by Kaylee, Katy
Amber looked away and over at her mom, reaching across and rubbing her hand. “I just want to thank you for supporting me. I know this is hard on everyone, with me just up and changing all of my plans, but it is the best for me. I’ve put a lot of thought into it.”
Her mom squeezed her hand and glanced over as she drove. “I will always be there for you sweetie and so will your father. Know that your dad will come around eventually; he just needs to adjust to you not going to his Alma Mater. You know how he is about those things. Sometimes I think he’s spent too much time in Hollywood around rich people. But in the end, he just wants what is best for you. You know he is a stubborn man and when he doesn’t get his way he can be ruthless. But he really does love you.”
Amber sighed and put her hand back in her lap. “I know he does. It’s just the first time in my life that he hasn’t whole heartedly supported a decision I wanted to make. It’s really disconcerting not to have him on my side.”
Her mom scrunched her forehead. “Amber, honey. He may be mad at you, and mad at the decision, but he is always on your side. He just has to come to terms with the fact that you are an adult now and you are going to make the decisions that are best for you. He won’t always know what is best, but as parents we sure try to make the best guess at it.”
Amber smiled. “You guys have been incredible parents, to all of us, including Logan. I couldn’t ask for better role models in my life.”
Her mom sniffled like she was going to cry, then took in a deep breath, composing herself. “Are you excited about the idea of going to UCLA? Some really brilliant minds have come out of here and I think you will fit in nicely.”
Amber looked over as they drove up onto the campus. “I am. I think that it will be a great place. And who knows, when I get to my doctorate status, maybe I’ll go back to Yale and finish it all up there.”
Her mom pulled into a parking space and gave her a warm hug. “As long as you are happy and fulfilling your dreams, then we will be happy for you.”
Amber blew out air and puffed out her cheeks. “Okay, here we go.”
The two women walked across the campus to the admissions building and into Elise’s office waiting area. Before they could even speak to her secretary Elise walked out the door with her arms wide. “Lisa. Oh, it’s so good to see you. Oh my gosh, and this is Amber. The last time I saw you, I think you were in fifth grade. What a beautiful young woman you have become.”
Amber shook her hand. “Thank you.”
Elise stood to the side and opened up her office door. “Come in, both of you. I’ve been looking forward to talking to you all day long.”
She showed Amber and her mom into the office and they sat down in the chairs across from Elise’s desk. The tall, slender woman in Dolce and Gabbana sat down and opened up a file. “So, Elise. I was excited to get your file on my desk. Valedictorian of your high school, 4.0 student, and president of three different clubs. You were definitely a busy girl. Tell me, what it is about UCLA that made you want to come here?”
Amber smiled enthusiastically. “Well, there is so much. UCLA is consistently ranked among the top universities in the world for academics, research, and community impact. You offer over five thousand different courses, which makes finding what I want incredibly easy. You have a diverse student population and a very high matriculation rate. I think my research said seventy eight percent for freshman and ninety percent for six-year students. On top of that, you have some of the most prestigious professors in the country teaching here. Nobel prize winners, Pulitzer Prize winners, and so much more. I just love your community involvement as well. It’s very important to me.”
Elise looked extremely pleased. “You really did your research, though with the application essay and the transcripts in front of me I am not the least bit surprised about that. I’ll be honest, we had already made up our mind about you before you got here, but just listening to you talk makes me so proud to say that I am convinced that you would be a perfect fit for us. You can consider yourself a student at UCLA.”
Amber clapped her hands together and wrapped her arms around her mom. “Thank you so much. This is so exciting.”
She shook Elise’s hand. Elise paused for a moment. “I do have one question. I heard you were accepted into Yale and then withdrew. Can I ask why?”
Amber shrugged. “I guess I wanted to make sure that the place I fulfilled my necessary duties for my future was a place that I felt like home in.”
Elise smiled. “Good answer. We will get all the necessary information out to you as soon as possible and you can set up a meeting with admissions to get your placement exams completed.”
Amber, her mom, and Elise sat there talking about Amber’s future at UCLA as well as family life, and so much more. She knew that they had only even considered her late application because of her mom, but that didn’t matter to her, she had found a place she could call home. When they were done, Lisa happily drove them back to the house.
Amber walked into the living room to find both Jordan and Logan sitting on the couch. They muted the television and looked at her curiously, noticing just how excited she was. Amber was almost bursting, even more so than when she had gotten her acceptance letter to Yale.
She put her hands out and took a breath to calm herself. “Guess what, guys?”
Jordan opened his eyes wide. “What?”
“I had a meeting at UCLA today, and I’ve been accepted!” Amber jumped up and down excitedly.
Jordan jumped up from the couch and picked Amber up in the air, hugging her tightly. “This is freaking fantastic, little pixie. Oh man, I have to admit, I’m really glad you aren’t going all the way across the country for college. It was causing me some really serious anxiety. I can keep a good, clean eye on you here, even if you decide to live in the dorms. I gotta make sure those frat guys don’t fuck with you.”
Amber shook her head. “Hey, I’ve got my pepper spray and my sweet moves. I can take a dude down.”
The two of them started sparring with each other in the living room. Her mom laughed and edged around them, heading into the kitchen. Jordan grabbed Amber and threw her over his shoulder laughing loudly. “See, you need me little sis. The world is a big, bad, scary place and you have the honor of having one, no two, of the most protective men on the planet looking out for you. We’ve faced those dickheads and we have taken them down.”
He put Amber down and she laughed, giving Jordan another hug. “Thanks, big bro.”
Jordan turned to Logan and put his hands out. “We would have her back and look out for her even if we have to go there and walk her to her classes. Right, Logan?”
“Hell yeah,” Logan jeered.
Jordan gave him a high five. “That’s right, my brother.”
Logan stood up and gave Amber a hug, making sure not to linger too long. “Congratulations and your brother is one hundred percent on point. I will protect you from any loser who thinks he can get within ten feet of you. These guys haven’t seen protection until they’ve met me, and your brother, but he’s wishy washy on his upper cut.”
Jordan narrowed his eyes. “I’ll show you an upper cut.”
Logan laughed and turned back to Amber, looking her straight in the eyes. “I’m serious, we both are. Anything that you need, you just let me know. There isn’t a soul out there that I would let harm you.”
Jordan jumped up from the couch and wrapped his arm around Logan’s shoulder. “And maybe one day you will meet the man of your dreams, who is just as awesome as us.”
Logan glanced at Jordan. “Well, almost. It’s hard to live up to these standards.”
Amber smiled but on the inside, she felt like she was going to boil over. The way that Logan was being protective turned her on to no end. She had never had someone like him pledge their protection to her like that, and immediately visions of him shirtless carrying her away from a trauma flashed through her mind. She shook her head and tried to focus on her brother.
> “Let’s grab a beer from the fridge and put on a movie. We can chillax and wait for Dad to get home so you can tell him the good news.” Jordan motioned for the couch.
Logan nodded. “Yeah, I’ll grab the beers.”
Amber shook her head. “You guys are too much. And as far as Dad is concerned, I don’t think anything would make him happy at this point. I think that Yale is the only word he wants to hear.”
As Logan walked away, he secretly winked at her, making her stumble over her feet. Jordan grabbed her before she could fall. “See, you definitely need protection. You can barely walk on your own anymore.”
Amber sat down on the couch and put up her feet, relaxing back into the sofa. She was trying to get the heat to dissipate from between her legs, but as soon as she saw light Logan walked back around the corner. Everything about that man, from the way he moved, to the way he talked, to the way he treated her turned her on. The fact that she switched colleges was starting to look like the smartest choice she could have made.
She didn’t know where things in the future would go with Logan, but she was so stoked that she was going to get the chance to figure that out. She realized right there that she would sacrifice just about anything for him, and she had a really good feeling that he would do the same for her. They were not meant to be together, but now that they were she was going to enjoy every last minute of it. He was the guy for her, she knew it, there was no doubt in her mind. All she had to do was to eventually convince the others.
Logan
Logan stood in his room, tying and retying his tie. He straightened his suit jacket down and picked a couple of pieces of lint off of it. He didn’t mind wearing a suit when it meant he got to spend the evening with a beautiful woman. He had planned the perfect date for him and Amber, a beautiful dinner at private table at a very exclusive restaurant. Jordan had actually helped him get the reservation, though he didn’t tell him who his date was.
Logan knew he was leaving, but he didn’t want to waste the time that he had. He and Amber had been dying for some time alone. Ever since he left for Colorado, things had been non-stop, and with Amber enrolling in her new school, her mind was completely frazzled. It had been nearly a week since they had been able to even talk to each other alone, much less be together without interruption, and it was driving Logan absolutely nuts.
Everywhere he looked he saw her, every thought he had was about her, and he just couldn’t continue living like that. She had snuck into his room the night before and told him she wanted a date and he was not going to refuse her. He had tried to get her to stay, but Jordan was still up on the phone with the girl he had been seeing and they were too afraid to get caught.
He walked over to the bed and picked up the dozen red roses he had gotten for her. The deal was she was going to get ready at Taylor’s house, and that was where he was going to pick her up. They figured it would be a little suspicious if they left together all dressed up in the same car. In fact, it would be a dead giveaway. Everything was perfect at that moment, and he didn’t want to ruin it with an unnecessary burden, like the family trying to murder him in his sleep.
Logan turned and held the roses up to his side, looking in the mirror. He looked suave and smooth, his hair actually done and not all over the place, his clothes perfectly fitted and pressed, and his face freshly shaven. He even sniffed the collar of his jacket after spritzing Jordan’s two-hundred-and-fifty-dollar cologne on himself. He was exactly how he wanted to be, but there was still something missing. Deep down inside himself he could feel the tension just bubbling inside of him. All of it, in some ways, seemed almost cruel, and he was not normally a cruel guy. Taking Amber out, showing her the town, bonding even further with her, all so he could get up early one morning and jet out without any kind of notice. He knew it was fucked up of him, but he couldn’t turn away from her.
So, he did what he had become best at, and buried the secret as far down as he could. When his parents died, he had taken those emotions and pushed them down, so he knew it was possible. When he eventually left, he would push the heartache down too, because he knew better than anyone that life could be unbearably cruel. It wasn’t something he wanted to purposely impose on Amber, but he had to stick with his decision.
“Woooweee, look at that handsome fucking man standing in my house. Hey, I was looking for my best friend, he’s about your height but completely not put together,” Jordan joked.
Logan was thankful for the intrusion; it forced him to clear his thoughts. “Hey, man. Thanks for the help with all of this.”
Jordan sat down on the bed. “Hey, no problem. Have you told her yet about the job?”
Logan sighed. “No, not yet. I just want to have some time with her unencumbered before all of that drama unfolds.”
Jordan nodded. “Understandable. What time are you picking her up?”
Logan looked down at his watch and jumped. “Oh shit, in ten minutes. I gotta go.”
Jordan waved to him as he grabbed the flowers and his keys and raced out the door and down the stairs. Logan had let him borrow his BMW convertible for the night, so he leapt over the side and into the driver’s seat. After adjusting the mirrors, he sped out, making his way to Taylor’s as fast as he could. He pulled into the driveway and stopped, looking in the mirror at his hair.
As he did, something sparkling caught his eye and he looked up in the doorway to the house. Standing there in absolute radiance was Amber. Her black dress fit tightly against her body and stopped right below her knees. It was strapless, and her perfect breasts hovered over the top in the exact right amount of cleavage. She tapped her black stiletto heel and gripped her bright red bag as she smiled big at him. Her long dark hair cascaded down over her shoulders in loose curls, and her makeup accentuated her beautiful blue eyes.
Logan was nearly speechless. He got out of the car and raced up, putting out his arm for her. Taylor stood in the doorway, giggling, and waved at them as Logan made his way out to the car. He opened the passenger door and gave Amber his hand. “You look absolutely amazing right now. No joke, amazing.”
Amber giggled. “Thank you. You don’t look too bad yourself, handsome. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that suit before.”
Logan tugged on the front of the suit jacket. “It’s your brother’s. I wanted a nice suit to wear that wasn’t the blue striped one I wear to your parent’s parties, but didn’t have enough time to get a tailor to make one.”
Amber sat down in the car and swung her feet in as he closed the door. “Well, you make the suit look good, not the other way around.”
Logan leaned down and kissed her red lips gently. “And you make me look good.”
He waved at Taylor and jumped into the driver’s seat, heading into town. As he drove, Amber reached over and took his hand, smiling at how blissfully normal everything was. He pulled the car up to the valet at the restaurant and hurried around, helping Amber out. She put her arm through his and held on tightly as they walked into the restaurant.
The waitress was ready for their reservation and showed them out onto the terrace for a private dining table. Amber was impressed. “This is beautiful. Good job, mister. Good job.”
Logan took a seat and reached over, grabbing her hands. “I just wanted it to be special. We haven’t really gotten to do anything normal since we started seeing each other.”
Amber nodded. “I know, and this is more than perfect.”
The waitress came up with the wine selections and poured them both a glass. Amber took a sip and nodded thankfully at Logan. Apparently, there it didn’t matter how old she was. They ordered their appetizer and then took in the beautiful night air.
Logan leaned back and stared at Amber in the moonlight, not believing how gorgeous she was, inside and out. “So, you got into UCLA. That’s amazing. What are you think as far as your major?”
Amber rolled her eyes. “That one is still up in the air.”
“What do you want to do when you get out of sc
hool? What do you see yourself doing?”
Amber wrinkled her nose. “Honestly? I would love to be a history professor. I have always loved history, I am planning on getting a PhD in whatever I study, and the idea of teaching others what I love just sounds amazing. My father isn’t too excited about that, but it’s my life, you know? I gotta start doing for me. How about you? You graduated. Now what do you want to do?”
Logan bit the inside of his mouth nervously. “I want to own my own tech company. I want to create great big things, be on the cutting edge, make things that help others and makes life as a whole more enjoyable. It’s funny, my mom always told me that one day I would own my own company and I thought she was crazy. Now that’s all I can see myself doing in the future.”
Amber took a sip of her wine. “Moms are pretty intuitive in that way. I remember your mom being your number one fan.”
Logan looked down. “Yeah, she was.”
Amber reached out and took his hand. “I’m sorry. We don’t have to talk about them.”
Logan shook his head. “No, you know, it’s okay. When they died, I took all of that hurt and that sadness and I stuffed it way down inside. Over the years it has come out a little at a time, affecting my life greatly. Now, I feel like I can think about them and smile. I know that they would be proud of me, and I know that they are looking out for me, wherever they went. As a kid, it was really hard to understand, even though I was a teenager. Now, though, I can see what kind of people they were, and I want to be that kind of person.”
Amber gave him a kind half-smile, listening intently. “They gave you a lot of good roads to follow. They were and still are a great example of what people should be like. My parents are like that too, at least they are to me. My mom is strong and unapologetic, but at the same time the softest spoken and kindest woman I have ever met. And my dad drives me nuts, but he is a good man. I’m lucky.”