I WANT THE FIRST MONA/LUCAS FIC ON THE PRETTY LITTLE LIARS FORUM! I ship them (crazy as you think I may be) and in theory, they would be amazing. So here's my first take on a Mona/Lucas friendship (turned romantic, if you wish) fic! As usual, thanks to Mel, Carrie, Emma, and Sam who will probably at some point or another read this fic. I love you girls with my whole heart!
It was lunch time at Rosewood High School. Mona Vanderwaal stared intently into her powder compact, applying a fresh coat of lip gloss. Scrunching her hair gently to make sure no curl had gone unnoticed, she pulled out her mascara and applied a fresh coat of that as well. Upon inspection, she puckered her lips and nodded her head in approval.
Closing the compact with a snap, she looked up, gasping in surprise at Noel Kahn's presence.
"Noel!" she shrieked, hitting him on the arm. "Don't ever do that again. You startled me!"
"Sorry." he replied automatically, wincing slightly from where she had hit him.
"You sound it." Mona told him, her voice absolutely dripping with sarcasm.
"I think you'll survive." he declared icily. "Listen, I've been meaning to talk to you about something..."
"Make it snappy." she warned, focusing on her nails as she filed them. "Lunch is almost over. Maybe if you were on time like you were supposed to be..."
"Well, excuse me!" he retorted. "I didn't realize my world suddenly revolved around you. I'll be here an hour early next time, if that's what you want!"
"It really would be nice." Mona told him sweetly with a bright smile and vigorous nod of the head. "I also feel the need to point out that if you had been on time, you wouldn't have startled me. So this argument we're having? It totally could've been avoided."
"That's it!" Noel growled, pounding his fist on the table. "We're through."
"What?" Mona cried. She instantly stopped filing her nails, looking up at him in utter confusion.
"You heard me." He flailed his arms through the air. "Us... whatever... this is... er, was it's over. I can't take it anymore. You're way too high maintenence."
He stood up, the chair scraping against the floor with a high-pitched screech.
"You know, it's no wonder everyone thinks you're a bitch." he proclaimed, shaking his head in disbelief.
Mona tried to swallow the lump in her throat as he stormed off, not willing to let the tears that had filled her eyes fall. She felt like she had been punched in the stomach.
The bell rang to signal the end of lunch, but as the rest of the students rushed to their next class, Mona could only sit frozen in place while Noel's last statement echoed through her head.
Thank God I have a free period right now, she thought to herself.
She forced herself to get up, grabbing her backpack and checking her cell phone as she did so.
The screen of her cell was blank as she expected. No texts. No missed calls. Nothing.
Of course. Why would anyone want to talk to a bitch? she wondered, tossing the phone into her back pack with more force than necessary.
She entered the hallway, wondering where on earth she could go. All of the rooms were filled with classes in session, and she didn't want to go to the student center. It was way too crowded; she just wanted to be alone.
I'm sure everyone would thank me for not gracing them with my presence in the first place.
She sighed, about to give up on a place to go when finally, she passed a room that was pitch black. More importantly, it was deserted.
Of course! The tech center. No one will ever find me in here.
She opened the door, not even bothering to turn on the light. Using the glow of the hallway, she took a seat at a table. Placing her book bag beside her, she put her head on the table and began to sob softly.
As she attempted to muffle the sound of her sobs, the light flickered on and the door opened abruptly. A happy whistle was heard as someone entered the room, closing the door behind them.
Mona quickly wiped away her tears.
What the hell?
Looking up, she spied Lucas Gottesman, who stopped mid-whistle, his forehead creased in perplexion at seeing her didn't say anything. He simply stared at her in complete bewilderment.
"Can I help you with something, Hermie?" she questioned coldly. "Or are you going to stand there and continue looking at me like a freak?" She paused for a second before continuing. "Oh, wait. I'm sorry. You are a freak."
Lucas closed his eyes and clenched his fist in anger. He opened them and glared at her with a fake smile.
"No, Mona. I don't need anything from you. Never have and never will. Forgive me for being in the same room as you. In fact, forgive someone of my social status for breathing the same air as you!"
"Jerk! No, worse than that. You're an ass!" Mona roared, getting up and pushing her chair with such force that it landed with a loud crash on the floor. "Who do you think you are, talking to me like that?"
"Someone needs to!" Lucas shouted. "What are you going to do, hit me? Go ahead. Make my day. I've had enough. You can't just treat people like crap and not expect the same in return."
"Yep. You've got it right, Lucas. I'm a selfish bitch who cares about nobody but herself."
"Yeah, you kind of are." he responded boldly with a nod.
Mona's face flushed red with anger, but she didn't react. She picked up the chair and sat back down.
"You think you know so much about me? Newsflash. You don't! Nobody does."
"I know you plenty." Lucas argued. "Your life is perfect. You have a great boyfriend, great friends. You're one of the most popular girls in the school. I'd give anything for what you have. What you don't have is the right to complain."
Mona rolled her eyes in disgust and scoffed. "Perfect? You think my life is perfect? For your information, Noel broke up with me. So I no longer have a boyfriend. Friends? In case you haven't noticed, the only friend I have is Hanna, and even then I'm completely jealous. I feel like I have to compete with Aria, Spencer, and Emily every day since they became close again. Do you know what I'd give for a friendship like theirs? Sure, I may be popular now, but trust me, Lucas. Popularity isn't everything."
Lucas stood there in silence with his mouth gaped open.
"What? Surprised that my perfect life isn't quite as perfect as you thought?" Mona inquired in a false, sunny tone.
"I'm not sure if it's that..." Lucas began thoughtfully, "Or the fact that you actually called me Lucas." he concluded.
Not expecting that answer, Mona couldn't help but let out a soft, yet genuine, laugh.
Lucas smiled, the sound of her laugh getting the better of him.
The laughter quickly turned into a sigh as Mona recalled the previous events of the day.
She formed her arms in a circle around the table, laying her forehead on top of it. "I'm sorry." she mumbled.
"Excuse me?"
"I'm sorry." she repeated, her voice still muffled."
Lucas shook his head in defeat. "Still didn't quite catch that."
"I SAID I'M SORRY, OKAY?" she shouted, her head popping up rapidly.
"For what?"
"Treating you the way I have been." Mona clarified, throwing her right hand in the air in annoyance. "I shouldn't call you Hermie or any other name for that matter. I know what it's like to be teased. You think I'd have learned my lesson."
Lucas walked over carefully, taking a seat at the table with her. "So then why do you do it? Make fun of people, I mean."
"I don't know." Mona whispered earnestly. "I guess it's because I'll do anything to make people forget about the person I used to be. Even if it means hurting someone else."
"Seems to be working." Lucas pointed out.
"I guess, but like I said, popularity isn't everything. Seems like I'm damned if I do and I'm damned if I don't. Geeky Mona gets teased non-stop and Queen Bee Mona is a bitch. Which option seems better to you?"
Lucas raised his eyebrow curiously.
"I'll tell you which one... NEITHER!"
Mona bit her bottom lip sadly. "I may seem confident, but I'm still so insecure. Like I'm that geeky girl no one ever wanted to hang out with. I don't want to go back to that."
Silence.
Her voice was distant, quavering when she eventually spoke again. "I'm full of doubts and disappointments, but I wish for once someone could see underneath all that there's a part of me worth keeping."
A sinking feeling entered the pit of Lucas's stomach as he stared at her. He wasn't sure why he felt bad. Why should he? All she ever did was tease him. Maybe it was because he knew that she did in fact used to be like him. Maybe it was the way she was talking that let him know she was speaking the truth. Whatever the reason, he didn't know why he felt sorry for her. All he knew was that he did.
Without even thinking, he grabbed her hand and looked at her sympathetically. His eyes widened in surprise as he realized after a moment what he had just done, but he grew even more surprised when she didn't pull it away.
Clearing his throat anxiously, he let go.
"Listen, I think I kind of owe you an apology, too." he confessed quietly. "I wasn't aware that your life was all that complicated." he went on with a teasing smile.
Mona couldn't help smiling in return.
"As for Hanna, you may not feel like she's as close with you as she is with the other girls, but I beg to differ. You two became friends because she's a bit insecure herself. Or at least she was. I think that because of that, you two are always going to have a special connection."
Mona nodded, feeling a bit better. "Maybe you're right. Ugh, Noel on the other hand...""
"Oh, please!" Lucas cried with a roll of his eyes. "He's not even worth mentioning. Truth be told, he's an idiot. But then again, what do you expect? He's best friends with Sean."
Mona had to bite her bottom lip to keep from laughing.
"Plus, if you ever need someone to vent to, I'm always here. You know, geek to... chic."
"Thanks, Lucas." she stated warmly as she let out a chuckle. "That really does mean a lot."
"No problem." he replied simply. Then he cleared his throat once more. "Well, I guess I better get started on this massive pile of yearbook work I have to do. It's not going to create itself." He pushed his seat back, standing up, making his way across the room toward one of the computers.
"Wait...take a picture with me." Mona commanded.
"Huh?"
"Take a picture with me!"
"You want to take a picture with me?" Lucas inquired in awe. "For the whole school to see?"
"Sure. Why not? What have I got to lose?" she asked matter-of-factly.
He shrugged, and walked over to her again, camera in hand. They placed their faces in front of the lens, both smiling while trying to ignore how warm their cheeks felt as they brushed against each other.
Mona blinked furiously as Lucas hit the shutter button and the camera let out an particularly vibrant flash.
"Looks good." Lucas proclaimed happily, showing off his handiwork to Mona.
"Yeah, it does." she agreed. "How about one more?"
She reached over into her backpack, pulling out her reading glasses. "Have no fear, Mona the nerd is here!" she chanted, placing them over her eyes.
She carefully took the camera from Lucas and they put their faces together yet again.
"Alright, Gottesman, I want you to make the goofiest face you know. Shouldn't be too hard. You're already pretty funny looking." she teased.
"Ha-ha. You're such a comedian." he retorted sarcastically.
She snapped the picture, both laughing hysterically as they looked at it.
"This is classic!" she cried, smiling at how silly the two of them looked.
"You're telling me."
"That was fun."
"Yeah, it was. We should do it again sometime."
"Definitely." She checked her watch. "But for right now, I have to go. My next class is about to start."
"Oh... alright." Lucas remarked relunctantly. "I guess I'll be seeing you around."
"If you're lucky enough..." Mona trailed off, heading for the door. Once she got there, she turned back around. "Hey, Lucas?"
"Yeah?" he asked.
She walked across the room again, placing a kiss on his cheek, causing him to blush a deep shade of crimson. "Thank you." she whispered into his ear. "For everything."
She headed for the door a second time, only to turn back around again. "Oh, and if you tell anyone about any of this, I'll have to kill you."
"Don't worry. Your secret's safe with me." Lucas vowed, placing his hand over his heart.
As the two parted ways, both couldn't help but think that they knew absolutley nothing... or maybe it was absolutely everything... about each other.