Amber woke up in the middle of the night to sound of her stomach grumbling. Amber wasn’t sure what time it was but she had definitely skipped dinner. She scrambled her hands under the covers until she found her cellphone tucked under her pillow.  The numbers 10.55 blazed in her face as she squinted her eyes to make them out. The light from her cellphone instantly lit up half of the room which was poorly lit with only the lamp on her side table.

Amber was starting to really feel the hunger. As she got out of bed, Amber walked over to the sliding door and peeked to see if Henry had returned. His room looked completely dark. He probably wasn’t back yet but Amber decided to wait for him and see.

Amber grabbed her varsity jacket hanging in the closet and headed out towards his cabin. Maybe when he gets back, he’d want to grab supper with her or something. It didn’t hurt to try right? Nevertheless, Amber realized that she was already half way towards his cabin. Amber felt all tingly and happy inside as she pulled her jacket closer to her body.

It was pretty windy and all but she felt her cheeks warming up just from the thought of waiting for him. She hadn’t realized that she had even slightly skipped as she walked. Amber decided to make herself comfortable by sitting on the single sofa right outside the door. Amber wasn’t sure what to do sitting there alone.

She looked out ahead and could hear the sound of the water splashing against the sandy beach. There wasn’t much light out except for a few lanterns that was hung somewhere across the beach forming a path. She couldn’t see anyone walking or even standing out there since it was really dark out.

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Henry and Victoria sat in the car on their way to the resort quietly when Victoria shifted in her seat and stared back at Henry.

“What?” Henry asked when he noticed her staring at him.

“You know, you’ve been in Hawaii for a few days already and you never even bothered to call me about your stay.” Victoria said.

“I was… busy.” Henry tried to pick his words wisely.

“Yeah right you were busy. Liar.” Victoria said as she made a face.

“I’m not lying.” Henry said as he turned away facing from Victoria.

“You’re a bad liar. Now tell me, what’s been taking up your time making you so ‘busy’ huh?” Victoria said as she grabbed Henry by the chin and pulled his face to face her.

“No one!” Henry answered in an annoyed tone as he pushed her hand away from his chin.

“Gotcha! I didn’t say who, I said what. You just fell into my trap little Henry.” Victoria said as she started laughing out loud.

“Now, tell me. Who is she.” Victoria finally said after she stopped herself from laughing.

“Let’s go. We’re here.” Henry said as soon at the car came to a halt so that he could save himself from having to answer her question.

“I think I’m totally regretting this.” Henry muttered under his breath as soon as he stepped out of the car.

“You didn’t really have to get all worked up over it. Now show me your room.” Victoria said as she bumped his shoulder for him to start walking.

Henry made a face but nevertheless showed her the way to his cabin. Approaching his cabin, Henry noticed a silhouette sitting by the couch right outside his cabin. The person’s body was crouching down with their legs up against their chest.

“Amber?” Henry called out as soon as he noticed who it really was.

“Henry!” Amber shot up from her seat and almost tripped as her feet got caught when Henry managed to grab her by her arms.

“What are you doing here?” Henry asked.

“You’re freezing cold.” Henry said again before Amber could explain herself.

“Why, hello!” A voice beamed from behind Henry as Victoria peeped over his shoulder.

A pretty young woman stood behind Henry probably a few inches taller than him but again, pretty. Like supermodel pretty that was what came across Amber’s mind. A girlfriend perhaps? It made her stomach clench and completely shut. She didn’t feel good about it.

“Let’s get you inside.” Henry said as he held her in his arms and unlocked the front door.

Victoria happily walked in after them as she smiled looking around the room.

“Oh god Henry. You should really figure out how and where you should be putting your underwear away.” Victoria cringed as she picked up a worn pair of boxers off the carpeted floor.

“Stop that!” Henry hissed as he grabbed the underwear from her hand.

Victoria couldn’t help but laugh watching Henry’s reaction.

“I’ll get you guys some hot drinks.” Henry said as he left the room.

He could’ve ordered room service but what Victoria did was just too embarrassing for him to face Amber at the moment. Seriously? Waving his underwear like that and making embarrassing remarks? Henry shook his head as he headed towards the resort’s coffee house that was pretty much open 24 hours.

Amber stood by the edge of Henry’s bed still unsure of the situation she was currently in.

“So, Amber is it?” Victoria spoke up that made Amber jump a little.

“Urm… yeah.” Amber felt dwarfed at the moment.

She felt insecure standing there as she stared at Victoria.

“I’m Victoria.” She extended her hand for Amber to shake as a gesture of friendliness.

Amber quietly shook Victoria’s hand before Victoria sittting on the bed beside Amber.

“Come on, sit down. I don’t bite so don’t worry.” Victoria said as she tugged onto Amber’s jacket sleeve.

Hesitantly, Amber sat down on the bed keeping a small distance from Victoria.

“So, you must be the girl Henry’s been seeing the past few days eh?” Victoria said almost sounding sarcastic.

Amber didn’t have an answer to what Victoria just said and kept her lips sealed. Amber felt her hands turning clammy and her stomach twisted worse than she first laid eyes on Victoria earlier.   

“Seeing how he reacted seeing you earlier and the fact that he didn’t bother to call me after he landed in Hawaii few days earlier, I’d take that as a yes to my question then.” Victoria said as she smiled.

Amber didn’t know if it was a sincere smile or she was just trying to mess with her.

“Amber, you seem like a nice girl but you obviously don’t look like the kind of girl Henry usually dates.” Victoria gave an emphasis on the word girl and date.

“What do you mean?” Amber finally spoke but stuttered her words through.

“Honestly, I don’t think you’d want to hurt yourself in this relationship. So, a piece of advice is just save yourself before you actually get yourself hurt.” Victoria said as if she were trying to pick the right choice of word.

“You get what I mean right?” Victoria said with a tone of voice that sounded like she was sorry for Amber.

Just then, the front door clicked and Henry walked in with a tray of hot drinks. Victoria and Amber abruptly looked up at Henry. Amber felt her eyes prick and she was upset.

“What were you guys talking about?” Henry asked unaware of the conversation that the girls just had.

“Oooo… Is that latte?!” Victoria jumped off the bed and picked up one of the mug.

“Urm, yeah.” Henry mumbled.

“Here, have some hot chocolate.” Henry smiled as he picked up a mug and offered it to Amber.

Amber stared at the mug for a little while before she shook her head.

“No, it’s okay. I should go back to my room now. Good night Henry.” Amber said it in a rush before she went for the door.

Henry was baffled. What had just happened? Amber’s voice sounded pretty shaky and she didn’t even bother to look at him when she said all that.

“Nice to meet you though!” Victoria chirped after Amber.

“What did you guys talk about?” Henry asked as he turned to face Victoria.

“Nothing much.” Victoria said as she sipped her mug of latte.

“That’s nice.” Victoria said as she savored the taste and smell of the coffee.

“Tell me. What did you say to her?” Henry sounded serious.

“Chill. I just gave her an advice that’s all. Anyways, I should really get going.” Victoria said as she placed down the mug of latte.

“What do you mean by an advice?” Henry said trying not to get angry.

“Gosh Henry. Take a chill pill will ya. You might just get wrinkles all over your handsome face.” Victoria giggled as she pressed her fingers against Henry’s frowning temple.

“Anyways, I should get going. Now, walk me to the lobby will you?” Victoria asked as she hooked arms with Henry.

As soon as Amber left Henry’s room, she wasn’t sure if she was walking or running but she knew her pace was faster than usual. She felt embarrassed and upset at the moment that running away was probably the best thing to do at the moment.

She had never felt so defeated before in her entire life and it was embarrassing and heartbreaking. Amber dropped on her bed as she sighed. She no longer cared that her stomach was growling from hunger anymore. How could so many things happen in just a day?! Amber buried her face into the thick blanket. She didn’t want to cry eventhough what just happened was making her feel terrible.

Just then, she felt her phone vibrating on the bed. She felt for it in her varsity jacket but it wasn’t there instead she found it lying next to the pillow remembering that she had forgotten about it and left them there earlier.

The word ‘MAMA’ beamed as an incoming call. Amber didn’t think much about it and went ahead by answering the call.

“Amber Liu!” Her mother pretty much yelled into the phone at her.

Amber sighed, “Yes, ma.” She said.

“You haven’t called me at all! Do you know how worried I am?!” Her mother tried her best not to scream but Amber could sense the worry in her voice.

“Sorry I didn’t call.” Amber said trying not to choke on her voice.

“Is something wrong?” Her mother asked as if she had just read her mind.

Amber made circles on her bed with her finger as she tried to think of something to say. Maybe telling her mom about Henry wouldn’t be a good idea she thought. Amber cleared before she spoke.

“Nothing’s wrong. I just… urm… I just thought maybe I should head home earlier.”Amber said.

“Why? I thought you loved it there.” Her mother said.

“I thought you’d be happy if I did.” Amber answered.

“I guess I would but again, you’ve been begging us for months to let you go there. Now you’ve only been there for a few days and you wanna come home?” Her mother asked and Amber immediately turned quiet.

“Honey… Tell me, did something happen?” Mrs. Liu tried to console her daughter.

“Maybe I just miss you. That’s all.” Amber said trying to hide the fact that her voice was shaking.

Amber’s mom laughed but it soon died off.

“I miss you too honey. If it upsets you that much, I’ll talk to your dad about an early flight home okay.”

Amber’s mom didn’t seem like she wanted to interrogate her daughter anymore.

“Okay.” Amber’s voice was a soft reply.

“Get some sleep and I’ll call you when I’ve talked with your dad. Just have fun while you can alright. Good night. I love you.”

“I love you too Ma.” Amber said before she hung up.

Amber rubbed her eyes with the sleeves of her varsity jacket. She shouldn’t cry or even get hurt by what just happened. But it was all a different kind of feeling she’d never felt before and it made her feel troubled. She wished feelings were things that were easier to handle and figure out. This wasn’t supposed to be like Maths or even Physics.

Amber sighed as she pulled the jacket off and dropped it to the ground before she slipped her body under the blanket. She pressed her eyelids shut but the prickly feeling came back and a tear flowed down her cheek.

“Stop crying idiot!’ She yelled at herself rubbing her eyes from tears roughly.

Pressing her face down on the pillow, she shut her eyes tightly constantly repeating in her head that she should fall asleep and be quick about it.

Henry walked Victoria back to the lobby and watched as the driver drove her back to the hotel she was staying in. Henry stood in the lobby for a long while as he inhaled the cold wind. It was bothering him to know what exactly had upset Amber that night and Victoria didn’t seem like she was going to tell him anything.

Henry loosened the tie he was wearing as he stood in the lobby for quite a while before he finally walked back towards his room. Henry stopped in his tracks right in front of Amber’s room. He wasn’t sure if she was asleep or not but her room seemed to be lit exactly the way he had saw it earlier. Soon enough, Henry found himself heading up the steps in front of Amber’s room before he suddenly stopped at the top of the stairs. His hand held onto the railing as he hesitated. After a long hesitance, Henry’s feet started retreating down the stairs and finally heading back to his room.

Maybe a little good night sleep might just help to get rid of the tension. Henry wasn’t sure but was really hoping it would. 

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New chapter's out! I'm really sorry for not updating for a really, really long time. Just been too busy with school and all. I hope you guys will still keep supporting this fic. I'm hoping I can come up with more chapters soon. So, enjoy! ^_^