Polished [a 39 Clues fanfic]

Icy Crushes

Amy paced in her room. She wandered around, wanting to busy her hands but having nothing to bide time. She was already dressed for her outing with Hamilton. And she was fifteen minutes early.

She bit her nails. Should she have tried to apply makeup? No, that's a horrible idea. Should she have asked Nellie what to wear? An even worse idea, congrats Ames. Should she see if Hamilton's ready yet?

A flash of a toned torso numbed her thoughts.

Amy buried her face in her hands and groaned. Could she last the day without being reduced to a puddle of social awkwardness?

She sat down on the floor by her bed and tried to not think about the time. Instead, she focused on where Hamilton could possibly be taking her. She'd realized that she knew nothing about where they were going, and that'd made the wardrobe decisions impossible. She just hoped her jeans and cardigan were simple enough without looking frumpy.

Amy resorted to imagining the possibilities of the day, and that quickly amounted to flurries of images. Images of Hamilton laughing with her, hugging her, holding hands...

Useless. Anything and everything she did had her mind going back to him. It was a pointless struggle. She took a deep breath to alleviate the tension in her heart; it was beating furiously, and she waited for the grip on her chest to subside.

Thankfully, before she could sink herself further into the curiosity that was Hamilton, a knock on her door shook her out of her dreams.

A low voice followed, "Ames?"

She frantically got up off the floor and brushed off the dust.

"Yeah?" She called back, trying to sound nonchalant.

"I'm a couple minutes early, but are you ready?"

Amy opened the door, and took in Hamilton with a glance. A part of her slumped in relief; he wasn't dressed fancy, so she wasn't underdressed. He was wearing a knit sweater and jeans, but he glowed with an exuberance that made her excited.

His eyes trailed down and back up, and she watched nervously. He smiled down at her.

"That's more Amy," he commented.

"What?"

Hamilton gestured to her outfit. "You look more like Amy now." He flashed a toothy grin.

She looked down, walking out into the corridor as he stepped aside. Was that a good thing?

He must have caught her expression because he chuckled, "No worries, I think you look better like this."

Amy looked up at him as they walked side by side down the hallway. He smirked, challenging her to say something about her appearance. She looked away, feeling her chest clench again.

They walked quietly past the others' rooms and to the car parked outside the gate.

When they were seated in the car and Hamilton started the engine, Amy spoke up.

"I thought you would've liked me better dressed like yesterday."

Hamilton backed out of the driveway before answering, "You were hot yesterday, yeah, but I mean, that's not really you, is it?"

Amy let a smile spread. She glanced at Hamilton as he drove, and risked one last peek before he stopped for a red light. She unknowingly met his eyes, and was greeted by a sly smirk.

"Enjoying the view?"

Amy laughed. "Keep your eyes on the road, Romeo."

The rest of the ride was silent, but comfortably so.