The only other time she called me was to complain about how poorly she was being treated by her current boyfriend. Never did she think I had feelings for her for 4 years now. Ever since I met her at a teen help group freshman year, I haven't been able to think about anyone else but her. I want to help her with her guy troubles but all I can do is listen to her cry over the phone. But on this day, there was no tears, no sobbing, and Nick was a mystery.

My day started off like any other day with my alarm blaring in my ear and awakening me from my deep bear-like slumber. I become irritated at the fact that I have to get out of bed and start a new day. I slowly drag myself down the stairs and into the kitchen to grab some breakfast. I open the cupboard to where I would hope to find some Coco Puffs but to my dismay they were gone. My little brother turned towards me and was munching on the last bowl of my cereal. I grunt and grab a glass of orange juice and begin my hike back up the daunting stairs to get ready. As I slowly start to wake up while doing my daily morning routine I begin to remember my dream from last night.

It was a warm day, I am not sure as to which day it was though, but I decided to go long boarding around town. I being my journey around town, making sure to go down all of my scenic routes. I look down at my long board and realize that it's a different long board, not even close to mine. Some name was etched into the center of the board and I made out the name Nick. It took me a while to really read it because it was poorly done, but after reading the name and realizing the board wasn't even mine I begin to become confused. How did I get this board? Who is this Nick person? My mind suddenly jolts and switches to a dark room where all I can hear is a loud thud and and chains clanking. I then hear a loud high pitched noise and was awoken from my sleep to find my alarm yelling in my ear to wake up.

Thinking back on my dream I slowly started to realize who this Nick kid was, he was Amber's boyfriend. The guy who constantly would torment her and make her feel worthless. However, I was the guy that told her the opposite and made her feel better each time she called. I was the one who kept her sane through everything he put her through. Why was he apart of my dream though? Is my mind trying to tell me something? I shrugged it off and continued on with my day. I grabbed my backpack, tossed it over my shoulder letting the 8 pound sack fall against my spine, and walked out the front door.

Every day I have a set routine of things I do, where I go, what I see, how I get places and what I think about. But today everything seemed to be off balance and not how it normally is every day thus far. As soon as I stepped out of my house I knew today was going to be an off day, nothing felt right at all. Normally I walk straight to school which is only a few blocks down the street but on this day I walked on the opposite side of the street and through a different neighborhood because of some construction that was going on. That tiny insignificant detail changed my whole day and my whole world up side down.

“Hey Calder what are you looking at...? Hellooooo? Anyone there?”A quaint voice floated to me. I realize that Amber was trying to talk to me but I was zoning out the window during physics class. Amber sat in front of me and would always turn back around and give me little notes that usually included something about the teacher and how boring the class was.

“Ooh.. Sorry there Amber. I was just zoning out the window. I just had an odd dream last night and I am in a bit of a funk today. How are you feeling today?”

“I'm alright had a bit of a fight last night with Nick. You know, the usual stuff.”

“Oh.. I'm sorry to hear that Amber. Wait.. where did you get those bruises from?”

“Um.. Well.. I fell down the stairs and hit my arm on the railing there.” I didn't believe her in the slightest bit. I knew Nick had hit her again and seeing the bruises made me enraged. I didn't ask her about them anymore because I knew she would just lie about them to me, but I knew she knew that I wasn't believing the lies. She just felt comfortable telling me them, like a code word basically. Suddenly the bell rings, Amber and I make our way out of the classroom and go on our separate ways. I would always watch her walk away to ensure that she was safe even though we were at school.

Later that night I get a phone call from Amber so naturally I prepare for the water works with a few words woven in to the sobs to tell me whats happening. However, on this night, there were no sobs. I just heard Amber's quite voice on the other end. She seemed fine but there was something in her voice that set me off, something is or was happening.

“Hey can you come get me. I need your help. I will answer any questions when you get here. Please hurry..” I managed to mutter out an “okay” and then I heard a click. Her voice was gone and I was left sitting at my desk with my phone against my head still. I don't know what to do right now. I am so lost and confused. But I grabbed my car keys and began my way to Amber's house. Every imaginable question was running through my mind at this time and I still don't know how to answer any of them. I finally arrive at Amber's house and I see her peeking through her front window and then she disappears. I walk up to the front door and before I could knock on the door it creaks open and I see Amber's gentle face hiding in the darkness.

“Come in please.” She quietly says and I walk in and shut the door behind me. “I'm sorry its so dark, it's just as a precaution.” Precaution for what? She takes my hand and leads me to her basement where it is even more dark and I hear the sound of chains clanking upon the cold cement flooring.

“Amber... what's going on here and what was that noise?” As soon as I ask this a light flickers on and I am staring directly at a guy sitting on the floor wrestling with a chain that was attached to his ankle and then to a post in the wall.

“Um.. well.. this is Nick. Things got out of hand. He just kept beating me and I couldn't handle it anymore.. He's been here for a couple days now. I need to get rid of him before my parents return from New York. Can you help me out? Please Calder, I really need to get rid of this evil guy. I need to be freed from him.” I stood where I was in pure fear, I was extremely confused and scared.

“Uh... Yeah sure... I still don't.. I mean how did you.. Damn..” I could barely make a cohesive sentence let alone have a vocabulary bigger than 6 or so words. I followed Amber down the stairs and she told me to grab the golf club that was leaning against the wall and to hit nick with it in order to knock him out. I swung as hard as I could and I wasn't able to knock him out, Amber grabs the golf club from me and swings for his left temple. He was out like an expired light bulb. I watched her as she slowly let go of the golf club and then Amber and I began to drag Nick after she unlocked him. We put Nick in Amber's car and then we sat in the car for a minute or so. Neither of us could compose words so we sat there and gave each other a look that somewhat said “We've gone this far.. let's do this.”. Amber started the car and we began our journey, where we would end up we had no clue.

Four hours pass by and Amber and I park the car on the side of the road that over looked the ocean. We got out of the car and checked to make sure the coast was clear and then we began to slide Nick out of the back of the car. His head thuds on the back of the car and then onto the pavement. Amber uses her eyes to point to the cliff and then darts at Nick. I then drag Nick over to the cliff and kick his body over. I was him roll down the hillside and then crash into the jagged rocks at the bottom of the hill. The water turns a dark red as it slowly begins to carry his body away with each passing current. Nick was gone. I turned back to Amber and she had this look on her face that I have never seen before and it looked almost as if a heavy weight had been released from her shoulders. She was happy. I don't think I have ever seen this expression from her in all my years of knowing her, but I liked it and smiled back at her and we continued on our way back home.

A week or so after the incident, Amber walked up to me and handed me a long board with a bow on it. She kissed me on the cheek and whispered thanks in my ear and daintily walked off. My mind went blank but I was happy and Amber was happy and that's what truly mattered. I begin to use this long board instead of my old one because my old one was about to snap and this one was almost knew. I started to long board more often now that I had a new board. One warm day while I was riding the board I noticed a name etched in the center of it, it read Nick.