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Stacy smiled to herself as she tried in vain to study for her Calculus exam.
She was in the library, alone. Try as she might, her thoughts kept shifting back to the prior day, when she'd seen Jay and Adam again after her brief absence.
Jay had confessed his feelings to her. Why hadn't she ever seen it before? They'd been friends for more than a year, but she had somehow been oblivious to the fact that the young man had a massive crush on her.
Stacy knew she had always liked Jay in the same fashion. At the same time, she'd always felt so shy as to the idea of telling him. The truth was, she often felt a bit awkward due to her nearly six feet of height. For some strange reason, that insecurity hadn't been prevalent during her brief time dating Shane McMahon. She figured it was due to the heir's smooth ways. He knew exactly what to say and all the right buttons to push in a girl - figuratively speaking, of course.
The blonde made a face at the thoughts of that creep. Why should she waste even a moment focusing on Shane McMahon when Jay was such a good, sweet guy? They had a whole future to look forward to, as they would be going on their first official date that evening. Reminding herself of this fact cheered her right back up, and again, Stacy couldn't help but smile.
Quickly shaking her thoughts off, the blonde refocused on her notes and textbook open on the desk before her. She had to throw herself into it and really concentrate if she wanted to pass this exam. After all, math had never been one of her better subjects.
Stacy was immersed in her studying moments later when a shadow fell across the table from above her. She didn't notice it at first due to her intense concentration, at least not on a conscious level. However, a minute or two later, an odd, creepy feeling suddenly overtook her, and she felt a chill crawl its way up her spine.
The young woman raised her head, her breath held as she strained her ears to hear any telltale sounds. That shadow was long gone, and she couldn't hear anyone speaking nearby. She slowly chanced a glance over her shoulder, her gaze scoring over the library. There were a handful of students nearby, either searching shelves for reading material or sitting at desks like her or on plush armchairs... And then, she spotted him. He was standing far off to a right-hand corner, alone, partly concealed by shadows, but Stacy could clearly make out the smirk on his face as he eyed her.
It was Shane McMahon.
Not exactly knowing why, the blonde grew frightened and caught her breath in her throat. She turned back to her books for a beat, contemplating gathering them up to leave but then thought better of it. After all, why should she allow that jerk to hold that kind of power against her? She had every right to sit in the library and study. It made no difference that Shane was the son of the president and dean of the school. That gave him no superiority over her, no right to intimidate her.
Swallowing back her unease, Stacy turned back to the spot where she'd seen the young man... But he was gone.
As her eyes shifted away from the area, the girl wondered where he had gone, and what might be going through his mind. Somehow, she instinctively knew that whatever he was thinking, it couldn't be good for her. She wondered why such thoughts had penetrated her mind and shrugged to break free of them.
Not five minutes later, she was once again deeply immersed in her schoolwork. She was jotting down particularly important notes when she suddenly felt a hand touching her shoulder.
Stacy gasped and nearly jumped in her chair as she whirled around.
"Hey, easy," came a soft voice.
The blonde squeezed her eyes shut, a breath of relief leaving her lips as she saw that it was Jay.
"Oh, God... Jay. I didn't know it was you."
"Sorry if I scared you, Stace," he replied. "You thought I was someone else?"
Stacy blinked, then shook her head. A smile came back to her face.
"No... No, I was just so focused on my work, that's all."
As Jay pulled over a chair to join her, the young woman wished what she'd said had been the truth.