"So…," Amber began while in bed later that night. She was on her side, facing her roommate's bed, unsure of how to start the conversation. Finally, after a couple of seconds, she decided to just come right out and say it. "I have a boy friend."

Brittany was doing some light reading while leaning against the wall on top of her own bed. All the lights were off except the soft, yellow glow of the lamp by Brittany's bedstand. From where Amber was, she could only see part of Brittany's features while the other half was cloaked in shadows.

After hearing Amber's declaration, Brittany's eyes widened in disbelief, and she whirled her head up to stare at Amber, slamming her book shut with a bang.

"A boyfriend? I thought you didn't want to be tempted!" Brittany immediately flopped down on her stomach, chin propped up against both hands. "What happened? Did someone finally tempt you?"

Amber got up to launch a pillow at Brittany before settling down onto her side again. "Not boyfriend, you idiot. A boy, space, friend."

"Aren't those the same thing?" Brittany frowned, confused.

"No, they are not. One insinuates an actual boyfriend while the other is just a friend, but male."

Brittany rolled her eyes at Amber. "Oh, so you want to have that good old age conversation, don't you?"

"I'm not really sure what you mean?" Amber settled an arm under her head. "What old age conversation?"

"The debate about whether a guy and a girl can be friends."

"Of course they can!" Amber answered a little too vehemently. Unable to lie down any longer, she straightened up in bed, shifting into a cross-legged position. "Why can't they?"

Brittany rolled her eyes as if she was talking to a kid. "Because, you dummy, someone always has to go ruin the relationship by falling in love with the other person."

Amber crossed her arms quietly and stared at Brittany with an I-don't-know-what-you're-talking-about expression.

Brittany, on the other side, eyed Amber with a Yes-you-do-know-what-I'm-talking-about-stop-trying-to-pretend-otherwise look. 

"I'm not going to fall in love with him," Amber finally answered after a long period of silence, pointing out the obvious. "I'm already engaged."

"And him?"

"He's not engaged yet—" A pillow came out of nowhere, hitting Amber in the face.

"I meant, what if he falls in love with you?" Brittany giggled, sounding both exasperated and amused that her pillow connected. "You really are clueless!" A term she kept reserved for Amber during moments such as this.

No matter how many times Amber considered herself to be an average person, Brittany knew better. As the primary heir, Amber was anything but ordinary, and her desire to have such a life was made complicated by her status. On top of all that, Amber's standard way of living wouldn't be considered typical, not by a long shot.

 "Am not!" Amber huffed, and Brittany's giggle erupted into full-blown mirth. She rolled onto her sides, cackling as Amber patiently waited for Brittany to calm down.

With a final howl, Brittany straightened to also sit cross-legged on top of her bed. "But seriously. What if he falls in love with you first?" Her eyes grew round as a thought came to her. "What if he's already in love with you?!"

"Impossible!" Amber scoffed, waving a hand in the air. Love at first sight? The idea seemed ridiculous because she was no beauty. "It's only been three days since we've known each other."

"Who approached who first?" Brittany leaned forward, interested more than ever in this mysterious friend of Amber's.

"I approached him first," Amber answered, reliving the events. "He was being hounded by a bunch of hyenas, and they were so loud I couldn't concentrate."

Brittany smacked her forehead. "You saved him?!"

"Something like that."

"Was he incapable of saving himself?" Brittany sounded incredulous as to why her friend would even attempt to rescue a guy in such a situation. "Why did you do it?"

"He was somewhat…preoccupied," Amber clarified, not wanting to go into too many details. "What does it matter? I helped him out a little and didn't think I would see him again. As it turned out, we have a few classes together, and…things just sort of…happened."

"Rule number one," Brittany answered very earnestly. "If you don't want to be tempted, you need to avoid temptation!"

"He's not even as handsome as Liam!" Amber argued, not even sure why she brought up Liam. In reality, those two were as different as the sun and the moon, the bird and the bees. To compare them would be comparing apples to oranges.

"Handsome is overrated anyway," Brittany lowered her voice. "How cute is he?"

Amber couldn't help chuckling as she threw the pillow back into Brittany's face.

"All right, all right," Brittany caught the pillow and settled it against her lap. "If you don't like him, and he doesn't like you, what's up?"

Amber blinked, confused at the question.

"So… what's wrong?" Brittany explained. "Why did you bring him up if you weren't concern about falling in love with him?"

"What? I can't tell my best friends of the other friends in my life?" Amber answered.

"You don't normally bring up friends unless there's a problem with them," Brittany sigh and turned, falling back onto the bed with her head against her pillow. "Take, for example, the two male students that walked you home this afternoon."

"What about them?"

"Exactly," Brittany glanced at Amber. "What about them?"

"They're Hunter's friends. They wanted to walk me home even though I told them no."

"Hunter, is it?" Brittany teased. "Well, I'll be sure to tell Hunter how you brought him up but skipped the part about his friends walking you home."

Amber shifted and threw her last pillow at the laughing Brittany. "Keep that up, and you'll never get to meet him."

"A bit possessive about this one, aren't we?" Brittany snickered, turning in time just to avoid the pillow. "Duly noted."

"I'm done talking," Amber shook her head and held out her arms. "Throw me the pillows. I'm going to sleep."

Brittany tossed both pillows back to Amber before also turning in for the night. With her concentration gone, it was useless to go back to reading.

Amber turned to her side to look up at the ceiling while Brittany dimmed her light down to around ten percent. As Amber learned, Brittany never left the room in complete darkness, another side effect of watching horror movies. Not that she minded since half was utterly covered in darkness.

"Be careful, though," Brittany yawned from her side of the room. "If you're not serious about him, don't lead him on too much. You may break his heart."

"Again, that's impossible," Amber answered in a quiet voice. "He knows I'm engaged, so why would he approach me for something more if that's the case?"

"That's…" Brittany murmured, already half asleep. "…what I'm afraid of…."