Story Book Romance Chapter 5

 Andrew took a deep breath before walking out of his room and towards the front door. He was on leave after graduating from Army Basic Training. The visit home would have been alot more comforting if he wasn't deploying to Iraq almost immediately after this. And if his family wasn't in shambles. His mother was a recovering cancer patient. She didn't have much energy to take care of his brothers and sister and his adopted father was no help at all. Part of him wanted nothing more than to run back to Garrison in Hawaii, but the other part wanted to stay right there in Hudson. That was the part excited to see Amber. She was 3 years younger than him, still in high school, and leaving her had been one of the hardest things he'd had to do.

  His Dad had given him little alternative to joining the Army. He made it very clear that it was either that or be kicked out of the house. So Andrew had dropped out of Hudson High and gotten his GED his senior year. He knew it was foolish to quit so close to being finished but all he had cared about was Amber, beer, and weed. He didn't realize how much he would miss the first one. Luckily for him the other two were readily available on post.

 "Mom! I'm going to Amber's now. I'll be back soon, I promise."

  Without waiting for an answer he pulled the hood over his head halfway and slammed the door close behind him. His family, and Amber's lived in off-post Army housing. She was his neighbor. How convienient. Not bothering to knock at the front door, Andrew went around to the back of the house, knocked twice on the glass window, lifted it open, and slid in to Amber's room. The sight that awaited his eyes wasn't very different than the usual one, Amber laying on her bed, joint in one hand, beer in the other. It was stupid of him to think she'd want to be sober for the first time they'd seen each other in months. He didn't kiss her hello, didn't say anything, just grabbed the blunt and took a long drag before chugging half of what was left of the warm liquid. Amber licked her lips, looked him straight in the eyes, and lowered herself so that her face was buried in his fully clothed crotch. He didn't really care if she blew him or not. Something wasn't right here and he couldn't quite figure it out. Just as she started to slid the zipper to his pants down, a loud crash came from the closet. Andrew glanced from her face to the closet door before pushing her away and making a move across the room. This sobered Amber up real quick. She jumped up and rushed to stand in front of him, the dreamy, glassy look no longer present in her pale blue eyes.

  "No! Don't! It was just my cat! I swear!"

  "Amber you don't have a cat. And you will not fucking tell me what to do." Andrew pushed the pale blonde aside and opened the closet door. A miserable looking poser sat on the closet floor, a clump of hangers next to him. He grabbed the piece of scum by the hair and pulled him out of the closet and turned to look at Amber.

  "What the fuck? Are you God damn serious? The first day I'm fucking home before I DEPLOY and you open you're legs for a freshmen? You've always been a slut and a tease, but I expected more out of even you!" Andrew was furious. But he didn't wan't things to end with Amber. Too bad we never get the things we want.

  "About that. I just don't think I can handle the whole 'Iraq' thing. Its too much. I think we should just end things now." The glassy look had returned to her face and she almost smiled as she spoke. Andrew pushed the underclassman to her feet and walked right out of her room, out of her house, out of her life.