After class, Jake was heading back for her room when Hamilton caught up with her,

"Jake, wait up!"

"Heya, what's up" She glanced sideways at him.

"So, about that tutoring… is it ok if I drop by later?" He requested.

"S-Sure, whenever you want!" She replied.

"Cool, um…I need to go now" He said, looking at her thankfully.

"Catch you later." She chipped in, softly.

Jake and Hamilton walked in opposite direction; both were mentally cursing under their breath with each step they were taking, and wanting to find someway to get out of that predicament.

Hamilton (thinking to himself):

'What's keeping me from breaking up our friendship? Granted, we took to one another at once and started it, but I haven't bargained for this to happen; nothing could be further from my mind.'

Jake (thinking to herself):

'What the heck? What were you expecting? How could you have such a mad idea? He doesn't like you; he wouldn't have asked, if it hadn't been only for guy's stuff, he thinks you're a guy for God's sakes. So stop daydreaming! Truly it was the last thing on my mind when first I got here, so much for that idea!'

Hamilton taped at the door and heard Jake calling from inside,

"It's open!" She called.

He walked into the room and closed it behind him; he pulled a chair up to the desk and sat right next to Jake who was already hacking some game site.

"Hey, ready to get your butt kicked?" She teased.

"Don't bet on it." He retorted, edging his chair nearer to Jake's one.

They remained outwardly calm, but both of them were feeling the incredible awkwardness and dizziness of the closeness to one another; which started to dwindle as they began playing the game about what seemed two hours. Hamilton forgot about what he was afraid of when he entered the room and Jake as much was greatly pleased to see that the wish she made was coming true; things were actually going along nicely and getting back to normality. Like nothing weird had happened.

Jake flipped her laptop shut, "Sorry, dude, no hard feelings, I won as usual." She turned to look at him; her lips had a shadow of a smile on them.

A little uncomfortable, Hamilton reluctantly jumped up from the chair and walked around with his eyes darting back and forth, trying to focus on something and arguing to no purpose. He cursed his lips and announced, "Ok, ok no arguing here; I admit defeat. You're da man" attempting to put on a show of indifference.

Jake rolled her eyes and heaved her self out of her desk chair, strolling back to her bed with her laptop in her hands. She opened it as she flopped down on her bed.

"Before anything else, I would like to thank you" She said primly, feeling a pang of regret for that kiss on the rooftop for about the thousand times.

"For what?" He asked, keeping a wary eye on her.

Jake did not want to make eye contact with him as she responded smoothly "For the party night…you know what happened, I don't know why the hell I've drunk that much…It's just that, it never happened to me before".

That was the last straw for Hamilton to start getting all tensed up again and panicky with the feelings he was trying to push aside ever since the second he stepped in the room.

"Oh, yeah, well…Any time", he said as calmly as possible, then hastily went on "I, uh look, I gotta be going, see ya when I see ya" he swiftly rushed out of her room, not letting her even reply.

Jake looked up at the door slumming shut "when I see ya," she whispered.

Hamilton stared at the clock set on his bedside table only to find it: 4:45. He had lain awake, tossing and turning in his bed all night. He could not get to sleep, he was deep in contemplation, 'Why do I have to find myself in such never-ending screwed up situation…and it's only with him!'

Hamilton just could not stop thinking about Jake; the strange thing was that he was not attracted to any other guys, only Jake, which complicated the things further. He was not, could not be gay, could he! That whole thing was driving him nuts.

'Why is Jake doing this to me? There is something in the way he looks and smiles at me. The way he acts around me. The way he walks and the most the way he makes me feel for him. What is all that about?' he had to do something about that, "Screw this!" He screamed in an overwhelming sense of frustration, banging his fist on his pillow, then propped his head in his hands, 'No' he thought 'I'll prove it I'm not gay 'the cotillion was coming up, he was determined to find a girl to himself, whom he could go with.

How dare Jake confuse him like that? He was gonna show Jake and others he was not gay; that he was a straight and normal American teenage guy.

'It only remains for me to find a girl to go with to the cotillion…' Then an idea flitted into his mind 'I'll just have to ask Lena, I reckon she's not gonna refuse' he mused. He got up and strode up and down his room before he stood at the window to look out at the sun rising.

Jake spotted Hamilton with a fiery red-haired girl from afar. She crossed the length of the quad, walking over to them. The nearer she was getting to them, the clearer she could hear what they were discussing; this made her heart go faster. Hamilton noticed her coming over to them. Just then, he abruptly started fidgeting, unsure about Jake's reaction.

"Hey Jake!" he greeted, smiling reflexively.

"Hey" she replied, a small smile touching her lips.

Trying in vain to contain the obvious disappointment in her tone, she tore her eyes away of him to look at Lena "Hey."

"How is it going?" Lena said, grinning.

"Great, just great" She replied as she averted her gaze back to Hamilton.

"Perfect. So I'll call you later," Lena told Hamilton, wandering off delightfully.

"Oh, k" Hamilton responded, studiously avoiding Jake's eyes.

"Found a date to the cotillion, huh?" she asked with a hurt voice, glancing down.

"Yeah well she was going alone" he attempted to explain, breaking her hopes in pieces. "So, you decide to ask anyone?"

Jake looked up at him "No, think I'm gonna skip it." She told him, her smile tinged with sadness.

"Oh" He glanced at her covertly, hoping to sound as offhand as he was trying to.

"Besides the only person I had my eye on is going with someone else…,"she said, lightly.

Hamilton stared at her uncomfortably. He was wondering if Jake was talking about him or about someone else. He did not want to think that Jake was talking about him, but at the same time there was that part in him that made him half a mind to wish briefly so, he was extremely acquisitive and curious to know.

He could feel his cheek starting to redden "Well," he said with a faint smile, holding up his history book as Jake lifted her eyes to meet his.

"I'm …history." With a guilty look, he wandered off, yet not sure of what exactly the thing was that he was feeling guilty about.

Biting her lower lip, Jake watched his retreating back grow smaller across the quad. She walked slowly all the way back to the dorms at one; she entered her room, closed the door carefully and fell on her bed crying softly. She hated crying. But she cracked up. It was not fair; she was falling in love with a guy who just didn't seem to have the slightest idea of all that she was feeling for him. She wanted to go with him, albeit not like his date, although she was hoping so, but at least they would go together.

"He thinks you're a guy, for God's sake! I should have known he was going to find a date." She berated herself, shedding bitter tears over the great pain she was feeling.

At any rate, Jake was clearly not going to give up; she was seriously thinking about telling Hamilton the truth about her. She could not stand lying to him so much, and could not help but dreaded his reaction; her secret was about to come out even though she were not ready.

'No ifs and buts, I'm going, I can't do this anymore,' she taught to herself 'I'll tell him, either he likes me or not, I'll know for sure.' She resolved. "I'll just have to see, won't I?"