More Than This

Amber - 1 Revised

*Hey! I've been working away on this story off line, giving it some new life. This is a completely rewritten part one, Amber's POV. I not only wrote her first part from scratch, but I also changed the entire story to the present tense. I should have done that all along, the story fought me tooth and nail as I was writing it. Never fight your story! Anyway, let me know what you think!

His face is an inch from mine. I can feel his warm breath on my lips, his Tiffany blue eyes boring into my brown ones. The feeling is familiar, something that at this point I should be used to. But I'm not. How could I be? Who in their right mind could ever get used to this?

"Let go of my arm," I whisper, careful with my tone and volume. Matt hates when anyone hears our daily interactions behind the cafeteria. Not that anyone ever does. He is also careful. Matt never lets anyone see this side of him. Except for me. I don't count, of course.

"Not until you figure it out." Matt has that low growl, the one he saves just for me. The one that makes my heart race and my palms sweat. He is so angry he is probably literally seeing red. He brings his face closer to mine, his body language telling me that this is about to get worse.

"You're mine. I don't want you even looking at another guy." Matt makes the same demand all of the time, stay away from other guys. The problem is, half of the population is guys. How is that even practical? I feel his fingers dig a little deeper into my arm. "You're just a big fucking flirt, Amber. No girl of mine is going to act that way."

His jealousy has gotten out of control over the last few months. At first, it seemed sweet. He wanted me all to himself. He was proud to hold my hand and show me off. But it turned controlling, then possessive. Matt would tell me whom I could or couldn't talk to, the list growing longer every day.

"Will just needed my notes, Matt. It meant nothing, I promise. You're the only guy for me." I try to calm him down, but I can see it isn't working. His face still has that look, the steaming bull ready to gorge anything in his path. So I add what I hope will be a tipping point in my direction. "Will is such a loser, Matt. Why would I even think about him? I have you."

The words coming out of my mouth make my stomach hurt. Throwing Will under the bus isn't me. I don't use people like that. But the daily assaults behind the cafeteria have been getting worse. I'm not sure anymore how far Matt will take things. At this point he has only grabbed my arm, hard and tight. Bad enough to leave nearly permanent bruises from the force of his fingers on my delicate skin. I've taken to wearing long sleeves most of the time to cover them up.

However, his temper has been escalating over the last few weeks. It seems like practically everything I do caused him to lose his composure, then he drags me behind the cafeteria and lets me know exactly what he thinks of whatever it was I've done. I had no idea when we started dating that this would be my new normal. In fact, when he first asked me out, I thought he was joking. Why would Matt McKinnely, the guy every girl wanted to date and every guy wanted to be, ask someone like me out on a date? In my four years of high school, not one guy had noticed me, let alone the guy. I suppose I was a bit star struck to be asked out by someone like him. And I knew I'd regret it if I said no. If I had only realized how much I would regret saying yes.

At first I was just his partner for a project in English. He struck up a conversation with me on the first day of school and looking back, I realize he had me eating out of the palm of his hand. By the time our project was finished, he had flirted so hard, making me blush so often, that I couldn't resist his charms. Charming was the perfect description for Matt. His blue eyes and muscular features, paired with sandy blonde hair and a smile that could knock a girl senseless, had all the girls dying for his attention. He knew all the right things to say, all the sweet things to do, to keep a girl swooning at his feet.

But once you were his, once he knew he owned your heart and soul, things were very different. The mask came off and the real Matt showed up, shattering any daydreams of happily ever after.

Matt has been looking at me, harshly, mulling over the reassurances I've given him. "You're lucky to have me, Amber. I'm the best thing that's ever happened to you, you'd be nothing without me."

"Yeah, she's real lucky."

The voice comes from the side of the building. Matt and I both look toward the sound, and when I see whose voice it is, my heart practically stops. I thought I was scared before, when it was just Matt and I, but now I'm terrified.

"Scar, get the hell out of here. This has nothing to do with you." Matt refers to the school loner, Garrett, by his nickname. Everyone calls him Scar behind his back, but only Matt would be bold enough to say it to his face.

"You're in my territory, you made it my business." Garrett doesn't back down. He seems like the type of guy who has experience with this type of confrontation. His loner status is mostly due to the fact that everyone is scared to death of him.

No one knows much about him other than he has a scar running from his eyebrow to who knows where after it disappears down his neck. He always wears a dark hoodie with the hood up, most likely to cover the scar. Even the teachers let him keep it on in class, probably feeling sorry for him. Or maybe they're as scared of him as the rest of us.

"I said get lost, either willingly or I have no problem forcing you." Matt replies.

"Matt," I whisper. He shouldn't get in a fight with this guy. Garrett is bad news. I can't handle another out of control guy, let alone the one I'm dating.

"You need to take your hands off of her. Didn't anyone ever teach you how to treat a woman?" Garrett challenges Matt, getting in his face. I find myself watching Garrett closely, trying to figure out why he would step in to the middle of our fight. It doesn't make sense for someone who never interacts with a soul to suddenly threaten the most popular guy on campus.

Matt finally lets go of my arm, pulling his own back in an attempt to lay a punch square on Garrett's jaw. I hold my breath and step back, trying to get out of the way of whatever fight is about to start. But before Matt can even get his fist near Garrett, Garrett's foot connects with Matt's stomach, knocking him back. Then Garrett's fist flies towards Matt, making contact with his jaw. Garrett just decked him.