(Hey everyone! Well the decorating in my house isn't completely over but my dad set up the wirelss connection for me so I could send this chapter to you all! Isn't he sweet? The song in this chapter is called 'It Could be You' by an artist called Alexis Strum. I have the music video for this and it is in fact the only song of hers I've heard! It is fab so I hope you enjoy. Thanks for all the wonderful reviews and now I've had over 3000 hits! TKAMB aka Becky)

Chapter 9:

Amy sat reading in her hospital bed as a familiar person appeared in her doorway. She was wearing a pair of jogger bottoms with a matching jacket and a vest top underneath with her fluffy pink slippers. She had the hospital radio station on in the background which was currently playing a pop song

"So you have missed a few days at school to do that? Although I do approve of the fluffy slippers, they alone make up for it!" she instantly closed her book and turned to the door

"Jack what are you doing here?" she asked and he smiled as he entered the room. She noticed he was carrying his school bag as well as the time realising he was missing basketball practice after school to see her

"Well Miss. Darbuss came to see me today about a certain person becoming a tutor of mine and so I thought I would come here to keep my tutor occupied. I told your dad how you are my tutor so he didn't mind me missing practice giving that it was you. Besides, Miss. Darbuss said that if I didn't show any work I had done under your aid the next time I see her she will not be impressed" he sat on a nearby chair and she nodded. "I brought some muffins for you, chocolate of course which I'm not sure if you can have so they are there if you want them!" he explained and put a bag on her bedside table along with his school bag on the floor. "So how are you feeling? Your siblings and parents were really worried when you went faint, so was I. What did your doctors say" he explained and she lowered her head

"Charlie told you, I was exhausted" Amy responded trying to sound relaxed but he didn't believe it

"What did they really say?" he asked causing her to look up at him and he saw tears in her eyes

"Look um ... this really isn't a good time" she explained and his eyebrows fused

"Amy you can tell me anything, we are friends after all. How are we supposed to work together if you keep yourself in the dark" he said and placed his hands over her right hand.

"Jack I'm sick" she said softly and he nodded

"In what way?" he asked and she moved her hands making him move his hands back and place them on his lap. She slowly took off her jogger jacket as a tear fell. She turned so her back was to him and lifted up the back of her shirt. He couldn't help look at her back in shock and his mouth fell open at the sight. Running along her shoulders, down her spine, then making a 'y' formation along the bottom of her ribcage was a long scar.

"I would show you the front but I rather wouldn't if it's all the same to you. It is the same on the font as well but my chest is pretty bad in comparison" she explain lowering her shirt then turning back to him

"What happened to you?" he asked softly sitting up on the bed next to her

"Do you remember when I said my secret was that I existed?" she asked and he nodded. "I was being serious. What can I say? I'm a triplet; my brother is the most popular guy in our year as well as captain of the basketball team. My sister is the most popular girl as well as head cheerleader, my dad is the school coach, my mum is a science teacher. We are just all intergraded in this school which is suffocating, whilst I'm ... different in more ways than one" she went silent for a moment

"Tell me" he said softly as she dried her cheeks with her hand. She brought her knees up to her chest wrapping her arms around her knees which always made her feel a little more comfortable.

"When I and my siblings were born we arrived a few weeks early. My mum had to have a caesarean. I was the last to arrive and I was also the smallest. Because of that I was only 4lbs 5oz so for three months I survived in a hospital incubator. My lungs and heart weren't fully developed because of it so I was instantly placed on a transplant list. When I was six months old a set of lungs and a heart came through which is currently in my body" She began to sob and he passed her a nearby box of tissues. She took off her glasses, placing them on her bedside table and began to dry her eyes.

"Are you ok to carry on because if not you can stop" he explained and she shook her head

"No I have to tell someone ... I have to tell you" she explained and coughed to clear her throat. "I can't do physical education classes so that is why I have so many fee lessons. I get tired rather easily and if I push myself too far, which to a healthy person is hardly anything I get very weak and faint. It's been a long time since I last fainted which is why my family reacted the way they did. No one knows except us, and now you" she explained looking up at him

"Why didn't you tell anyone? Why me?"

"Because you're the only one who can see me. You are the first person I've met who I can trust to tell my secret. I've had to live everyday in the knowledge that it could be my last and no one even notices I'm alive in the first place at school! I sometimes wonder what is the point of me being around and then you arrive ... I've been put back on the transplant list... I'm trapped, I feel like screaming at the top of my lungs but I don't have the energy and the one guy that I can share this with is the one guy that I can't even hang around with in front of people! I'm told what pills to take, what I can and can't eat, what I can and can't do! I don't know what to do anymore ... I'm trapped" she explained through tears and he pulled her into a soft hug with her head raising on his shoulder. He ran his hand softly up and down her back as she cried. After a few moments her tears lessoned and he bagan to talk to her again

"I wish I knew about this sooner" he said and she raised her head

"I knew it! You don't want anything to do with me" she said sitting back on the bed

"No! I wish I knew sooner so you wouldn't have to go through these emotions on your own. I guess you don't know your friends until you see them in the lowest points of their lives"

"I guess, but it would help if I knew something about you! I don't know about your family, your upbringing, I don't even know where you live!" she said making him smile softly

"I'm an only child, my mother is named Monique, my father is named Steven. My mother is an architect and my father is a lawyer. I live a few roads down from you at 22 Wesbert Avenue. I guess I'm destined to be a basketball player as everyone thinks I will but I'm not sure if I want that. I love drama espically theatre plays like 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof', or 'A Street Car Named Desire'. The writing in those plays is amazing"

"A Tennesse Williams fan?" she asked and he nodded

"I'll say it loud and say it proud!" he said making her laugh. "Now that has to be my favourite noise at the minute. Anyway I guess in the future I'd like to do my own writing, or be an actor. I was really good in the plays I had to do at my boarding school in New York. I was born and gew up in New York and now I live here. That is my life!"

"Why did you transfer to East High?" Amy asked and he shrugged

"Well we moved to New Mexico because of my dad getting a new job. I checked out all the schools in the area but there was something about East High that felt good. All the other schools were harsh in comparrison. I still feel a little lost sometimes at East High. I hate how everything there is one way or the other. It is either black or white. Why can't things be grey?"

"A basketball star with depth! There is something you don't see eveyday! There is a playwrite within you" he smiled softly. "Seriously though Jack, do you sing at all?" he looked and her confused

"Yeah I do although the only time I've admitted it was when I had to be in a school musical last year. I was the lead in Beauty and the Beast, had to miss a lot of basketball practice for that which my coach didn't like but if I didn't take the role I didn't get the credits I needed. Why?"

"I've had an idea about our end of year project. I was thinking we could first create a video of exisiting features on TV and film surrounding Romeo and Juliet. We could add audio quotes and images to represnt aspects of the story. Then we could write a song to give our own interpritation in our form of media just like Miss. Darbuss said. What do you think?"

"I think it sounds great" he said and she smiled

"Really?" she asked with her eyes sparkling with excitement which he adored

"Would I lie to you?" he asked and she instantly hugged him

"Thank you fo everything, including the muffins" she siad and he smiled as they parted

"Can I ask you something?" he asked and she nodded. "Now this is the second time that I have provided muffins for you. Now the first time I did that you said it didn't constitute as a first date. Now I've done it again with this time our conversation being a lot deeper then the last. Therefore I must know does this consitute as a first date?" she surpressed a smile by biting her lip as he raised an eyebrow in a carasmatic manner

"Well normally I would say possibly yes but I spent the whole time crying like a baby thus I looked terrible"

"You never could look terrible, you're beautiful inside and out" She smiled softly and realised how close he was to kissing her again

"Jack I'm kind of tired I think I'm going to get some sleep. Besides my family will be here soon and I don't think the popular kids are going to enjoy hearing you were with me" he nodded and stood up

"I understand, I have to go anyway. I told my mum and dad I'd get some stuf for dinner on my way home. Here" he siad and began to scribble down something on a piece of paper. "Here is my mobile number, if you need anything and I'm not around use it ok?" he asked handing it to her and she nodded

"Thanks, I really appriciate this. I'm going back home tomorrow and I'll be in school the middle of next week. Come see me at my house whenever you need help eith Shakespeare. Believe me just because I'm sick I'll still make you do work!" she replied and he smiled softly before leaving the room. As he left the building Amy watched him from the video and softly began to sing.

AMY:

Could I borrow your oxygen?
I want to breathe what you breathe
Could I borrow your eyes then?
I want to see what you see
Could I borrow your mind?
I wanna know what you conceal
Could I borrow your heart?
I wanna know what you feel

'Cause in my dreams I see a face
Full of love and full of grace
I wake up without a clue
Something tells me
It could be you
Something tells me
It could be you

As he begsn to walk home Jack began to think about Amy. Suddenly he felt a tune come to his lips and he bagan to sing

JACK:
Could I touch you now baby
Where you've never been touched before?
Could I surrender to you babe?
I can't fight it no more
If I tell you my story
Would it be safe in your hands?
Could you do something for me
Just try and understand?

'Cause in my dreams I see a face
Full of love and full of grace
I wake up without a clue
Something tells me
It could be you
Something tells me
It could be you

BOTH:
The way I feel when you are near
The way I smile when you appear
The way your voice speaks to me inside
I cannot hide

'Cause in my dreams I see a face
And the kiss I almost taste
I wake up out of the blue
Something tells me
It could be you
Something tells me
It could be you

Jack continued to walk home and heard his phone text message ring tone go off. He opened the message and smiled softly. "I promise next time I'll provide the muffins. They taste great. Thank you for listening". He bit his lip and continued to walk home