years. The next log was when they left to Elmore.

"9/29/2015
Heya, little journal. I forgot that I had you. Maybe I got too hooked up on Amber I stopped recording stuff. Hahaha. Anyway, Amber's parents somehow disappeared. Don't know how that happened. Kinda reminds me of you, Mom, Dad. Just in a few seconds, you disappeared from my life. But I'm okay now. Don't worry. Amber's here with me now. But going back to Elmore, I'm so psyched. I finally get to see Gumball, Darwin and Lexy again. As much as I wanna leave this place, I can't wait to see them."

Amber looked through the rest of the pages, showing numerous events that gave her flashbacks such as their first encounter with Lexy, meeting Ivan for the first time, Cato and his friends starting a band, and to top it all off, the Halloween Party. She stopped once she got to the Christmas the same year.

"12/25/2015
It's our first Christmas with anyone else other than Amber or her family or even my own family. We had a great time hanging out the afternoon at Gumball's house. Damn, was it a party. Mr. Watterson won't stop eating and drinking at the dinner table. After around 5 PM, we left to the hospital to check on Jake. He was the only one of my closest friends who weren't there besides Kelsey who was with Jake half of the day. Watching Jake and Kelsey together, it makes me wonder about me and Amber. They're so close together. I just hope me and Amber would be like them one day. Keep a secret, will you journal? I'm gonna promise myself to make Amber happy and safe no matter what. I just want to see that warm smile on her cute face."

"He'd actually do anything for me?" She wondered as she had flashbacks of everything Cato did for her, whether to make her happy or to keep her safe from harm. She admired his determination for her despite the stuff they've already went through. She turned to the last log in the book. It was they're date at the funfair.

"2/5/2016
I took Amber on a date today. I loved every single moment of it. She even wore the white dress her mom used to have. She was so beautiful I couldn't stop looking at her. I took her to the funfair because she always dreamed of going there. We spent our time playing games together. I won a teddy bear for her in one of those games where you have to knock down all the cans in three shots. I haven't been to a funfair often myself so I don't know what it was called. But at least I made her smile. I can never get that moment out of my head, nor the smile she had on her face. I always loved her smile, makes me feel at ease. Before we left, we took a ride on the ferris wheel. She got scared at first, so I told her to hold on to me tight if she gets scared. When we got to the top, she wasn't even the slightest scared. She was actually amazed at the sight of Elmore during the night full of stars. That moment was really perfect. I could never ask for another girl other than Amber."

"*sniff* Cato.." Amber said as she started crying again over the kind words and thoughts he had of her. It wasn't long until she was interrupted by a familiar voice.

"Amber?"

Amber turned around and saw her loving boyfriend standing at the door of his room. Cato stood there stunned as to what had happened. He saw the book she was holding seconds before Amber went to him for a tight hug. Cato returned the hug with a caring smile while Amber cried on his shoulder.

"Hey, it's alright. It's okay. No need to cry."

"*sniff* Thank you. Thank you for being so caring. I've never realized you had those kinds of thoughts for me." Amber said in between tears.

"Don't worry. It's not just me who's the caring one in this relationship anyway."

Cato held her shoulders and bent down a little to match her height to see her face.

"You've been as caring to me as I've been to you. If you never cared for me when my parents died, heck I don't even know where I'll be now. Thank you, for being a great girlfriend." Cato said as he pulled her in for another hug.

"You too, thanks for being an awesome boyfriend."

They stayed in a hug, embracing each other's love until another familiar voice interrupted.

"Hey guys, you wa- oh."

Carrie stood at the door looking at the two lovebirds awkwardly.

"Am I interrupting something?" Carrie asked.

"Uhh...no, not at all."

"Wait, Amber. A-are you crying?"

"What? No!" Amber said as she wipes away her tears.

"Something definitely happened, but I don't wanna be too nosy about it. Anyway, made you guys dinner. Come on down and get some." Carrie said before leaving the room.

Amber and Cato stood looking into each other's eyes before snapping out.

"So...you wanna eat?" Amber asked.

"Of course. As long as my girl is with me." Cato said with a flirty voice (That's the first) as he held out his hand for Amber to hold.

Amber gladly accepted it and both of them went downstairs to eat.

Welp, that ends this chapter. Boy flirts with girl and holds out his hand while girl accepts it despite after reading boy's diary. Diary, Personal Journal? I don't know. Anyway, thanks for reading this chapter and waiting for about two weeks for this to come out. I just finished my exams literally yesterday, so I can get back to the later chapters now. Leave a comment on what you think of the chapter and the way I've been doing the writing format. Hope you enjoyed it and I'll see you in the next chapter. Love you guys, peace out!