Swept Away (2 page)

“Oh, come on, your car would be fine. But let me call my dad and see if there’s another possibility—he should be home from work by now. Hang on.” Brittany pulled out her sleek new smartphone and touched the screen in a few places. One more light tap and the speakerphone turned on.

Amber could hear it ringing.

Click. “Hello?”

“Hey Dad, it’s me.”

“What do you need, Brittany?”

Amber giggled at his halting speech. Like

Brittany’s mom, Mr. Kim spoke nearly perfect English even though he’d been raised in Korea. Amber thought his accent sounded cute.

Brittany glared and put her finger to her lips. “Dad, I was wondering if you and Mom have plans tonight?”

“We are going out to a restaurant in one hour. Your mother is getting ready now.”

“Since you’re home now and Mom’s done shopping, would you mind if Brittany and I came by to get a car? We want to go to the mall and to a birthday party.”

“That is okay. But I can drop off car to you. It would be a long walk.”

Brittany winked at Amber. “That would be so great, Dad. Thanks!”

“Welcome, Brittany. See you in one hour.”

Brittany slid her phone closed and gave Amber a triumphant look. “There. We’ve got good wheels and good plans. Now we need …”

“Good outfits! Now
that
I can help with. Let’s go.” They scrambled up the stairs to Amber’s room and hurried to her closet.

“It’s a good thing you have on great jeans, Britt. Mine would be huge on you.”

“Yeah, these are my favorite ones anyway—they’re new.” She twirled to look at her body in the mirrored closet door.

After about fifteen minutes of sorting through tops, they settled on a couple of long-sleeved, burn-out tees over lace-trimmed camis. “I’d like to wear the amethyst one, it goes with my green eyes.” Amber held the purple shirt up to her chin and batted her long eyelashes.

“Good. I wanted to wear the red one anyway.” Brittany grabbed the hanger out of Amber’s hand.

Satisfied with their choices, they dressed quickly and turned back to the mirror. Brittany hardly ever wore makeup, so it surprised Amber when Britt started rifling through the makeup drawer. She applied some pink blush to her cheeks and some mascara to her dark eyelashes, which helped open her eyes a bit. After a swipe of lip gloss, she ran a brush through her silky hair and then plopped on the bed to wait for Amber.

They heard a soft knock at the door. “Come in.” Amber turned to look. “Hey, Mom. What’s up?”

Her mom stood in the doorway wearing her typical tracksuit and wiping the sweat from her forehead.

“You just get back from a run?”

“Yeah, I did four miles—on the treadmill, though. I didn’t go out.” She paused to catch her breath. “But I wanted you to know you left all of your dirty dishes down in the basement.”

“Oops!”

Mom swiped at the sweat dripping down her red face with the towel hanging around her neck. “You promised, when your dad and I let you convert that space into a hangout, that you’d keep it picked up. If you can’t, you won’t be able to take food down there. We don’t want to wind up with an ant problem—or worse.”

“I know. I’m sorry, Mom. We got excited about our plans. I’ll take care of it before we leave.”

Brittany winced and offered a hesitant smile. “Yeah, I’m really sorry, Mrs. Stevens.”

“It’s okay. I already cleaned it up this time. Just make sure you pay more attention next time.” Mom turned to leave the room. “Oh, one other thing I almost forgot. You left the kitchen light on, as well as the light on the basement stairs and the two lights in the basement. That’s a lot of wasted electricity. That costs money.”

“Sorry,” Amber mumbled. Couldn’t she just let it go? As her mom left the room, Amber glanced at Brittany, hoping she hadn’t paid too much attention to the lecture. Amber silently buckled her belt and pulled on a pair of brown knee-high boots, then smoothed the leg of her jeans around her ankles.

Approaching the mirror, she cheered up when she saw the new hairdo she’d paid for with her birthday money last week. It still shocked her when she caught a view of herself. Going from a cute shoulder-length bob to a shorter choppy layered cut with big chunky highlights made her feel more spirited, fun—edgy. Amber rubbed her fingers in a tub of pomade and then used them to piece her style into more spiky chunks. One last ruffle achieved the desired messy look. Satisfied with the results, she sprayed a light aerosol mist of hairspray and then shook her head to make sure her hair still bounced—just like the hairdresser had taught her.
Perfect
.

Now for makeup. She stared at the mirror for a second.

Brittany snored loudly from the bed.

“Very funny!” Amber grabbed a pillow from the floor and threw it at her. “Hey, perfection takes time.”

Brittany grinned. “Yeah. Yeah. Just get on with it.”

Amber turned back to the mirror. Now,

what had that makeup lady said about plum eye shadow? Wasn’t it plum that contrasted and highlighted green eyes the best?
Okay, here goes
. Amber swiped some along the lower part of her upper lid and out from the corner. Then she added some dark eyeliner and lots of mascara to her long lashes.

“Ugh. I’m so jealous. Your eyes look beautiful.” Brittany moved back to the mirror. “If I put that much makeup on, I’d look like a clown or a little girl playing dress up.”

Amber laughed. “I’m sorry. But I can’t disagree. Your sweet little face would look silly with all of this on it. Be glad you’re so gorgeous you don’t even need it.” She added some blush and some rose-tinted lip gloss. She snapped the cap back on the tube and slipped it into her pocket for touchups. “I’m ready. You all set?”

“Yep. As soon as my dad gets here with the car, we can leave.” At that moment, the doorbell rang and the girls packed up their things and scurried down the stairs.

Amber beat Mom to the front door and pulled it open. “Hi, Mr. Kim.” She tried to sidle around her mom to get out of the house in a hurry. Mrs. Kim was moving from the driver’s seat of the Volvo to the passenger seat of the

SUV. Couldn’t let Mom figure out that Mr. and Mrs. Kim brought them the extra vehicle because Amber didn’t want to be seen in their own car. “Gotta go, Mom.” Amber kissed her on the cheek and stepped onto the porch. “We’ll be back by eleven.”

“Where are you g–?” The front door clicked shut on Mom’s question.

Oops
. Amber froze on the porch step. Would her mom open the door to finish her inquiry? After a few seconds, Amber figured Mom had let it go.
Phew
. She waved at Mr. and Mrs. Kim as they drove off in the Lexus and climbed into the black Volvo where Brittany already waited in the driver’s seat. Rubbing the tan leather upholstery, Amber leaned her head back on the luxury headrest. She reached up and pushed the button to slide open the moon roof and flipped on the satellite radio. “Now, this is the life.”

“Are you mad we left early?” Brittany gripped the steering wheel.

“Not really. I just don’t understand the problem.”

“I didn’t feel comfortable.” Brittany glanced at Amber and then to the road. “People kept going in and out of that one bathroom and locking the door.”

Amber laughed. “Don’t people usually lock the door when they go into the bathroom?”

“Two or three people at the same time?” Brittany shook her head. “No. There was something going on in there. Besides, Paula Markham told me that some people were doing drugs.”

“Hah. Paula is the biggest gossip in school. I don’t believe a word she says.” Amber rolled her eyes. “And Kyle does
not
do drugs. He’s too smart for that.” Who did Britt think she was, accusing her cousin like that?

Brittany sighed. “I didn’t say for sure that Kyle was doing drugs or that he even knew about it. But something didn’t feel right.”

“All right. Let’s drop it.” Amber rested her forehead on the cold window and watched the darkness fly by. “I was ready to leave anyway.” Would she have stayed longer if she’d gone alone?

“Amber Stevens and Brittany Kim, you’re both needed in the office,” the faceless voice droned from the crackly loudspeaker.

“Oooooh, you’re in trouble!” Several boys in Amber’s class teased her.

“You guys are so immature. Are you sure you’re seniors? Really?” She clucked her tongue and grabbed her books and purse. They quickly scooted their desks so close together that she had to turn sideways to squeeze between the desks on her way out of the room, giving the boys the perfect opportunity to try to trip her.

Ugh! Grow up!
She scowled and rolled her eyes as she stepped over their outstretched legs.

Amber saw Brittany a little bit ahead of her in the hallway.
“Psst
. Britt!” She hissed through her teeth.

Brittany turned and waited for Amber to catch up. “What do you think they want us in the office for? We can’t be in trouble for anything. Can we?”

“I have no idea. But we haven’t done anything wrong that I can think of.” Amber shrugged. “I guess we’re about to find out.” She pulled open the office door and they stepped inside.

Mrs. Reely, the principal’s secretary, glanced up from her computer and smiled. “Hi, girls. Have a seat.” She gestured to the orange plastic chairs that lined the windows to the hallway. “Don’t mind me. This computer is acting up again.” She peered over her half-framed glasses at Amber. “I don’t suppose computer genius runs in your family, too? Or should I call Kyle to come help me?”

Amber laughed. “You’ll have to get Kyle for that. I don’t know the first thing about them.”

The secretary looked at the schedule, then picked up her phone and placed it between her ear and shoulder while she rifled through her Rolodex.

Brittany slumped down and shrugged toward the window behind her chair. “I hope no one sees me.”

“Oh, who cares? We didn’t do anything wrong, Britt.” Amber laughed it off. “Besides, they all heard our names on the announcement.”

Mrs. Reely drummed her fingernails on the desk while she waited. “Yes, Mrs. Pasterning, when Kyle Stevens gets back inside from gym, would you please send him to the office?” She replaced the phone in its cradle and spun her desk chair away from her desk.

“Why no public announcement for Kyle?” Brittany whispered.

Before Amber could respond, Mrs. Reely’s phone buzzed twice and she turned to the girls. “Principal Warner is ready for you both. He’s waiting in his office. Go right on in.”

Amber shuddered in mock horror.

Brittany put her hand over her mouth, stifling her giggles.

Principal Warner smiled at them and gestured to the orange and blue padded chairs opposite his desk.

Brittany sat on the edge of her seat. She wrung her hands together and tapped her foot.

Amber plopped down and quipped, “Hey, Prince Warner. What’s happening?” He had a reputation of being a fun principal who enjoyed bantering with the students. Amber knew he wouldn’t find her disrespectful, but she alsoknew her parents would be horrified if they had heard her say that.

His eyes twinkled at the nickname. “Oh, nothing much. I have something I wanted to discuss with you two.” He pulled two files from his desk drawer and stared at the contents of the top file for a moment.

Hmm. What’s this all about?
Amber fidgeted in her seat for a few moments, then she glanced at Brittany and had to choke back her laughter. Brittany was as white as a ghost—Amber wondered if she might pass out.
Poor thing
.

“So,” Principal Warner said, smiling. “You two know your grades are near perfect and you’re exemplary students. You’ve also never missed a day of school. Right?” He leaned forward.

Amber’s shoulders relaxed. This should be a fun meeting. “Yep. Now you’re going to tell us we both got awarded full rides to Princeton, right? Get it? Prince Warner…
Princeton
…” Amber waited for a chuckle or a laugh that never came.
Ooh, tough crowd
. “Not funny? Okay, I’ll stop.”

Brittany’s eyes shot daggers.

Amber knew it drove Britt crazy when she acted like this—which was probably why shedid it so much. People—grownups—always liked her, so she didn’t worry.
“Too familiar with adults….”
That’s what Mom and Dad always said. Amber considered the possibility.
Nah. No such thing as too familiar—if you can pull it off
.

Principal Warner’s blue eyes still twinkled. “I do get it.” He chuckled and shook his head. “Actually, I wish that were my news. But hey!” His eyes brightened even more. “I’ve got a second best for you.” He pulled a sheet of paper from his stack and skimmed it as he paraphrased the words. “Dave Druthers of Druthers Ford Dealership made an offer to the student body over eight years ago. He offered a new car to the student who graduated with straight A’s and perfect attendance for all four years of high school. The problem is, it never happened until this year … and now …”

“Now, it’s happening twice.” Brittany shook her head.

“Wow! That’s amazing.” Amber stood up and paced the room. “I can’t believe it. We need a new car so bad.”

“Well, here’s the thing,” Principal Warner hesitated. “I double-checked the details with Dave Druthers today. He’s offering a brand-new Ford Focus sedan.” He turned his computer monitor toward the girls so they could see the car.

“Wow. It’s beautiful!”
Never thought I’d have a car like that
. Amber sat down and stared at the screen with the pearly white car pictured driving down a country road. “It’s so pretty in that color, too. And four doors? Stereo system? It’s a real car!”

“Yep, it’s a real car. That’s for sure.” Brittany smiled. “Would you believe that is the exact car—different color—that my parents considered buying me last year when I got my license? They decided I wasn’t ready for my own car, though.”

“I remember you test driving it now that you mention it.” Amber bounced on the edge of her seat. “You said you loved it.”

“Well …” Principal Warner turned the monitor back around to face himself. “Even though it looks like you could both qualify for it—which is an amazing feat—there’s only one car to give away.”