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One night I just felt like writing something-no plot or anything just...writing something. The product was the dream and then I tried to form a plot with it and it's been an amazing experience! It's mostly confusing and frustrating, but when I get things going it's really...rewarding. So I hope you enjoy this!!!


Staring up at the midnight sky, Amber lay in a beautiful field surrounded by trees. The wind whispered across the meadow, rustling the soft green grass and gently swaying the delicate branches of an old willow tree in the center. As the wind kissed her cheek, she sighed, closing her eyes, reveling in the crisp night air.

It is so pretty here, she thought as she opened her eyes to a bright full moon and a million stars. Even though it was night, the moon cast its light everywhere and she could see everything as clearly as if the sun was in the sky. This was the only place that belonged to her; the only place she could find peace.

Beep-beep. Beep-beep.

Amber groaned, looking at her watch. The red numbers glared up at her and she glared back.

She sat up and stretched. Well, the sooner she got back the better. She stood, made her way to the edge of the meadow, stepped through the throng of trees and she became shrouded in darkness. Mom already has enough crap to take care of without heading out for the night shift at the hospital to find her not there. Amber pulled her jacket tighter around herself as the wind blew harder, making her shiver.

Picking her way through the forest carefully, she sighed looking up at the dark and tangled mass of branches above her. Even the moon’s light couldn’t penetrate it. She held her hand in front of her face, but could see nothing.

Well, crap! She turned in circles frantically, looking for any kind of light.

“Crap, crap, crap!” Amber growled under her breath. Gingerly, she took a step, then another, holding her hands up at arms length. She felt the rough bark of a tree beneath her fingertips and stepped around it, only to trip over a branch in the forest path. She fell to the ground with a soft thump.

“s**t!” She whispered.

Suddenly, there came a soft chanting voice echoing through the darkness. Her head whipped up at the sound and her eyes grew large and curious. She got up carefully, her brain working furiously to decipher the sound. Wiping brush off her jeans, she followed where the voice was coming from. As she got closer, Amber realized it wasn’t chanting, but singing. No, not even singing. It was too soft, too painfully beautiful to be just a song. The splendor of it made her chest throb. The voice, the unbearably sweet voice, was only a couple of yards away from her. She swept the branches out of her face and saw another clearing. It was similar to hers, but smaller and with a stream running through it on the southern end.

When her eyes found the singer, she opened her mouth with the intention of gasping, but no sound came out. It was a teenager. His face was raised to the sky and his eyes were closed, as if he were praying. He was the most gorgeous guy she had ever seen. He had strong broad shoulders and a slim waist. She was 5’5”, but he must have been at least a head taller than her.

But none of this she noticed right away, for she stood transfixed by the pale beauty of his face, along with his enchanting voice. He had her rooted to the spot. He looked as if he had been carved by angels. No, as if he was an angel himself. His dark hair looked so soft, she thought if she could run her hand though it just once….just once…her hand trembled, but she squeezed it into a tight fist and bit her lower lip. The longing to reach out to him, to put a hand on his cheek, to run her hands through his hair, to have his angelic voice sing in her ear was overwhelming.

She took a step forward.

Snap! A stick broke in half under her foot and she froze.
Startled, the man jumped, his melody hung in his throat and he set his ocean storm blue eyes on her. Something from his gaze made her take a step back. A small smile played on his lips as he started to sing once more. Only, it was somehow different this time, more seductive. With the force of his eyes and his all-too-beautiful voice, he willed her to him and she obeyed. His voice was the only thing that existed to her ears. It filled up her mind, her soul. Everything about him made her head feel hazy and light-headed.

When she was only steps away from him, his smile turned smug and mocking.

Strange smile, she thought faintly, for such beauty to come from it. His arms wrapped around her and he put his cold lips lightly to hers. She shivered in his strong arms and collapsed into dreamland.

***********

Amber woke with a start, sitting up in bed, breathing heavily. The blood rushing to her head made her dizzy. She groaned and lay back with a thump. She put a shaky hand to her forehead. A sheen of sweat covered it. She made a disgusted face and wiped her hand on the front of her shirt. The same guy, the same forest, the same song had been plaguing her dreams every night for the past month. Right before the dream ended she'd feel terrified, but for no good reason.
Was it ever going to end...she looked at her clock.

"7:15, time for breakfast," Amber grumbled, tearing herself out from under the warm blankets. She shuffled down the hallway and just stared at the long, spiral staircase that led to the living room. Who's up for not going down two flights of stairs this early in the morning? Me, she thought as she straddled the banister, yawning. She slid the whole way down, past the dimly glowing chandelier and landed lightly on the hardwood floor. She passed a sleek leather couch, running her hand along it and made her way into the kitchen. She opened the fridge to find...nothing.

Great, she thought, slamming the door closed. A note from her mom was on the fridge. She peeled it off.

Hi Honey,
I'm working a double shift tonight, so
I'm not going to get a chance to go shopping. Do you mind picking up a
few things after school? I'll probably be asleep when you get
home, so I trust you to get all your work done. I love you.

XOXO,
Mom

Taped on the back was a 100$ bill and a list. Amber sighed shoving the note/grocery list and the Benjamin into her pocket. She reached up and opened the cabinet and pulled down a box of Reeses Puffs. She peeked inside. Just enough for one bowl, she thought happily. She chewed absently thinking about how things used to be. Happy. Her and her mom used to be really close until...She peered into her mom’s office.

She could just make out her dads picture sitting on its permanent resting place on the corner of her mom’s desk. He was laughing, the sun lighting his face. He had handsome angular features. Amber thought he looked like an angel with his curly golden hair and bright green eyes...her eyes. She looked away and shoveled a big bite of chocolaty, peanut buttery goodness into her mouth before she could feel the cold loneliness pierce her chest like a knife. It seemed so long ago…

Dad had gone for two days, on a special call to a hospital in Jersey. She sat at the dining room table working on a project from school when the telephone rang. She heard her mom answer it with a chipper hello. Then the sound of glass shattering could be heard echoing throughout the house. The sound of her life…breaking. Alarmed, she ran to find her mom gripping the counter for support, her body trembling uncontrollably. The horror and shock on her face as she listened to whoever was on the phone was heartbreaking. Amber was scared, really scared. She had never seen her mother this way. Ever. Her mother was always this composed ray of sunshine, willful and strong. There could have been only one reason for the transformation. Tears fell down Amber’s face at the same time the cascade broke on her mom’s.

Her mom sputtered her thank you’s and reassurances that she’d be fine. As soon as she hung up she held her arms out to her and Amber ran to her. There were only tears. No words were spoken. No words needed to be. No words should have been. There are no words to tell a child of thirteen that she had just lost her father-no words to comfort a widow with a single daughter. They stayed there in the comfort of each other’s arms until the night died away…

She didn’t find out the gruesome details of her father’s death until later, of course. It had been late and he was hit by a drunk driver. Dad’s car was going around 75 miles an hour and the guy T-boned him right into a tree. That’s how the flames got started. His head had bashed against the steering wheel knocking out a couple of teeth, which is how they identified him among the ashes of his body.
After that, her mother practically lived at the hospital, taking every patient she could, probably trying to prevent other families from experiencing the same kind of pain as hers had. Whatever reasons she had Amber could understand, but it didn’t change the fact that she never saw her mom anymore.

If she did ever see her, she was either passed out on the couch after working 15 hours straight or rushing out the door. Amber rinsed her bowl and shoved it into the dishwasher. It didn't change the fact that she felt like she lost two parents in one night.

She tried to trail her thoughts elsewhere as she ascended the stairs. She could now proudly walk into school and say she had Reeses for breakfast! She thought as she walked down the long hallway to her room. Her legs only burned a little. She wondered if she could find a way to slide up the stairs, as she opened her door. She was instantly welcomed by the high ceiling and comforting midnight blue walls of her room. She walked over to her elegant, wrought iron, full length mirror and pursed her lips.

After a moment, she shrugged and threw on a pair of jeans, converse and a Julliard hoodie over a black tank.

Then she penciled on a thin line of eyeliner, put on a little mascara on her already long eyelashes, and put on her favorite lip gloss. She looked at her raven colored hair. It was super straight and fell to her shoulders. The complete opposite of her dads. She sighed pulling it up into a bun and tied it with a dark red hair tie. She looked into the mirror again and decided she was ready. She grabbed her backpack, slid down the stairs and was out the door on her way to Ashford High.

***

“I swear to God, Sky, sometimes you look like a complete wreck.” Jordan muttered as Amber pulled paper after paper from the mess that was her locker.

“Bite me.” Amber muttered as she pulled out another mass of papers.
“Tempting, darling, really it is, but I’m really not in the mood.”

Amber laughed. “Aw, you’re no fun!”

“I’m tons of fun! Everybody knows it!” Jordan said exaggerating.
“Especially Mr. Remerez.” Amber laughed.

Jordan raised her eyebrows and licked her lips. “You know it.”

“Ugh! That’s so twisted.”

Jordan just laughed.

“Aha!” Amber pulled out the rectangular black notebook with gold filigree music notes and some Italian words she couldn’t read. She plopped it on top of the rest of her books and slammed the door to her locker.

“Anyway, I probably look like a complete wreck because I’m deprived of proper sleep.” Amber said seriously, a small hint of her fatigue showing on her face.

“What’s up? You okay?”

“This past month has just been weird. You know how I never remember my dreams? Literally? As in not one in my entire life?”

“Yeah?”

“ Okay, well-” Amber was cut off as Emily bounced up to them talking in a rush.

“Ohmygosh, Ohmygosh, Ohmygosh! Amber you will never guess!” Emily then went into a tirade about some scandalous thing that happened with some person…or triangle. Amber was too tired to pay attention and looked at her with interest, only half-there.

“Uhm, hello Em? We were kind of having an important conversation here.” Jordan was pissed.

“Well it can wait, this is important and Amber obviously wants to hear it. Right, Sky?” She snapped. Emily didn’t even look to her for confirmation.

“Look I’m pretty sure-”

“So what about, uhm, Erynn?” Amber asked, vaguely picking out a name she had heard, trying to avoid the coming b***h fight she couldn’t handle. Emily’s eyes lit up and started right where she left off pulling Amber along with her. She mouthed an apology back to Jordan who only rolled her eyes. Amber laughed.

“So Trevor ended up getting kicked out after his parents found out! He couldn’t go to Erin’s house because of what happened with Jessica, so it was a complete mess!”

Amber gave the proper shocked and disbelieving, “No!”

“Yes.” Emily replied seriously. Okay, so Emily was a complete ditz sometimes and a sucker for good gossip, but she was goddess at language. She was practically fluent in Spanish, French, and Italian. She was currently studying German and about to start Russian. It was crazy scary how gifted she was. When there was a break in the gush, Jordan slipped between them.

“So what’s up with your sleep deprivation? My mom’s got these weird herb pills that are apparently supposed to help you sleep. I could ask her to lend you a few.” Amber made a face at her.

“Herb pills? Thanks, but no thanks. It’s more the dreams that are the problem than the actually sleeping.” Jordan let her eyes ask the question and Emily moved to the other side of Amber.

“Well, the dreams themselves are pretty normal, as far as dreams go I guess, but the feeling I get is totally-” She looked ahead of her and her eyes met with sleek black hair, gorgeous eyes, and a body even guys would kill for. She stopped breathing. His whole look pulled you in, as if you tried to stare next to him or behind him, you’d find your eyes directly with his. Her world somersaulted then completely froze. At that second, he was coming down the hall with Erin. It was him. Her dream guy. She didn’t mean that in the oh-my-gosh-he-is-so-totally-perfect-for-me kind of way. It was literally the guy from her dreams! It could just be an eerie identical likeness, but…she got the feeling deep down in her gut that it wasn’t. There he was walking toward them, talking and laughing. This couldn’t be happening. It’s too weird.

“Sky?….Hey! Earth to Sky!” Jordan waved her hand in front of Amber’s face. All of the books Amber was holding fell to the floor in a loud bang and it startled her from the shock. Amber bent down quickly, grateful for a reason to hide her horrified, flushed face. She heard an intrigued ooooo. Emily must have seen him and deemed him worthy to be eye candy. She heard another appraisal come from Jordan. She stayed silent, scrambling for her books. Please just walked pass me! Please just walk past me! Please just... Her composition notebook flashed in front of her face.

“Is this yours?” A smooth, sexy voice asked. She looked up and her gaze was locked with unbelievably gorgeous navy blue eyes and a kind smile.

She couldn’t move-couldn’t breath. Now that he was so close, the features were unmistakably the one’s from her dream. But she had never met him before, let alone anybody who even looked remotely close to him-as if that was possible. She just stared at him-wide eyed. His smile began to falter.

“Earth-to-Sky!” Emily growled under her breath and gave her a slight kick.

“What?” Amber looked around and realized that they were both kneeling awkwardly, wordlessly, on the floor with books strewn everywhere, and everyone staring at them. Pull it together! She smiled and took them book from him and the simple ease of his smile returned.

“Yea, thanks.” Amber said lightly. “Sorry, you just surprised me a little.” He laughed as he helped pick up the rest of her books, as if he was used to that reaction. She stood and he laid the rest of them in her arms. As he pulled his hands away they brushed against hers and a shock shot through her arm and it seemed to travel under her skin to the rest of her body. She jumped and took a big step away from him. He looked at her oddly for a moment, but the look cleared so fast she wasn’t sure. Erynn stepped up to them and cleared his throat.

“Amber this is Haden, he just moved here. Haden this is Amber, Jordan, Emily. If you need anything they’ll help you out, right Amber?” Erynn flashed her a very bright and friendly smile. She was very, very tempted to say no, but nodded.

“Great, I’ll leave you to him.” He patted Haden on the arm and Haden nodded to him. Erynn raised a hand to the rest in parting.

“Your friends call you Sky?” He asked curiously. None of your business.
“Yea, they do. Actually, no.” She answered as they all kept walking down the hallway.

“So which is it?” She could detect a slight hint of irritation. She almost smiled. Stop it! She chastised herself. She had no way of proving it’s him. She could just be acting like a totally paranoid jerk. Sheesh. She smiled at him.

“Only Emily and Jordan call me Sky, it’s my last name.”

“Ah.”

“Yeah.”

“So where did you come from?” Emily asked.

“Why did you leave?” Jordan asked. He answered all their barrage of questions. She barely paid attention to them, trying to ignore the paranoia. She guessed the only way to get rid of it was to make it impossible to be true…Jeez, did that even make any sense? Jordan slipped into her first period class, waving her good-bye. Emily looked at Amber. Amber signaled with her eyes to leave them alone. Emily waggled her eyebrows and Amber rolled her eyes.

“Trevor! Hey, Trevor! Wait up!” She made a big show of walking, stalking, up to him, waving frantically. She glanced over at Haden who was looking at the banners on the walls as they walked past them.
“So, moving must be hard.”

“Hm?” His head snapped back to her, sounding as if she pulled him from a deep thought.

“Moving. It must have been hard for you to leave your friends and everything you’re used to.”

“Oh, yea, yea it is.” He answered distantly.

Silence stretched between them. Not awkward, but tight. She breathed evenly trying to straighten out her head. There has to be a way to figure this out.

“So…” She started looking around the hall, anywhere, but at him, trying to figure out a way to find out if it was him without saying the truth. A red flyer with music notes around the edges caught her eyes. In big bold letter it read:

Chorus Concert tonight!!!
At 7:00 pm in the theatre
All chorus students contact……

That’s it!

“We have a great chorus here. Do you sing?” He looked sharply at her. She held her breath, preparing for the worst. The worst of what? A small voice in the back of her head asked. She had never felt such split emotions before. It was driving her crazy, she bit her lip.

After looking at her seriously for a moment, he laughed and said in a totally spectacular voice, that could have passed off as singing in her opinion, “Only in the shower, but even then it sounds terrible.” She let out the breath she’d been holding and smiled. Then an odd sense struck her. What if he’s lying? But why would he lie about that? Even if he did, it wouldn’t matter. It’s just singing, isn’t it? But she had the feeling deep down that it wasn’t, it turned her stomach and made her feel sick, which just made her more confused. What was going on with her?

“Why do you ask with such ferocity?” He joked. He tried to nudge her playfully, but she shied away from his touch. The last thing she wanted was for him to touch her. Even though she had no idea why. She remembered her dream, taking the involuntary step back…She shook her head. Realizing he was waiting on an answer, she laughed, trying to seem normal, though she felt far from it.

“I was just curious. I love music! It’s something I’m very serious about. See?” She showed him the composition book he picked up earlier. A spark of genuine interest flashed across his face. Then, suddenly, he focused intently on her. She tried not to squirm or blush under his gaze, she didn’t know which urge was stronger, and kept her face blank as possible.

The interest look returned, gratefully, and he said “Really? What kind of-”

The bell rang and students ran across the hallway, some still stood by the wall kissing their significant other good-bye. Luckily, they had stopped just outside her class room.

She gave Haden an apologetic look. “See you around.” Before he could say anything else, she turned away from him and into the class, gratefulness seeping through her.



*************




She shuffled through the door carrying bags and bags of groceries after shoving them into their proper place she walked into the living room, the strangeness of the day finally wearing down on her. A light sigh came from the couch and Amber looked over to see her mother dozing softly, arm over her eyes. Of course. She really wanted to tell her mother about everything that had been going on lately-seeing as how they’ve barely spoken in weeks, but she couldn’t bring herself to wake her.

This was one of those times she wished her dad was alive. He’d know what to do. He always did. He’d at least know what to say to her to chase away the uneasiness. She stood staring down above the couch into her mom’s face, hugging herself.

She needed…music. She yearned for the keys so badly so suddenly her hands twitched. She turned and walked feverishly to tall double doors that opened to something that resembled a small ballroom. There were 15 foot floor-to-ceiling windows on the western wall with gleaming white marble floors and a flawless grand piano rested in the center. A glorious chandelier glowed above it all. She sat at the bench. She let her fingers hover over the keys a moment, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes.

Then her fingers flew deftly across the piano. The music resonated harmoniously across the walls. She poured her pain and her loneliness into it and heard it, felt it, reflected back to her. The emotions twined together to create the heart wrenching music that burst forth from the piano. With all her troubles playing away, she started to feel lighter and more peaceful. It was as natural as breathing.

She became more and more intertwined into her music until there was nothing but the notes. Her thoughts drifted away as the melody, her emotions came to life as the harmony, and her soul became the song.
As the last note faded away, she heard a noise behind her that made her jump.

She turned around to see her mother standing in the doorway. Her ebony hair fell in ringlets to her shoulders. Her mother looked intently at her with startling blue eyes that were weighed down with the deep purple that shadowed them. Despite the fatigue drawn on her face, she smiled. Irresistible warmth spread though Amber from that smile.

“Hey honey. Your music sounded so sad. Rough day?” Amber was so happy she could finally talk to someone who could straighten out her head. She was about to tell her mom about the dream when she felt a calm displacement flow through her. Everything, all of the sudden, felt fine, she realized. She thought about how much she was overreacting and couldn’t remember why she was so panicked in the first place. Her mom started to walk toward her, looking out the windows until she reached her daughter. She looked deeply into Amber’s eyes and placed a hand on her shoulder. The calm reasoning abated a little.

“Is everything okay?” Her mom asked again with more concern. Amber opened her mouth and then closed it again. Amber thought her mother would probably say she was being paranoid and silly. And she was. There really was nothing to tell. Haden was just some guy who looked like a guy in her dream. It was her imagination. End of story.

“Yea, everything’s fine. We have new guy at school, nothing special.” Amber shrugged. Then an idea struck her. “Hey! While you’re here why don’t we go out to eat tonight? We haven’t done that in ages!”
Her mother smiled and was about to reply when a pager buzzed obnoxiously at her mothers side. She looked down at it, annoyed slightly.

“Shoot.” Her mother muttered. It was the hospital. Again. Amber all the sudden felt a small resentment towards her mother, one she hadn’t really felt before. Her mom was never there. She was always alone. Cooking, cleaning, and buying the food. She didn’t have to work for the money, but she had to pay the bills on time, or else her mother would forget. She always came home to no one and nothing. Amber was getting tired of it.

“Duty calls.” Amber almost snarled, repeating her mother’s explanation for every time she bailed out on her. Her mother looked slightly surprised, but said nothing. Amber jumped up and strode out of the room, leaving her mother standing alone.

As soon as she was sure Amber was out of earshot she whipped out her cell phone. She tapped her foot impatiently as it rang.

“Hello?” A male’s voice answered.

“Slater, it’s me. Look we’ve-”

“Evelyn! I just paged you! We’ve got a major problem with-”

“Slater, listen! I…I think Amber’s seal has broken…”

There was silence on Slater’s end for a moment

“Or wearing down at least.” Evelyn explained.

There was a low, disbelieving whistle. “This could be dangerous.” Evelyn sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.

“I know.” She sighed.

“What do you plan on doing?”

Evelyn bit her lip. “I think I’ll just watch her when I can, for now. If she becomes stronger, I’ll take care of it.”

“If you think it’s best. You still coming down to Dawn?”

“Yes. I’ll be there soon.” She snapped the phone shut and stared out into the night a moment. Amber’s song drifted though her mind. So much sorrow…she clenched her fists and her eyes watered up.
“I’m so sorry, Amber.” Evelyn whispered.



Amber slammed the door to her room and sat roughly on her bed. She was too angry to stay still, so she jumped up and started to pace. When she heard a car door close outside she peered out the window and watched her mom’s lights disappear down the street. Then she just stood there and listened to the silence, taking in the stillness. She clenched and unclenched her jaw.

She didn’t have to be alone. She turned sharply to her bead and dug around into her purse until she found her cell phone. She dialed Jordan’s number.

“Hey Sky! What’s up?”

“Hey Jordan.” Amber was surprised her voice was so thick, it sounded like she had been crying. A tear fell down her cheek. Whoa. She was crying.

“Sky,” Jordan sounded alarmed, “Are you okay? What happened?”

“I’m fine, but could you get Em and stay over at my place tonight? You think your mom would mind?” Amber raised a shaking hand to wipe the tear away, but more just kept coming. She couldn’t bring herself to stop.

“Of course, Sky. We’ll be right there, I promise! Ok? Hang in there.” Jordan soothed her.

She took a deep breath and swallowed a couple of times. “Yea. Thanks Jordan.”

“You got me anytime, baby.” Amber could hear Jordan’s smile and it made her smile too.

“I’ll be right over okay? And I’m in the mood for some Leo, have Titanic waiting for me on your big screen would you? I’ll bring the M & M’s and sour patch kids. Miss Priss would probably want some cotton candy, so I should probably get that too. You get the popcorn got it? And you better have some Coke over there.”

“I got it and yes I have coke.” She could almost see Jordan’s nod of approval.

“Awesome! See you soon, and stop crying. Save that for the end of the movie.”

“You got it.” They both hung up and Amber stood in her room for just a moment. She would be okay, she had friends. For the first time that day, she felt like herself.


“What I never understood is why she couldn’t have just moved her stupid butt over and let him get on.” Amber muttered.

“As long as I get to look at Leo’s face I don’t care.” Jordan took the last handful of popcorn and shoved it in her mouth.

“Because,” Emily turned to her with tears in her eyes, “If he got on they would have sunk further into the water and both died!” She turned her eyes back to the screen and Amber swore every time Emily saw this movie her reaction would be the same. She laughed quietly. Jordan rolled her eyes and took out a tissue and handed it to her.

“Wipe your face. You’re getting snot all over yourself.” Emily jumped and wiped vigorously. Amber jabbed her in the side with her elbow and gave her a dirty look. Jordan sighed.

“You can chill Emily, you like fine.” That was as close to an apology Jordan ever got.

“Really?” Emily asked obliviously hopeful, not realizing Jordan was just being a jerk.

“Ugh. Yes. Now can we please go back to watching the movie?”
Amber picked up the empty bowl of popcorn. “Refill. Be right back.”
As she popped the bag into the microwave she thought about what Emily had said. Sure if that was really the reason he stayed in the water it was very noble and gallant effort, but…he’s only saving her from that kind of death. Wouldn’t it have been better to die together? While they were in love and, besides the whole about-to-die part, happy? Then she wouldn’t have had to grieve, to go through the pain of losing him.

Grief, it always seemed, was even worse than death because you had to live though it. That person, she clenched her hands, would have to feel that pain everyday of their life instead of just that one fleeting moment. But she guessed every situation was different. Rose had moved on after all. She had a granddaughter, but she bet Rose was never the same.

Amber stared sadly at her hands… She thought of her mother, how she had never shed a tear, been depressed or locked in her room at all since that night. Every situation was different… The microwave beeped, shocking her out of her daze. She breathed deeply. You are stronger than this, she told herself. Snap out of it. She walked back into the room, wondering if they’d killed each other while she was gone. She got back to the part where Rose was blowing on the whistle.
This time, both of them were crying. She sat back down next to Jordan and handed her a tissue.

“You’ll get snot all over your face.” Jordan glared at her, but took the tissue anyway and blew her nose. Amber snickered.

“What? Anybody would tear up seeing gorgeous Jack die. It’s so unfair.”
Yea, Amber thought, it was unfair. Leaving Rose was probably was the most unfair thing he had ever done.

While Jordan and Emily lamented over the dead Jack, intricate piano notes drifted through her head. She could hear the various solid notes and linked them together and then added on layers of quick, light notes, giving the song a melancholy feel. Before the credits were over, she had a simple pretty piece flowing through her head. It reminded her of the time her and Emily made paper snowflakes in third grade.
Amber jumped up.

“Oh yeah! I totally forgot! You guys come with me!” She grabbed their arms and pulled them into her piano room. Her mother wouldn’t let her play for other people, but Jordan and Emily were the only exceptions.

Emily gasped. “You finished it! No way!”

Amber smiled brilliantly. “Yup!” Amber sat down and Emily and Jordan leaned onto the piano expectantly. She hadn’t let them hear makings of it, so this would be their first time.

She started to play a piece she’d had in her head non-stop for two months. It was about the day the three of them met in first grade and they’d been friends ever since. How they never grew apart. But it was about more than that. It was their struggles, their desires, their tears, their laughs, every moment they’d had together twined with the notes. They seemed to confide each memory in a melody so complex it was pointless to follow, but it caught you up and you dazedly followed the music into a sea that was vast and terrifying but mesmerizing. It held you captive to its emotions, so beautifully expressed, that you had no choice but to feel them yourself.

The song’s pain was your pain. It’s happiness was your happiness, and you would never want to be anyplace else again, but that very song. It was powerful and intoxicating, and strangely…ethereal. No music from a piano had ever had the effect on people like hers did. And she knew no one else’s ever would. This was her gift and hers alone.

When she finished the last thread of notes she looked up at their faces and was completely shocked. They were practically sobbing. It was way worse then even titanic and they actually were getting snot all over themselves. She took tissues out of her pocket and handed it to them.

“Uh…guys? Are you okay? I mean, come on, it was just a song. I admit it was a pretty fantastic song, probably my best one, but…” She looked warily at them. They gave her a you’ve-got-to-be-kidding-me look.
Jordan spoke up first. “Look-Sky. I’m no professional when it comes to music, but that was just too damn good. I was just so-so engrossed!” She looked at her in disbelief.

Emily blew her nose quietly. “Yeah, and there was something else that was just plain weird. In the song I could…I could tell what each memory was. As if you were talking to me clear as day.” Amber looked at Jordan and she nodded.

“I couldn’t feel anything or think about anything else except what was in the song…it felt like…like…it was apart of me, you know?” This time Emily nodded.

Well. This was… kind of really odd.

Amber rubbed the back of her head. “It was probably because I put my whole heart and soul in it. I mean it. You guys are the best thing that’s ever happened to me. You probably felt that way because you were apart of the song. You inspire me. You’re my family.”

She glowed at them.

“Now and forever, baby.” Jordan smiled.