Chapter 293

Hannah

When Amber called and said she wanted a girls’ night, I nearly dropped my phone. The last time we had all had a proper girls’ night, just us, had been… Well, I actually couldn’t remember the last time. Maybe not since Melody had been born.

Of course I said I would go even though it was a Wednesday night. Amber told me to meet her at the usual place and then hung up without a word, leaving me staring at the screen in confusion.

By eight, I’d made it to our usual corner booth. Emma was already there, her hair twisted up in a loose bun, and Viona sat across from her, leaning back with a relaxed smile, her drink already in hand. It felt good to see them outside of our usual routines.

Amber, however, was still missing.

“Are we sure she’s coming?” Viona asked with a small laugh, glancing at the empty seat next to me. “Or did she just want to make us get dressed up and come out on a Wednesday for the hell of it?”

Emma chuckled as she stirred her drink. “You know Amber. She’s probably picking out the perfect shoes.”

Just then, a familiar hand clapped down on my shoulder, and I didn’t even have to turn to know who it was.

“Guess who?” Amber called out, and she laughed as I swatted her hand away. She slid into the booth beside me, setting her Chanel purse down and flipping a lock of hair over her shoulder with an exaggerated sigh.

“Amber,” Viona teased, “only you would make us wait ten minutes just for some grand entrance or another.”

“Oh, please,” Amber scoffed, waving her hand dismissively. “I’m just fashionably late.”

Her gaze met mine for a second too long before she quickly turned away, signaling for a drink. I narrowed my eyes as I stared at the back of her head. Something was… off. Beneath the mask of lighthearted banter, Amber was hiding something. I was sure of it.

Soon enough, however, the waitress had brought over a round of cocktails, and before I knew it we were all laughing over appetizers and catching up. Viona told us about her recent date with Drake—which had apparently ended in some pretty wild sex, although we all stuffed our fingers into our ears so we didn’t have to listen—and Emma filled us in on her recent interview with the Luna Council.

But every now and then, I would catch Amber looking away, lost in thought as her fingers tapped the side of her glass. It was hard to ignore.

Finally, I’d had enough. “Amber, why are we really here? You called us all out on a random weeknight and you’re acting weird. What’s going on?”

Amber’s gaze dropped to her lap, and she let out a small breath before reaching into her purse. She pulled out a piece of paper and set it on the table so we could all see it: a one-way plane ticket.

Emma’s eyes widened, and Viona snatched the ticket, her brow furrowing as she examined it.

“One-way?” Viona croaked. “Amber, what the hell is this?”

Amber’s fingers played with the edge of her napkin. “I’m… I’m leaving. For good.”

Silence fell over the table. I felt my heart drop, a sudden ache settling in my chest as I searched her face for any hint of a joke, some glimmer of that usual Amber mischief. But it wasn’t there. She was dead fucking serious.

“You’re... leaving?” Emma whispered. “Amber, what’s going on?”

Amber’s hands tightened around her glass, and she let out a long breath, as if she’d been holding it in for months.

“It’s Jake,” she said quietly, her voice wavering. “Ever since Marcus brought him up at the engagement party, I haven’t been able to get him out of my head. His death… it’s been eating away at me. I tried to ignore it, pretend it didn’t matter, but... it does. It really does.”

“Amber, why didn’t you tell us? We didn’t know you were feeling like this,” I remarked.

She looked up, her eyes shining and her lips pressing into a sad smile. “I didn’t want to burden anyone with my mess. I thought if I could just keep moving forward, keep pretending everything was fine, I could make it go away. But it’s not going away. It’s like…”

Amber shook her head, blinking quickly to dispel her tears. “It’s like this weight I can’t shake. No amount of therapy is helping. And I realized... I think I just need to get away. I need to start over, somewhere far from here. Somewhere I can figure out who I really am, without all the... the baggage.”

Viona looked like she was about to be sick. “Amber, we never wanted you to carry that alone. We would have been there for you. You should have told us.”

Amber gave a small, grateful smile. “I know, Vi. I know I should have. But this is something I need to do on my own.”

She paused, her gaze dropping to the table.

“All my life, I was so focused on being... well, what everyone thought I was. The spoiled rich girl. The one with the perfect life, the easy family connections, the shopping sprees and parties and handsome boyfriends. But I want to be more than that. I don’t want to just be known for those things when I’m dead and gone someday.”

“So... what are you going to do?” Emma whispered.

“I applied to work as a nurse at a hospital in an impoverished pack overseas. They need people, and they’re willing to take me on, even if I have to learn a few things along the way.” She gestured to the ticket. “I want to make a difference. I want to help people who have nothing, and learn what it’s like to live without all the things I’ve taken for granted.”

We all sat there, stunned. I was too shocked to even speak for the longest time. Viona knocked back all of her drink at once, gesturing to the waitress for another. Emma just sniffled and grabbed a nearby cocktail napkin to dab at her eyes.

“Amber,” I finally whispered, “this is so… unexpected. You never once let on that you were planning any of this.”

She laughed, a soft, almost embarrassed sound. “I didn’t bring it up because I didn’t know if I’d actually go through with it. But I realized... I have to. I have to find out who I am. And all of you… You’ve shown me what it’s like to care about something, to want to be something more. You girls have all been an inspiration, whether you knew it or not.”

Emma reached over, squeezing her hand. “We’re going to miss you so much. But Amber, this is... this is incredible. Honestly, I’m happy for you.”

“Same,” Viona said as she accepted her new drink from the waitress. “You’re a real bitch for pulling this on us, but I really am happy for you.”

Amber sniffed, dabbing at her under-eyes with a manicured nail.. “Don’t get all mushy on me, ladies. I’ll be back for the holidays. It’s not like I’m dropping off the face of the planet.”

I gave a shaky laugh. “You’d better promise not to miss Melody’s birthdays.”

“Promise,” Amber said with a choked sound. “Auntie Amber has to spoil another little girl, even if I’m not spoiling myself anymore.”

We all hugged her then, a mess of laughter and tears, each of us holding her a little tighter than usual, a little longer than usual, knowing that the time we had together was precious. She was going off to do something brave, something we all respected, and that made it both harder and easier to let her go.

As we finally pulled back, Amber wiped her eyes as a glimmer of her old grin crept back. “Hey, I’m throwing a party the night before I leave. One last hurrah, with everyone there. No excuses.”

Emma laughed, a little choked up. “Wouldn’t miss one of your famous parties.”

Viona smirked. “Like we’d let you leave without a proper send-off.”

Amber turned to me then, and I managed the tiniest of smiles. “I couldn’t miss it for the world.”