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"So... How are you feeling?" Amy asked, a slight grimace on her face as she eyed her roommate.
Stacy shut her eyes tightly and pulled her pillow over her face.
"Ugh... Can I just die?" she moaned. She had a raging hangover. It was her first ever, and she vowed it would be her last as well.
"That good, huh?" The redhead shook her head. "How much did you drink last night?"
"Just two beers, I swear!" the leggy blonde cried. "Can you get me some Tylenol?"
Pushing up from her seated position on her bed, Amy reached over into a bureau on her other side. She fished out the bottle of the painkiller, taking out two tablets and handed them to Stacy.
"Thank you." Stacy reached for the bottle of water on the nightstand between their beds and quickly washed down the pills. Hopefully, they would kick in sooner rather than later.
"Uh hmm." Amy sat there and thoughtfully studied her friend for a moment. "Stace... Can I ask you a question?"
"Sure."
"Well..." She wasn't quite sure how to put this. "You were with that guy Shane last night, right?"
"Yeah," the blonde replied. "I was."
The redhead cocked her head as she eyed the other young woman. It was probably none of her business - it was Stacy's life, after all.
"I thought... Well, I thought you liked Jay."
Stacy fixed her brown eyes on her friend with slight surprise.
"Oh. Yeah, I do like him," she admitted.
"So...?"
"So...?" Stacy echoed, shrugging.
Amy had to refrain from rolling her eyes. How could the blonde be so clueless?
"Well, then, how come you went out with Shane?" she asked.
Stacy shrugged again and placed one of her slender hands against her forehead.
"I guess it's just that I don't think he likes me back," she said. "After all, he's never asked me for a date or anything like that." She cast her gaze down at the blanket that was still covering her tall form.
Amy thought about that, biting her lip as she did so. She shook her head in exasperation.
"Well, what if I told you I knew for a fact that he was crazy about you?"
Stacy eyed her with surprise, and maybe a small glimmer of hope.
"Really?" But then, she wondered what she was thinking and feeling. She had been growing steadily closer to Shane, and she actually liked him. He was sweet, funny, caring... If only they hadn't gone somewhere that served booze!
"That would be my guess," the redhead said vaguely. She noticed the way their blond friend talked about Stacy, not to mention the way his eyes seem to glow when he looked at her. It was only logical that Jay wished for a relationship that extended friendship with her.
"Oh. If you're only guessing, then I guess it isn't really true." A pout seemed to cross the tall blonde girl's face. But then, she came back to her senses. "All that aside, though, I really do like Shane. And I know he likes me."
"So? And you like Jay, too," Amy pointed out.
"But I've been getting really close to Shane. I like him," Stacy said with a faraway look on her face. "Besides, he's already taken me out."
The redhead rolled her eyes. She'd never even met this Shane character, but Stacy was kind of weird about him. It wasn't like they were exclusive or anything.
"Okay," she said, "so, just because he took you out one whole time, you won't give Jay a chance? You know - Jay? The guy you've liked all along since last year?"
"I didn't say that." Stacy winced, her temples throbbing. She raised both hands to her head, massaging the area. "Can we have this discussion when I'm feeling more... human?"
"Yeah," Amy replied. "Sure. Rest up, Stace." She smiled, reaching over to pat the girl on the arm before she got up.
"Where are you going?"
The redhead turned back as she reached for her pair of sneakers near the bureau.
"Oh, it's a nice day, so I thought I'd go jogging," she said. She slipped into the shoes and laced them. After that, she grabbed a scrunchy and pulled her long hair up into a high ponytail. "I'll be back in about an hour."
"'Kay," the blonde said with a small smile. "See ya later."
"See ya," Amy replied with a wink.
A few minutes later, the redhead was stretching, warming up for her run in a woodsy area of the campus. Unfortunately,
she missed the eyes of the individual that was intensely watching her.