Flag 1: Amber

- Elizabeth Andrews -

Here I am again, sitting on the same lonely bench table set under the shade of the same oak tree in the school campus, earphones on, peacefully listening to the tunes of my self-created playlist.

"Any time now," I whisper underneath my breath, patiently waiting for her.

A few seconds later, arms wrap over my shoulders and I feel my right ear piece being pulled out gently. I feel a head fall perfectly, resting beside my neck, over my shoulder. Her face is close enough for me to hear the sound of her heavy breathing. She must be tired. She softly sings to the last chorus of Til Kingdom Come by Coldplay, the song currently playing.

Just say you'll wait

You'll wait for me

"Good song," she says.

As the song fades to its ending, she slowly lifts her arms up and moves to sit beside me. I look at her and see little beams of sunlight pierce through the leaves and through her flawless fair skin. The dark brown wavy hair that complements her auburn eyes is always a lovely sight to see. She's beautiful. There's no doubt about it. We sit in comfortable silence as we take in the calm breeze of the autumn wind.

Her name is Amber Hills. She has both the brains and the beauty. She isn't very popular but she could get along with anybody that comes her way. Her pleasing personality is adored by everyone who knows her. She's practically perfect. As for me, well, I'm just your typical average wallflower. Mediocre art skills, mediocre academic abilities, mediocre everything. I'm completely ordinary. Sometimes, I wonder how I'm even friends with this beauty but I'm glad I am.

I met her in this same place, listening to music alone in this secluded area. It's a good place to go to, to kind of get away from the rowdy athletes, loud cheerleaders, just all of the noise created by the crowds around the campus. She also felt that need and needed a little piece of tranquility. She sat next to me just like how we are right now. I took my earphones off as I was drawn to her. I looked at her intently as if I was waiting for her to initiate a conversation and to my surprise, she did.

"Amber. Amber Hills," there was a little rasp to her voice but it was calm and sweet. It gives off a sense of comfort.

"Elizabeth Andrews," I shyly replied.

She reached out her right hand for a handshake and I politely took the motion and shook hands with her.

"It's nice to meet you, Lizzie," she said.

"Well, that was quick, I literally just met you and you already have a nickname for me," I replied with a soft grin as I was shockingly already quite comfortable with her.

There was no wave of awkward energy in that space and I was relieved. "I'm pretty sure you wouldn't wanna be called Elizabeth, anyways" she chuckled and it just went on from there.

The conversations flowed smoothly even with strange topic-shifting from juicy stories and embarrassing moments to weird facts and odd habits. We basically shared everything worth mentioning about each other. We connected almost instantly. She also offered to drive me home afterwards and I accepted her offer. The drive was also nice. We even exchanged our numbers before I walked out of the car and headed towards my home's front door.

"I'm tired."

She slowly lays her head down on my lap. She is now facing upwards, I look down and see a complete view of her face as I brush her hair out of it.

I reply with "I thought so."

"It's okay, you can rest up before we head home", I say.

She grins and lightly laughs, "You mean before I drive you home, right?"

"Thanks, Lizzie," she continued.

Yes, she does drive me home. She claims to be obliged to bring me home after class since we became friends. Of course, I don't oppose it. I actually enjoy our drives.

She now pulls over right in front of the main door. I step out of the front seat and wave her goodbye.

"See you tomorrow."

"See ya," she replies with a playful wink.