Sorry the last chapter was kind of short. I'm super duper loving the reviews! You guys are so encouraging :) On with the show:

Mr. Meryton droned on at the front of the class, writing on the eraseboard. Jerome could see students pinching themselves in order to stay alert. Frankly, no one cared about L'Hopital's Rule. No one except Mara that is. Her curly hair fell into her face as she scribbled down notes in her blue math journal. No. Don't get distracted from your original purpose. He thought, mentally slapping himself.

He picked up the slip of paper on his desk. Carefully timing it, he slid the note onto Amber's desk beside his. She glanced down and opened it surreptitiously. Meet me at the Library during Lunch.

Amber was confused. She wasn't sure if she should meet Jerome. I mean, what could he have to discuss with her? It was bound to cause talk. Then again, not many people hang out in the Library. THEN AGAIN, not many people hang out in the Library. He could murder her in the cold blood and the sleepy old librarian probably wouldn't even care, except to try to shush her screams. That would be just her luck. Then again, what could he have to discuss with her? Curiosity won out over terror.

The bell rang, and Amber decided to give the gang a fib about needing to spend lunch studying for the French test next class. Sigh. She also decided that she was getting way too good at lying.

No one was visible as Amber walked slowly into the musty, antique library. She tread carefully, Amber always felt an odd urge to be quiet about everything she did in a library. She tiptoed past the tidy rows of print, taking a short cut through Fiction: Olm - Sha to the little nook she knew was in the back. She set her stuff down on the burnished wood table.

As Amber sat in the old fashioned chair, she began to think Jerome wasn't coming. Irritated, she got up to leave. Just as she was gathering her things, she felt a light tap on her shoulder. "Eeeppp!" Amber nearly jumped out of her skin. She whirled around, textbook held up to use as a weapon.
Jerome stood there, hand over his mouth. Amber noticed a odd, muffled sound coming from him. "Jerome Clarke! Are you laughing at me?"

"No." He tried to school features into a straight face.

"You were!" She gave him a light shove.
"I can't help it, you looked liked you were about to commit a murder in a school library." And she'd been worried about Jerome murdering HER.

"It would have been self-defense!" Amber protested.

"Oh, I can see you've thought this out before." He chuckled, running his hands through his hair. "Luring the innocent person who ticked you off into a secluded location to bludgeon them with a maths textbook."

"Luring?" She replied skeptically. "You're the one that wanted to meet me."

"Right." He straightened up and his face became more serious. Here is comes. Amber thought, bracing herself for something. She didn't know what, but something awful.

Jerome walked (very quietly, she noticed. But maybe that was just how he walked) over to a non-descript shelf. He motioned for her to follow him and, suprisingly even to herself, she followed.

Jerome pulled a book out from amongst the many and handed it to Amber. The Art of War by Sun Tzu was the title. She looked down at the book, and then back up at him with a questioning gaze. "I know what it's like to have a side no one knows about." He whispered. That's all he said, then just walked away.

Eeepppp! I do love that ending! I know it took me a while to update, but things have been a little busy :) Thanks a bazillion for reading! "But He said to me: 'My grace is suffcient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.' Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more in my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may reside in me. 2 Corinthians 12:9