It's a Secret!

There stood Ashley surrounded by her friends, physically with them, emotionally still with Sam and mentally lost in her little world, overthinking about what had just happened. "What if Sam takes our five-minute conversation as a random chat and nothing more? Will he be here again, tomorrow? What if I never see him again? I should have spoken to him a little longer. I should have invited him for some cake? No, absolutely not, I barely know the guy, he barely knows me. Wouldn't want to come off as desperate." She thought to herself.

While the rest of the girls were busy enjoying the delicious chocolate fudge birthday cake, Ashley was busy, fighting with her thoughts about what she should do. "Ash, come on have some cake before we run all out of it! It is delicious!" called out Natalie. "Yeah I will be right there," responded Ashley.

She picked up the smallest piece of the chocolate fudge cake there was. Just half an hour left for the college buses to leave to drop the kids back to their homes. She knew if she would see Samuel one last time, he would know for sure that, her meeting him was not a random coincidence and may hint him to something deeper to what she was feeling about him.

"You alright? You seem a little off." Ashley was interrupted by Anna as she took a bite of her piece of cake.

Ashley had known Anna from her high school days. From the time the two had volunteered together in a charity program. The two weren't close back then and had only recently become good friends when they started college together. Anna was around 5'2 tall, had cinnamon brown hair with a delicate figure and a round chubby face with a bubbly personality, always trying to have a good time wherever she went, always trying to be there for all her friends, and since Ashley had known Anna the longest she knew she could trust her with her little secret.

"Anna, I need to talk to you," said Ashley, grabbing Anna by the arm, pulling her to aside. "But you can't tell anyone, okay?"

"Yeah yeah, of course! I promise, what's up?" asked Anna in a worrisome manner.

"Okay...Look there's this guy who I kinda sorta like," Ashley said whispering to her friend.

"WHAAAAAAT?! YOU LIKE A GUY???" Anna screamed out in excitement as Ashley covered her mouth with her hands, laughing at her friend's elation as she did so.

"Shhhhh!!! It is a secret, okay? So, would you please calm down a little before we start catching people's attention?" Ashley warned her friend.

"Okay okay, my lips are sealed!! At least show me his picture or something?" pleaded Anna.

"Stupid, it is that guy I was just talking to near the library door, did you see him? " asked Ashley as she giggled at her friend, turning pink as she confessed her feelings for him.

"Ohhhh! Oh man, I didn't even take a nice look at him, I thought he was just a random friend of yours. Why didn't you introduce him to us?" said Anna

"Introduce you guys to him?! This is the first time I have spoken to him in my entire life."

"But how do you know him then? Please tell me, you got his name?" asked Anna

"Yes yes, his name's Samuel. He is a friend of my friend so I sorta know him a bit through her.

"Oh, but where did he go? To the library?"

"Yes and the thing is, I wanna see him one last time before we have to leave for home. I did talk to him right now, but I want him to see me again so he gets a hint that maybe I like him...So, at least I have him wondering about me." explained Ashley.

"Ashhh, that's so sweet!! What are we waiting for? Let's go find this boy of yours!" said Anna enthusiastically.

"But how are we gonna go? Like what are gonna tell the others?" questioned Ashley, worried if she would get to see Sam before she left.

"Hmm, we don't have to tell them anything. We will just tell them, we wanna check out the library? Plus they're so busy enjoying themselves, I don't think they will suspect a thing. Just follow my lead!" assured Anna.

"You guys, we will be right back in ten minutes! Just need to check something from the library. Will meet you guys at the cafeteria, okay?" Anna vaguely told the rest of the girls as she pulled Ashley's arm, to accompany her.

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The library was a two-story building with the reading library was on the first floor and the digital library on the second. As they entered the only thing audible inside the reading library was the ticking of the wall clock and Ashley's beating heart pounding like a drum. With several cabins built inside, Ashley and Anna peeked inside each one, eager in search of the boy who had bewitched Ashley's heart under the spell of his dazzling brown eyes and gentle nature.

"Fifteen minutes until the bus arrives and we will have to leave," Ashley looked at her wristwatch. "Where is he?" She wondered to herself until her eyes finally landed on his fine face buried in his physiology book, sitting there like an angel sent from above especially for her. "I am so doomed and you are so cute." she thought to herself.