CHAPTER 13

                                    

                                          
Chapter 13:
                          
We both looked up to the sky where dark clouds hovered over us, within seconds we were completely drenched.
                          
“We’re too far from the dock,” Harry yelled over the storm, “But I think we can make it back to house if we keep going downstream.”
                          
This time he took both oars and began rowing frantically, in about five minutes I could see a lit house on a hill.
                          
“Is that it?” I asked.
                          
He nodded and kept going towards it. We finally reached the dock and we both got out of the boat. Harry quickly tied it to a wooden post, so it wouldn’t float away. I then grabbed his hand and we both ran full speed towards the house. Before we reached the back patio Harry yanked me around to face him. His brown curls were soaked and falling in front of his face. His bright white smile shone in the night and his green eyes sparkled.
                          
“What in the world are you guys doing out there? Where the hell have you been?” screamed a very angry Louis from inside the back door.
                          
We quickly parted and jogged inside our clothes dripping on the hardwood floor. I had never seen Louis so angry, well maybe besides the time he caught me in Harry’s room.
                          
“Well,” he said sternly tapping his foot on the ground, “Who wants to explain?”
                          
“It was my fault,” spoke Harry, “I took her to the lake where I had found a boat and I was just showing her around before it started to rain. We were able to make it back to the house.”
                          
“So where’s your car?” asked Louis knitting his eyebrows together.                      
                          
“In the middle of the woods…”
                          
Louis sighed deeply, “You,” he said pointing to me, “Upstairs. Go get dried off. And you come with me we can go get your car.”
                          
I quickly ran upstairs past three boys standing by the front door. Zayn and Liam had worried looks on their faces, but you could tell Niall was trying not to burst out laughing. I glared at him and headed up to my room.
                          
I peeled off my wet clothe and hung them over the tub. I then decided to take a quick shower, which ended up not being so quick. I finally got out and dried myself off. I pulled on some warm sweats and my hair up into a ponytail before I went back downstairs.
                          
Zayn, Liam, and Niall were sitting on the couch watching the news. Louis and Harry had left to go get Harry’s car. I slowly sat down next to Zayn because I thought I would get the least crap from him, but I was wrong.
                          
“What the heck were you doing?”
                          
“Zayn, you heard Harry, he was just trying to show me around a little bit and it started to rain, not much to tell.”
                          
“You’re saying that he took you on a rowboat and all you two did was sit there?” Niall said raising his eyebrows.
                          
“Yeah.”
                          
“Oh bull!” he yelled laughing. Liam hit him in the chest, but Niall ignored him, “There is so something going on between you two!”
                          
“No, there’s not,” I said defensively, “And I’ll prove it.”
                          
I pulled out my phone and scrolled through the contacts where I found the number I had put in earlier that day. I tapped the name and my phone began to ring.
                          
“Hello?”
                          
“Hey Ashton,” I said smirking at the boys in the room, who all went wide-eyed at that name.
                          
“Oh hey Amber, what’s up?”
                          
“Oh nothing, just a little bored.”
                          
I could hear the grin in his voice, “Oh I see, well you know neither of us have to work tomorrow, and there’s this amazing party that’s going on, and I need a date. You wanna come?”
                          
“Sure, I’d love to go with you,” I replied, sugar coating my voice.
                          
“Alright then I’ll pick you up around six. Wear something fancy.”
                          
“Okay sounds good, see you then,” I said hanging up.
                          
The boys sat there with their mouths wide open, Niall gulped. I laughed at their reactions but then I realized they weren’t staring at me they were staring at someone behind me. I turned around. Harry stood there dripping wet. At first I thought he was angry, but I looked into his eyes and I saw hurt written across his face.
                          
“Hey guys, what’s going on?” asked Louis as he walked through the front door.
                          
I quickly diverted my eyes away from Harry’s.
                          
“Nothing, nothing at all,” he said coldly as he headed upstairs.
                          
Louis looked at us suspiciously, but just shrugged as he walked into the kitchen. Once he was out of the room three pairs of eyes glared at me. Liam started to say something, but I quickly got up from the couch and ran upstairs to my room. As I passed Harry’s I stopped and thought about knocking, but I wasn’t sure what I would say. I couldn’t really understand what his reaction was about, so I just walked in my door and shut it behind me.
                          
I didn’t feel like doing anything else so I decided to go to bed. As I lay there rolled on my side, I thought about our trip down the lake. Did something happen between us. I tried to shake away the thoughts, but images kept appearing in my head of me and Harry sitting together, laughing in the boat, or standing in the backyard inches away just as Louis called out to us.
                          
These thoughts soon tired out my mind and I drifted off to sleep.
                          
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Ashton stood over me as I leaned up against the wall, he had a wicked smile on his face. I was about to ask what was happening when his face twisted and changed into an older man’s. The man who had abused me on the street. I quickly tried to escape his grasp but he grabbed my arm and yanked me towards him. He then turned me to look at an empty road in the middle of nowhere. I was confused on what I was looking at but then two cars began to race towards each other from opposite directions. One I didn’t recognize, but the other I realized was my father’s car. I saw him driving with my mother in the passenger seat. I could faintly make out my brother in the back. I then looked at the other car, but I couldn’t see inside the tinted windows.
                          
“Slow down,” I choked out, “Slow down!”
                          
Neither car heard my warning, and before I knew it they collided head on, both exploding into tiny burning pieces. I collapsed to the ground sobbing as the scene disappeared before my eyes. I sat there screaming, crying out for help. But no one heard me, I was in complete darkness.
                          
I woke up with a startle. Still yelling and tears still streaming down my face. Three figures burst into my room. Louis rushed over to my bed and began to comfort me. Liam slowly walked over with a worried look on his face, but Harry stayed in the doorway keeping his distance. I soon saw Niall and Zayn appear behind him. Louis tried to calm me down, but I still was sobbing. I tried to say something but it just came out as whimpers and gurgles. I was still half asleep.
                          
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”
                          
“Sorry about what love?” Louis asked in a soft tone.
                          
I ignored his question, “Harry, I’m sorry,” I blurted out.
                          
His eyes went wider and he hesitantly made his way over to my bed.
                          
“I’m sorry,” I kept repeating weakly.
                          
“Shh, Amber it’s okay,” he said soothingly as he took a seat next to Louis.
                          
I still mumbled as my eyelids became heavier and heavier. I felt them starting to close over my eyes as I heard Harry whisper.
                          
“I forgive you.”