Cover to the right is made by Cathrineex :)

(NOT EDITED)

***

Amanda's POV~

It's been two months since the misunderstanding with Neal happened and everything has gotten back to normal. Well, as normal as it could be. Zuri, Neal, and I had been working on our project whenever we could, which was every three days or so. We wanted to finish it early so we wouldn't have to worry about it while we cram for our exams.

Since then, I'd also gone home for the holidays. Thanksgiving was a blast with my family. I got to hang out with my big sister, who I haven't seen for awhile since she's always away. I also got to hang out with Izzy. I remember jumping and hugging the life out of her when I first saw her. She of course hugged me back just as hard.

We then spend the last two remaining days together, just hanging out. I finally told her about Neal and our past together. She, of course was shock at first, maybe even a bit mad. But that was understandable. I hid my past from her. I knew everything about her, and yet she didn't know my past.

I'm such a good friend, aren't I?

Note the sarcasm.

And you know what made it worst? She never even said she was mad, she was more focused on Neal's twin brother; Nick. Boy, did she want to kill him. I'd never seen her so mad before. It was then, that I truly realized how lucky I was to have a best friend like Izzy, who would forgive me so easily.

After that I had to calm her down before she got her dad to hire some detectives to find Nick, so she could 'hurt' him. I, for one, so don't need him back in my life right now. If he was like that when he was younger, who knows how he is now. He could be a criminal for all I know!

Overall it was a nice little vacation away from school work, and just college in general. Don't get me wrong. College's great, but when you're away for a long period of time, you start to miss your family and your other friends back at home. As shock as I was, I even missed Gabe and Rachel! Surprisingly, they're still a couple. Rachel and I had our differences in the past, but I guess ever since she started dating Thomas and Jason's friend, she's been nicer. Happier, I guess.

When it came time for the goodbyes, I gave my parents and my sister all hugs and kisses and promised them I'll call more often. I gave Izzy a hug goodbye, and made her promise me not to find Nick. She agreed, and was on her way back to college with Thomas.

***

As I arrived back on campus, I saw Danny getting out of his black convertible. I shouted at him, but he ignore me and kept on walking.

Maybe he didn't hear me?

I tried calling his name again, but this time a little bit louder. I waited three seconds, and still nothing. He kept on walking, not even looking back once.

Strange.

“Miss.” It was then that I realized I haven't payed yet, and was still standing next to the taxi driver with my bag on the ground.

I grimaced, giving him an apologetic look. “Sorry. Here's the money I owe you,” I said, grabbing a few twenty dollars bills from my back pocket.

He took it, whispering, “It's fine.”

When he was about to reach for some change, I held my hand out, stopping him. “Keep the change.”

He hesitated. “Are you sure?” he asked, peaking up under his cap. “You gave me a lot more than necessary . . .”

I nodded, giving him a soft smile. “Yeah, I'm sure.” I didn't like bragging, but it wasn't like my family was poor or anything. More like loaded. We weren't rich like Izzy's parents, but we weren't middle class either. If I had a choice, I rather be middle class.

“Thank you Miss.” He smiled widely, his kind hazel eyes sparkling. “Have a nice day,” he said, putting the car in drive.

“You too!” I called, waving goodbye. Bending down, I picked up my bag, and took off in the opposite direction. I needed to hurry before Danny disappears from my sight. A gut feeling of mine tells me there's something wrong here.

Pulling the doors to the guy's dorm open, I caught the shadow of someone at the end of the hallway. Let's hope that's Danny's shadow and not some random guy's. 

Running forward, I kept on calling his name, but he never answered me back. As I reached the end of the hallway, passing empty dorm rooms, I saw Danny (thank God it was him), turning a corner. Now I know for a fact that something is definitely wrong. He wouldn't ignore me like that right? John, yes, (since he's been ignoring me for the past few weeks), but never Danny.

“Danny!” I shouted, calling his name once again. “Stop!”

When he didn't, I got frustrated. Huffing, I left my bag by the wall getting rid of the extra weight so I could run faster. Looking forward, I ran, and ran, speeding past doors and posters, until I was a few feet away from Danny. I was not letting him go this easily. 

When I touched his back, he flinched.

“Danny, what's—”

He didn't let me finish his sentence when he pushed me away, covering his face. “Just leave me alone.”

My eyes widened at the tone of his voice. He was usually more cheerful, but now he sounded angry. Frightening, almost.

I panicked. “Why? What's wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“This can't be nothing.” When he didn't answer me, I reached my hand out, but he slapped it away.

“Just go away, Amanda.”

“But—”

“Look,” he sighed cutting me off. “I'm just tired. Jet lag's probably effecting me or something,” he added afterward.

I raised my eyebrows at him. “Jet lag?”

He nodded.

I crossed my arms over my chest, eying him. Even though I couldn't see his face, I could tell he was lying. “You don't even live that far away from here Danny.”

“I went somewhere beside my house.”

“Where?” I probed.

“Somewhere.”

“Danny,” I said dragging his name out.

“Amanda,” he copied, still hiding his face. How long can someone stare at the ground for!? There's nothing interesting about it. Just boring old tiles! They're not even colorful.

“Look,” I began, “Just tell me this.”

He didn't say anything. He simply lowered his head a bit, waiting for me to ask the question.

“Were you running away from me?” If he wasn't hiding anything, he wouldn't do that, right? Unless, he just doesn't want to talk to me . . .

“I was not,” he denied quickly.

“Yes you were.”

“No,” he said with a monotone voice.

“Yes!”

“No,” he answered quietly, his voice lacking emotion. “I was simply walking, and didn't hear you.” Didn't hear me? I was screaming so loudly, anyone within a sixty feet radius could hear me! Unless, you're hard of hearing, then yeah, you should have heard me.

“Then why did you tell me to go away when I reached you?”

“Because I wanted to be by myself. Nothing strange.”

“It is, for you.”

He shrugged his shoulders up. “I'm a strange person.”

“That doesn't explain the fact that you're still hiding your face from me.” Okay, so hiding your face doesn't exactly 'fit' into him possibly ignoring me, but I wanted to know, so I asked.

“I'm not hiding my face.”

“Then why are you staring at the ground?”

“My eyes hurt.”

I gave him, a 'what-the-hell' look, even though he wasn't looking at my face. “Your eyes hurt?”

“Yes.”

“How does staring at the ground help you with that?”

“It blocks out the sun.”

“We're inside,” I deadpanned.

“Still bright.”

“You're being weird,” I concluded. And he's never weird. Okay . . . so that's not true, but he's definitely acting more stranger than usual.

“Yes, and that's why I should go before my weirdness effects you.”

Covering the right side of his face with his hand, he started walking. As I watched him, I noticed something weird. And no it wasn't Danny. It was the way he was walking. He was sort of limping, and he really wasn't going too fast, like he was afraid to. Was he walking like this before?

“Danny—”

He stopped walking. “Don't.”

“But you don't even know what I was going to ask.”

“You noticed the way I was walking. Isn't that right?”

Damn. Is he like a mind-reader or something? “Yeah, how did you know?”

“You weren't talking, and I felt you staring.”

I blushed in embarrassment. “Sorry.”

“It's fine. Just please, don't,” he pleaded, sounding almost desperate.

“Okay, fine.” I wasn't going to ask, but I wasn't giving up on this. He's hurt, and I'm going to find out why.

“Thank you,” he said before he started limping away.

I stayed glued to the spot I was in, just watching him. I made sure he didn't fall over or hurt himself any further than he has. When he got to his room at the end of the hallway, I kept my eye on him until he was inside. After hearing the door slam, I ran back to get my bag off of the floor. When I saw the black bag laying there, I let out a breath of air. Thank God no one stole it. I wouldn't want to call home and explain to my parents, I lost a whole load of my stuff because I was chasing this guy through the dorms.

Swinging the bag over my shoulders, I tip-toed as quietly as I could through the hallways. When I got to his room, I held my breath. Reaching out for the knob, I twisted it, but groaned when it was locked. Of course, he would do that. Probably knew I was going to follow him.

Now what?

Maybe I should call Jeyleen. She might have a key . . . but I wasn't sure if she's back yet. The other option was texting John, and I wasn't going to do that. Ever since the day I saw him with that girl, he hasn't even spoke or look at me. It was like I was invisible to him. No matter how hard I tried, he wouldn't talk to me. He even stayed here during Thanksgiving break because he knew I was going to hang out with his sister back at home. How noble of him, isn't it?

So, I guess I have no choice but to break in. It's a good thing I was good at unlocking stuff. I did it all the time when I was in high school. Someone needed to pull off some good pranks right?

Licking my lips, I reached up, taking a pin out of my hair. As the curls in my hair loosen, I pulled the pin apart a bit, as I angled it towards the door's lock. Biting my lip in concentration, I went to work. As I pick at it, it look about thirty seconds, before I heard a click.

I smiled. Quicker than I thought.

Stuffing the used pin in my pocket, I turned the knob as softly as I could. As I opened the door a crack, making sure it didn't squeak, I peaked my head in seeing total darkness. Geez, he couldn't have turned on a light? What if he hurt himself in the dark!?

As my eyes adjusted to the lack of light, I scanned the room, trying to make out movements. When I didn't see any, I knew he wasn't in the main room. Leaving the door open, I walked inside, fishing out my phone as a light source. I didn't want to risk turning on the light, and letting Danny know I was here and be kicked out before I had a chance to find out what happened.

Looking around, I saw a faint glow of light coming from underneath a closed door located at least fifty feet or so away from me. As I listened in, I heard soft footsteps and rumbling noises.

Getting closer towards it, I saw that it wasn't shut all the way. Moving my feet against the rug, I made my way over to the wall, scooting my body to the right. Tilting my head, my eyes squinted to see Danny inside.

What I saw made me froze and gasp in shock. It wasn't the fact that he was shirt-less and standing before me; his six pack on full display. No, it was the marks he had all over his body. But, that wasn't what got me. It was the one lonely tear dripping down his cheek.