Free Swept Away by Nicole O'Dell

popping joints.
    “Sorry,” she whispered.
    Engrossed in her own work, Brittany never glanced her way. She didn’t look happy.
    Lord, help her
. The impulsive prayer filled Amber’s mind and made it all the way to her heart. She watched Brittany finish her test and thought back over the study session they’d had the night before. She had known full well what would be on the test, but she steered Brittany in other directions. The lump in her chest grew larger with the memory.
    With her head down on her arms, Amber thought of Brittany’s comment the night before. “I really think this will probably be on the test.” She’d stopped at a difficult chapter when they flipped through the book one last time.
    Amber wanted to kick herself for replying, “No. Why would it be? We didn’t spend nearly enough time on it in class.” One thing to cheat on a test—that was wrong enough by itself—but to steer your best friend down the wrong path so she wouldn’t do well … how could she? A better question would be how to fix it.
    But there would be no going back. Too late to change a thing.
What’s done is done
.
    The bell rang, and several students groaned and slammed their tests shut. Brittany sat frozen, staring at her paper with no expression on her face. Finally, she peeled herself from her seat and made her way among the other zombie-like students to the front where she handed her paper to the teacher. Britt’s face paled and her shoulders slumped forward in defeat as she headed for the door.
    “Don’t forget your stuff.” Amber pointed toward Brittany’s desk.
    “Oh. I almost forgot.” She hurried to pick up her stack of books and met Amber at the door.
    “Don’t ask.” She shook her head in reply to Amber’s questioning eyes, the color returning to her face. “We’ll talk about it later. I need to put this behind me. There’s still one more test.”
    “I have History now. You have … what? Oh, yeah, Lit.” Amber hesitated. “Hey, I already took that test—it’s not too hard. Want me to tell you some of the questions?”
    “No way!” Brittany came to life and shook her head. “Besides, even if you did, I know what I know, and there’s no room in my head for anything else. I’m on overload.”
    They parted ways and headed to their classrooms on opposite ends of the senior wing. She should feel better now that she’d offered to help Brittany, but Amber only felt worse. Now, not only did Britt know Amber would cheat if she had wanted her to, but she also thanked her for it as though Amber were some great friend.
If she only knew the truth
.
    Amber took a cleansing breath. “One more exam. Only one,” she said out loud to herself. A couple of students passing by looked at her like they thought she lost her mind. Maybe she had.
    Sitting at her desk in her history class waiting for the teacher to pass out the tests, Amber thought back over the year. All in all, it had been a good one. A lot of pressure, a lot more studying than she had intended to do in her senior year, but still good. She smiled softly at the memory of the day she and Brittany both received their acceptance letters to the University of Wyoming. They knew they’d get in, but the scholarships made it much more exciting. A full ride. What more could she ask for?
    A car would sure be nice
.
    Focus, Amber. Focus
. The moment of truth. The final test of the final week of the final year of high school. She opened the test booklet the teacher had laid before her, and read through the questions on the first page.
    Thank God for Kyle
.

Chapter 9
WE HAVE A WINNER
    “Amber Stevens and Brittany Kim. Could you please come to the office?”
    This is it
. With only four days left until graduation, she and Brittany had been on edge, waiting to find out who won the contest. Grades hadn’t been released yet, so they had no clue. They met up in the hallway, exactly as they had almost seven months ago when they got called into the office to first