"All the world's a stage and all the men and women merely players".

Truer words have never been spoken. I think old Billy was on to something most of us go our entire existence without realizing. We go through our day to day lives putting on a performance. Wearing a mask if you will. Whether it be for our parents, our peers, our friends or even ourselves, we portray the version of our person that is least likely to be rejected. Chalk it up to the human condition of needing to be loved and accepted. I ponder this, amongst other things, while I wait for Emily and Ben to arrive for dinner. The three us have been thick as thieves even since Emily's family moved next door when we were ten years old. We will all be attending Penn State in a couple weeks and wanted to get some quality time in before the madness of Freshman year began. Being the ever punctual one, I'm the first to arrive. So I pick a booth with a view of the door. From my vantage point, I see all the comings and goings of the patrons and take part in one of my favorite pastimes, people watching. My phone buzzes and indicates I have an incoming message. It's from Ben.

"Hey something came up. I'm running a little behind but be there soon."

As I type out a sarcastic response to him, I hear the bell over the door chime and look up just in time to see Emily enter. Emily. If people watching is one of my favorite pastimes, Emily watching is my guilty pleasure. The booth I chose is kind of obscured, so it allows me the time to take her in before she spots me. She has on a pair of pink converse and the tightest dark denim skinny jeans I've ever seen. She tops it off with a cute, v neck, long sleeve tee with a vest over it. Her beautiful brown hair, which is well past her shoulders, is down and all I can think about is how much I want to run my fingers through it. Her eyes final meet mine and she gives me a megawatt smile. I give her a similar smile and stand to greet her as she makes her way to our table.

"Hey Em," I say. I hug her and breathe in pomegranate and flowers.

"Hey love. I hope you haven't been waiting too long," She replies after placing a kiss on my cheek.

"Not at all. Besides, between you and your other half, I'm used to being kept waiting," I reply dryly.

At this she chuckles and gives a face that tells me she's amused by my comment.

"Yes punctuality is definitely not either of our strong suits. Speaking of your dear cousin, where is he?" she asks.

"I thought the two of you would be arriving together. He just sent me a message that he's running behind. So your guess is as good as mine."

Emily bites her lip and looks away at this news and I can tell something is troubling her. "Em are you ok?" I ask.

She shrugs her shoulders, "Yeah everything's cool, why do you ask?" is her reply.

"Because I mentioned not knowing where Ben was and your whole demeanor changed. So... What is it?"

"It's nothing."

"Emily."

"Paige."

We stare each other down for a good minute in silence before she cracks.

"I don't want to talk about it right now Paige. This might be one of the last times the three of us get to be together like this and I don't want to ruin the mood. Can we drop it for now please?" she pleads to me.

I give her a deep sigh but acquiesce to her request. I reach across the table for her and she clasp my hand in hers. As soon as our fingers touch, I feel those flutters in my stomach that always appear whenever Emily touches me.

"Em you know I'm here for you and you can talk to me about anything right? You're my bestfriend in the whole world. If you're hurting or in pain or in trouble you know I'll do everything in my power to fix it don't you?" I ask her. I manage to get a half hearted smile from her.

"Yeah I know and when I'm ready, we'll talk ok?"

"Do you promise M&M?" When I call her by her childhood nickname, she blesses me with a smile almost as beautiful as the one she gave me when she first arrived.

She chuckles and says,"Yes Skittles I promise."

The mood lightens remarkable from there as we catch up on the goings on of our day. We're having such a good chat, that we don't realize Ben has arrived until he's standing at our booth.

"Well don't you two look cozy," he says by way of greeting

"Hey babe. Nice of you to finally join us," Emily replies

She stands to hug and kiss Ben. It isn't until she lets go of me to do so the I notice we had been holding hands the entire time. They slide into the booth together across from me.

"I got caught up with a couple of things that required my immediate attention," he says smoothly

"Nothing too taxing I hope," I express genuinely concerned for my cousin.

"Nothing that I couldn't handle. It's hard being The Man, but someone has to do it," he says cockily. Emily chuckles at this and Ben leans over to kiss her cheek. I shake my head and smile at the two of them, when something on Ben's collar catches my eye.

That can't possibly be what I think it is.

I shake my head to rid it of the thoughts I'm having and decide to store it away for later.

"So what have my two favorite people been talking about in my absence?"

"Oh my gosh we were only seven and I idolized you. Of course I was going to do anything you dared me to," I laugh as Ben recalls a particular misadventure we had gotten ourselves into as children. Dinner is lighthearted and full of laughter. No subject is safe and the three of us tease each other relentlessly. Throughout the course of our meal, I notice that Ben keeps checking his phone and I can't help the nagging feeling that something isn't right. Emily is regaling us with a tale of an encounter she had with some lady at the coffee shop. He looks up from his screen and catches me staring at him. He has a guilty look on his face and I know something is up.

"So that's when I told her that this is not Finding Nemo." The three of us laugh at the punch line of Emily's story.

"And on that note, I'm going to the little girls room. You two play nice while I'm gone," she says.

"Sure thing honey, but hurry back." Emily gives Ben a smile and winks at me as she saunters off to the restroom. I follow her journey to the back of the restaurant. My guilty pleasure is interrupted when my cousin asks, "So do you want to tell me what all of this is about?"

"I think maybe you're the one who should be explaining himself," is my reply.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" he retorts

"Well if you're going to hook up with someone before you go out with your girlfriend, at least have the decency not to leave any evidence behind.

"What the hell are you talking about?" I make a head notion to his neck.

"There's lipstick on your collar friend," I say. He runs his hand along his collar and pulls it away to examine the red lipstick on his fingers.

"Shit," he whispers.

"Yes, Ben, shit indeed."

"I knew I should have stopped by my house on the way here," he says.

"How long have you been screwing around on Emily?" I ask.

"It's only been a couple of times. I swear I didn't mean to hook up with Alison, but she's been like a dog with a bone."

I pound my fist on the table and growl out "Alison! All of the girls in the world and you pick Alison!"

Ben hangs his head. "I know, I know. I'm such a screw up."

"You're damn right you are and you need to tell Emily and beg for her forgiveness."

"Tell Emily?! Uh negative. Look I promise to break things off with Alison. I just had to get it out of my system. It was a temporary moment of weakness. I love Emily. This was a one time offense and it'll never happen again. Besides, in two weeks I'll be at Penn and Ali will be all of the way across the country at Stanford. Problem solved. No harm, no foul."

"I don't care. She deserves to know and if you aren't going to tell her, then I am,"I threaten.

"No you're not."

"I can't keep this from her Ben, she's my bestfriend," I say.

"And you're my cousin Paige. Blood is thicker than water and all that good stuff. Besides, you owe me one. So this little indiscretion remains between the two of us, got it?" I stare Ben down, but unlike Emily, he doesn't break. I can feel the rage building inside of me. How dare he bring that up as his bargaining chip. I contain myself because I don't want to make a scene in public. I concede defeat and a smirks appears across his lips because he knows he's got me.

"I swear this better be a one time thing Ben. I don't like being dishonest with Emily." His eyes widen and he full out belly laughs. "Oh really? So since your so honest, do you want to tell me how long you've been in love with my girlfriend?"

My jaw drops as I realize the jig is up. I've always considered myself a grade A performer. I mean, I've convinced my father as well as most of the people in my life, that I'm keen on taking over the family business when I graduate. I thought I was doing a better job of hiding what Emily really means to me. I guess I was wrong.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," I respond.

"Oh you don't, do you? You're really going to sit here in my face and flat out lie to me? Miss Honest and Honorable. I see the way you look at her when you think nobody is looking. How you go out of your way to do little things for her."

"I'm just being a good friend," I say weakly.

Ben slams his hand on the table and spits out,"Bullshit Paige!" "You know it and I know it. I've been letting you slide because Em doesn't swing that way, so you're really not a threat. But I'm tired of you not respecting the boundaries of our relationship. When it's all said and done, Emily Fields is going to be my wife. So your little infatuation with her ends tonight."

Before I have time to form a response, Emily returns to the table. She slides back in next to Ben and he puts his arm around her shoulder.

She asks, "So what did I miss?"