My Heart's Always With You

Amber sat in her room watching TV waiting to hear her parents and Lisa leave. She had weaseled her way out of a overnight trip out of town. She had plans to meet Matt after they had safely left, but it was already 1:45 in the afternoon. She picked up her phone as the ringtone she’d sat for Matt played. She flipped it open and read what he had sent.

They r still there?

She hit reply and typed in her reply quickly as she continued to listen. She had agreed to Alyce that she would put extra time into getting ready, but wasn’t sure if she would now. They were taking too long to leave. She sent her reply.

Unfortunately yes. I don’t understand what is taking so damn long.

I sighed and got up. I might as well get ready so I could leave as soon as they left. Time was ticking away. She walked into her bathroom and brushed her hair out again. The black streaks stood out well against her dirty dish water blonde hair. She then glanced down at her jeans and tee shirt. Her phone went off again with Matt’s ringtone.

Okay well let me no when u r ready and I’ll come get u if u want.

She smiled at the text message and went to type her reply.

Okay that sounds great to me! I’ll let u no when the coast is clear.

She had hit send when her phone went off again, it was Alyce calling. She flipped it open and lifted it to her ear. “Hey Alyce!” She rested the phone between her cheek and her shoulder as she looked for her make-up.

“Hey! Are you ready yet?”

“Nope, I’m just getting started. The family hasn’t left yet.”

“What time are you meeting Matt?”

“Well he’s going to come get me when they leave.”

“So what are you wearing?”

“Jeans and a tee shirt.”

“Amber!”

“What?”

“Wear something else! Where are you two going?”

“Don’t know yet.”

“Well listen to me. Do you want to really impress him?”

“Not this again!”

“Wear something nice. Please? For me? You love me right?”

“Alyce you are like a sister to me!”

“So you love me?”

“What do you want me to wear.” Amber started walking to her closet knowing that Alyce knew everything inside her closet by memory. She opened the door an waited as her best friend thought about it.

“Wear your black corset. With your black skelanimals skirt. The one with the flaps in the front okay? Then those black heels that your mom got you for Christmas.”

“Fine. Hang on.” It didn’t take Amber long to change and pick her phone back up. “Still there?” She asked as she slid the shoes on.

“Of course! Now I think you can do your make-up without my help.”

“I think so too. Alyce I don’t know about the skirt. I don’t think that it would be a smart thing to wear. We end up in places like the beach.”

“Fine, wear your jeans that are faded at the knees and your flat shoes. Party pooper.”

“Thank you Alyce! Hang on again!” Amber quickly changed, feeling much better about herself. “Still there?”

“Yup.” They stayed on the phone while Amber applied the purple eye shadow, black mascara, and black eyeliner. She brushed her teeth again and called it good. She was turning off her bathroom light when she heard her mom’s voice.

“Amber we are leaving!”

“Alyce they are leaving! I’ve gotta go say bye! Bye!”

“Bye. Have fun!” Then Amber closed her phone and ran down stairs to tell her parents goodbye. When they saw her they asked if she was going somewhere and she told them that she and Alyce were planning on going to the movies that night.
“I’ll see you guys tomorrow evening.”

“See you tomorrow evening. No boys over while we are gone okay?” Her dad’s eyes told her he meant it, but it wouldn’t stop her.

“Okay dad.” She hugged him, then moved on to Lisa. She hugged her mom last. “Bye mom. I love you.”

“Bye sweetie. I love you too.” Then they were gone. Amber waited ten minutes then pulled out her cell phone and dialed Matt’s number.

“Hello?” He answered.

“They are gone!” Amber’s voice showed her enthusiasm openly.

“Yes! I’ll leave my house now. I’ll see you soon.”

“See you soon.” After they hung up Amber went and turned everything off in her room and went back into the living room. She sat on the couch and watched out the window for any sign of Matt. She was anxious. They hadn’t seen each other much in the week following dinner at her house, and she was looking forward to seeing him without worrying about her parents busting her.

Finally she saw him drive up. She hoped up and made her way to the door. He had lifted his fist to knock when she opened the door and smiled at him. “Hey Amber.” He smiled back. She hugged him tightly and he hugged her back.

“Hi Matt.”

“So what do you want to do?”

“I don’t care. Anything.” She made sure she had her keys and closed and locked the door. She was telling him the truth, she didn’t care what they did or where they went. All that she cared about was spending time with him.

“Any suggestions then?” He opened the car door for her and she got in.

“Nope.” She answered. He closed the door and went around to the drivers side. She looked over and watched as he got in. “Just don’t bring me hope too early okay?”

He chuckled and stared the engine before looking over at her. “I didn’t have any intentions on bringing you back early. There isn’t time to waste.” She smiled and settled into the seat.

“So what were you thinking?”

“Well I hadn’t really thought about it much. I thought maybe you’d have some ideas, but you don’t. Did you eat lunch?”

“Nope.”

“You wanna start there? Then maybe a movie?”

“That should take up about three hours. It’s a good start.”

“Lunch and a movie it is.” Matt was driving out of the drive way now but he took a quick over at Amber. “Um Amber?”

“Yeah?”

“Your family pendant is on display.” She looked down and quickly hid it beneath her shirt.

“Thanks Matt. You just saved my ass.” He didn’t say anything, instead he just laughed. After lunch they headed for the movies. The commercials hadn’t even started when they sat down in the theater, so Amber’s head found it’s way to Matt’s shoulder.

“You’re always warm. Why is that?” He asked her. She didn’t answer instead she shrugged her shoulders. He grabbed her hand and she smiled. She could very easily get used to this. When the movie started she didn’t bother moving her head from his shoulder. When the movie ended they left with no clue where to go next.

“Your parents should go out of town more often.” Matt stated as they got back in his car.

“No kidding. Hey won’t your parents wonder where you are?” Amber looked at him, expecting an answer that he had a cover story.

“Not really. They are used to me spending all my time with the guys. They’ll call and I’ll say I’m at Zacky’s or Brian’s, and if they call either of them they say I am.”

“Oh now I see why you never worry about getting caught.”

“Exactly. You wanna go to the beach?”

“Sure.” Amber looked out the window and watched as Matt drove towards the beach. She couldn’t remember being this happy in a long time. The only thing that loomed over her the second she and Matt left each other’s side was that neither of them knew how long it could last. Because it couldn’t last.

“Amber you okay?” Matt asked her suddenly after she went silent.
“Oh yeah I was just um thinking about something.”

“About how this can’t last forever?”

“How’d you know?”

“Because it’s what I was thinking about.”

“I’m really sorry it can’t.”

“So am I. But I don’t know if I’m willing to let it go.”

“What are you saying Matt?” She looked at him wondering what he was talking about.

“I’m going to find a way for this Amber. I swear I am.”

“Don’t get yourself hurt in the process okay?”

“I won’t.” She looked back out the window and watched as they made their way to the beach. When they got there they both got out and went to an area that was empty. Amber realized that she hadn’t saw anyone when they’d arrived either.

“Um Matt?” She asked as he grabbed her hand.

“Yeah?”

“Why is there no one here?”

“My family owns it.”

“Your family owns a part of the beach?”

“Yeah, well rents it I should say. We don’t own it yet.”

“I’m jealous now.”

“Don’t be. It’s not as great as it sounds. Trust me on that one. I don’t really ever come down here. No one does actually.”

“Can I ask why?”

“It’s a long story. I’ll tell you another time.” They found a spot and sat down. The sun was still in the sky, so Amber laid back in the sand to relax a bit. Matt followed her lead and they just stayed like that for a long time. When they were together neither of them felt the need to have to talk. Especially not today when they had lots of time.
“After this there is something I want to show you okay?” Matt’s voice broke into Amber’s thoughts and she opened her eyes. He was propped up on his elbow and was looking at her with a smile.

“Okay. I told you I have no intentions of going home early.” They both laughed and Matt collapsed back into the sand. A part of Amber’s mind wondered what Alyce was up to, but then she realized it was a Saturday so she was with Kellan.

“You look beautiful today, by the way. Like you always do.”

Amber propped herself up on her elbow and looked at him with a smile. “You don’t look too bad yourself you know.” He laughed and she plopped back down into the sand. That is when her phone went off. It was a text from Alyce. She opened it and laughed.

Having fun? It’s been like 4 hours and not even a text. U could have died.

“What is it?” Matt asked wondering what was so funny.

“Alyce. Read this.” She tossed her phone at him and he caught it. He laughed and gave her the phone back. She hit reply.

Sorry Alice, but u don’t text me much when u r on a date with kellan.

She closed her phone and laid it on her stomach, knowing it would go off soon. Amber couldn’t believe it had been four hours, it felt like one or two at the most. Her phone went off again and she opened the text.

U can just shut up. TTYL.

She closed her phone, shoved it back into her pocket and rolled onto her side. Matt was still lying on his back so she just watched him for a while before she spoke what was on her mind. “So what is it that you want to show me?”

Matt looked over at her and smiled. He wasn’t going to tell her just yet. After all it was a surprise. “You’ll see when we get there.”

“I hate surprises.”

“I think you’ll live.”

“And if I don’t?”

“Then Alyce will kill me.” They both cracked up laughing. They stayed at the beach for another hour and then Matt stood up. He held his hand out to help Amber up. She took it and stood up brushing the sand off her back and side. “So are you ready to see the surprise?”

“Yes!” Amber watched through the entire trip not knowing where they were going. Until Matt parked on top of a hill and got out. She followed him to the front of the car. It was dark outside she realized you could see all of Huntington Beach from this place, and it was completely lit up. “Wow.”

“I told you it was a surprise.” Matt laughed and walked back to the car. He reached for a Cd and put it in the stereo and turned the volume up. He held out his hand and she knew this was an invitation to dance. They had tried to dance at one of the family parties, but that didn’t work out. Matt had told her that he would get her to dance one day.

“You’re kidding me right?” She asked even though he was serious and she knew it.

“Nope. I’m not.” She sighed and took his hand.

“I can’t believe I’m doing this.”

“Calm down.”

“You don’t understand how bad of a dancer I am.”

“You are exaggerating.”

“No I’m not!” But before she could protest anymore he pulled her closer and she looked at him. He smiled innocently.

“You were saying?” She rolled her eyes and started dancing with him. “See it’s not so bad is it?” He asked her after a while.

“No it’s not, but I expected something a little heavier from you. I know what kind of music you really like.”

“I thought about it.” He shrugged and she looked him directly in the eyes.

“Can we stop now?”

“Why?”

“Well because I don’t dance much so therefore my feet and legs are killing me.” He laughed and let her go. They sat down and just looked out at the city in silence for a while. She finally realized she didn’t know what time it was.

“Matt what time is it?”

“Um it’s 10:30. I think we should go.”

“I don’t want you to leave yet.”

“Well where else do you want to go?”

“You’ve never actually hung out at my house. You wanna come over for a while?”

“Sure.” When they got to her house she was going to unlock the door when Matt stopped her. She looked over at him confused. “There is something I’ve been wanting to do all day.” He smile mischievously and pulled her closer. He pressed his lips against hers.

“Finally!” She pulled away for two seconds before kissing him again. Several seconds later she unlocked the door and they walked inside, his arms around her waist. Amber turned the light on and jumped back.

“Well hello there. It’s about time you two came back.” Alyce said from the couch where she was sitting. She had used her key to get inside.

“Alyce what the hell are you doing here?” Amber asked trying to catch her breath from the scare. She hadn’t expected Alyce to be sitting there.

“I decided to come over and wait for you. Can I talk to you in the kitchen?”

“Uh sure.” Matt let her go and she followed her into the kitchen.

“So why is he here?”

“He is here to hang out for a while.”

“Oh I see.”

“Shut up Alyce.”

“Sure, sure. I’ll shut up. I’m not leaving though.”

“I didn’t think you were.” Amber walked back into the living room and looked at Matt. “Do you guys wanna go hang out in my room? Play a game or something?”

“Sounds cool to me.” Matt agreed.

“Mario cart!” Alyce yelled running up the stairs. Amber laughed and Matt gave her another quick kiss before they followed Alyce upstairs to go play the video game.