Nothing Is As Good As It Seems

         Amber sighed, laying her head against the window. Her mom had gotten the letter last night. Her parents were officially divorced. She only saw her dad once every other month now, and she suspected that it would happen even less now. Her mom couldn’t be in the same room with him without running out of the room crying and him yelling. That had happened yesterday when he came to say goodbye to Amber before leaving for Pennsylvania. And Amber couldn’t even go outside. It was too gray, chilly, and depressing. Not much could cheer her up right then.
            “Amber?” Amber’s mom, Cheryl, croaked, throat raw and sore from all the screaming and sobbing. Amber jumped up and hugged her mom, who was wrapped in a blanket and looked absolutely miserable. 
         “Can I get you some tea?” she asked, desperate to help. Amber knew how much harder it was for her mom, whose marriage had just fallen apart. Amber had heard the shouts and abrupt silences every night, but she had had no idea that it affected her parents that much. She thought that every couple fought. Amber had always been told that every couple went through that. She had missed the looks her friends gave her when they came over, how people acted around her when the subject of her parents came up. No one wanted her to know their marriage was failing. Like it wouldn’t make it all the harder for her when she woke up one morning and her dad was gone. In the seven months since her dad left the picture, any sign that he had ever been a part of her life had disappeared. Clothes, pictures, college memorabilia, even his ancient stuffed armchair was gone. Either he picked it up or Amber’s mom trashed it. The only thing left was a picture of Amber and her father on the day she was born that Amber snuck out of its frame the day after he left.
         “No, Mom, no alcohol in the morning,” Amber instructed Cheryl as she got out a bottle of wine. Cheryl waved her off. She barely managed to hold herself together for relatives and work; she didn’t even try anymore with Amber. Amber sighed and sat back down against the window. She wished life could be back to the way it used to be, even if it was mostly fake. Amber wished her father could just apologize for whatever it was that happened between them and he could move back in, and make her pancakes in the morning, and drive her to school.
         “Amber, don’t you need to go to school soon?” Cheryl muttered. Amber checked the time and cursed. Grabbing her backpack and climbing on her bike she pedaled down the hill. Amber had always loved the early morning. Not the waking up before sunrise part, but nature. She could still hear the animals moving around, and everything was covered in a sheen of morning dew, and could just barely make out the beginnings of a glimmer of sunlight through the thick woods. None of the neighbors bothered her; no cars polluted the roads; life was free and easy and Amber could just forget about her life.
         Amber woke from her reverie and jumped off her bike, chaining it to the bike rack. Hitching up her backpack, she ran into the school. She made her way straight to her first period, not even bothering to stop by her locker. She stopped in front of the door and took a breath.
         “Amber Blackburn?” the teacher called. Amber slid into her seat as inconspicuously as she could.
         “Here,” she answered. The teacher raised an eyebrow, but did not comment. Amber had been getting a lot of that lately. Amber dropped her backpack and searched around for a pencil for the test. It was nice to have some sense of normality in her life. It wasn’t so nice that it involved memorizing how King Henry VIII’s relationships with his six wives ended (poisoned/annulment, beheaded, died in childbirth, annulment, beheaded, she outlived him) and how long each of his children reigned (Edward- 6 years; Mary- 5 years; Elizabeth- 45 years). But routine was a better option than moping around the house all day. Amber stretched, and began her test.

         Four hours later, Amber had suffered through a test in Social Studies, dodgeball in gym, lunch, and an impossibly long argument in Science over kittens. Amber had no idea what it was about, but she remembered something about kittens. And now she was headed down to the principal’s office. She had no idea why. Mrs. Blanchard had just grinned and told her to take her things down to the office.
         “Amber?” Amber’s head snapped up to look at her father. Her father! It was impossible. But he was there. Amber’s face split into a grin that gradually grew as he hugged her. She thought that she wasn’t going to see him until spring break.
         “Didn’t you leave for Pennsylvania yesterday?” Amber asked.
         “Sure did. But I missed you so much I just had to come back,” her dad explained. “I had been driving for about two hours, and I got to thinking how little I would see you from now on. So I turned around and called your mom up. She said that you could come live with me in Pennsylvania! Come on, let’s go!” Amber’s dad grabbed her arm and started walking out of the building to the car.
         “Wait,” Amber protested, “I’m thrilled for the chance to come live with you and all, but it’s the middle of the school day, and I want to say goodbye to Mom, and what about all my stuff? I can’t just pick up and leave. I have a life.”
         “Well, um, Amber,” her dad stuttered, “You see, we don’t need to do anything. We’ll just hop in the car and go. You can call your mom and friends when we get there. I’m sure they’ll understand. And we can get you new things. You’ll be very happy living with me, I’m sure of it.” Amber frowned and tried to make sense of his reply. Then she shrugged it off. She was with her dad now. Everything was better. They would be happy. He was right. Her mom knew that she was going to Pennsylvania- she said it was fine- and there was no reason to call until they got there. Amber didn’t know why she felt uneasy. She was leaving to live with her dad. Life would be good from now on.
         Amber climbed in the car next to her dad and looked at him. He smiled at her, and Amber let a small grin escape her.
         “Go ahead and take a nap, sweetie,” Amber’s dad told her. “It’s going to be a long drive, and I’m sure that you, um, haven’t been sleeping well since I, uh, you know-“
         Amber placed a hand on his arm. “It’s fine, Dad. And yeah, I’ll take a nap. Thanks.” Amber leaned her head back against the seat and looked out the window. She watched the rain beat down on the highway and the cars speed past. Slowly, she drifted off into the realm of the dreamers and slept peacefully.

         Amber yawned and sat up. “Dad? Where are we?” His hands gripped the steering wheel tightly enough that Amber could see his tendons standing out. He smiled, though it looked more like a grimace, and shook his head. Amber frowned and reached for the knob on the radio, turning up the volume. Her dad looked at the radio out of the corner of his eye, tensing his shoulders and gripping the wheel even tighter.
         Amber shook her head. She must be imagining things. Her dad wouldn’t have anything to be nervous about. She decided to listen to the radio and just stop thinking about it.
         “Sorry for the interruption of this program, but this is an emergency alert,” the radio announced. “A young girl named Amber Blackburn, age fourteen, was abducted from Lincoln Middle School today at 12:37 PM. Amber is 5”2 with dark brown hair, and was last seen wearing an ACDC T-shirt with jeans and a gray hoodie. The abductor is suspected to be Tony Blackburn, age fourty-seven, last seen this morning on the way to Pennsylvania. He is reported to own a black ’97 Chevy with the license plate number BW32P7. Please keep your eye out for these people and report any sign of them.” Amber’s dad reached over and turned off the radio.
         “Dad?” Amber asked, slowly piecing everything together. Her dad refused to meet her eyes.
         “It was nothing. Ignore it,” he spit out. Amber bit her lip. She didn’t say anything for awhile. It just wasn’t possible. He would never do something like that. He said her mom… Oh. He lied to her. Her mom didn’t know anything about it. She must have been so scared when Amber didn’t get home at the usual time. Especially after Amber’s dad left her not too long ago.
         “Dad,” Amber commanded, “Stop the car.” Her dad ignored her and kept on driving. “Dad, I said stop. Stop the car. Dad, stop the car!” Amber’s father sped up. Amber leaned back in her seat. He had really abducted her.
         Whoo-oooo-Whoo-oooo! Amber peered around the seat and looked out the back window. Three cop cars were trailing them. Amber couldn’t decide if that was good or bad. On one hand, she loved her dad and didn’t want him to be arrested. She never would have expected that he would do something like this. On the other hand, Amber was scared and she wanted to go back to her mom and friends and life, and she wanted her dad to be punished for doing something so horrible.
         “Get down,” Amber’s dad growled at her. Amber looked over at him. He glared at her, and Amber recoiled. He shoved her down, and Amber crouched next to the seat, shaking.
         “Pull over the car,” the cop’s voice blared through a megaphone. Amber’s dad sped up the car. Up  ahead were three more cars, cutting them off.

         Amber didn’t know what happened after that. She remembered that her dad was captured and arrested and that she was driven back home to her mom. Her father was not allowed back in the state of Massachusetts or to see her ever again. She remembered that she had come home and her mom had hugged her, tears running down her face. She remembered that everyone in town knew about it, and kids from school were scared to talk to her now. Although there was one thing Amber knew for certain, without a doubt. She no longer felt anything toward Tony. In her eyes, he was no longer her father. She would forget about him, and start a new life with her mom. And Amber knew what the first step was.
Amber took out the only picture of Tony left in the house. It was the picture Amber had snuck from the frame. The one of Tony and her the day she was born. She grabbed it and walked out to the patio. She looked at it for a moment, then threw it in the small fire she had prepared. Amber sat and watched the wind carry away the ashes, eyes void of emotion. Her last connection to Tony had been severed, and it was time to move on.