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"Stay here a minute."
Stacy gave the other young woman a questioning look. She shrugged.
They were right outside the cafeteria. Amy glanced inside and saw at once that Adam and Jay were already there. She turned back to her friend.
"Just do it... We're gonna surprise the guys," she explained.
"Oh," the blonde said, blinking at her as though not quite getting it. She had met the two blond guys for lunch and to hang out dozens of times. Well, then again, they hadn't seen much of each other lately.
The redhead poised a finger up to her lips, smiling. Then, she turned and entered the cafeteria.
"Adam! Jay!" She waved as she made a brisk beeline for the table at which they were sitting.
"Hey, Ames," Adam said, beaming the moment he saw her.
"Hey," Jay said with a more half-hearted appearing smile. The truth was, he missed Stacy. He reminded himself of how Amy had tried to convince him to admit to the leggy blonde that he liked her a lot. On top of that, his best friend had been bugging him to ask her out. He hadn't done either yet, but not due to chickening out. It was back to the fact that he barely even saw her anymore. The only time he did was during the one class they shared, and the last couple of weeks, she had raced off immediately after it.
Instead of sitting down with the them, the redhead opted to stand.
"Guys, you have to come with me... Outside."
"What for?"
"It's important... I need to show you something," she said. She put on her best little pouty face. "Please?"
Adam instantly rose, and she had to fight to keep from bursting out with laughter. How easily he had fallen for that face! She knew if she were the type of girl who made demands on a boyfriend, the tall blond would be totally whipped in no time!
"Can't you just tell us whatever it is?" Jay complained. He was proving himself to not be so much of a pushover, but also that he was quite cranky at the moment.
"No, I can't. Please? It'll only take a minute."
"Oh, fine... But this better be good."
Amy bit the inside of her cheek as she thought, Oh, it will be! She practically dragged the two out to the exit. Stacy was standing off to the far right, sort of hidden. She stepped out just as she caught sight of them.
"Surprise!"
"Stacy!" Adam exclaimed. He laughed, glad to see the tall blonde girl.
Jay seemed pretty flustered, as though not sure his eyes weren't simply deceiving him. Then, a smile came to his face.
"Stacy! Where have you been hiding yourself?" he asked.
She rolled her eyes as she hugged him.
"In all the wrong places." It was most definitely the truth. However, she was now past all that and refused to dwell. Shane was not worth her time or worry.
Jay held onto her a bit longer than normal, and Amy and Adam noticed. They exchanged pleased glances, and the redhead made an okay sign with the fingers of her right hand. She was sure the young blond man would open up pretty soon.
"I missed you."
Stacy pulled back slowly to eye him. She smiled softly.
"Yeah, I missed you, too," she said. She patted him on the shoulder. "But I'm going to be around a lot now - like before."
"You promise?" Jay asked, a merry twinkle present in his blue eyes.
The leggy blonde giggled, nodding.
"I promise."
The young blond man grinned and said, "I'm gonna hold you to that, you know."
Stacy smiled.
Adam and Amy eyed each other deviously. They seemed to read one another's minds as he spoke up.
"We're gonna take off."
Jay looked over at him questioningly.
"I thought we were all hanging out?"
"I guess we lied," his best friend said with a shrug. "I'm taking Amy to a movie." He smirked.
The redhead made very much the same gesture as she slipped her hand into her boyfriend's.
"So long, you two... Don't do anything we wouldn't do," she quipped.
Stacy just stared after them as Jay reddened. As their friends disappeared, he swallowed and fixed his gaze back on the blonde.
"Well... Looks like it's just you and me."
"Yeah," she agreed, realizing that Amy and Adam had planned this. She was sure of it.
"You want to go somewhere?" Jay asked. "We can... talk."
"Sure," she said with a small smile.