The Kissing Rock
Today had been a pretty stressful day for me, and I guess everyone could tell. I was being an even more of a jerk than usual. Pushing people out of my way who were being too slow, telling people to shut up when they were whispering quietly to their friend next to them. I even told my science teacher, Mr. Maxwell, off earlier when he tried to tell me to recheck all my answers on the practice test sheet.
I got sent to the principal's office and sat there for thirty freaking minutes, waiting for him to get off his freaking phone. Luckily, I wasn't in any kind of trouble. Mr. Jackson just told me not to do it again and suggested some stress relievers, then he sent me back to class where I was now with all of my friends.
Aria and Hanna sat in front of me, talking to Spencer about some cute guy on the football team, but Spencer ignored them, trying to get her work done.
Spencer is what I would call a goody two shoes. She always did what her parents asked, turned in her assignments on time, got nothing but straight A's and was even the captain of debate club. She was everything a parent wanted their child to be. Spencer even looked the role of a good girl. Long wavy brown hair, light chocolate eyes that were sometimes a beautiful golden in the summer, and she had a face that had a certain unique structure. I had never seen a face quite like hers before, it was shaped like a perfect oval, and it suited her.
Hannah was what I called a typical white girl. She liked getting her coffee from Starbucks every morning, popular bands and singer such as one direction, her favorite movie was mean girls, she loved shopping and flirting with guys at the grille. She wasn't me, of course, but if I didn't exist she would probably fill my shoes in this school. Taking on the role of the queen bee, which is what my title was here. She was a skinny curly haired blonde, like me, and had gorgeous blue eyes, just a little lighter than mine.
Aria was the classical one out of all of us. She liked listening to classical music and reading old books from the 50's. She was the wiser and laid back one. I first met her in the school library. She was checking out Great expectations by Charles Dickens, and I knew instantly I had to have her as a friend. It turns out she loved Great expectations just as much as me.
"I heard that he hasn't ever kissed a girl before" Hanna said.
"God, I would love to be his first kiss. Give me that wish and I swear I won't ask for anything else" Aria closed her eyes and smiled. Just by the look on her face, I could tell she was thinking about kissing him. I couldn't say I blamed her. He was pretty cute.
I sighed and continued to write my essay. It was due at the end of class today and I hadn't even started the second paragraph yet.
Emily glanced up at me. "You okay today?" She asked. Her eyebrow quirked up as her eyes looked through mine. Today her eyes seemed more a creamy chocolate color rather than dark chocolate.
Being Emily's friend for the past four years I learned something about her that no one, not even her parents might have known. You could tell what mood Emily was in by the color of her eyes, when her eyes were dark, almost black, it meant she was angry or upset but if her eyes were on the lighter side such as golden brown, she was happy or satisfied.
"Yeah" I said back with a smile. When I smiled at Emily, it was always a real smile, never a fake one. It was always genuine. "I'm fine"
We both sat in silence for a few minutes, just continually writing. I swear, at the pace I was writing, I thought I could see smoke come from under the pencil I was using.
"Hey Alison?" Emily said in a soft voice, almost as if she was scared of me. As though if she spoke to me too fast or in a certain tone of voice, I might break right before her eyes.
"Yes Emily?" I asked, looking up at her.
Her eyes sparkled as the classroom lights shined upon them. A smile crept upon her full pink lips and she looked down at the table, playing with her fingers in nervousness.
"I was wondering if you could meet me tonight at the kissing rock. I have something important to discuss with you. Can you be there by nine?" She explained.
I could tell she was nervous, and somehow I could sense that this was more than just discussing something with me. But I guess most of her nervousness came from asking me to meet her at the kissing rock. Why the kissing rock? I thought to myself.
The kissing rock was a big rock planted sturdily into the ground. It was comfortable enough to sit on and big enough to seat two people. It overlooked the giant Rosewood Lake, and at night it was such a sight to see. I would know because I had been there many times with a few guys.
The kissing rock was basically a place where people went to kiss. There was a legend that was told around this town about that rock. It was believed that if you went to the kissing rock, you could feel the eyes of the other spirits of the other lovers who had once kissed here, staring at you, urging you to do it. It was a special place to take a special someone, although everyone I had taken, I had only taken to please others. Before I had my first kiss there, people always seemed shocked to find that I hadn't ever taken someone there. So the guys I had kissed there, never meant anything and they were only there so I could please others.
I know it wasn't very nice of me to use someone for something, but the truth was, I'm not a very nice person. Ask anyone in Rosewood, and they can tell you the exact same thing.
I smiled "Sure. What for?" I asked.
"It's a surprise" Emily smiled, then continued to work on her paper.
We didn't speak for the rest of the class period.
The rest of the day went by slowly without me losing my head again. I went home and did a bunch of homework and watched a bunch of makeup tutorials as it approached nine. When it was nine, I drove myself to the kissing rock. I walked through the woods to where it was, but it was hard to tell where I was going when it was so dark out. It was pitch black, and the trees hovered over me, seeming like dark scary monsters. I was a little frightened to be out here alone right now. Anything could happen.
Suddenly I saw a light ahead and heard a sound coming from the light. It sounded like two girls giggling.
Twigs and leaves crunched under my feet, making me jump a little bit out of fear. I really was terrified that someone other than me and Emily was out here. But I realized that sound was just me walking, and kept going forward, getting closer and closer to the light in front of me. And the giggling got louder and louder.
"Alison don't!" Emily squealed in laughter.
I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. What was she talking about? Why was she laughing? Don't what?
"You asked for it!" I said in laughter as well. The only problem with this was the fact that I hadn't even said that. Those words never came out of my mouth, but somehow I remember having this conversation with Emily.
I stepped out into the clearing of the woods, and right there in front of me was the kissing rock. I could still see very clearly the spray paint on the side in which Emily had written our names in a heart together.
I grinned, remembering that day so clearly even though it was a year ago today.
Flashback
"Emily! You're going to get us in trouble!" I giggled.
Even though I couldn't see her face because her head was down, focusing on her work, I knew she was rolling her eyes at me as she sighed.
"Is Miss Alison scared of getting into trouble?" She asked "I thought you'd be the type to do stuff like this".
"I am! But I don't want to go to jail." I explained.
Emily finished writing our names and put the can back in her backpack. She sighed in content as she sat next to me. She was so close. Her hand was sitting next to mine, and her breath that smelled like the mint gum she had previously been chewing, blew onto my face. My heart raced inside my chest.
"If you go to jail, I'm going with you. Life isn't very fun without you in it." She said, her eyes looking into mine. There's was something behind them. A meaning behind those words that I couldn't quite identify.
I was so glad it was dark out tonight, because if the sun were up she would have been able to see me blush, lighting up like red Christmas lights.
Emily leaned over gently and brushed her lips against mine. At first I didn't react because I was shocked, but I slowly began to kiss back.
Emily pulled back and looked me in the eyes.
For the rest of the night we sat against the rock and looked out onto the lake, talking about life and school. It all felt so right. The world felt like it was for once a happy peaceful place.
Flashback over
I smiled as I remembered that day.
On top of the kissing rock was a laptop. It was playing different memories of me and Emily. Us making the infinity sign with our arms at the beach, me tickling her to death, a Christmas photoshoot, our first concert, us laughing at each other after smashing pies in each other's faces. All memories of us. Just us.
I stood there in the cold woods, the water from the lake making small waves as a boat passed by. I watched. I missed this.
On the last slide there was a picture of Emily holding a piece of paper with the words Look behind you written in sharpie. She was smiling, her head cocked to the side.
I slowly turned around, hesitating. Right behind me stood Emily Fields. The star swimmer of Rosewood high, my best friend. She stood in a nice black dress. The little diamonds glittered in the night, the moonlight reflecting off of it. She held a red rose in her hand. She looked absolutely gorgeous standing there in front of me. She had a shy smile plastered on her lips and her head hung low, showing her vulnerability. How many times had I dreamed of seeing her this way, one might ask? There were not enough stars in the sky to reach the number of times I had dreamed of her.
Ever since I met her, she had made me see the nice side of myself. She brought out the best of me and made me become a nicer person to people. The day we met was a miracle, and I thank god every day for giving me the chance to be a part of her life and her a part of mine.
Flashback
I forcefully pushed through the crowd, trying to get to my locker. I just couldn't believe it. Noel Khan had just broken up with me. A year of kissing me, loving me and telling me I was the only one and he dropped it all. All because he decided sticking to one girl wasn't his thing. He was pushing his tongue down some other girls' throat. I fought back the tears that wanted to escape.
I opened my locker and shoved my books inside. I stood there a minute, and that minute felt like ten.
"Hey." I heard someone say as they tapped me on the shoulder.
Who in the hell could possibly be bothering me right now? Everyone in this school knows better than to bother me when I was in a bad mood. If anyone was stupid enough to bother me, most of the time ended up walking away from me in tears.
"WHAT DO YOU WANT?" I yelled in annoyance as I spun around on my heels.
My eyes met dark chocolate eyes that were wide in fear. The eyes belonged to a tall tan skinned girl with wavy black hair done up in a ponytail. She backed away a few steps and held out my phone.
I quickly patted my pockets, checking to see if the phone she was holding out to me was mine or not.
"Crap" I muttered to myself. "Thank you" I said giving her a grin.
I could tell she was still frightened by my reaction earlier.
"Y-you're w-welcome" She stuttered.
She turned her body in the opposite direction from me and started to walk away. Before she got too far, I reached out and gripped her arm in my hand and spun her around.
"Wait!"
Her eyes met mine once more, this time, instead of fear, they were curious.
"I'm sorry about yelling at you a minute ago. I've had a bad day. I appreciate you returning my phone. Nobody would have been as nice as you to give it back"
She nodded "You're welcome"
"You know," I started "How about I repay you? How about you come with me to lunch at The Grille and I buy you lunch."
She opened her mouth to protest but I stopped her.
"Don't even say no. You have to. I'm not giving you an option" I told her, giving her a genuine smile.
"Okay." She smiled at me.
I linked arms with her and sped off towards the grille. We wanted to be back here in time for class.
Flashback over
"Emily," I whispered. I couldn't help but smile at her beauty. My stomach did a somersault in my stomach and the butterflies that were trapped in the cage inside me, escaped and filled my stomach. Why did she do this to me every time? Why was I always turning to mush when I was around her?
"You…" I paused, looking her up and down. I was memorizing every inch, every curve and every beautiful flaw of her body and skin. I was deeply in love with everything about her, even the not so perfect parts of her.
"You look beautiful" My eyes met hers again.
She smiled, letting out a light chuckle. She used her right hand to push back her hair behind her ears.
"Thanks." She said "I um…I uh I guess you're wondering why you're here, aren't you?"
I nodded. My eyes never leaving hers.
She took a few steps towards me, making the butterflies in my stomach go crazy. Was this what it was like to be in love with someone? If it was, I never wanted to fall out of it.
"I asked you to meet me here because we had our first kiss here" She said "and what better way to ask the girl I like to the senior prom than the exact place we kissed?"
I smiled. A tear of happiness was trying to escape my eyes, but I held it back afraid to look vulnerable. Alison DiLaurentis wasn't a vulnerable person. I'm known as the tough queen bee of Rosewood high, I can't be crying.
She took another step forward "And what better place to ask the girl I like to be my girlfriend than the place I first realized I fell in love with you?" Her eyes looked deeply into mine, searching for a sign. A sign that might tell her what I was thinking.
"You're right" I said "And what better place for the girl you like to agree to be your girlfriend than the spot she first realized she fell in love with you too?"
Emily glanced down at the ground and kicked the dirt underneath her. I could easily tell she was happy with my response.
She looked back up at me. A strand of hair covered her left eye. I smiled and pushed it behind her ear. Emily bit her lip in a seducing way while grinning. Suddenly I felt an arm wrap around my waist, pulling me against her, our chest meeting each other. Her touch left a tingle on my skin, even without directly. Her minty breath fanned over my face as I looked up at her. She looked down at my lips once more then leaned in and brushed her lips against mine.
I think right then I learned that all the relationships I had, were not real. A real love didn't feel forced or awkward. A real love felt like it did now. It felt good, full of passion and wonder. Full excitement and ambition.
Emily pulled me even closer. If she pulled me any closer, I swear we might turn into one person. Her tongue grazed across my lip and I let out a soft sigh.
Emily pulled away and smiled. "Thank god for that dusty old rock."
"Yep" I agreed "Thank god for the kissing rock".
Emily smirked and pulled me in for another kiss. To the world it was just a rock, to everyone in rosewood it was a kissing rock, but to Emily and I, it was so much more.