Amber was worried. Now that Craig knew, would he act different towards her? Would he tell people and make fun of her?

Amber hated not knowing what was going on. She hadn't known when Corey was diagnosed, and she felt that even though she was happy during that time, she shouldn't have been. How could she have been happy when her little brother was suffering?

Amber was so caught up in her emotions that she collided into Jimmy as he was heading to his next class. Things were still awkward between them, so Amber looked away. Without a word, Jimmy walked on by, ignoring Amber. She noticed that Jimmy didn't say hi to Craig, though he said hi to some other people that he wasn't as close to. What was going on?

Jimmy wondered what in the world was going on between Craig and himself. All he knew was that Craig had started it, and Jimmy wasn't going to be the first one to be a wimp and back down.

Terri was standing next to him, and they fell into easy conversation. It was funny how much easier it was to talk to Terri than to talk to Craig or Amber. She was a good listener, and she acted like she honestly cared.

As he chatted with Terri, he glanced over and watched as Craig sat down next to Amber. Their heads were close together as they talked. Were they conspiring against him? Jimmy knew that neither of them were on good terms with him. But no, Jimmy dismissed that thought and decided that they were just talking about their project.

Craig knew that he ought to patch things up with Jimmy or at least tell him why he was being frosty, but Craig had other pressing matters to tend to.

Now that Craig knew he was in love with Amber, he expected that when he walked into the classroom, Amber would leap into his arms or something. He didn't know why he thought that way; he just thought that since his feelings for Amber had changed, she would feel different, too.

But it seemed like she didn't. Or maybe she did, but not in the way Craig wanted. She seemed to withdraw more once Craig was around. This was bad.

"Amber, are you okay?" Craig softly asked.

She nodded, as she turned toward the blackboard, leaving her back to Craig.

Craig was sorely tempted to put his arms around her small body, but the way she was acting made him draw back.

"Come on, Amber. You can trust me. Is something wrong?"

"How do I know I can believe you?" Amber's voice was harsh to keep her from submitting and crying in Craig's arms. She wouldn't let Craig get an advantage and trick her into doing something she didn't want to do.

Craig winced. What had happened? He had thought there was a connection between them.

"Amber, you should know that you can trust me. I love you with all my heart."

There, he had said it. With people all around them, too.

Amber felt herself tremble as Craig murmured those words. He loved her?

But the question was, did she love him back? Amber paused and deliberated while Craig waited anxiously for a response.

Did Amber love Craig? Did she know what love was? Did she care about Craig enough to call it love? Weren't they a little young for love?

Amber wasn't sure yet if she loved Craig. She knew it would break Craig's heart, but she couldn't bring herself to lie to him. She had lied to him before about her mom being sick and her grandparents staying with them and stuff, but this was different.

She looked at Craig and gazed into his beautiful eyes. She looked down and softly said, "I'm not sure if I love you, Craig."

Craig fell back heavily into his chair, devastated. She didn't love him. Those four words echoed in his brain. She didn't love him.

He could feel tears spring up in his eyes. He blinked a couple of times to keep them back.

Amber knew she had hurt Craig terribly. She felt horrible because of it, but there was nothing that could be done now. There was no way to take back those words.