Okay, to be honest, I know I don't update as much as I want to and I am super sorry about that. Other than that, I can only say that I'll update when I can but thanks thanks thanks to all of you who read it =]

Chapter 8 – It's My Party & I'll Kiss Who I Want To

Emily woke up to the sounds of Saturday morning cartoons blasting away on the TV downstairs courtesy of her little brother Dimmy. She cursed little kids for waking up so damn early just to watch TV which was bad for them anyway.

Her cell phone's vibrating noise startled her as she got up out of bed. She picked up her cell phone to see a text from Casey. She opened up and saw:

"Hey Em wanna go to the mall later? I could use some new clothes. Text back."

Shopping did seem like a great distraction at the moment. If anything, she could use distractions to take her away from whatever was going on in her life. It seemed to be that her routine at the moment was school, home, school, home, somewhere with Casey, home, school. She didn't feel like going out on the weekends like she usually did which Casey began to find extremely unusual. If anything, Emily was always on top of what social events were the place to be and which ones weren't. Nowadays Emily only mumbled if Casey asked her if there were any happening parties.

Emily texted Casey back:

"Sure Case, meet you out front in a bit. Let me know when you're ready."

Emily headed straight for the bathroom and began to get ready. She felt like she shouldn't waste her time today. It felt like a new day, a better day so best not to waste it while this feeling lasted. She made a pit stop at her room to grab her purse and phone and she was off to breakfast.

"Morning Mom, I'm gonna go out with Casey for a bit." Emily said as she began to pour herself a cup of OJ.

"Morning honey, it's good to see you out and about. Where are you two off to today?" Emily's mom asked while sipping her coffee. Little did Emily know, her mom was in on the plan for her little speed dating party. While Emily was gone one day this week, Casey had popped over and alerted Emily's mom to the special little shindig she was throwing together for Emily. Her mom smiled at Casey's strong will to make Emily happy and happily nodded her head as Casey relayed the details quickly before dashing out as quickly as she entered.

"We're just going off to the mall, do some shopping." Emily said as she grabbed a granola bar out of the pantry.

"That sounds fun, well go and have fun honey." Emily's mom said as she smiled at her daughter.

Emily scattered out of the kitchen in a quick attempt to get her day started worry-free. Waiting outside of her car was Casey tapping her foot, an annoying habit she had.

"Hey Em, ready to go shopping?" Casey exclaimed a bit too excitedly.

"Um, yeah sure Case. Wow, you never get so excited from shopping. So anyway, how many people are you expecting tonight?"

"Well, I invited some people from the Drama club like Noel and his friends, and well Mia invited some people and then there's the entire hockey team and you know, some random friends of friends." Casey said as she picked up a dress from the rack. "Ooh, Em, this dress totally suits you."

Casey handed it to Emily and she gave it the once over. "Wow, this is like, really dressy. Is the party supposed to be this dressy?"

"What are you talking about Em, it is not even that dressy and plus I think you would look totally cute in it. At least try it on, yeah?" Casey said as she scoured the racks for more things to push Emily into.

"Fine, fine, I mean it is a cute dress." Emily said. She wondered if the dress could get her a boyfriend tonight. Hmm…well then she would definitely try it on for sure.

Two hours later, the girls emerged from the mall, shopping bags in hand and ready to get home.

"Okay Em, I'll just help to shoo everyone who doesn't need to be there out of my house and then you can start getting ready and then I'll call you. See you in a bit!" Casey exclaimed as she jumped out of the car and headed into her house, shopping bags in tow.

Emily made her way back to her house and fumbled up the steps as she struggled to get her door open. When she finally did get back to her room she collapsed on her bed. These past few weeks had put an emotional strain on her.

She didn't expect too much when she came back but then again she didn't want to be completely ignored. It tore at her every day to see Derek and not have him respond to her in any way. It hurt her even more to see Mia bouncing about in his arms. She subconsciously wrapped her arms around her in a protective hold as she thought about trying to protect herself from the world's harshness.

A little beep from her clock signaled it was 5:30. She wondered where did all the time go to but she dragged herself out of bed and unwrapped the new dress she had just bought. By slipping on the dress, she felt a bit more empowered. She felt just enough to get her up and out of that slump she was in and hurried along her getting ready process.

By the time six o'clock rolled around Emily was making her way next door where Casey was already waiting.

"Oh my gosh Em, you look absolutely terrific." Casey beamed at her.

"You don't have to exaggerate, I look okay, not terrific. But anyways, besides me, are your parents and siblings gone already?" Emily said as she stepped inside the house.

"Yes, everyone is gone and we have the place to ourselves, well with the exception of some guests but I still cannot believe they left me all alone. I mean well I can believe it because I am the responsible one but anyways, yeah I'm so excited." Casey had said a mouth full but Emily's eyes began to scan what she could see of the house to see if a certain Venturi boy was lingering.

"Hey Emily! Wow, you look amazing." Of course he was here, and of course SHE was here. She being Mia that is.

"Thanks Mia, you look great too." Emily replied with a polite smile as she held her hands together in front of her.

"So Casey, all the soda, cups, snacks, plates, napkins and other whatnots are already laid out on the kitchen counter. I locked up all the valuables and now we just wait right?" Mia said almost jumping up and down in her place.

"That seems to be right about it. Now we just wait for the guests." Casey replied as she smoothed out her shirt.

Not even 5 minutes later the doorbell began its repetitive ringing as people showed up on groups and groups and more groups. Emily noticed that guy Noel and all his cute drama club friends as well as the entire hockey, basketball and football teams. Yum-O. There were also random hot guys who were chatting it up with friends while bobbing their heads to the music. So many guys here, Emily thought, except for the one that really mattered.

Emily did wonder where Derek was. He never missed out on a party especially if it was a house party knowing full and well his parents were seriously gone. She only thought it up too soon as she saw him descending the stairs with Mia in tow as usual. His hair was gently swept over his eyes and she almost walked into someone had she not dropped her gaze.

A second later she felt Casey tugging on her arm to try and mingle and not focus on Derek. Casey seemed extra snappier today but she took her advice and got a drink and then attempted to "mingle" which in fact all she was doing was slowly pacing through the house.

Out of nowhere a guy approached Emily. She quickly gave him the once-over and decided she knew a few things about this guy already. First, his eyes looked bloodshot, can you say how HIGH? Second of all, why were there serious stains all over this guy's clothes? Finally, he may have a semi-cute smile but that in no way made up for the way he smelled. Seriously, was this all that was out there.

Before he even finished saying hello she politely nodded, replied hello, and ran off in the other direction. She tried to catch her breath as she steadied herself against a couch. Emily only had to slightly lift her head up to notice another guy making his way toward her. He seemed decent-looking, no apparent stains on anywhere noticeable, he looked quite clean-cut and tall which was nice.

"Hello, I'm Jonathan and you are?" Jonathan said as he extended his hand.

"Hi, I'm Emily." Emily responded as she shook his hand. He let it linger a bit longer before retracting his hand. She didn't seem to mind those extra seconds one bit.

"So I hear you're single and ready to mingle?" Jonathan said as he took a sip from the drink in his hand. Emily found this ridiculously cheesy and realized he could probably be the ridiculously cheesy type which Emily was certainly not fond of.

"Well sorry but you heard wrong." Emily gave him a wry smile before wandering off. Were there any sane guys? Emily felt a little remorse from when she had put Casey up to a situation like this. No girl should have to stoop so low just to find a boyfriend.

It was then that the little light bulb in Emily's brain lit up. This wasn't just your old run of the mill teenage party, but it was some sort of dating game. She silently cursed Casey for doing this to her but then again she couldn't say anything because she did the same thing to Casey. That would clearly explain all these less than average guys trying their best to seduce her. She would definitely kill Casey.

Emily was pouring punch into her cup when she was knocked out of her reverie by a tap on her shoulder. She swirled around half expecting to see another Joe Schmoe but was face to face with none other than Mia.

"Hey Emily, having fun?" Mia asked sweetly. Emily quickly contemplated if Mia was in on this whole set-up-Emily thing and had a strong feeling in her gut that she was.

"I'm doing alright. I keep getting hit on by creepy guys which is a bit of a mood killer but other than that the party seems to be a hit."

"Oh, that's unfortunate. You would think there are some decent guys here. Don't worry Emily, Mr. Right is somewhere here." Mia offered.

'Yeah, Mr. Right happens to be your boyfriend.' Emily thought though she pushed it far away in her mind knowing that was done and over.

"Right, well I'm off to mingle some more." Emily said as she gave her best fake smile and walked off into the crowd. She hadn't walked that far when she suddenly became aware of every guy at this party. Were they all here to have their go at Emily? It tugged at her insides and she frowned downwards feeling the need to escape.

After a quick scan of her immediate surroundings she ducked through the front door and escaped to sit under the tree that separated her lawn from theirs. She took in the natural beauty that was a clear Canadian night and she relished in how beautiful the moon looked. If only she had someone to share this with.

For a few more moments, Emily closed her eyes and just took in nature as it was, unaffected by such stupid things as love and boys. The front door came closing with a slam and she jumped up from where she sat. She tried to get a good look at what caused the ruckus and immediately regretted it.

Emily stood up from where she sat and quickly yet quietly tried to cross the lawn and loop around through the backyard without being seen by Derek or Mia. She used up all her self control to not look over at them in fear that they would be publicly displaying their affection even though Derek hated that.

A brisk walked turned into a sprint as she dodged the couple in time. Her breathing grew ragged as she stumbled through the backyard only to be met with awkward stares. She politely nodded at everyone and raced inside only to smack right into Casey.

"EMILY, where have you been? I've been looking all over for you. Anyway, now that you're here I want you to meet a friend of mine. Emily, this is Jacob." Casey said gesturing to the rather tall fellow beside her.

Emily did her usual quick scan and saw that there seemed to not be anything visibly wrong with him. That was only step one, now for step two was to hear how well he gave himself off.

"Hi there Emily, it's a pleasure to meet you." Jacob said as he firmly shook her hand. Emily politely smiled at him but felt like this guy was more of Casey's type than hers.

"Likewise, but if you could excuse me for a minute, I just wanted to talk to Casey. Thanks." Emily promptly spat out before dragging Casey away to the kitchen.

"Emily, what are you doing? Jacob seems pretty nice, you should be in there talking with him."

"No Casey, I think you should. Honestly, were you really trying when you were picking these guys for me to meet? I mean really, the first guy was just outright disgusting, then there was Mr. Cheesy Romantic and now you try to set me up with your perfect match. I am your best friend, aren't I?"

Emily pleaded with Casey.

"Of course you are Em, I mean I only-"

Emily briefly cut Casey off, "I know you mean well but sometimes I don't think you really know. Don't take that as offensive, but I almost feel like some random whore being sold out to random, creepy guys."

"Sorry Em, really I-" Casey couldn't get a word in edgewise.

"Look Casey, you're my best friend and I know you are always looking out for me, but there are some things that are better left untouched, like my love life. I think I'm gonna head out." Emily finally stated as she worked her way through the super crowded house.

She was almost out the door when she felt yet another tap on her shoulder. Emily was getting pretty tired of all this damn tapping and when she turned around, he or she better be worth it.

"Emily, Emily Davis? Is that really you?" Emily turned around and looked at a boy. He was familiar looking and his voice seemed to flow pleasantly through her ears. She couldn't quite put her finger on who this guy was.

"Um, yes, its really me. And you are?" Emily asked as she gave the guy her usual full inspection.

"You don't remember? It's Nate." The boy smiled again and Emily felt like she was melting away. "Derek's cousin?" He offered one more time before it finally registered with Emily.

Nate was Derek's cousin who used to visit frequently when they were younger. Eventually he stopped coming and that friendship ceased but here he was now all grown up and looking mighty fine.

"Wow Nate, I haven't seen you in ages. How have you been?" Emily replied while giving the mandatory haven't-seen-you-in-ages-awkward hug.

"I'm doing pretty good, just started college over at NYU but thought I would drop in to the Venturi household for a much deserved visit."

"Wow college much be so exciting and I really haven't seen you in such a long time. You stopped coming to visit for awhile, I thought I'd never see you again." Emily answered as she blushed at the sound of neediness in her voice.

"Yeah, things were getting pretty busy and after awhile I didn't have much time to visit so I thought I should make a little detour. I'm happy I did." Nate replied as he smiled at Emily.

Emily could feel it now, so much clearer than before. She felt this residual warming of her entire body as she continued talking with Nate. They had been talking for what seemed like hours when they realized the party was dwindling down to an end.

"We seemed to have lost track of the time." Nate said as he surveyed the near empty room.

"Yeah, we breezed through the party, but personally I had more fun talking to you." Emily smiled sweetly back at Nate.

Emily thought nothing could knock her out off of the cloud she was on just now. Well, Emily thought wrong as Casey entered the room.

"EM! I have been looking for you everywhere! And I see that you're talking with someone…hi I'm Cas-" Casey stopped mid-sentence as she then realized who it was. "Oh hey Nate."

"Hey Casey. So Emily's your best friend?"

"Yeah, best buds till the end. Mind if I steal her away for a second?" Casey said as she eyed Emily.

"Sure no problem." Nate replied as he sunk back into the couch and messed around with his cell phone.

Casey hastily pulled Emily a good distance away from Nate before blurting out all her questions.

"You do know who that is right? Casey asked as her eyes shifted to Nate and back to Emily in seconds.

"Yes I do and I know you know who he is so what's with the questioning?" Emily answered.

"Really Emily? You don't see the problem with trying to date Derek's cousin?" Casey asked impatiently as her foot began tapping incessantly on the ground.

"No, in fact, I see no problem. So what if he's Derek's cousin? When we were younger I played with Nate just as much as I played with Derek and if anything we were really good friends." Emily reasoned. "Didn't I just talk with you earlier about butting in when unnecessary?"

Casey's face fell as she felt her friend's words sting her.

"Sorry Casey, but let me just handle things my way. I'll talk to you later." Emily said as she slowly backed away from Casey and spun on her heel and made her way back to Nate.

Nate looked up as Emily made her way back to him.

"Is everything alright? Casey looked like she was getting upset." Nate questioned as he looked over to where the two girls were just standing.

"Yeah, well you know Casey. Just wants things her way even when it affects other people." Emily said as she looked towards the ground. "But wow, it was so nice catching up with you. You should definitely visit more often." Emily smiled as she looked up into Nate's eyes.

"It was really great catching up with you too. Actually, mind if I walk you home?" Nate said as he gestured his hand to the door. Emily silently nodded and began the slow yet short walk to her front steps.

Literally, it was only several steps that got Emily and Nate to her front door.

"Well I had a lot of fun catching up with you." Emily said as she shyly shuffled her feet. She looked up only to come eye to eye with him. She stared out through her lashes as her heart fluttered quickly.

Nate stared back at her with such intensity it could have melted her on the spot. "Too bad I have to go back to New York so soon, otherwise it would have been a different story."

"Then I guess there's only one thing left." Emily said as she closed the tiny gap in between them and caught Nate's lips into a kiss.

Emily felt herself melt into Nate and she pressed her whole body into him. They briefly parted lips and she sighed into his cheek.

"Thanks for a great night." Emily breathed into his ear. She hugged him briefly, pecked him once more on the cheek and slipped inside her house leaving Nate stunned as he stood for a second longer before walking back to the Venturi house.

Emily smiled to herself as she got ready for bed. She recalled the whole night from the horrible wannabes trying to get her attention to calling Casey out on trying to set her up all the way to talking and hanging out with Nate and finally ending in a good night kiss. Maybe the night wasn't so horrible after all.