I stepped out of the shower, smelling like the "Spring Rain" body wash I
had gotten too accustomed to using. I put on the strapless bra and
French-cut panties -- both virginal white.

Finally, I looked at the dress. It was surprisingly heavy, and rustled
as I maneuvered into it. The hem fell lightly, slightly above my knees.
The waist was close enough to make me look rather thin and slender, and a
bit of rouching went upward from the waist before spreading to line the
bust. There were a couple of straps, but they were rather thin. A small
rhinestone cluster sat at my center-waist. I put the tiara in front of my
ponytail, and a matching silver bracelet dangled off my wrist. Downstairs
a small pile of of presents was waiting for me on the kitchen table. My
new mother and father hugged me and kissed my cheeks. "I'm sure you will
love every moment of your sixteenth birthday, Princess," Helen said.
"Would you like to open the rest of your family presents now? Or would
you rather wait until your many, many friends turn up, some with gifts of
their own to give you? So far you have two still-wrapped gifts from us,
four from your uncles and aunts and one from your grandparents."

I sat uncomfortably in my dress. The tiara felt odd on my head and I
felt sure that it only looked ridiculous. I decided to take a chance :
"Ummm...what would Amber do?" "Oh, she would get stuck in and open her
presents, she never was one for waiting when presents were there to be
opened," Helen said.

Neither she nor her husband seemed angry at my directly asked question-
perhaps they knew that I could not help it.

Okay...um.... I decided that I might as well get the clothing over
with, so I take the flat box wrapped in pink paper. I unwrapped it,
plastering on a smile as I hear the camera operate. I opened the box and
saw that it was a series of feminine-cut shirts. At a glance I could
tell they were colorful, probably sheer enough to show off my bra. The
first one I lifted out, a robin's-egg blue, had the word "single "
emblazoned across the chest. Heaven knew what else was in there.

"Thaaanks, Mummy and Daddy..."

They smiled happily and passed me a smaller present in blue wrapping
paper. "Open this one, we're sure you'll love it, only the very best for
our birthday princess." My new father kissed my forehead lightly and I
saw love in his eyes, but not for me but for the daughter that I was
being forced to pretend to be. I took the box and opened it gingerly,
only to see a stack of bangle bracelets, every color of the rainbow. As
Mummy said "See, every color! Now you'll be able to wear them every day
with any outfit!" I could tell these were now to be part of my uniform .
A rather loud part, as well. Not quite the bell of a cat, but awfully
close...

The other presents turned out to be...a Justin Bieber T-shirt in green, a
signed Justin Bieber photograph, a Justin Beiber backstage pass, a
sparkly silver dress,a Taylor Swift poster,a new I-pod and lastly,a large
pink handbag My new parents looked at me to check that I was happy with
my new gifts. "What do you think of them, Princess?" I sat surrounded by
all this girlish silliness. How was I supposed to feel? I was an
independent man not that long ago, and now I was supposed to be happy
that I got a new dress -- one that tightens my waist? But still, I had
to bide my time.

"I'm just...uh...amazed that you found so much Justin Bieber stuff! I
mean, an autographed picture! You know how valuable that is?" I was
trying to generate tears, but nothing seemed to be coming out..."It cost
a lot but we would do anything, absolutely anything, for our beloved
daughter. Who is now you," my new father said. He kissed me on the cheek
and my new mother kissed my other cheek. "Why not get your new dress on
and get ready for all your friends who will be coming within a couple of
hours with their own presents for you?" my new mother asked, the control
in her hand and pointing at me.

I was about to object -- change into a new dress? I mean, I put on this
dress just to open presents, only to wear it for like an hour? And what
was this about friends? I saw the remote, though, and closed my mouth
and trudged upstairs to change. I slipped on some matching bangles, that
tinkeled every time I moved my wrist. The pale blue eye shadow and
glitter lip gloss made me the party girl, the center of attention.
Barely keeping a smile on, I came back downstairs... "Amber, you look so
beautiful," my new mother said. "Help me get the food one the table for
when your friends come." Just then the doorbell rang and she said "It
looks like someone has come early, let's let him or her in, and remember,
any attempt to tell him or her who you really are and I will kill you if
nesscessary. Just be the best cute,sweet, girly daughter that you can."

I walked to the door, pulse racing. I mean, it was one thing to fool
some strangers in a store. Or to go along with some crazy people. But
how was I going to fool Amber's friends? They know her laugh, how she
sits...I wasn't ready for this. I'd be found out, and "mummy" and
"daddy" would kill me.

I didn't see any choice, so I opened the door. I got a glimpse of blonde
hair and a pale blue top and jeans, and I was engulfed in a hug.My
friend, who I knew from Amber's diary as Sarah, kissed my cheeks lightly
and said "I'm sooooooo happy to see you again. I've brought you a present
to add to the many you have allready, a pack of "Boy Crazy" cards. We're
going to have a great time together." She gave me the present. She was a
pretty blonde haired blue eyed girl.

I stood there and stared at the cards, held in my manicured hands. I
could not help myself, and the words are out of my mouth before I
realized what I was saying.

"And just what the hell am I supposed to do with these?"

Her mouth drops open and my new mother slapped my face once, hard.
"Amber, I'm shocked. No swearing in this house even if it is your
sixteenth birthday and you've spent all night awake and excited." I could
tell that she wants to shock me heavily but she could not do that right
in front of Sarah and was not angry enough to kill me anyway. I mean, she
needed me to keep on playing the role of her darling daughter. I
staggered a bit from the impact. "I'm...I'm sorry Sarah. I still have
some things that aren't quite right since the accident. I forget myself.
How, uh, how do these cards work? I mean, is it a card game or what?"

"It's not the most interesting of games I admit, it's sort of like Top
Trumps but with boys. I'm sorry that I didn't get you a better present.
Let's go upstairs and talk, just you and me,"Sarah replied.

I glanced at my mother, and she nodded. I followed her upstairs. My first
thought was how cute she was -- even though under my age. That's not a
good first sign. How was I going to fool her, on my own?

The wheels were spinning in my head. Was she a plant? Was she really
Sarah?

"I just feel weird. Like I don't belong. I'm wondering if...like I got
hit real hard on the head and I've forgotten who I am. I look at these"
and glance down to the cards "and just wonder...is that all it's about?
Cute boys?"

"Yes, it is.The game I mean, not real life." She hugged me again, softly
this time. "You poor thing, that accident must have really hurt you. Do
you want to speak to one of your parents about it?" She looks out of the
window and smiled. "More of your friends are coming, and they are
bringing presents with them. You are so lucky to be so popular and have
so many friends.Let's go and see them. I hope their presents for you are
better then mine was."I knew my role well enough to smile back. "No, your
present was great. It's me that's not right right now. I hope you can
come over and we'll go through these and rank them by cuteness! But for
now, yeah, let's go downstairs."

Three more were waiting for me,two girls and a boy, each with a different
well wrapped present for me. The boy was brown haired and brown eyed and
good looking.One of the girls was dark haired, the other a plump
brunette. They greeted me with hugs and kisses and told me how great it
is to be at my party,and gave me the presents to open.

I gathered the presents and look at them in turn. "Nice crown!" said the
shorter one, pointing to my tiara. Standing there with Sarah I asked
"Should I open them now?" Seeing their excited nods, I did as told.

One of the girls gave me a selection of 10 bottles of nail polish in a
range from deep red to vibrant pink. As the boy -- Chase -- smiled at
such a girlish present, I open to peasant top that the other girl gave
me. "You'll have to do a fashion show of all your new clothing!" As for
Chase, my heart pounded as I tore off the wrapping paper only to see a
Victoria's Secret box. My mouth dropped open and I heard the girls
giggle. I opened the box to find...a fancily wrapped iTunes gift card.
"Got you!" Chase laughed, tickling me in my ribs. I instinctively giggled
and push him away...only to have a dying voice in my head say "you do
realize he'll think you're flirting with him." He planted a quick kiss on
my cheek. Nothing rude, I was in front of others including my mother
after all, and he looked at me, smiling, clearly thinking that I looked
beautiful.Perhaps he had a crush on me. We awkwardly stared at each other
a moment too long, before Sarah said "Okay then...who else is coming?"
Just then the doorbell rang. More guests.

There were more guests then I ever had friends as a male,and each had a
different and mostly girly gift for me, from DVDs of Justin Bieber vidios
and The Princess Diaries to jewelery to another I-tunes card.They all greeted
me with hugs and kisses. I frankly struggled to remember everyone's name,
and was content to smile and contribute to the conversation just enough
that I didn't stand out. Eventually Sarah said to me, "Okay birthday
girl, I bet you know what happens next!" There was a teasing note in her
voice, but a little bit of tension crackles as I'm led to a chair into
the middle of the room. I sat down in it, and was quickly blindfolded.

I could not help noticing that Mummy and Daddy are for some reason
conspicuously absent for this portion....

"Truth or dare, truth or dare," *my friends started chanting, no doubt
with smiles on their faces. I sighed nervously, not least because I knew
that Amber was a daredevil if social pride was at stake. I faked a smile.
"dare".

"I dare you to let me kiss you on the lips," Chase said.

I could feel my face flush as I heard soft "oooo's" in the room. I knew
this is crossing a new line. I knew it was beyond humiliating -- a girl
in a dress, unable to see, meekly and smilingly accepting a kiss from a
boy on "her" birthday.

I also knew it was an easy question for "Amber" to answer. "Okay."

Chase's kiss was warm and soft. He did not use his tounge for it. He took
off my blindfold and it was time for someone else to take your place in
the truth or dare game. From the way he looked at me, he clearly was in
love..He sat next to me and squeezed my hand gently.

I tried to stay relaxed as I watched my friends eat disgusting food,
reveal supposedly secret crushes, and do all manner of silliness. Chase's
grip was a bit firm for me to pull away without it becoming a scene, so I
sat there in my dress with my -- friend? boyfriend? Puzzling, I finally
figured out what to do.

"Sarah, can you come to the bathroom with me?"

"Of course." Chase let go as I and Sarah went to the bathroom together.
Once her and I were alone, she looked at me and asked "Amber, are you
allright? I know you well and I know when something is wrong,and you just
don't look as happy as you should do on your birthday." I just sighed,
angry that I was finding myself on the verge of crying. "I'm just
stressed. I mean, it's been SO hard recovering from the accident, and all
this stress is just getting to me. I mean, I'm still kinda sore and I
feel like I've been trapped in this apartment forever. I just want to go
out, you know? And plus Chase is hanging all over me and it's a 11 on the
ick meter."

"I'm sorry. Do you want to tell Chase that you're just not that into him?
I think he would take the hint, he's not the sort of boy to turn stalker.
If you don't want him, maybe he'll have me instead." She smiled. "And
then let's get all your girlfriends together and go for a girl's night
out and watch the latest movie in the Twilight series. And we will soon
have you happy and feeling like yourself again."

This girl wasn't getting the hint. Instead of letting me out of these
silly activities, her solution was to amp up my girlifcation. Had my
"parents" put her up to this? "I'm not, um, acting too weird for you to
want to hang out?"

"No. Anyway, your mother thought you weren't feeling happy and sent me up
here to find you and cheer you up. She said ever since the accident you
were not feeling like yourself and I should see how you were and make
sure that you were not left alone."

It was like a cult. They would not give me any time to think on my own.
I faked a smile."You're a super friend, Sarah. I say we go back, pig out on cake, and
have a mall day, like soon! And yah, Chase is all yours -- the boy can't spell deodorant, and can't
use it either I bet."

"I'll talk to him quietly and explain the situation so he won't bother
you again and I'll hopefully gain a boyfriend out of it. Let's go down
and get a mall trip organised." She went down with me just as the
birthday feast was starting,with jelly and crisps and all manner of
sweets and fruit and nice things but as yet, no sign of my birthday
cake.Now doubt it would be brought in soon, studded with lit candles for
me to blow out and make a secret wish when I cut the cake.I knew what my
wish would be, that was not a problem. I heard the usual mutterings in
the kitchen of a cake being lit, and pretended to follow the conversation
of two people next to me arguing over whether flip flops were still cool.

"Turn out the lights, close the curtains," Sarah said and there was a
scurry to plunge the room into darkness.

As a large chocolate cake studded with sixteen candles was brought in by
my new parents from the kitchen all my friends started singing "Happy
Birthday to you" loudly and rather raucously.As the phones were raised
and pointed at me, taking photos and videos that no doubt end up on
YouTube I smiled as best I can. Intensely wishing to get the hell out
of here someday I blew out the candles....only to have them relight to
much laughter. Chase playfully smushed the cake in my face as we eat.
and eventually the feeling of a party winding down took hold as the
plates were thrown out, and conversation trailed...One by one the guests
started going back home. "How has the party been for you?" asked
Chase,who with Sarah was the only guest who had not yet gone home.

, the garden where I
knew the real Amber lay buried and rotting in the ground, and where I
might end up joining her if I was not careful."It was....different. I
mean, nice and all that but it's been so long since I was around a lot of
people because I've been try"I hope it was everything you thought that it would be?" Outside the sun
was setting, it's dim rays lighting up the gardening to get better. I really like you Chase,
and I think you're a real nice boy, and a great friend. I guess I'm
just not ready for more than that yet, I hope you'll understand. Plus,
Sarah would kill me if I got in the way of you two getting together."

I smiled shyly. There, that should take care of him.

He nodded and seemed a little sad. "I understand, I'm just not your
type." Then he turned to Sarah. "Do you...do you have a crush on me?" She
nodded. "I do." Then she leant forward and gave him a quick light kiss on
his lips. He smiled as he saw he had a new girlfriend and I can tell he
would not be be romanticly interested in me anymore.

They left holding hands and my new parents looked happily at me. "I'm
proud of you Amber, clearly we can trust you and think about giving you a
bit more freedom. We'll still have to tie you up tonight but it won't be
that long before we stop having to do that," James said. "I do love you,"
Helen told me. "I look at you and hear you talk and think of you as
Amber."

I smiled, and even initiated a hug. While I was not not thrilled about
being tied up, my parents seemed fooled. As long as I could get them to
see me as Amber while preserving my sanity and dignity, I had a chance at
escaping this situation."Sarah was thinking we could go hang out at the
mall, like soon. Would you two be cool with that?"

"We would be perfectly happy with that; you can go with her tomorrow
afternoon with a month's worth of pocket money and your birthday money if
you want to. We'll drive you to the mall and pick you up afterwards, but
we do trust you. Let's go to bed, birthday girl. It's getting late." They
took me upstairs, lotioned me up and put me in my nightie, before tying
my ankles to the bedposts and my hands around my big white fluffy teddy
bear. They kissed my cheeks and forehead. "Goodnight, Amber. We love you.
Tomorrow....you get to be a mallrat for a few hours and out of our sight,
you have something to look forward to."

I lie in bed, sleeping only fitfully. How would I do this? Hope to see a
cop and get dental and DNA work done? Try to enlist Sarah? Would they be
listening in? Maybe I should wait and go for it at a better time.

The next day I was unbound, given a pretty silk shirt and some rather
tight jeans with sparkles on to wear, and Helen did my makeup before she
and James drove me to the mall. Sarah greeted me with a hug. "It must be
great for you to be able to get out and about again. Let's go to the CD
shop first, there's some music that I feel I really must have," she said.
"Okay." I followed her in, wincing on the inside as she looks at the
lifesize cardboard cutouts of the latest pretty boy singers and wondering
if I would start with her? Maybe it would be better to get into a rhythm
before bringing up awkward subjects. I was tempted by a display of
Metallica's anniversary stuff but realized that it was not Amber's taste.
I picked up the new Selena Gomez album instead. "What music are you
looking for exactly?"

"Taylor Swift, she's my favourite girl singer.I love her songs. Oh,and
I'll get myself a Backstreet Boys CD too. It's not often that I have the
money to go on a shopping spree like this.Then if it's ok I want to buy a
new handbag and some new shoes."

"Sure....I'm just glad to be out of the house. And hanging with you. Did
Chase call you last night?"

"Yes, he did, he and I are now boyfriend and girlfriend, sort of. He's a
really nice boy and would have been a good boyfriend for you...except
he's just not your type. What kind of boy do you most like? Maybe I can
play matchmaker for you?"

Maybe this was my opportunity to have the Conversation. But it was best
to feel her out first. "Well, I don't know how much my parents think
about me going out boy hunting. They can be kind of...active in making
sure I'm the girl they want me to be. Ever notice that?"

"Yes, they do seem a bit strict to you, and I don't know why. Maybe you
did something stupid or they think you did. Or maybe they're just being
overprotective. If I'm out late my parents tell me off, but they don't
mind if my brother goes out late without telling them." She looked at me.
"Do they have any reason to act like they do?"

Well..." go easy here...easy... "I just think I'm not the girl they want
me to be, and they feel they can do anything to make me that way." I
tryed to level her with a look that screamed more under the surface.
"Anything."

"So you think they are being too bossy towards you? What sort of girl do
they want you to be? And what do you mean by anything? You can tell me,
I'm your best friend and won't tell anyone your secrets."

"Well, they're bossy yeah. But...." I sniffled a bit. I decided to see if
Sarah would get me to the cops, and I could explain things more to them.
"...sometimes they're just....." I rubbed my thigh where the shocker was
implanted. "..nevermind. I don't want to get in trouble."

"They....do they beat you? Or worse? If it's something small, then it's a
family matter and not worth getting the police involved and destroying
your family over.But if you are being seriously beaten or abused...give
me one example of what's being done and if it's bad enough you can stay
at my house for now and we'll get the police involved."

My heart was pounding...I didn't even have to fake the quiver. My lip
trembled a bit. "Well, remember the 'accident' that injured me and kept
me out of school for so long. Well...it wasn't an accident." I tryed hard
to get a couple tears to flow. My voice dropped to a whisper. "It was
Daddy."

Sarah's eyes widened in horror. "What....what did he do to you? And why?
Even if you did do something stupid, that is no excuse for what I think
he might have done to you." She pulled out her phone. "Give me the OK and
I'll call the police. But before I call them...what did he do? Was it
violence or sexual abuse?" She was horrified at what she thought could
have happened to her best friend.

I shook my head quietly. "I...I love you Sarah, but I'm not ready to talk
about it...please, just please help me?"

"Right..." She dialed the police and told them that her best friend was
hurt by her parents and then dialed her mother's number as well and told
her what had happened and the state that her best friend was in.I gave
Sarah a hug and smile. Perhaps the road was open before me now. "What
happens now? I mean, if my parents find out the cops were called they'll
try to kill me. I'm not even lying..."

Sarah looked at me. "Do you mean kill you as in shout at you or kill you
as in...kill you? Because if that's the case then you can stay with me at
my parent's house until the police have dealt with the problem. We are
like sisters, you and I. If your parents are arrested because they have
hurt you,what other relitives do you know well?"

I made a show of frowning. "Well, I have an aunt who lives down in Texas.
But I swear if I go back home I'll end up on the news, and not in a good
way. I just need to talk to the cops...they'll know what to do."
Hopefully, they would know how to perform a simple DNA test...

It was not long before two police officers arrive. "Ami, please can you
tell us what happened to you? You can come to our car and tell us in
private. We promise you that we'll take it seriously."