"Where were you guys?" Daniel asks Tristan and I when we sit down at the lunch table.

"I showed Amber the library." Tristan says.

"The library?" Sadie asks.

"Seriously?" Asks Oliver, disgusted. He continues. "That place is effing boring!"

"It's not that bad!" Insists Dave.

"Well," Oliver starts, "You are a nerd."

Sadie bursts out laughing.

"What?" asks Oliver. "I'm dead serious! It wasn't supposed to be funny!"

"But it is!" She insists through fits of giggles.

"What were you even doing in there anyway?" Daniel cuts in, harshly.

"I just wanted to know if there was a library. And when I asked Tristan he offered to show me." I tell him. Why does he care.

"You know you could have asked me. Also, why did that take over an hour?"

Jeez. What is his problem? Man period? What the heck.

Tristan speaks up. "Amber looked around. I wanted to check how many points I had, but the computer was being super slow. Then I had to meet my mentor at the pool for a while, and Amber didn't know how to get back here from the library, so she came with me," he says in a rush.

Daniel sighs and mutters under his breath.

"What's your problem, man?" Dave asks.

"Yeah. Seriously Dan, why do you care?" Oliver asks.

"Amber," Daniel says. "Can we talk?"

"Sure," I say. "What's up?"

He leans across the table. "I mean, like, in private?"

"Oh. I guess, yeah."

Daniel stands up, and I follow him out the doors of the cafeteria.

I turn to face him. "What's up?"

"Well, uh,"

"Daniel? Spit it out." I say.

"Where did Tristan actually take you? His bed?"

"Daniel! What the heck! Why do you even care? Honestly, you're being such a possessive jerk right now! We're not dating!"

"Jeez girl. Calm down! I'm helping you!"

"Helping me with what Daniel?" I retort. I've had enough.

He speaks in a quieter tone. "So you didn't actually go to the library?"

"We did! Seriously Daniel? Like, why do you even care?"

"Am I not allowed to care? Come on Amber."

"What do you want!" I shout. "Please! Just-" I stop. "Why do you care?" I say meekly.

"I'm looking out for you Amber."

"But why? Tristan is one of your friends! Don't you trust him? What kind of friendship is that?"

"Amber, I just-"

"Daniel! Just explain!"

He looks down. "I just don't like seeing you with him Amber. I know you could do far better." He pauses. "Amber. I like you."

What? Now? After all Tristan has just done for me? What do I do? What do I say? Where's Tasha? She'd know what to do.

Do I like Daniel?

Or Tristan?

I don't know!

"Uhm. I, uh. I've got to go. Uh, see you later!" I turn on my heel, and head to my room.

I lay down on my bed, overwhelmed. This is just too much right now. First finding out about Greyson, then Tristan, now this with Daniel.

I know who I can go talk to. Maybe he gives advice as good as his sister.

I hop off of my bed and head back to the common room, hoping neither Tristan nor Daniel are present.

I walk through the doors and scan the room. No one my age is here, which is perfect.

Finally, I spot who I'm looking for. I head over.

"Amber! Hey!" Mitchel calls out.

Kendra, his girlfriend, smiles at me and says, "Hey Amber."

"What's up lil 'sis'?"

"Umm, just having problems I guess?"

"Girl stuff?" Mitchel asks.

"Sorta."

"Well, I know I said you can always come find me when you need something, but girl stuff may be more Kenny's specialty." He smiles at his girlfriend.

"Well, it's not the girl stuff that's important. It's something else. Is there somewhere more private we can go?"

"Yeah. Is it okay if Kenny comes along?"

"Yeah."

"Come on, follow me," Mitchel says, taking Kendra's hand.

We go through many hallways, and end up in an old storage room.

"What's up Amber?" Mitchel asks me.

"Greyson Matlock."

"Ahh, you found out?" Mitchel speculates.

"You know about him?"

"Yes. I was eight when he was drawn."

"I was four. How come I don't remember him?" I ask.

"Well," Mitchel starts.

Kendra speaks up. "The circumstances were different back then."

"They made it so you forgot him." Mitchel finishes.

"What?"

Mitchel looks to Kendra. "The ADCCG has changed a lot over the years." She explains simply.

"Do you know Greyson?" I ask them.

"Yes. You could meet him if you want," Mitchel tells me. "He remembers you."

"I'd like to meet him." I say.

"Okay. I can arrange that," Mitchel says.

"Anything else, Amber?" Kendra asks. I like her. She seems to really care, and is super nice.

"No, I think I'm good thanks."

She sends me a concerned glance. "Well, we're always here if you need us."

"Not literally," Mitchel buts in.

Kendra laughs and shakes her head. "No, Mitchel, obviously we aren't always in this exact space, but you know what I mean. Idiot."

"But you love me anyways."

"Ahem," I clear my throat to get their attention. They're really cute together, but I can only take so much lovey dovey stuff, especially when I'm so confused.

"Sorry Amber. Let's get back now," Mitchel says.

+++

I've been laying in bed for over an hour, but I just can't settle down. My brain is going crazy.

I get up out of bed and head to the bathroom.

I push the door open and see Aria sitting in the same spot she was the last time. I walk over and wordlessly sit down beside her.

"Hey."

I smile.

"Hey," I say.

"What's up?"

"Can't sleep," I say simply.

"Same," Aria says.

"How's Duckface?" I ask with a smile.

She laughs. "Just peachy. Tonight she didn't kick me out though. I came out of my own free will."

"And you seem a lot happier," I point out.

"Yeah. It's still hard. I've made a friend though. We're kind of the two misfits."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," she says. "His name is Quinn. He's the 55 boy with the speech problem."

"Oh, I know who you're talking about."

"What's up with you? You seem to to have a lot on your mind."

"It's pretty complicated."

"I got time," she smiles.

"Okay. Well, awhile ago, Daniel kind of acted like he liked me. But then he dared Tess, my roommate, to kiss him. I was really confused then, cause I didn't know if I like him. Then I got over it and it became normal-just friends. Then today I asked Tristan to show me the library. He took me there, and then I wasn't feeling great, so he took me to a couch in the common room. I fell asleep on his shoulder for about an hour. Then we went to lunch and Daniel was all mad, and asking where we were. Then, we went to talk in private, and he said that I deserve better, and that he likes me."

"So Daniel basically said Tristan isn't good enough for you, but he is? What a jerk."

"Yeah."

"Wow."

"What do I do?" I ask.

"Well, I would say that you need to spend time with both of them, find out if Tristan likes you, and then decide who you like."

I nod.

We sit in silence for a while, and then Aria speaks again. "I think I'm gonna go back to sleep now. I'm really tired."

"Okay. Thanks Aria."

"For what?"

"Being you."

🍁