So sorry for the delay! Honestly I've had really bad writer's block when it comes to this story. I feel like there are so many things I can do with it, I'm just not sure which direction! I had a suggestion PMed to me of a certain situation which will happen in the next chapter ;)

Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy! Please let me know if you have any ideas for where to take the story! I love hearing your thoughts.

Ch 7

"Alison, you've done a lot of dumb things in your life—like a lot—but I think this has to be your dumbest idea yet," Hanna tells me as she browses through a rack of clothes in American Eagle. Her face scrunches up in disgust when she sees a certain blouse that I guess didn't suit her standards.

I wince. When Hanna tells you that your ideas are dumb… I don't even know how to describe it. But it is not a good feeling.

I glance over at Spencer for help, but she shrugs.

"Don't look at me," she says. "I think it's a bad idea, too."

"Guys, stop," Aria, one of our friends from high school, chimes in. She brushes her black hair out of her face and looks at me with sympathy in her eyes.

"What? We're just being honest," Hanna says.

"I know," Aria says, "but if Ali wants to do this, I think we should support her."

I nod gratefully at Aria, suddenly super happy that she flew across the country to visit. It's been weird not living in the same town as her, not seeing her every day. She's mentioned transferring to UCLA after this year is over, though. I really hope that she does. It's nice to have someone like her around. She's quirky and has an interesting sense of style, but she has a level head. It's times like these that that shows the most.

"Okay, Aria," Hanna rolls her eyes. "But this kind of thing never works. Haven't you seen any movies? No Strings Attached? Friends with Benefits?"

She almost screams the title of the last movie.

"Well, in the movies they always end up together," I mumble under my breath. I wasn't even sure if I had said it out loud until I saw all three pairs of eyes widen.

"I knew it! I knew you liked her!" Hanna exclaims, clasping my bicep. She squeezes it and jumps up and down.

"Please, say that a little louder, the people in the back of the changing room didn't hear you," I say, a tinge of bitterness in my voice. Aria and Spencer snicker from beside us.

I try to shake my arm from her grasp but she just tightens her grip. Finally, Spencer intervenes and detaches my arm from Hanna.

"Hm," Spencer muses. "Well, I mean, if your plan is to get her to like fall in love with you or whatever, I guess this could work."

"Why don't you just court her the normal way? Like ask her on a date?" Hanna demands. She looks at me like it's the obvious right move.

Aria shakes her head. "No, I don't know. I think it should be a more gradual process. Like, their normal activity together is sex. So, changing to a romantic thing immediately might be a little drastic."

I sigh, exasperated. Can they talk any louder? A middle aged woman just gave me the stink eye while Aria was talking.

Hanna shrugs and pulls a blouse from one of the racks. "This would look cute on you, Spence," she says as she holds the shirt up to Spencer's torso. Aria nods from the side.

"I'm sure we could find some pretty cool earrings to go with it," she smiles. All three of them turn their heads and look at me, waiting for my response.

I tilt my head to the side and try to get a better look at the outfit. I frown, mulling the possibilities over in my mind.

It's a rather simple, royal blue cotton blouse. It has white threaded patterns towards the hemline that swirl together and add texture to it, and it's one of those shirts that has the ties on it at the collar. It's a v-cut down, almost too low, and the white ties string the opening together loosely.

"I think I'd go with gold earrings," I offer. It seems to appease Hanna, who looks back at Spencer with an excited expression. Her eyes are wide and she's biting her lip.

"So it's settled! You're getting it!" she shoves the blouse into Spencer's hands.

"Okay, can we like get back to Ali's situation?" Spencer asks, her cheeks flushing a light pink. She tucks the shirt under her arm and clears her throat.

"What is there to discuss?" I ask. "Emily and I are attracted to each other. We're just going to act on those physical attractions. There's nothing to talk about."

"If you're sure," Aria says slowly. Her tone of voice makes it obvious that she feels otherwise.

"I am," I say indignantly. None of my friends look convinced, but they don't fight me.

"So do you have any plans tonight, Em?" I put down the book I'm reading and wait patiently to hear her beautiful voice. She sits in the corner of her bed with her laptop on her legs and a bag of Doritos beside her.

Emily looks up and smiles at me, but doesn't say anything. A few moments before she finally responds, "No, no plans."

It's almost as if she forgot I had asked her a question.

I raise my eyebrows. "Kind of a long pause for having no plans, don't you think?"

Her cheeks flush and she shifts uncomfortably, causing her laptop to almost fall off of the bed.

"N-no," she argues weakly. I give her a pointed look and she sighs, caving. "I just really like it when you call me Em."

Well, I totally wasn't expecting that. I force a smirk onto my face to make it seem like she didn't just take all of the wind out of me. She doesn't seem to notice my lapse in confidence, though.

"Okay, well," I pause to transform my smirk into a smile, "I think that I'm going to be drinking with Hanna and Spencer in their dorm. Aria, one of our best friends from high school, is in town for the weekend. Nothing says 'girls' night' better than cheap wine and stupid romantic comedies."

Emily smiles but doesn't respond. My eyebrows flicker into a crease. I don't think that she picked up on the fact that I was inviting her.

"That was an invitation," I tell her. I study her facial expressions carefully, noting that her eyes noticeably relax after I speak. She bites her lip and shrugs, still silent. Even with her tan skin, I can see her blushing insanely.

"So do you want to hang with us?" I ask when she still doesn't answer.

"O-oh," she forces a laugh. "Well I-I don't see why not."

"Cool," I smile, and she returns it.

My phone goes off from underneath me, but I ignore it. I'm much more interested in Emily's smile. I can't help but smile to myself.

It truly amazes me how someone could possibly be so beautiful, and not even be aware of it. She tucks some of her dark hair behind her ear and looks down at the ground between our beds.

I shake my head and blink a few times to try and get back to the present moment. Clearing my throat, I feel around my bed and try to locate my phone. I frown when I see the text, furrowing my eyebrows slightly.

"Are you okay?" Emily asks me from across the room. I didn't even notice her staring. I subconsciously nod, but I think she can tell that I'm out of it.

Hanna: MAY-DAY. REPEAT, MAY-DAY. ALISON CALL ME ASAP.

I take a deep breath and quickly dial out her number. After two short rings, she answers, sounding breathless.

"What took you so long to call me?" she demands. I wince a little from her loud tone of voice.

"It took me like two seconds," I argue. Emily's longing gaze from the opposite bed doesn't go unnoticed by me.

"Whatever. You need to come over to our dorm ASAP," Hanna hisses. "OelNe is erehe!"

"…what…?" I furrow my eyebrows.

"Noel is here!" she repeats, this time not in whatever language she was speaking before.

"Oh…okay…?" the crease between my eyebrows deepens. "And how does this affect me?"

"Mona told me—" she begins, but I clear my throat and cut her off.

"I thought I told you never to believe anything that she says. She's the one who started the rumor about me having cellulite," I say, annoyed. My face heats up when I notice Emily looking at me in my peripheral vision.

"But—"

"Get on with your story," I snap. I catch Emily's eye from across the room and she looks down quickly.

"MonasaysNoelisheretowinyouback," Hanna announces quickly before I can interrupt her again. I roll my eyes.

"Hanna. In English this time," I start to massage my temples with my free hand.

"Noel is here to win you back!"

"Win me back from what?" I ask airily.

"Ali!" Hanna objects. "He's still in love with you!"

I snort. Noel Kahn in love? That's like calling me ugly. It just doesn't happen. It cannot happen. It's against all nature. Besides, we dated for like two months sophomore year of high school. Like, it's not my fault he's obsessed with the idea of me. That doesn't mean he can just come out of the woodworks and ruin the plans I have with Emily. He had his chance; it didn't work out. It's as simple as that.

I take a deep breath in through my nose and exhale loudly. "Okay, Hanna, sweetie, let's get one thing straight. Noel is not in love with me. He never has been. The only person he loves is himself."

"But—"

"But nothing. I'm not interested," I tell her firmly. "That's it. End of story. So you can go tell him that for me; it'll save me time."

Emily stares at me and I can almost feel her smile. I don't know exactly what it means, but I like it.

"Alison—"

"Goodbye, Han," I say, and then hang up before she can answer. I lock my phone and toss it to the other side of the bed. It bounces off of the corner and clatters down to the floor.

"Are you okay?" Emily asks me in a small voice. I jump because I almost forgot that she was in the room.

"Fine."

"O-okay," she swallows.

"So are you still coming to hang out with us tonight?" I smile.

"I guess so," she says.

"Cool. We play a lot of really mature games, so just watch out," I tell her. I hope that she can detect the large amount of sarcasm in my voice.

"Oh, like the Tavern Challenge?"

My eyes widen. "Hell no. I'm never playing that again."

Her gaze drifts downward to the floor.

"Well, not unless it's just you and me playing," I muse out loud. Her cheeks brighten as I speak.

"Should we start getting ready then?"

"Sure. Just don't look at me while I'm changing," I wink. She has to look up at me before she laughs; I guess she couldn't tell I was kidding.

"What are you going to do about it if I do?" she counters, tucking some hair behind her ear. I roll my eyes playfully as my smile widens.

She continues to watch me, innocence clouding the air around her. I narrow my eyes—I think because doing so makes me look sexier. I don't know, it's just something I've always done. My mouth twists up in a half smile that is reserved only for this beautiful girl and I start to slowly walk across the room towards her.

"Well?" she bites her lip.

"I guess you'll find out," I whisper as I reach her bed. I climb on without another word and crawl closer to her, closing the gap between our lips.

She doesn't waste any time lifting her hand to the back of my head, deepening the kiss. I feel her smiling into it, which just makes me smile. I don't think you've ever really kissed someone until you've both been smiling at the same time. There's just something so romantic about that; it warms my heart.

Her fingers tangle in my hair and she lightly scratches my neck.

"Oh, Ms. Fields," I pull away, breathless. I put my hand on my chest and say in my sweetest voice, "I believe you've just seduced me."

And that's all she needs to push me backwards so that our positions change and she's the one on top of me. She straddles my torso, leg on either side, and dips down to reconnect our lips. Her dark hair falls all around me like a curtain, shielding me from the real world. The only thing that matters is the beautiful brunette on top of me.

Oh, yeah. I'm definitely not interested in Noel Kahn. I have my own dark-haired beauty to love.

hope you guys enjoyed :) review or pm me any ideas! look forward to hearing from you :)