AN: Hey everyone, welcome to Chapter 3! The song this time around is "Lyric Pieces Op.71: 3. Puck" by Edvard Grieg. Enjoy!

No. 3: Amy – Puck

Amy studied the beige ceiling from the bed in her dorm room. Gina was sleep-mumbling in the dark and it kept Amy up. That wasn't strictly true. Amy's insomnia had a lot more to do with the mystery piano boy than anything else. Yes, piano boy. She had broken her one rule and peeked at him earlier that night. The music was just so sad that she felt the need to write him a message and to well, check-in. She didn't get a good look though. The tiny window on the door only provided her with a look at his arm, which was certainly male. She remembered how gracefully and decidedly the hand moved…

The song the hands played was so different from the night before that she wondered if it was the same person playing. After a minute or two of listening, however, she was convinced it was her piano boy. The songs he played reminded her of snow falling and crying softly, full of a sweet melancholy only music could really convey. Her heart ached. She had no proof, but she knew that the hands playing were not detached from the song's message. He, whoever he was, was playing what he felt and it broke her heart to know someone had to feel like that.

She sat down on the ground with her back against the hallway wall, closing her eyes, and drinking in the music. She saw every color, every lonely landscape, and every brittle bone in the world. How could this song make her see such thoughts? She felt the anxiety melt away from her slowly, and she bathed in the melody.

She thought to herself "what would I do without this?" and felt a spark of fear in her sternum. She quickly dived into her backpack (she brought it in case he wasn't there so she could hit the library and get some studying in) and pulled out a piece of lined paper and a sharpie. She thought carefully of what to write. If she had it her way, she'd write him an essay with cited sources, but she needed to keep it short, simple, and blunt. What did she want to convey?

Then it hit her. It was everything she wanted him to know and hoped it would make him feel even the slightest bit of happiness. She slid the paper under the door and grabbed all of her things to leave, but not before taking another look at the one arm playing through the glass. She felt her heart skip a beat and then dashed out of the building, back to her dorm.

Now, she was in her dorm and all she could think about was that arm and its form. She dissected the image in her mind continuously. He was wearing a navy blue cotton jacket, as far as she could tell, and his arm was lean, but not exactly toned. She remembered the hand: strong, dexterous, and gentle. She mused that the piano player was probably very handsome. Under the covers, she quietly groaned.

"Handsome? Handsome? What the hell am I thinking?" she thought. It was ridiculous. Why was she getting so worked up over a freaking arm? For all she knew, this guy could be a total tool. He could be the biggest jerk she'd ever met and yet, she couldn't believe that to be true. Whoever he was, she knew he was filled with goodness.

She tossed and turned in her bed, hoping for sleep, but she was terribly awake. She knew thoughts of the piano player stopped her from sleep, but so were the anxious feelings that accompanied the knowledge that she couldn't fall asleep because she was thinking of a boy.

"Ugh!" she thought, and turned over one more time.

Amy was relieved that the next couple of weeks passed by without incident. She had finally gotten into the rhythm of university life. She knew where all of her classes were and arrived fifteen minutes early to each one. Every teacher had fallen under her goody-two-shoes spell (except for Wuntch, but Wuntch didn't like anyone) and she started to feel a little more confident that she would enjoy college.

She had to give credit to Jake, though. He had made good with his promise and introduced him to his friends.

"Hey guys, this is Amy" Jake said as he sat down at a large round table with Amy by his side, her face in an awkward smile.

"Hey" she said, also sitting. The group echoed back "hellos" and Amy noticed she knew most of them already. One was a girl named Rosa, who previously wouldn't let her take a shower in her time of need, then there was Charles, who she met in her art class, and then, unfortunately, there was Gina.

"Jake! Why is my nerdy roommate sitting with us? I will not have my reputation tarnished by a poorly dressed book jockey" Gina said in protest.

"Whoa, Gina calm down. She's cool. Right, Ames?" Jake said, giving her a firm pat on the back.

"Yeah, totally. Cooler than the polar ice caps…which y'know, are melting due to the increasing climate change, but they're still pretty cool…like me" she said, wincing at her own horrible speech. The group stared at her.

Despite her dismal first meeting with them, she actually started to make friends with the small group. Rosa would always sit with her at meals, albeit she rarely spoke a word and when she did it was scary, but still, she sat with her. Amy and Charles would study for their art class together, making both their test scores raise. Gina, well Gina was Gina, but she seemed less inclined to make biting comments at Amy after a while. Jake also introduced her to his RA Terry, who was really nice, but also really huge and muscular. He would always come up to her and ask her how she was.

The problem now, was Jake himself. As he got to know Amy better, the more he made fun of her for being so tightly wound. Amy knew it wasn't malicious, but it infuriated her all the same. His teasing sometimes revealed her competitive, proud nature.

"You guys going to Mark's party?" Jake asked one night at dinner.

"Yeah" Rosa replied before taking a spoonful of her "Korean Bowl", whatever that was.

"It's not a party unless Gina Linetti is in attendance" she said as she continued to type away on her phone.

"Mark has the best parties. It's in a big old house he inherited from his great-grandma. It was her last, dying wish that he raised his children in that house. It's kinda messed up he has ragers there, but he has a bubble machine! Terry loves bubbles" Terry said.

"Awesome!" Jake said and then turned on Amy, "What about you, Hermione? Are you going or are you gonna study for your potions final?"

"Statistics, actually. Plus, parties are a waste of time. Everyone just gets super drunk and weird and then they smash things" Amy said.

"Aww come on, what if I only smash one thing?" Jake asked.

"No"

"You ever even been to a party, Santiago?" Rosa asked.

"Yes, of course I have" Amy said.

"Mmm, when?" Gina asked.

"L-lots of times, my parents just had a big one with all my family"

"That's not a party, it's a reunion" Rosa said.

"Oh my god, Amy you're going" Jake said rolling his eyes.

"But I have to study for statistics" Amy protested and the group groaned.

"It's Friday" Charles said.

"Well, yeah, but there's a 5.6% chance that there will be a pop quiz on Monday" she said and the group stared at her.

"Ah, forget it guys, Amy wouldn't know how to have fun even if we gave her a textbook on it" Jake said.

"If there was a textbook on it, I would know how to do it" Amy snapped. Jake looked at her and scrunched up his face in amusement.

"Naw, I think Amy Santiago is incapable of having a good time"

"I can so!"

"Prove it"

"Fine, I will. I'll go to your dumb party" Amy said, her blood boiling.

"Great. We need a DD!" Jake said, as he started gathering his plates.

"Wait, you just want me to be the designated driver?" Amy asked.

"No, Amy, we just actually want to be in your company" Gina said sarcastically as she left.

"Don't listen to Gina. Yes, we want you to come, but we also would really appreciate you being DD" Jake said, flashing an innocent smile.

"Yeah, come" Rosa said and the sentiment won Amy over.

"Okay, but I don't have anything to wear"

"I'll talk to Gina, she'll let you borrow something" Rosa continued.

"See? It's gonna be fun, Amy. Fun" Jake said, his eyes bright and optimistic.

It was most certainly not fun. Gina had jumped at the chance to get Amy out of her normal, casual clothes and put some make-up on her that wasn't just some un-even eyeliner. Gina put her in a strapless red number that didn't cover enough of her legs or her chest. Begrudgingly, Amy admitted she looked nice, but she still felt unlike herself. This feeling only escalated when the two of them met Rosa and Jake at her car. Jake looked slightly confused and didn't even make fun of her about it. Amy assumed he thought she looked weird, but didn't want to be too mean. Rosa just nodded her head in approval.

The party itself was just as uncomfortable as she speculated. Everyone was super drunk, weird, and-

"WE BELONG TO OUR BELONGINGS" said a frat boy who destroyed a vase on the floor with a pool cue.

-and yup, smashing things.

"Ugh, god" Amy said at the entrance of the large and nicely furnished house.

"Come on! This is great" Jake yelled at her before a buddy waved to him and he snuck off into the crowd. She watched Jake until he was out of sight and then looked around to see that the rest of her party had dispersed into the crowd as well.

What the hell was she supposed to do now? She sighed and made her way to the kitchen to get some water. She couldn't help but notice that a few gross frat guys were examining her like a piece of meat and that didn't make her feel better. She grabbed a red solo cup from the kitchen and got some water from the sink. She headed into the living room where students were dancing to loud hip hop music and bubbles floated around them.

As she made her way through the dance floor a couple of guys tried to dance up on her, but she quickly scurried away to a less crazy portion of the house. She leaned against a wall and took a deep breath. Rosa was right. This was not like her family's parties. She took a drink of water and began to people watch.

She looked at the dance floor, bodies on bodies moving to the rhythmic beat and basically gyrating on top of each other. She saw couples making out in almost every corner. It all made her feel terribly alone. She didn't belong here. She belonged in the library, she belonged in her room studying, she belonged in the second floor hallway of the music conservatory, but she didn't belong at this big, crazy party.

Amy was so distracted by her own thoughts that she didn't notice the huge frat boy hanging over her until he put his forearm on the wall directly above her head. She let out a little squeak as he got closer, stinking of beer.

"Hey, couldn't help but notice you were all by yourself over here. Wanna spend some time with me, beautiful?" he asked, his other hand trailing her bare arm and she felt her arm burn in repulsion.

"Oh, no I'm fine, thank you" she said in a small voice.

"Come on, I can be real fun. I can make you feel real good" he said, a sleazy smile creeping on his square face and Amy suddenly felt very unsafe.

"No, no I'm sorry. I have a boyfriend" she said, hoping this would make him back off.

"He doesn't have to know" he said as his hand slid to her hip. She immediately pushed his hand off.

"He's here right now so…" she trailed off, but she could tell her little push had made him angry.

"If he's here right now, why isn't he with you? Doesn't seem like a very good boyfriend to me" he said, advancing on her once again. This time she was too fast and she dodged him. She made her way into the crowd, but when she looked back he was following her. She needed to find one of her friends.

After some maneuvering, Amy found Jake near the kitchen saying goodbye to a friend. She quickly grabbed his arm and he looked at her in surprised confusion.

"Jake, Jake! Please pretend to be my boyfriend. There's this really creepy guy and-" Amy was cut off by Jake suddenly looking up and past her. Amy turned around and saw her stalker in front of her as panic rose in her throat. She felt a warm hand wrap around her waist and pull her in. She looked over at Jake who was smiling, looking at the frat boy.

"Hey babe, is this a friend of yours?" he asked, taking a swig of his beer.

"Oh, um…"she said.

"Wait, you're her boyfriend?" the frat boy asked.

"Oh no, he doesn't believe us" Amy thought. Jake just shrugged the comment off.

"That hard to believe?" Jake asked.

"Yeah, it is" he said crossing his arms. Amy realized how drunk this guy was.

"Shit! This guy might just pick a fight with Jake" she thought. Amy saw the frat boy take a step towards them and felt herself get whipped around. In a flash, Amy felt plush lips on hers and hands on her back. She reacted quickly and wrapped her arms around Jake's neck while closing her eyes. She matched the motion of his lips and even popped her leg out a little for effect.

It wasn't until Jake released her, his eyes full of…something she couldn't quite pin down, that she realized the frat boy had completely disappeared.

"Oh" was the only thing she could think of to say. Amy felt the places Jake touched her burn, but in a completely different way than the frat boy had burned her. That had been all terror and constricted wind-pipes, while Jake was all goosebumps and quickening pulses. Amy ventured another look at Jake and his brown eyes. She found a smile there and heard his soft laughter.

"Well," he said, shaking his head, "I guess that's one way to make a creep disappear"

AN: Finally, chapter three! Oy vey, what can I say? I'm a sucker for fake-out make-outs and the story needed some spice. Oh well, hope you like. There's lots more in store.

I think the "we belong to our belongings" is a Fight Club reference. I don't know anymore.

So I just got a job as a camp counselor this summer (which is hilarious because I just finished "Camp Safe and Amusing") and I start June 6th. I'm gonna try my best to finish this fic before then, but if not…um, well this fic will be on a long hiatus. I'll probably finish it though.

Thanks so much again for all your reviews, favorites, and love! They mean the world to me so thank you 3