Tormented Mistress ( Book One )

Chapter 44

Amber soon found herself back in the hallway of Dark Shadows the next morning. Luna had given her the hardest time for the rest of the afternoon, and Amber had been restraining herself from hitting her this time. She had received another slap from Luna due to giving out a smart comment, and swore her cheek was still red.

Amber searched the halls for Lucy, but had no luck in finding the girl. She gave up on her search and headed onto first period. Too bad she paid no attention whatsoever, though. She was too caught up in thinking about what would occur next period, as well as after school. Hailey was the only thing that filled Amber's mind.

"Alright, class. Test tomorrow on everything we've covered today," her English teacher announced before the bell sounded. "Have a nice day."

Amber let out an obnoxious groan as she left the classroom. The one time she didn't pay attention, her teacher just had to do that to her. Amber was normally a great student. She would have all A's, but she was not absolutely wonderful in each subject. So, she usually ended up with all A's with the exception of around one or two classes that were B's. Her father had been so determined to get her into a better and more advanced school, but could never come up with the money. Amber figured their lack of money was because of all the money he spent on all her birthdays.

Amber swore her hands were practically shaking as she made her way to Hailey's class. Either out of anger, nerves, or embarrassment, she hadn't a clue, she just knew that if she didn't stop shaking soon, she would drop all her books from her weak hands.

Amber hesitated once reaching the door to the classroom and took a breath before stepping foot inside. The desk was right around the door, so just as soon as Amber walked in, she caught Hailey. The woman was leaning against the desk and when she saw Amber, and everything from there on seemed to go in slow motion. Amber watched as Hailey's mouth drooped down slightly and her eyes stuck onto Amber's. She slowly brushed on past Hailey to head towards her assigned seat.

She kept her eyes locked on Hailey even after she had passed her. Their eyes stayed connected until Amber had to finally break them free as her head was beginning to crane at an awkward angle.

She plopped down in her seat and forced her eyes to stare at the desk. She was afraid to look up for some reason. It wasn't Hailey's gaze that freaked her out, it was their past. Did Hailey seriously not recall her? She had to...

The bell went off, cuing a grin to appear on Hailey's face as she stood in front of the class. "Hello again, everyone. It's great to be seeing familiar faces. Hopefully I'll be getting to place names with them soon here," she announced sweetly, gaining several giggles and chuckles from Amber's classmates.

Amber knew none of this applied to her. Hailey knew her name. She knew what happened at that party. She had to!

Amber was planning on listening to whatever Hailey had to say next, but her plans were destroyed by someone whispering her name. She glanced around her to soon find the culprit to be Lucy, who sat to her left. She must have been so caught up in Hailey, she did not even notice her.

"Hello?! Where the fuck have you been?" Lucy asked in a harsh whisper.

Amber glanced back to Hailey to witness her crack a joke and spoke once the class was in laughter. "I didn't feel good yesterday, so I left early," she fibbed. Amber knew she could pull this lie off; but she did not know how she was to later explain to Lucy why she continuously had to go to Hailey's room for after school detention. She would figure something out.

"Oh," Lucy cooed with a sad look. "You better now?"

"Yeah, I'm good, I-"

Amber's response was silenced as she heard Hailey loudly clearing her throat to purposefully gain her attention. Amber immediately moved her eyes downward as she changed positions in her seat. Why was she getting so nervous?!