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Jay bid his friends goodnight at nine. He and Adam were of course campus roommates, but since the other two were clearly growing closer, he'd opted to make himself scarce.
Amy felt a tiny smiling touching her lips as they simply went for a walk near school for awhile. It was most pleasant outside with just the slightest hint of a breeze. She was still so surprised about Adam asking her out earlier. When it hadn't happened immediately after the first time they'd hung out alone together, she'd wondered if it would ever happen. And she was sure happy it finally had.
By close to ten, they decided to call it a night. Besides, they would certainly stay out later when they went on their date on Friday night. The redhead was definitely looking forward to that.
The tall blond walked her back to her dorm building. They lingered a bit as they stood on the short staircase leading to the front door.
"So..." Adam began tentatively. "... Where do you want to go on Friday? Anywhere special?"
Amy was all smiles. She half-shrugged as she looked into his eyes.
"I'm not really sure," she said. "Why don't we just decide then?" She tilted her head to one side in a flirty manner. She was so attracted to him and was relieved to know he apparently felt the same way about her.
"Yeah, okay... Cool. We can do that," he said. "Makes things more spontaneous."
"Uh huh... And spontaneity is definitely a good thing."
Adam chuckled softly at that remark. He stared at her for a moment, then hooked a thumb over his shoulder. "Well, I'd better be getting back," he said. He couldnt' stop staring at her now. But he couldn't help it - she was so pretty.
"Okay," Amy breathed. She smiled and neared him, moving her face close to his. However, instead of kissing his lips, she got his cheek. It wasn't that she didn't want to really kiss him... She just wanted to wait for their date on Friday night before she did that.
The young blond man brought a hand up to his cheek, patting it where her lips had been. He smiled softly at her.
"Goodnight," he said.
"Goodnight, Adam." She brought up a hand to wave and then ran up the steps. She just missed the horribly dirty look that was shot their way from a small distance as she entered the door.
She was still smiling and even whistling as she fished for her room key in her bag. Quickly locating it, she almost skipped to her room. She figured Stacy would already be there, relaxing. Well, she could hardly wait to tell the blonde what had happened that evening!
Amy pushed the door open and started her story already. She couldn't help it, and oh well if her friend was sleeping. She'd get over it.
"Stace, you're not going to believe-" She stopped in mid-sentence as she stared into the strangely empty room. She frowned, wondering if Stacy had gone to the bathroom a short ways down the hall to prepare for bed. Yeah, that had to be it.
The redhead removed her knapsack, setting it on the floor by her bed. Then, she removed her shoes and snatched a magazine off the nearby dresser before stretching out on the bed and getting comfortable.
Twenty minutes went by. Amy glanced at the small digital alarm clock-radio on the nightstand between the two beds. Where the heck is she? she wondered. She was beginning to worry. Stacy was not the type of girl who partied or stayed out late... That was not to say that ten-thirty was really late, but the blonde tended to only really hang out with her, Jay and Adam. She wondered who she was with, if she was with anyone, where she was and what she was doing.
Great, Amy thought sardonically, now I'm acting like an overprotective mother! Still, she couldn't help it. In the still relatively short time she'd known Stacy, she'd come to think of her like a sister.
After five minutes of thinking it over, the redhead reached into her bag for her cell phone. Maybe the blonde had run into Jay on her way back. Yeah, she could see that.
She typed a quick text message to her friend, hoping for the response she wanted. He replied almost immediately.
- Nope, she's not with me. I'm @ my dorm with my nose stuck in a book. Hope she comes back soon.
Amy frowned, her mouth going slightly dry. She figured she was probably being a little irrational. She decided she would give it ten more minutes, and then...
Just then, the door flew open, and the tall blonde stumbled inside. The redhead was startled but relieved at the same time.
"Stacy!" she exclaimed, standing up. "I was getting worried about you."
The blonde giggled as she shut the door. One hand flew up to her mouth to stifle a hiccup as she clumsily made her way to her bed. She flopped down upon the mattress.
"Aww, that's sweet!" she quipped. "I'm fine."
Amy smirked as she eyed her friend with a once-over.
"You're drunk."
Stacy burst out into a fit of laughter, kicking and flailing with excitement.
"I know!"
Amy frowned.
"Shh! You're going to disturb the entire dorm." She held out her palms in a 'stop' gesture.
This time, the blonde grabbed a small lace throw pillow on her bed and placed it over her face as though to muffle her giggling.
"Okay, look... I'll grill you about everything tomorrow," the redhead promised. "But right now, I think you should do the same as me and get ready for bed." Inwardly, she thought, And you're not gonna like yourself much in the morning!
"Okay," Stacy agreed with a grin as she removed the pillow, "you win."
As the blonde followed her friend to the bathroom minutes later, she recalled Shane earlier. She hoped he wasn't
too mad at her for puking in his room... But at least he'd been sweet enough to walk her back to her dorm.