Would You? (Sequel to I Would)

Chapter 13

~Amanda's P.O.V~

"Wait, so the monkey was walking around the dorm rooms for almost a week, and no one noticed?" I asked, trying to hold in my laughter as I spoke.

"Oh, the other students definitely noticed, but they stayed quiet about it. One time a teacher was walking through the halls, supervising, and the monkey was hanging right over his head. Its tail brushed across his head and he ran across the hall screaming, 'Ghost! Ghost!'" Jace replied.

I toppled over in another fit of laughter, causing me to almost spill my coffee all over the place. Jace had been here for about an hour, and we've just been talking. It was nice. At the moment, he was telling me about the time his boarding school buddies smuggled a monkey from the zoo when they went on a field trip. I don't remember the last time I've laughed this hard.

Jace smiled. "Anyway, what's been going on with you? Anything interesting going on in your life?" he asked.

I stopped laughing abruptly. A frown replaced the smile that was on my face just seconds ago. There was a small pause before I answered.

"Um, not much. Life's been pretty boring lately" I lied. Though in some ways it was true. I was bored.The frown stayed on my face, and I didn't look directly at Jace as I spoke.

I guess he sensed that something was wrong, so he said, "Hey, are you okay?"

I wanted to tell him that no, I wasn't okay, and just blurt out everything that was going on. I knew I couldn't, though, so I just nodded my head and forced a smile in his direction. "Yeah, just, um, going through a little bit of a rough time. But I'm fine. I'll be fine" I said.

"Are you sure? I didn't wanna say anything, but you, um, you look-"

"Like crap?" I finished the sentence for him. "Yeah, I know"

"I wasn't going to say 'crap', I was going to say that you looked kind of sick. Have you been sleeping?" he asked.

"Yeah" I answered. It was somewhat true.

"What about eating?" he asked, genuine concern in his voice. It almost made me smile.

"A little" I answered truthfully. No point in lying about it. It was pretty evident that I haven't been eating much.

"Well, we can't have that! You, missy, need your nutrients. Say, why don't I take you out to dinner? I mean, not like a date or anything, but I just want to make sure that you eat and-"

"No!" I quickly cut him off. I flinched when I saw that the hurt look on his face. "Sorry. It's not that I don't want to, but going outside isn't a good idea for me" I said.

"Why not?" Jace asked, confusion evident in his face.

"Um, let's just say that if I go outside, I might get into some trouble. Please don't ask me about it. It's nothing you have to worry about."

Another look of confusion found its way to his face. "Uh, alright. We don't have to go out. You can come over to my flat. I don't like to brag, but I'm a pretty good cook" he said with a smirk.

I thought about it. There's no way my dad would see me just by going next door, right? I didn't see any problem with it, and to be honest, I didn't mind spending a little more time with Jace. He was nice, and I was tired of being by myself. Plus, I'm a terrible cook, and I was looking forward to having some good food.

I smiled at Jace. "Sure, why not? I'll be there at seven" I said.

I saw his face light up as he smiled. "Great!"

We finished our coffee and chatted for a little while longer. Jace left a little before noon, telling me to eat something at lunch. I appreciated his concern.