CAPTURE THIS (Updating regularly)

Chapter 28

Once again, Amber found herself lying in bed, staring up at her ceiling as her phone played some sad acoustic music from beside her. She was waiting for Zora to arrive at the house with pizza and wings so that they could sit on the living room floor working on their homework together. It had been a while since she and Zora had spent some time alone together and Amber found herself feeling guilty about it. She offered to have Zora sleep over in an attempt to rekindle their slowly fading friendship. 

Zora arrived fashionably late, her springy coiled black curls restrained under a mustard beanie. She looked glamorous despite being wrapped up in a puffy coat and thick plaid scarf. Amber watched her stride into the house enviously, wondering what it would feel like to be filled with that level of confidence. 

Zora was completely unaware of her friend's attention and dumped her overnight bag on the floor and carefully set down the bag of food on the coffee table. 

"Okay, I think I got everything you asked for. I did get extra wings because I thought we'd need it," she added casually, referring to Amber's fight with Alex. "They were out of garlic mayo, though, sorry." 

Amber shrugged. "That's okay. I'm just happy you're here."

Zora glanced up at her and smiled shyly. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

The girls sat on the floor with their food and homework sprawled all over the table. After spending a brief thirty minutes studying, the pair inevitably became distracted. 

Amber couldn't help but notice how Zora's phone lit up continuously every time she received a text, but she refused to read them. 

"You know you can check your phone, right? I don't mind," she said, broaching the subject. 

Zora sighed, her perfectly arched eyebrows furrowing as she looked over to her phone on the floor. "It's Saf. He's been texting me a lot lately." 

Amber frowned in confusion. "But you always text Saf. You know, I knew something was up at school. You've been avoiding him." 

Zora bit her lip and reluctantly met her friend's gaze. "I actually have something to tell you but you're going through things with Alex now and I don't want to make things worse." 

Amber felt her pulse pick up at Zora's words. "What do you mean? Is something wrong?" 

Noticing Amber's panic, she placed her soothing hand on her arm. "Nothing's wrong. I mean it's great but it's big." 

"Well you have to tell me now," Amber replied, turning away from her homework to face Zora and crossing her legs. 

"Okay, but I haven't told anyone else. Especially not Saf and I don't want him hearing it from anyone but me." 

Amber nodded impatiently. "Of course, I won't say anything." 

Taking a steadying breath, Zora threw Amber a wavering smile. "I've been picked up by a modelling agency. But it's French." 

She rushed out the last piece of information before Amber could congratulate her. Amber's smile faltered on her face for a moment as she tried to comprehend what this meant. 

"You're moving to France?" She blurted out in confusion. 

"Well not yet but at the end of the year, yes." Zora answered, her dark eyes staring intensely into Amber's shimmering emerald ones, which unexpectedly became cloudy with tears. 

She couldn't restrain them from spilling down her cheeks. She wiped them away fervently before they could drip onto her homework. 

"I'm really happy for you, Zo," she mumbled, her voice cracking a little at the mention of her friend's name. "I mean it. This is... God, it's huge. I'm so, so happy for you."