Free Portrait of Jealousy (The Art Models Club Book 2) by Amanda Meadows Page B

the sound of heels clicking rapidly down the hall, moving away from the candy and soda machines. The doors whooshed open and then clanged shut again seconds later.
    Amber suddenly fought the urge to sneeze. Her legs were cramping and she was finally aware of a sharp corner poking her in the chest. She willed Kayla to follow her mother down the hallway.
    Instead, Kayla started muttering to herself under her breath.
    “Cold-hearted bitch . . . .deserve . . .rot in hell . . .see if I care . . . tired of . . .should just leave . . .can't stand this . . .”
    Then Amber heard the sound of what she could only imagine was Kayla searching through her purse. Finally, coins clanked in the machine and there was a whir followed by a soft thump as some sort of snack landed in the bottom of the machine. She heard Kayla reach in and then there was the sound of ripping paper.
    Okay, you got your little snack, Amber thought. Now just go. She held her breath against the threat of another sneeze. She wasn't sure what would happen if Kayla found her back here. Awkward wouldn't even begin to describe what she would feel.
    “ Diet Coke my ass!” There was a loud clank followed by the pop of a soda can and the sound of heavy gulping.
    Then, just when Amber thought she was close to being free, she heard more money being fed into the candy machine. This time there were two separate thumps in the bottom of the machine.
    Amber noticed with alarm a shadow moving across the wall beside her. She panicked, trying to think up a plausible excuse. Maybe she could say that she dropped some bills and that a draft sucked them under the machine. She tried to get them back out but had gotten stuck.
    Yeah, that was reasonable. Any two year old would buy that. I'm such an idiot for crawling back here. If she finds me it will be my all time stupidest thing I've done in my life moment. What a way to round out a day from hell.
    Sweat pooled under Amber's arms. She started to worry about any loose, frayed wires. She could see it now. Strange Girl Electrocuted While Hiding Behind Candy Machine. Wealthy Boyfriend Suspected Insanity .
    But then she felt the machine jar as Kayla leaned against he machine and slide to the ground. Just great! From this close, she could hear Kayla rapidly chewing and swallowing. She sincerely wondered if Kayla had an eating disorder. The frantic way she was stuffing the food in her mouth was quite disturbing. At one point Kayla burped loudly. She was sitting so close that Amber could smell her chocolate and peanut butter breath. Finally, Kayla stood up and started walking down the hallway.
    “Damn shoes!” she muttered, her steps uneven.
    Amber smiled. Kayla must have one horrible blister the way she was hobbling. And then she felt a moment of alarm. Whatever Kayla had done, or was planning to do, was nothing compared to what her mother was contemplating. She sounded desperate.
    Amber had heard that level of desperation from her mother when the rent was due or when she had plowed through her food stamps only halfway through the month. Could Kayla's family have some sort of financial woes? But that didn't make sense if her father was some sort of bigwig executive type. Then again, none of this made sense.
    Amber waited several minutes after hearing the building door shut before slipping out from behind the candy machine. She ducked back into the restroom to clean herself up.
    Looking at herself in the mirror, she realized that she looked as though she were a repair person. Her fingers were filthy. Her tee shirt was not only dirty but had a small rip in the shoulder. Dirt and oil were smeared across one leg of her jeans. She would be lucky if she got the stains out. Hmm . . . maybe she could repair the rip with a funky little patch.
    She sighed as she finally left the building. This had turned into a day to skip history class. She didn't think she could handle one more unpleasant experience in her day. Facing drool boy just wasn't an