Party

The moment Amber stepped into the lecture hall for her first lecture, there was a sudden hush.

All eyes turned on her and followed her as she trudged through the aisle and took a seat in the middle row.

Whispers reached her ears from every corner, and most of the students huddled in twos and threes sent furtive glances her way, pointing knowing fingers at her.

Amber didn't need to wonder why she was the centre of attraction. Her wedding to Draco Birmingham had been displayed on every TV channel, on every newspaper and on every entertainment media.

Who wouldn't know her? The young teenager who had managed to capture the cold heart of the wealthy billionaire.

People still wondered how Draco could reject all the women in his life for a mere teenager. If she hadn't been eighteen already, the gossips about her would have been vicious.

She could already picture the headline; Wealthy bachelor, Draco Birmingham stuns the world with his decision to marry a minor.

Amber shook her head at her own thoughts. Gossips were never nice to hear, whether good or bad.

As she tried to ignore the bold stares she was getting and praying for the professor to arrive soon, three of the students detached themselves from the others and walked up to her seat.

Amber gulped nervously and tried not to fidget as they stopped at her seat and surrounded her.

They were two boys and a girl.

"Hey",the blonde boy called out with a friendly smile.

"Hey",Amber smiled politely at him. Now what did they want?

"Forgive us for staring",the boy continued, keeping the smile on his face. "I mean, the entire school knows who you are. It's kinda hard not to stare"

"It's alright",Amber smiled genuinely this time.

"I'm Jamie. This is Kyle and that's Desiree",Jamie introduced himself and his friends.

"Amber"

"You don't have to be shy around us",Desiree added and lightly touched Amber's hand. "We just thought you'd like a friend, since you obviously don't have one"

"That's very kind of you",Amber said gratefully. She was beginning to feel comfortable around them.

Just then a group of rowdy boys crashed into the lecture hall, making a hell of a noise. There were six of them, dressed in baggy sagging pants and large t-shirts, piercings on their ears and a head of brightly coloured hair.

As they filed past the aisle towards the back of the class, sharing obscene jokes between themselves, one stopped and leered at Amber.

"Hey boys, look",he called to his friends. "It's the girl that's married to that billionaire"

The boys crowded around the table and began to jeer at Amber, throwing nasty questions at her.

"Is it true you're not his wife, but his mistress?"

"I can see why he married her. She's smoking hot"

The entire class now had their eyes on them and Amber felt she would die from embarrassment.

"Leave her alone Jake",Jamie came to her rescue when the jokes were getting really nasty.

"Oh what now? She your girlfriend?",Jake sneered at Jamie.

The boys behind him guffawed at the lame joke.

"Fuck off sleazeball",Kyle cursed at them and stood beside Jamie, backing him up.

"Or what?",Jake shot back.

"C'mon Jake, let's leave these losers alone",one of the guys called out and finally, Jake stepped away after throwing a deadly glare at Jamie.

"I'm so sorry about that",Desiree apologized, glancing at Amber's reddened face.

"It's okay",Amber mumbled. "I guess some people just can't act matured and mind their businesses"

"Those boys?",Kyle asked incredulously. "They've been on probation for two years now"

"What do you mean?",Amber asked curiously.

"They're supposed to be in their finals", Desiree leaned in and whispered in eager conspiration. "But they repeated the same class for two years now"

"Every student knows they're a bunch of buttheads with zero home training",Jamie added and the three laughed hilariously.

Amber chuckled. She decided that she liked Desiree and the boys. They were honest friends.

They were still engrossed in thier chitchat when the professor, a woman in her late fifties walked into the class.

Jamie, Kyle and Desiree decided to change seats so they could be close to Amber.

Amber was glad, and it was obvious in the way she smiled gratefully at them. These were the first friends she made in her entire life and she was glad they were nice enough, to an extent.

The first day of lecture wasn't so bad, she thought.

...

"Hey Amber"

Amber turned around at the familiar voice. She was waiting at the school entrance, searching for the red sports car. There was no sign of it, nor DC.

Why was he taking so long? He said he would be here by the time her classes ended for the day.

"Who are you waiting for?",Desiree asked as she walked up to Amber.

"My ride",Amber replied her, keeping her eyes peeled on the entrance. "He said he would be here before my lectures ended"

"Who? Master Birmingham? Is he the one coming to take you home? Can I see him?", Desiree asked endlessly and Amber laughed at the longing in the latter's eyes.

Strangely enough, she didn't feel jealous of another girl's obsession over Draco. Maybe it was because Desiree was her new friend and didn't really pose any harm.

"No, Draco is not coming to take me home",she said softly. "I have my assigned driver"

"That's so cool",Desiree gushed. Then she looked around. "But, where is he?"

"He hasn't arrived",Amber looked on worriedly. What was taking him so long?

"Why don't you come with me to Jamie's house?",Desiree suggested. "We're throwing a part for our new friends and almost everyone would be there"

"Jamie has his own apartment?",Amber asked incredulously. "But... isn't he supposed to be in the school campus?"

Desiree chuckled at the awe in Amber's expression.

"This isn't high school Amber",she said with a cheeky grin. "In college, you don't have to stay on the school campus. And Jamie's parents are rich. You should see his apartment, it's to die for. Kyle and I always go there after school to cool off"

It sounded tempting to Amber, but she didn't know if she should. DC could come anytime.

"I don't know...",she voiced out hesitantly.

"Come on Amber",Desiree pleaded. "It would be fun. Just for a few minutes, then you can leave"

Amber looked towards the entrance one more time. Still no sign of the red sports car. Maybe she could go with Desiree for a while, to have a little fun.

She could even come back before DC arrived. And even if he arrived while she was still there, he had her number. He would call her. What did she have to loose?

Nothing would go wrong. Right?

Wrong.

"Alright let's go",she gave in finally.

"Yeah!",Desiree pumped her fist in the air and the two girls giggled.

Together they walked towards Desiree's pink convertible. Amber slid into the passenger's seat while Desiree took the driver's seat and turned on the ignition.

The car purred to life and slowly backed out of the parking lot.

Just as the pink convertible drove out the school gates and turned right, a few seconds later, a red sports car pulled into the school and parked at the exact spot where Desiree's car was parked earlier.

DC got out of the car and looked around, trying to spot Amber.

There was no sign of her.

He took out a phone from his pockets and clicked on an icon.

A large map splashed across the screen, and on that map, a red icon was gradually moving in a certain direction.

"Shit!",DC cursed and quickly reentered the car. With a calculated speed, he drove out of the school and turned right, following the exact direction of the red icon on the map.

That red icon was Amber.

And she was headed towards the direction of the forest at the outskirts of Rockville City.