Swept Away (9 page)

With her head down on her arms, Amber thought of Brittany’s comment the night before. “I really think this will probably be on the test.” She’d stopped at a difficult chapter when they flipped through the book one last time.

Amber wanted to kick herself for replying, “No. Why would it be? We didn’t spend nearly enough time on it in class.” One thing to cheat on a test—that was wrong enough by itself—but to steer your best friend down the wrong path so she wouldn’t do well … how could she? A better question would be how to fix it.

But there would be no going back. Too late to change a thing.
What’s done is done
.

The bell rang, and several students groaned and slammed their tests shut. Brittany sat frozen, staring at her paper with no expression on her face. Finally, she peeled herself from her seat and made her way among the other zombie-like students to the front where she handed her paper to the teacher. Britt’s face paled and her shoulders slumped forward in defeat as she headed for the door.

“Don’t forget your stuff.” Amber pointed toward Brittany’s desk.

“Oh. I almost forgot.” She hurried to pick up her stack of books and met Amber at the door.

“Don’t ask.” She shook her head in reply to Amber’s questioning eyes, the color returning to her face. “We’ll talk about it later. I need to put this behind me. There’s still one more test.”

“I have History now. You have … what? Oh, yeah, Lit.” Amber hesitated. “Hey, I already took that test—it’s not too hard. Want me to tell you some of the questions?”

“No way!” Brittany came to life and shook her head. “Besides, even if you did, I know what I know, and there’s no room in my head for anything else. I’m on overload.”

They parted ways and headed to their classrooms on opposite ends of the senior wing. She should feel better now that she’d offered to help Brittany, but Amber only felt worse. Now, not only did Britt know Amber would cheat if she had wanted her to, but she also thanked her for it as though Amber were some great friend.
If she only knew the truth
.

Amber took a cleansing breath. “One more exam. Only one,” she said out loud to herself. A couple of students passing by looked at her like they thought she lost her mind. Maybe she had.

Sitting at her desk in her history class waiting for the teacher to pass out the tests, Amber thought back over the year. All in all, it had been a good one. A lot of pressure, a lot more studying than she had intended to do in her senior year, but still good. She smiled softly at the memory of the day she and Brittany both received their acceptance letters to the University of Wyoming. They knew they’d get in, but the scholarships made it much more exciting. A full ride. What more could she ask for?

A car would sure be nice
.

Focus, Amber. Focus
. The moment of truth. The final test of the final week of the final year of high school. She opened the test booklet the teacher had laid before her, and read through the questions on the first page.

Thank God for Kyle
.

“Amber Stevens and Brittany Kim. Could you please come to the office?”

This is it
. With only four days left until graduation, she and Brittany had been on edge, waiting to find out who won the contest. Grades hadn’t been released yet, so they had no clue. They met up in the hallway, exactly as they had almost seven months ago when they got called into the office to first learn of the contest. Had it really been seven months since then?

The walk down the hallway and any conversations along the way blurred as Amber’s thoughts raced and swirled. Within a few minutes, they sat in Principal Warner’s office, waiting for the final verdict.

He pointed to the phone resting between his shoulder and his ear, and motioned with five fingers that his call would only take a few more minutes.

Could she still back out? What if she put a stop to the whole thing right then? But she couldn’t. She had a fifty-fifty chance of winning a brand-new car for herself—for her family—and would find out, one way or another, in a few minutes. But what if she didn’t win? Amber wanted to be happy for Brittany—she really did. But she feared she wouldn’t be able to find it within herself. Of course, she never thought she had it in her to be a cheater, either!

“Okay. Thanks so much. I’ll be in touch.” Principal Warner hung up the phone and turned to the girls, smiling from ear to ear. “Amber, Brittany.” He nodded at them both. “I first want to say I am so very proud of you both. You have been exemplary students in every possible way. I understand you both got accepted to the college of your choice?”

“Yes, sir.” Brittany wrung her hands together in her lap and took several deep breaths. Was she about to pass out? Poor girl wore her emotions on display.

Poised only on the outside, Amber patted Brittany’s arm. “We’re both going to UW on full scholarships.”

“That’s wonderful, girls. How exciting.” He paused, his eyes glimmering. “UW is close enough to drive home once a month or so, right?”

“Well, sure. If we had a car, that is.” Amber teased back, trying to look cool and unfazed in front of Principal Warner.

“Okay. This much you already know: One of you will own a brand-new car before you walk out of this office today. But knowing how close you two are, you’ll probably be sharing it at college and to get you both back and forth for visits. So the outcome should be exciting no matter what.” He leaned back in his chair with his hands behind his head. “Before I tell you the results, you need to know how very impressed I am. You both deserve to be commended for the way you acted during this race. You both worked hard, but you stayed true to each other. You took the high road and relied on honesty, hard work, and friendship as the most important things.”

Amber never felt smaller.

“But alas, you’re not here for all of that. You’re dying to hear the outcome, aren’t you?”

Both girls nodded.

“Okay, after calculating everything, it came down to the final exams. Either of you could have won at that point. But the exams pulled out a clear winner. The winner, after your scores were finalized and confirmed, is …” He paused for effect, and then shouted,
“Amber!
“

Amber looked at Brittany, stunned, her mouth hanging open.

Brittany threw her arms around Amber and squeezed. “Oh, Amber. I’m so, so happy for you. You worked so hard for this. This is how it was meant to turn out—I just knew it.”

“Can I call my mom and dad?” Amber words squeaked out. Her throat was so dry and her heart beat so hard, she wondered if they could hear it.

“First, let’s go outside and take a look at your new car. Okay?”

Amber nodded, unable to speak.

The three of them walked out to the commons area. As soon as they turned the corner toward the front door, they saw it: the most beautiful new pearly white car parked right in front—with a big, red bow tied around it and her parents standing right beside it, beaming with pride. Could it get it better than that? She turned to Brittany, and her heart sank again. Not because Brittany looked sad—not at all. In fact, that would have made it easier. But what killed her was how Britt’s face glowed. Her eyes radiated true joy at the sight of her best friend winning such a great honor. Amber reached over and hugged her. They clung to each other.

“Congratulations.” Brittany squeezed her tightly. “I’m so glad it’s over.”

“Me, too.” Amber laughed. “Believe me.”

Principal Warner shook Amber’s hand. “There will be someone here from the newspaper to take your picture with Dave Druthers by the car after school. You can drive it home today, but there’ll be a ceremony at graduation where Mr. Druthers will formally present you with the keys and the title.” He grinned. “Congratulations.”

Amber didn’t know what to say. It would have been so much better if she’d won it the right way. But still …

“I hate to break up this love fest, but there are classes going on.” Principal Warner checked his watch. “You two need to get back to class.”

“All right. Give me a few minutes with my mom and dad, okay?”

Brittany walked into the school with Principal Warner, leaving Amber outside with her parents.

Mom stepped forward and embraced her.

“We’re so proud of you, sweetheart.”

Dad wiped his eyes. “We’ve never been more proud of you than we are at this moment.”

“I really need to talk to you.” Kyle hopped into the passenger seat when Amber pulled her new car into a parking spot. “Mmmm. I love the smell of a new car.” He rubbed the dashboard.

“Me, too. What’s up?”

“We have a problem.”

Amber’s face whitened, and her eyes opened wide. “What kind of problem?”

“We’re about to get caught.” He held up a finger. “I should say, they’re about to find out someone cheated.”

“H-h-how? W-who’s about to find out?” Amber started to tremble. She’d never been in trouble before—especially not like this.

“Don’t panic. I set it up so we won’t get blamed for it.” He shuffled and his eyes darted side to side—definitely hiding something.

“Okay, then who will?” Amber’s heart sank, instinctively afraid of the answer.

“It had to be Brittany, kiddo. It’s how it had to be.”

Amber turned white and froze in place. “You framed Brittany for this? How could you do that?”

“Well, actually, it was quite easy. I hacked her password
—bkim
—and made the access on a day and time when she really was in the computer room—at least according to the signin log.”

“I didn’t mean how
did
you do it. I meant, how
could
you do it? I mean, it’s bad enough I cheated against her, but it’s so much worse now that she’s going to get in trouble for it.” Amber pounded her forehead on the steering wheel a few times.

Amber noticed students streaming into the school, so she assumed the bell rang. In a huff, she grabbed her bag from the backseat and almost slammed the door, but managed to hold back. As they hurried toward the front entrance, she hissed at Kyle, “Fix this!”

“Fixing it means you take the rap, kiddo. Your call. I’m not doing it.” He took off in the other direction lighting a cigarette—apparently not attending school that day.

As she headed toward her class, the intercom squeaked. “Brittany Kim, please come to the office immediately.”

Amber wanted nothing more than to get in her car and drive away from the school as fast as she could. She slumped into her classroom and tried to focus, but she couldn’t concentrate on anything but the thought of what could be happening in the office. At that very moment, Brittany faced sheer heartbreak—and Amber was completely to blame.

Part of her wanted to run right down to the office and put a stop to it, but the logical side of her brain reminded her they’d take away her car and her scholarship if she admitted to cheating—no way could she allow that to happen. But as things stood, Brittany was in trouble. How could she watch her best friend lose everything because of her? What kind of person could do that?

But her whole life depended on that scholarship and her family needed that car.
What have I done?

Class ended, and then another one started and ended. No word of Brittany. Finally, as she walked toward Calculus, busybody Paula Markham grabbed Amber’s arm, pulling her to a dead stop.

“Did you hear the news?” Paula’s eyes bugged out with excitement at the gossip.

“What news?” She tried to act nonchalant, but dread coursed through her veins.

“Brittany got busted for cheating.” Paulawhispered and looked both ways.

Yeah, right. You can’t wait to tell them all
. “How do you know that?” Amber tried to look surprised.

“I went to the office to get a Band-Aid.” She held up her bandaged finger. “I heard the secretary calling her parents.”

Oh no
. “Oh. What a bummer. I have to go.” Amber turned away without another word.

In her math class, she sat in back, near the window. Hopefully her teacher would chalk her lack of focus up to end-of-the-year boredom. Only two days remained until graduation, after all. Would she be there? Would Brittany?

Distracted by movement in the parking lot outside the window, Amber turned her head just in time to see a shiny Lexus pull into a parking spot—right next to her brand-new car. Mr. and Mrs. Kim climbed from their car looking white as ghosts, like they’d had the wind knocked out of them. They hurried into the school with looks of such dread—like they marched to their doom.

Amber’s inner battle continued to rage. She couldn’t let Brittany suffer like this. But
she
couldn’t take the fall either. She could blame Kyle. No. She shook her head. That wouldn’twork. It’s not like he operated with a super-high moral compass. He’d surely rat her out. She deserved it anyway—didn’t she?
Oh no. What do I do? What would Brittany do? She’d never have done this—that’s what!

Exactly thirty-four minutes later, the Kims walked down the sidewalk toward their car with a shell of their daughter following behind. She carried a box, presumably with the contents of her locker, and her bag slung over one shoulder and across her chest. Her shoulders slumped forward as if to shield herself from the stares and the reality of the horrible nightmare she’d woken up to. Finally, Amber looked at her face: her skin chalky white, her eyes sunken and dim, and her cheeks moist from crying. The tears had stopped flowing—she must have run out.