“Yeah, that’s true. You’ve never told it to me.” Phew. “Hey. Where are your mom and dad?” Amber realized she hadn’t seen either of them since she’d arrived.
“They’re pretty stressed over this. They’re hiding out in their room. Probably praying.” Brittany’s eyes glazed as she watched the rotating blades of the ceiling fan. “You know, I think I’m going to try to sleep. I can’t think about this anymore, and I’m all prayed out.”
“Okay. One more question, and then I’ll go so you can rest.” Amber maneuvered her head into Brittany’s line of sight, forcing eye contact. “Do your parents believe you?”
Brittany didn’t hesitate for a second—didn’t even blink. “One hundred percent.”
“Okay then, with them by your side and with me in your corner, we’ll get you through this. It’s totally not fair, but it will pass. I promise.” She walked to the front door.
“I hope you’re right, Amber.” Brittany fell into Amber’s outstretched arms for a final hug.
When the door clicked shut behind her, Amber leaned against it for a moment, her heart racing. What have I done? She’d destroyed her best friend’s life. Now, she alone had the power to stop it from going any further. Amber weighed her options and then the cost. No. There was simply no way she could say anything now. It’s too late.
She looked toward heaven, then squeezed her eyes shut. Lord, please don’t let anyone find out the truth.
Wait a minute. What did she say? Did she actually pray that God would help her get away with cheating? What nerve. Shaking her head, she hurried to her car, the solitude of her bedroom her only goal.
Parking her car in the garage where they used to park the old one, which now sat on the street in front of the house, didn’t have the same excitement it had the day before. Amber hurried into the house, hoping to make it up to her bedroom without having to talk to her parents.
“Amber, honey? Is that you?” Mom’s cheerful voice called from the family room.
Amber’s stomach flipped. She had to pass through the family room to get to the stairs leading up to her bedroom. There’d be no way to avoid a little chat. “Just getting a Coke.”
“Okay. I need to talk to you for just a sec.”
“I’ll be right there, Mom.” Amber reached into the fridge. Oh, right, cola. Oh well, the caffeine would still do its thing. She popped the tab and took a long swig. When she’d stalled long enough, she squared her shoulders and went to face her mom.
“Hey, Mom. What’s up?” Amber asked as she casually walked into the family room.
“What’s up? Are you serious? Did you see today’s paper?”
Amber’s heart sank. The newspapers had already reported about Brittany? But Mom looked excited, so that couldn’t be it. “What’s it about?”
“Let’s see …” Mom ran her finger down the page as she scanned the paper, probably for the best spot to start reading. “Oh, here it is. ‘Local student, Amber Stevens, wowed the school and the community with a record-breaking high-school career. She maintained straight A’s throughout all four years of her schooling as well as a perfect attendance record. In a crazy twist …’ And then it goes on to tell about the contest between you and Brittany and the car you won.” Mom beamed. “You’re a celebrity, sweetie.”
“I don’t feel much like a celebrity.” While Mom had been reading, Amber realized she should fill her mom in on the details about Brittany, or Mom would wonder why she hadn’t. Under normal circumstances, she sure wouldn’t be excited about a newspaper with what Brittany was going through. “Did you hear what happened today?”
Concern immediately lined her face. “No … What happened?”
“It’s Brittany. They caught her cheating. Well, I should say they’re accusing her of cheating. She promises that she didn’t do it.”
“Well, then, I believe her. She’s not the type to cheat.” Mom stood up and paced across the room. “They’re going to have to clear her name.” She went the window and then turned to face Amber again. “You aren’t suggesting that you think she did it, are you?”
“No, of course not. But … well … they do have strong evidence.” Amber tried to sound logical. “But that doesn’t always mean anything.”
“Oh, the poor girl. How is she?”
“She’s in agony. I mean, think about it. She lost everything today.” Amber went to the window and looked out. “Her record, her scholarship, her admission to college, and probably even graduation.”
“Oh Lord, help her. Give her peace. Let the truth come out.”
Her mom’s spontaneous prayer took Amber by surprise. Would she have prayed that if she knew the truth? “I’m not sure even He can help her now, Mom.”
“You’d be surprised at what He can do.” Mom stepped over and put her arm around Amber’s shoulder and joined her looking out the window. “Maybe this situation will be the faith builder you need, sweetie.”
“Maybe.” Maybe not.
“Before I forget, Kyle called for you. He said to call him right away.”
“You phoned?” Amber didn’t bother to hide her irritation when she returned Kyle’s call.
“Stay put. I’m coming over.” The phone went dead.
A feeling of dread washed over Amber. Suddenly it all came crystal clear to her. Kyle waiting for her after school with that perplexed look on his face, phoning her house, coming over without an explanation. Something happened. Something had gone wrong, very wrong.
What options did she have? If they were going to get caught for sure, maybe she should call someone and confess in a hurry before it became too late. They would go much easier on her if she came forward. No, she was getting ahead of herself. She’d wait to hear what Kyle had to say.
Amber paced the short distance back andforth across her room until Kyle arrived.
A knock at her door pulled her from her thoughts. “Come in.”
The door swung open and Kyle stood there—a very sad-looking, pale Kyle. “I’m so sorry.”
“For what?” Amber voice sounded flat. She figured she knew the answer, but still needed to hear it.
“We’re being turned in.” Kyle sat down and shook his head. “I never saw this coming. One of the other people I gave the tests to had an attack of conscience and confessed. Now they’re making him tell who else cheated.”
“There were others? Besides, how would he know, anyway?” Amber already knew. Kyle had a big mouth and liked to brag. He told.
“I told him. Ten people actually used the test, plus me, of course, who accessed and printed them.” He shuffled over to the bed and fell back onto it, staring at the ceiling.
Amber didn’t care much about anyone else involved. All that mattered now was that she let Brittany take the fall, and now Britt would know the truth. “Is there any chance he hasn’t told yet? Is it possible I can still confess?”
“If you’d have stopped to talk to me after school, maybe. But by now, it’s too late.”
Too late.
Chapter 11
CAUGHT
Zombie-like, Amber made her way from class to class. She’d considered staying home from school that day, after hearing Kyle’s news the afternoon before, but what would that have solved? It would have just prolonged the agony. With Brittany not there to see the truth come out, Amber figured it would be best to stare it right in the face.
It didn’t take long. Halfway into third period, the loudspeaker clicked on. “Amber Stevens, please come to the office.”
It was time. She shuffled out to the hall with her books in her arms. A quick glance at the front doors—she could make a run for it. Her car had a full tank of gas. My car … not for long. The walk to the office ended all too soon. She stared at the closed door, unable to open it, not wanting to go in.
She heard fumbling with the handle, someone trying to open the door from the inside. Two angry-looking parents finally spilled out into the hallway dragging a student behind them by the sleeves of his jacket. He had
his head hung low as they appeared to head for the front entrance.
“Amber?” Principal Warner leaned forward at his desk and looked out through the waiting area to the door that Amber still hadn’t walked through.
Time to face the consequences. She somehow made it into the office and then slumped into a chair, but had yet to say a word.
“I take it you know why you’re here?”
Amber nodded, tears burning her eyes.
“Why, Amber? Why would you do something so stupid?” Principal Warner shook his head. “In all my years as principal here, I can honestly say this is the biggest shock to me—the biggest waste.” He blinked back tears. “I would do anything to erase this—as I’m sure you would, too. But alas, here we are—faced with the harshest reality.”
Head down, Amber lifted only her eyes,
begging, pleading for him to do something. What? She had no idea—just something to fix the mess she was in. Anything.
“I’ll be calling the other involved students in as a group. But your situation is quite different.” He rubbed his forehead. “Your parents are on the way. We’ll talk about consequences when they get here. In the meantime, there are some other people who need to see you.” He sighed and went to open his door.
Brittany and her parents came through the door. No more tears—only fire.
“How could you?” Brittany roared.
Mrs. Kim grabbed onto her daughter’s forearm, but Brittany shook her off.
“This is the absolute worst thing you could have done. You completely betrayed me. It’s not the car. It’s not the contest. It’s not even the cheating. It’s that you sat there with me, watching me agonize over being wrongly accused … and you did nothing, said nothing.” Brittany put her hands on a chair back and looked into Amber’s eyes. “What kind of friend—what kind of person could do that? You’re evil. I never, ever want to see you again.”
Amber felt like the breath had been sucked out of her with each word. She slumped in her chair, defeated, deflated. Brittany’s right. I am evil.
“Brittany, I understand you’re hurting. But I think that’s enough.” Principal Warner stood up at his desk.
Amber glanced at Mr. and Mrs. Kim. “I’m so sorry.”
They nodded curtly, but had nothing to say.
“Amber?” The principal held out his hand.
Amber knew what he wanted. She placed the car key into his outstretched palm.
“I’ll have the secretary walk out with the Kims and retrieve your belongings from the car.”
Amber’s ears buzzed—she didn’t hear another word. Until her parents arrived.
They blustered into the office. Mom’s cheeks were pink like they got when she was angry or nervous. Dad, pale and somber, looked exactly like he had at Aunt Barb’s funeral last year.
“Mr. Warner,” Dad began, “there has to be some mistake here.”
Mom held Amber’s gaze, pleading with her eyes. “There is. Right?”
Amber broke eye contact and gave a slight—almost imperceptible—shake to her head. No mistake.
Mom sank into the chair beside Amber and exhaled like she’d been punched. She reached up a hand for her husband who moved to stand behind her.
He grabbed her hand and squeezed.
“What happened? What happens now? What do we do?” Mom rattled off her questions, not waiting for answers. Then she got to the question she must have most wanted answered. “Why?” She faced her daughter and waited.
Amber shrugged.
Dad stepped forward. “You’re going to have to do much better than that, young lady.”
Amber winced. It had been years since she’d given them any reason to use that term. “I don’t know why … well … I guess I do know why. I was scared. Scared for me—for my future—and scared for you guys.”
“So you think this is the way to solve our family problems? Which, by the way, we repeatedly asked you to leave in God’s hands.” Mom shook her head in disbelief.
“I tried to leave them in His hands—look what happened.”
“This isn’t God’s work, young lady. This is your own doing.” Dad’s forehead furrowed, causing his bushy black eyebrows to rise to a point over dark, glaring eyes.
“Mom, Dad. I wanted out, but it was too late. I’d already done it and there was no going back. I regretted it almost instantly.”
“Hold on a second.” Mom stood up, the light dawning. “Brittany wasn’t involved in any of this. Was she?” She looked at the principal.
“No. She wasn’t.”
She looked at her husband, mouth wide open, obviously shocked, and then she turned on Amber. “You mean you let her take the blame for what you did? How could you do that?”
Amber shook her head and started to cry.
“Okay, this isn’t going anywhere, and we don’t need to put Principal Warner through any more of our family drama. So, let’s wrap this up and deal with things at home.” Dad turned to the principal. “What now?”
“I’ll send all of the details to you in a letter once I meet with the school board. Basically, Amber is dropped from all three classes that she cheated in. She is suspended from school until after graduation and will not graduate with her class. She might be able to make up some of the classes in summer school, but I’m going to have to check on that. She relinquished the car to Brittany already.”
“What about college?” Mom whispered, her head in her hands.
“I can’t speak for the university, but I can give you my opinion. There’s a chance they’ll still let her attend after she makes up those classes, but I can’t guarantee it. They’ll definitely pull her scholarship funds, though.”
Amber’s stomach churned and threatened revolt. She searched for the trash can in case she needed to throw up. She’d blown it. Ruined everything she’d worked so hard for. Why?
Because I have no faith. That’s why.
“I can’t believe you!” Mom raged as they entered the kitchen after a silent drive home from the school. “It’s like we’ve never even met you. I’d have never thought you were capable of something like this.”
“Sweetheart, calm down.” Dad massaged her shoulders.
“Stop it.” She turned to him. “Don’t you see? It’s not the cheating that bothers me so much—well it does, but everyone makes mistakes, and I could get past that. It’s the coldhearted way she let her best friend take the blame. What kind of person have we raised here?” She put her hands on the kitchen counter and rocked back and forth.
“I know! I know!” Amber shouted. “I hate myself enough already. I got trapped in my own dumb choices and couldn’t find a way out. I made a huge mistake—many huge mistakes. I …” Throwing her hands up, she ran from the room without finishing her sentence and stomped up the stairs to her room. She threw herself on the bed and sobbed. What a mess.
Some time later, Amber heard a soft knock on the door.
“Can we come in?” Mom’s voice called through the door.
“Yeah, I guess so.” She pulled herself up and let her legs hang over the edge of the bed. Her head pounded out a drumbeat. Without looking, she heard the door open and soft footsteps pad across the carpet.
“Amber.” Mom spoke gently. “Can we start over? I didn’t handle myself very well downstairs, and I’m sorry for that.” She sat down on the edge of the bed. “But we do need to talk. Okay?”
“Sure. I guess.” Amber hung her head and bit her fingernail.
Dad cleared his throat. “First of all, your mom and I are disappointed on so many levels. We really don’t know what to do or what to think.”
“Did you even think about Kyle”—Mom started with the frustration evident in her tone, and then took a breath. With more control, she continued—”and the trouble he’d get into, before you let him cheat for you?”
“He was going to cheat anyway. He’s the one who offered.” Amber knew she shouldn’t try to defend herself, but she didn’t feel bad for Kyle, of all peopl
e.
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that. You know how he’s always looked up to you and wanted you two to be friends.” Mom waved her hand and shook her head. “But that’s not the point here. I want to know what went through your mind to convince you to do this. Why, Amber? Make me understand.”
Amber stood up, exasperated. “Mom. You’ll never understand, because I don’t get it, either. I felt compelled to win that contest. Originally, I wanted the recognition because I hoped it would help me get into college. I wanted to have a career one day that would help you guys out.” She threw her hands in the air as she paced the room. “Then, when I got the scholarship, all I cared about was getting that car—we needed that car. I don’t know … it was such a mistake.” She sat down on the floor and leaned against the bed, drawing her knees up to her chest and putting her head in her hands in one motion. “I wish I could take it all back.”
“Well, sadly, that’s not possible.” Dad reached down a hand and stroked her hair. “Amber, it pains me to realize how much of the burden for this family you carried on your shoulders. Why couldn’t you trust us a little more? Trust God, even?”
“I don’t know,” Amber mumbled. “What’s going to happen to me?”
“A lot of this is going to take time to figure out.” Dad shook his head. “Summer school is a sure thing.”
“And UW is out.” Mom sighed.
“Out?” Amber squeaked. “Why out? Principal Warner said they might still let me go.”
“They might—although I doubt it. It’s a competitive entrance process. There are lots of students eager and willing to take your place. But even if they let you attend …” Mom shrugged her shoulders.
“What, even if … what?”
“We can’t pay that tuition. You know that.” Mom looked away. “Without the scholarship …”
Dad cleared his throat again. “You’ll have to go to community college.”
Ah. There it is. The final death knell to her dreams had sounded. Amber knew she had no one to blame but herself. “Yeah. I guess you’re right.” She nodded and tried not to cry.
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