Chapter Text
AMBER
To say Amber had the summer of her life would be an understatement. For the first time, people didn’t hate her, and she didn’t give them a reason for them to hate her. She and T.J. were finally accepted despite all the hardships their family endured. When she broke the news about going to a boarding school in Paris that would help advance her fashion design, everyone was happy for her, but they cried, knowing they were going to miss her.
Texting and calling would be limited by the time difference and data plans, not to mention her school enforced a one year limited tech session. The school believed that having a separation from technology in the first year would get the creative juices flowing, so letters were what she relied on.
As Amber was on the plane headed back to Shadyside, she fondly remembered her last day there before she left for Paris.
She and T.J. left the house together to go to the “Goodbye Amber and Andi” party, since they were both headed to their respective schools the next day. Of course, Andi was just going to be a few towns over most of the time, but that would still mean seeing their friends less and less.
“Nervous?” T.J. asked her after a while of silence.
“A bit. Making new friends? You know how hard it was to make these guys my friends.”
“Well, now we’re both better people, especially because of our friends,” he said. “You’re going to be great over there in Paris, though try to remember us little people eventually,” he joked.
She laughed as she came across the party, and everyone was just finishing setting up. They were at Andi’s Grandma’s house, the place of all epic parties, and each of them hugged her one by one, saying how much they were going to miss her.
T.J. was the one who picked her up from the airport since their mom was still at work and had no way to get off of it. Amber squealed and rushed over to hug him.
“It is way too cruel not seeing you for a whole year, Thel,” she said, hugging him tightly.
“You have no idea Amber,” he said, squeezing her tightly and kissing the top of her head. “Mom and I missed you so damn much.”
“Well, you needed my fabulousness in your daily lives it seems,” she said, flipping her hair behind her shoulder jokingly.
“Nah, it was too quiet at home. Who knew you were ninety percent of the noise at home was just you?”
She laughed and shoved him to the side as he put her stuff in the family car. “I can’t wait to just have a few months of relaxing, seeing old sights, speaking English,” she groaned a little. “Do you know how hard French is?”
“Yeah, I’ve been picking up a bit of some foreign languages actually.”
“Really? Like Spanish?”
“Portuguese. There’s a handful of people on the team who speak it, so I picked up a few words.”
“Oh, awesome,” she said, leaning against the window. “Hey, you think we can go to The Spoon? I want to see if it’s the same as I remember it. I’ve been craving some decent baby taters.”
T.J. bit his lip for a minute, but nodded. “Sure, I’ll take us to The Spoon.”
“I still can’t believe you used to work here,” Cyrus said at the booth. T.J.’s arm was around his shoulders and they were eating their prized taters. “You were not a good waitress.”
“Maybe not in waitstaff standards,” she said. “But I worked my little butt off,” she argued back. “And I always looked out for my friends.”
“Pretty sure you saved Jonah a couple of times back in the day,” he responded. “Too bad we hated each other at first, scorpion,” he said smiling. “You’re a great person, and we’re all lucky to have really gotten to know you.”
“And I’m lucky to have gotten to know you,” she said. “You guys made me a better person.”
“Wow,” Amber said, looking around. “This place has not changed a bit. I bet I could even fool the managers by putting on my old uniform and dropping milkshakes onto people’s laps, and even get paid for the week,” she joked.
“As long as it’s not mine,” he said, sitting across from her.
“So...baby taters?”
He actually winced, and Amber caught it. “I think I’ll go with regular fries...and a burger,” he said quickly.
“Really Jag?” She said. “You love Baby Taters.”
“I kinda got sick of it,” he mumbled.
She was about to say something she saw someone go through the door. “Cyrus!” She called him over, and T.J.’s jaw hardened.
Cyrus looked over and smiled at Amber, and the smile wavered when he laid eyes on T.J., but he shook it off, deciding to at least see the friend he hadn’t seen in over a year. He went over and hugged her, but stayed standing after. “Amber, it is amazing seeing you! You look great!”
“Thanks! So do you! That hair! Your clothes! You’re more comfortable in your skin, aren’t you?”
“I could say the same about you! Fashion designing in Paris sounds amazing,” he said, putting his hand on the back of her booth.
“Well, I’m not working for Channel or anything like that,” she joked. “But some of my teachers do…”
“Well look who’s fancy!” He said smiling.
“Come! Join us! We can get taters!”
His smile wavered. “Well, love to, but I can’t, People to do, things to see...next time...T.J….” he nodded tersely.
“Cyrus,” he responded the same way.
Cyrus hugged Amber again and then left. She watched him leave then turned to T.J.
“What the hell was all that about?”
“What was what?”
“Last time you and Cyrus were in the same room and I was here, you guys couldn’t stop touching each other.”
“We broke up,” he said. “Not in the mood to talk about it.”
“I’m sorry about that…” she said. “Even that, you guys were best friends. That doesn’t just disappear.”
T.J. sighed and looked around. “Look, you can still be friends with him and whatever,” he said. “But Cyrus Goodman is the worst human being on this planet.” He huffed and got up. “I’m going to check in at work and tell them I’m going to skip work this week. I’ll be back in a bit.” He walked out the door and turned the street, leaving Amber in shock.
She turned again and looked forward and saw another familiar figure.
“Amber,” Jonah Beck hugged her while she was standing at the soda fountains, getting more coke. “I can’t believe you’re getting sent all the way over to another country.”
“I’m not even being *sent* away Beck,” she said. “I’m following my dreams, the same way you are.”
“Well, we’re all going to miss you,” he said, putting a hand on her shoulder.
“You were the first person to see the good in me, you know,” Amber said. “When we dated?”
“Well, now I’m the one who has to apologize,” he said. “I was a pretty lousy boyfriend then.”
“Yeah, you were,” she said. “But, you’re getting better. You’re learning that there’s more to being a boyfriend than the dates and the kissing.”
He chuckled and nodded. He seemed to radiate sunshine from his smile. “Maybe I shouldn’t date for a while, and just be a good friend.”
“I think that’s a good decision you’re making there,” she said. “Just be yourself and learn a bit more. You’ll do great like that.”
Jonah Beck sat in the booth of the far side of the spoon. He usually liked wearing brighter colors and a smile never seemed to leave his face. At least, that’s what he looked like on her last day in Shadyside.
She now knew why she didn’t recognize him the first time she came in. He was wearing all black and dark grey, long pants and sleeves even though it was the a hot summer, the hood of his sweatshirt pulled up and pulled pretty tightly together, though not too tight, and he looked like he had dark bags under his eyes. The face that used to carry a smile as naturally as it was to walk looked like it never smiled in it’s life. And instead of sitting down comfortably, he was sunk as low as he could possibly be.
Amber looked away from him and then all around the dinner, like she was searching for clues.
What the hell happened to Shadyside?