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"Well," Paul said with a smile, "it's been fun, but I gotta go study now." He rose from the table. That was actually a lie, as he wasn't the most studious individual in the world - but the girl didn't have to know that.
"Okay," Amy said, and she stood up as well. She decided she wanted to get a candy bar before she herself headed out of the cafeteria.
As Paul started on out, he scowled a bit as he saw those two blond twerps he knew were friends of Stacy Keibler's. They were heading inside as he was leaving. He gave them a brief look, not caring what they really thought of him.
*
"That prick," Jay muttered to his best friend as soon as Levesque was out of earshot. "I can't believe he hasn't been kicked out of school yet."
The taller blond cast a look over his shoulder, disgusted. He seconded his friend's sentiments. He turned back as they reached the cafeteria's door.
"Hey... Look who's here," Jay said with a gesture of his hand. His mood was instantly brighter as he saw Amy paying for something at the cash register.
"Sweet," Adam said, a smile coming to his face.
"You like her, don't you?" The shorter young man delivered an elbow into his ribs.
"Ow," came the exclamation. That had actually hurt a little. Adam ignored his friend's question as they made a beeline over to the redhead.
She turned around, nearly colliding with them.
"Ooh! Jeez, guys!"
"So sorry," Jay apologized. "You heading out?"
"I was," she replied, her gaze going from him to Adam, who remained silent but was smiling at her. "I'll hang for awhile, though. Classes are through for the day."
The trio located an empty table, ironically the very same one Amy had sat at with Paul Levesque. She opted to hold it for them while the two blond men got on line for some food.
"I wonder what happened to Stacy?" A pause. "Hey!"
Jay swatted at his friend, bringing his attention back on him. His gaze traveled to where his friend's eyes had been and snickered.
"You are so smitten, man."
Adam eyed him and shrugged.
"So, what if I am?" he challenged.
"So.. Ask her out. I bet she says yes."
The taller man shrugged again. It wasn't that the idea hadn't already crossed his mind several dozen times. But he couldn't be so sure she was into him as anything more than a friend.
"I don't know... I'm not sure she looks at me as anything but friend material."
Jay rolled his eyes.
"Oh, come on, you chicken!" he teased. "How do you even know when you don't take a chance?"
"Oh, like you do with Stacy?" the other man put out.
Jay reddened, hating the fact that his best friend had brought that up. Well, he was right. He really did like the tall blonde, always had.
"That's different," he began, coming up with an excuse and going with it, "I'm just waiting for the right moment."
"Uh huh... Sure. You keep telling yourself that, Jay." Adam offered him a smirk as he swatted him in the back.
A few minutes later, the two best friends carried their respective trays back to the table, where Amy was sitting in wait. She was just finishing the last bite of her chocolate bar and looked up from the book open before her, smiling at them.
"Hope you don't mind me doing a little studying," she said.
"Nah, not at all," replied Jay. He set his tray down at the opposite side of the table, deliberately forcing his best friend to sit beside her.
Adam met his eyes, knowing full well exactly what he was doing. Well, it didn't bother him... Why would it, to sit beside Amy Dumas? In fact, he preferred it that way.
As he sat and lowered his tray, he cleared his throat.
"So... What are you studying there?"
"Oh... American History," the redhead answered.
There was a small pause, and Adam suddenly felt a kick under the table. He shot Jay a deadly look. God, what a pain he could be sometimes!
"Hey," he went on, hoping she wouldn't be able to detect the nervousness in his voice, "Amy, I've been wondering..."
She looked up from her textbook to meet his green eyes.
"... Would you like to go out with me? To the movies or something?"
She blinked in surprise.
"Oh... Yeah, sure. That would be nice," she said with a smile.
Adam exchanged glances with Jay and saw that his friend had a sly smile painted on his face. He really did look smug.
"Cool... So, uh... How about Friday night?" Adam asked.
The redhead smiled, nodding.
"Okay... It's a date."
Jay quickly offered the other young man a wink.