Denied feelings

After Amber stepped out of Mr. Evans office with Emma, she heard her friend say to her, “Am I the only one who thinks Mr. Evans is weird?”

Amber looked at her with the same expression she had worn when she left his office and she answered, “I think so too.” She released a sigh before asking, “Is it still too obvious?”

Emma stopped walking and came to stand in front of Amber. She pushed the sides of her hair back and after taking a look at Amber’s cheek, she set her lips into a thin line before bringing her hairs back to cover the side of her face.

“It isn’t obvious but on a closer look, it is,” Emma said and received a nod from Amber before they resumed walking in the quiet corridor.

“I thought Mr. Evans saw it because he kept staring at me. He must have been wondering how my face is like this because I am not the type to fight,” she said as they walked.

“He is just weird, that’s all.” Emma shrugged it off and Amber could not agree more.

As they walked, they suddenly heard someone call, “Amber.”

They stopped walking and when Amber raised her head to look at the owner of that familiar voice, she saw Kevin standing at a distance not too far from where they stood. Her heartbeat started increasing with every step that Kevin took towards her and when he came to stand in front of her, Amber had to look behind him to be sure that Mirabel was not following him.

Kevin’s eyes lowered to fall on the side of her face and Amber had to take a step back when his hand was about to reach for her face.

Emma, who had decided to give them privacy, now went to lean on a pillar not too far from where they are and she watched them.

Dropping his hand back to his side, he looked at her with a sad expression and apologized, “I am sorry for what happened.”

You won’t do anything about it anyway, thought Amber and she scoffed inwardly. She got the mark on her face when Mirabel landed a slap on it all because she tried to defend him and she regretted the fact that he was only apologizing now after it happened four days ago which was Friday.

Despite everything, Amber found herself saying, “You don’t have to apologize to me.”

He shook his head. “I need to.” Amber could hear the seriousness in his voice. “I have hurt you in different ways so I am sorry. And there is something I have wanted to tell you for a long time.”

Amber’s face lit up secretly and she knew that now was the time she has been waiting for. She anticipated for what Kevin was about to say to her but the  moment he parted his lips to speak, they heard someone clap their hands from behind and when they turned their heads, they saw Mirabel, walking towards them with the smile she always wore around.

The look on Amber’s face suddenly changed and so did Kevin’s as they watch her walk towards them.

“There you are! I was looking for you all around but I didn’t know I would find you here,” she said and her face brightened. She rolled her eyes at Emma and when she reached where Amber and Kevin stood, she went to his side and placed an arm around his shoulder. Amber moved away to create space for her at the thought that she might want to attack her in any way.

“Were you talking to her?” Mirabel directed her question to Kevin while fixing her eyes on Amber.

“No!” Kevin immediately responded and Amber looked at him with disbelieving eyes. “I-I was j-just—” Kevin stuttered and Amber looked away from him, feeling disappointed.

How could he just deny talking to her like that without thinking twice or even blinking?

“Better!” Mirabel said, “Or have you told her about it?” she asked and Kevin shook his head.

“About what?” he asked and Amber couldn’t believe how he had immediately shook his head when he clearly doesn’t even know what Mirabel was talking about.

“That you asked me to prom and I accepted,” Mirabel answered and Kevin looked at her with his mouth slightly opened.

As much as Amber knew that Mirabel was only making it up, she couldn’t help but feel her heart break at what she said and her chest tightened. It was because she knows that if Mirabel said something, she makes sure she does it.

She looked away from them and started to walk away when Mirabel’s words made her turn.

“Yeah, that is what you know best. Just walk away and be lonely for the rest of your fucking life.”

Amber smiled at her words which had Mirabel frown. She replied her, “I wasn’t walking away. I just realized there are important things I need to attend to and the only lonely person here is you. Nobody likes you with a sincere heart because of the person you are. You are the one busy forcing them to.”

Mirabel glared at her and clenched her hands. She then said, “I guess the same goes for you right? You can’t deny the fact that you’ve liked Kevin for a long time but poor guy doesn’t even look your way talk less of returning your feelings back. All you want is to make him like you back which you are wrong because Kevin is mine and mine alone,” and after saying that, she grabbed Kevin’s face and kissed him on the lips. Kevin was taken by surprise and with every force that he tried to push her away from himself, it only ended up in her kissing him hard.

Amber blinked several times and her heart wrenched at the sight of them. She found it hard to breathe properly and she knew she would break down any moment but just in time, Emma came to her side and held her hand, giving her the comfort she needed.

Mirabel disengaged and turn to look at Amber with a smirk and a look of achievement in her eyes.

Amber hid the pain that bubbled in her chest and she gathered all the energy to speak calmly without her voice breaking. “Are you done now or would you want some little privacy to yourself?”

Mirabel was taken aback at Amber’s words and her forehead crinkled. She had expected that Amber would feel jealous and moved to tears with what she had done but it was the opposite of what she had thought.

“And what do you mean?” Mirabel asked, trying to keep her normal expression which she failed.

Amber smiled and scoffed through her nose. “You obviously think you can move me with that. Well, too bad! You have hated me for so long which is unreasonable. It is true that I’ve liked Kevin for a long time but you should know that feelings do fade. There,” she stretched her arm towards Kevin direction, “you can have him to yourself because I have moved on with my feelings. And do not bother me anymore because my priority right now is my exams.”

Mirabel’s face went blank as she had not expected that from Amber while Kevin on the other hand felt his heart crumble and shatter.

Before Mirabel could say anything more, Emma added, “Amber is going to find a better person. Someone who is not controlled by a sadistic person like you and that person is going to protect and support her in every way. So when that day comes, keep your fury to yourself and let it kill you inside.”

Looking at Amber, she said to her, “Let us leave this place,” and they both walk away from their sight.

After they had gone, Mirabel came back to her senses and when Amber’s words replayed in her head, she clenched her fists together and her blood boiled in anger.