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WHAM! Amber slammed her locker. She dropped her books with a thud and knelt down to tie her left shoe, which was always coming untied. As soon as she stood up, her best friend Lily had invaded her space by sticking an arm around Amber’s shoulder.
“Hey, Am! What’s up?” Lily said, sounding perkier than ever.
“Now’s not the time, Lily,” Amber muttered. “I’m not the mood for this.”
Lily removed her arm. “What’s the matter? You’ve been down and out all week! You wouldn’t even go to ‘Lusus Naturae with me! That’s gotta be the scariest movie of the summer! And you love horror flicks. What’s wrong…?”
Amber sighed. “Nothing. Nothing you need to know, anyway.” she mumbled.
Lily gasped. The fact that her best friend wasn’t telling her everything hit her hard. “Well, excuse me, a friend, for being concerned!” she fumed as black mascara started to flow down her beautiful tan face.
“Oh, right, you’re concerned about someone else? Someone else besides yourself?” Amber snapped. “Like that would ever happen!”
“Don’t even be like that, Amber Barlow!” Amber winced at the sound of her last name. Lily went on. “You know that I’m not obsessed with myself!”
“Oh, then why are you applying lip gloss right now?” Amber criticized. “You’ve never been concerned for me! If you cared, you would know why I didn’t go to that stupid movie with you! If you cared, you would know my favorite color. Middle name… favorite color… my dog’s name!”
“I’m applying lip balm because I have chapped lips! And no one cares what your dog’s name is!” Lily shouted, tears still flowing like a waterfall.
“I care what my dog’s name is, and mind you, it’s Charlie!” she clenched her fists up tight. “My favorite color is cornflower blue, and my middle name is…” she hesitated. “…Adeline… You should know if you’re my best friend!”
“Maybe… Maybe I’m not your best friend! Or… or a friend at all!” Lily cried, brushing her brilliant golden waist-length hair out of her face.
“Fine!” Amber shouted.
“Fine!” Lily shouted back.
Conveniently enough, the last bell rang and both girls stomped out the school doors.


Amber Adeline Barlow ran several blocks without speaking or thinking. She slowed to final stop and sat down, quietly. Her backpack dropped to the ground. Her hands were shaking softly. She buried her face in her hands and bent over, rocking back and forth. She sighed. “I’m a complete failure.” Amber whispered to nobody. She tucked a lock of her short sliverish hair behind her ear and looked up at the sky. It was dark and cloudy. A single tear fell down the girl’s pale face. As soon as that tear splashed upon the wooden bench, it began to rain.
“Augh!” Amber pounded her fists on her plaid uniform skirt. “This is just what I need!
I wish I was invisible! I wish everyone was different! I wish the world was different!”
The rain began to pound on her, the sidewalk, street, and everything around her. Within moments she was soaked, head to toe. She stood up, picked up her wet backpack, and headed home without a word to anyone. She ran straight up to her room, slammed the door, and climbed in bed.