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Be careful what you wish for… you just might get it.
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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 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 in 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 dripped down her face in small quantities.
“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! I love everybody!”
“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 that I hate horror movies! If you cared, you would know my favorite color. Middle name… favorite movie… 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 down her perfect skin.
“I care what my dog’s name is, and mind you, it’s Charlie!” Amber clenched her fists up tight. “My favorite color is cornflower blue, and my middle name is…” she hesitated. “…Adeline… You should know that 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 to her knees. She sighed. “I’m a complete failure.” Amber whispered to nobody. She tucked a lock of her short dark brown 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.
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The next morning, Amber woke up in her slightly damp school uniform. She yawned and stretched, then glanced at the time. It read 7:37 am.
“Oh my God, it’s 7:40 already!” she gasped. She got up and ran out of her door to the top of the stairs. “Moooom! Is my other uniform clean??!” She shouted down the stairs.
After a few short moments she heard her mother shout back, “Honey, no, it’s in the wash right now.” She smiled at her sweetly and walked around the corner and out of sight.
“Oh my God.” She said. “Oh my God, no. This can not be happening!”
Amber ran into the upstairs bathroom and swished with mouthwash. She quickly spit it out and ran a brush through her hair. She plugged in her blow dryer and ran it over her uniform several times. Then she quickly pulled on her shoes, grabbed her backpack, and headed out the door at 7:54 am.

As soon as Amber got to school, she tore her locker open, shoved her backpack in, grabbed her science notebook and a pencil with no eraser. She walked in the classroom and noticed the time. Amber exhaled a sigh of relief. She walked slowly over to her seat, plopped her books down, and sat in the chair. School started at 8:15… It was 8:04. She had made it, even early.
“Ahugh…” she murmured. “Man, I’m tired.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” piped a slightly French-accented voice from the back of the room.
“Huh?” squeaked an surprised Amber. She had thought she was the only one in the room.
“Oh, where are my manners? Dear me. My name is Isabelle Rosalie. I’m so terribly sorry if I’ve startled you.” She tilted her head, smiling daintily and batting her gorgeous ice-blue eyes. She was stunningly beautiful. Very pale, perfect skin, very, very long, platinum blonde hair, with long spiral curls occasionally. She wore a classy diamond necklace around her small fragile neck, with white lace gloves and trim on the edge of her uniform skirt. She had a very small diamond tiara placed atop her beautiful shining hair. Plus, the delicate voice of an angel. Her uniform top was trimmed with ruffles and lace, and her shoes had small rubies on the buckle.
“Uh, um, my name’s Amber B-b-b…” she stuttered. “Barlow! Amber. I mean—”
“It’s lovely to meet you, Amber.” She had the most peculiar flow about her; she just seemed to float there magically.
“Yea, you too I guess.” She yawned and plopped her head on the desk. Her plain dark hair was sticking up in twenty different places.
“So…” Isabelle said trying to make conversation with practically a zombie. “I hear you have a friend, Lily, correct?” She batted her eyelashes and smiled again. It was very charming.
“Yea, what about her?” Amber mumbled, a bit rudely.
Isabelle winced, then smiled again. It all seemed rather fake; surreal. “Word is that your friend Lily—” She was cut off by Amber.
“You mean, ‘ex-friend’ right?”
“Err… right,” she said. It seemed everyone already knew about Lily and Amber’s fight.
“I hear she went to the party hosted by Ms. Ella Demure? I also hear she has attended the party hosted by Miss Ashley Lombardi.”
“Well, seems you hear a lot of things.” Amber stated dryly. Ella and Ashley were the most popular girls in school,, “I really have no idea, when were the parties?”
“Last night, of course!” She beamed in this eerie way.
“Two major parties in one night?” Amber was astounded.
“Yes, and word is that she had her chauffer drive her around in a limo.” Isabelle said, sounding unimpressed.
“I knew Lily was rich… but a chauffer?! A limo?!” she gasped. Lily wasn’t telling her everything either.
“Yes, that’s the word.” It seemed like she was trying to make Amber jealous. “She’s taken you around in it of course, right? Of course you have! Silly me.”
“Uh, no. I never knew she had a limo… Anyway, I’ve never seen you here before… I don’t think.”
“Darling, I’ve been around for a week. You should know me by now.” She grinned in this innocent manner. It was awkward.
“Right. I’ve been absent a few days this week.” Amber sighed.
“You should still know about me, everyone else does, and—” she was cut off when a stunningly pretty girl walked in the room, with the same sparkling eyes and pretty features as Isabelle. Amber realized they were identical twins.
“Isabelle-ah! Come here!” she walked right over, and they exchanged greetings, the whole side-to-side air kiss on the cheek thing.
“Sophie! My dear, where have you been?!” Isabelle asked, happy to see her twin sister. “I’ve been worried sick.”
The room was starting to fill up now. All the tired students were gazing at the two beautiful girls chit-chatting in the center of the room.
“I’ve been off in Paris with Daddy, you know how that is.” Sophie smirked. “I thought I’d drop by and see you… enroll in this hick high school you go to now.”
“Right, right. I suppose you’ve brought me something?” Isabelle asked, messing with a lock of her hair.
“Of course, dear! Why would I not?” she said, taking out a small pink bottle and showing it off. “I’ve brought you Baie Champagne. It’s a new French perfume.”
“Oh, lovely!” she squeezed the handle, and out comes a spray of clear liquid which dissolves into the air.
“It smells like berries. I thought you might like it.” Sophie said loudly and on purpose.
“Now, now, I must ask. Where’s Aimée?” Isabelle asked. “I haven’t seen that rat since January.”
“She’s off gallivanting with our… step-mother…” Sophie scoffed. “She’s away in Colorado, spending time together.”
“Where in the world is Colorado?” Isabelle asked, genuinely confused.
“It’s over by New York City, I do believe. Or, um, Florida? I can’t remember which. Anyway, our dearest step-mother ought to be having fun with her girl. She is Aimée’s natural mother, after all.”
“I wonder who our mother is, Sophie. I really do.” Isabelle said dreamily, mumbling something about ‘daddy’s such a playboy, hitting up on every woman in Paris…’
“Well, whoever she was, I knew she must have been beautiful!”
“How obvious!”

The two girls giggled fancily and the first bell rang.
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Something seemed fishy about those two. Something Amber couldn’t quite put her finger on. Whether it was that they spoke in French to each other or that they both dressed like school was a fancy tea party…she didn’t know. But something was up.
Then Lily walked in and sat down in her assigned seat next to Amber. She didn’t say a word to her. Then Sophie and Isabelle motioned Lily to go sit with them. She gave Amber a scowl and headed over to sit with the two girls. Their French teacher, Ms. Arlette, looked exhausted, and maybe a little hungover. She told the class that she had some ‘paperwork’ to do, but actually she took a nap, right there on her desk. She said the class needed to read a chapter of their French textbook, which would only take 10 minutes. For the rest of class Ms. Arlette announced was free time, but to keep it down.
The twins were chatting in French. Lily was nodding and smiling. She spoke something in French, quickly glanced at Amber with an evil glare, and spoke something more. Suddenly the group broke out laughing.
‘Since when did Lily speak French?’ Amber thought to herself. ‘She failed her French test…Or that’s what she told me…’
About half an hour later, the bell rang. It was time for morning break. Amber rushed to the girl’s bathroom. She was miserable. Her plain hair fell across her face as she looked in the mirror. “Boring” was her first thought. Brown eyes. Dark brown hair. Short. She sighed, and her breath stopped sharply. She heard the giggles of the twins, Sophie Rosalie and Isabelle Rosalie, and Lily Maier, her former best friend. She frantically climbed into an open stall, closed the door, and stood on the toilet seat. She tried not to move or breathe while the trio talked.
“So the little brat Amber Barlow made out with your boyfriend?” said Sophie while applying bright red lipstick. “How awful!”
“Yes, terrible,” agreed Isabelle. “And she cheated off of your homework too? Made you do her chores?”
Lily nodded. “I know, but I couldn’t say no to her. She’d throw a fit!” She tried to act fancy around her new friends.
Amber’s cheeks boiled with rage. How could Lily lie about her? Talking about her behind her back!
“She also whines and complains so much about everything,” Lily went on. “Amber has also…”
“Also what?” Said the twins in unison.
“She… she has a crush on Eric Foxe.” Lily said, feeling a bit shameful.
“Wow! No one likes him; he’s always in trouble…Such juicy gossip!” Sophie chirped. “We must spread it to everyone!”
They agreed and headed out of the restroom laughing. The bell rang. Amber’s heart sank as she picked up her books and walked out of the stall, making sure the girls were gone. She tried not to cry but couldn’t help it. Throughout the entire Chemistry class, she couldn’t concentrate. She mixed wrong ingredients and doodled all over her notebook. Nothing. She could think about nothing but how much she despised Lily right now. Amber sighed. Lily was a hypocrite. She said that Amber whines a lot. But truth was that Lily complained about everything herself. No one noticed Amber nearly crying in class, because a stupid kid blew up a few test tubes and cut his finger. That was the main distraction of the day.
The next day, the whole school knew about Amber’s crush on Eric Foxe. Amber walked the halls trying to hide behind books. Her face was a deep scarlet as she walked through the dingy rust-colored halls of Riverdale High. That was it. Her life was ruined.