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"Could you help me out with my bra."

Alison is probably the most awful person Emily knows and also the most fascinating one. She's intimidated by her. She feels completely overwhelmed every time she gets near her. It's almost too much to be the one who has the honour of being alone with her in her room, helping her in the task of readjusting the straps of her bra. It feels so intimate, that Emily is bashful, she is barely able to graze her friend's skin. She helps her very cautiously, feeling incredibly self-conscious. Still, she revels at the smallest contact of her digits with her friend's smooth skin.

"You really like it," Allison says all of a sudden, causing Emily to jump, "helping girls out."

"I don't get what you're trying to say."

Alison turns around, facing her. With her perfect features, her perfect figure, and her perfect golden locks framing her face like a shiny halo, she looks like an angel. The only thing that is betraying her is the small smirk that is turning the corner of her lips upward. It's barely perceptible, but it's there, and it's vicious.

"I saw you walking that new girl to her classes today."

Emily smiles nervously, her eyes are darting in every direction. She picks up a hairpin on Allison's dresser, starts playing with it. Then, she takes a deep breath before looking straight into her friend's mocking eyes.

"Maya? Well yeah, she seemed lost. I couldn't just leave her like that."

Alison reaches forward. She takes Emily's hand between hers and unwraps it softly, taking her hairpin away from her. Emily swallows hard. She watches her friend's fingers as they slowly glide across her palm, tracing every single line she finds with that unusual demonstration of tenderness she uses towards Emily sometimes when they are alone.

"Emily, you know that you're my favourite and I probably wouldn't be telling you this if you weren't, but, if you continue to act so friendly with that Naima girl, people may talk."

Emily is mortified. Her heart is hammering against her ribcage. She feels like she is witnessing in slow motion the destruction of a world she had carefully built for herself, leaving her face to face to a truth she isn't ready to confront.

"What do you mean?" She asks breathlessly.

"Aren't you scared your boyfriend, Ben, might get jealous?" Alison's grip becomes a little bit tighter as she speaks.

Emily opens her mouth to reply, but is interrupted by the ringtone of her cell. She shakes her hand out of Alison's grip and reaches for her purse. She sighs takes a peek at the caller's ID: her mother, obviously. Most of her calls come from her mother. Sometimes she wishes she had never asked her for a phone. The way her mother keeps making inquisitions on her whereabouts is starting to be suffocating. However, for once, Emily is happy to receive her call.

"Hey mom!"

There she goes asking her where she, with whom, and when does she think that she will get home. Emily rolls her eyes and walks towards the window. She can feel Alison's burning stare on her back. She tries to concentrate on the group of children playing hockey down the street while her mother speaks. When she ends the conversation, she turns towards Alison and tells her that her mother wants her home immediately.

"She wants me to get home", she lies. "She needs some help with the cooking."

She is almost certain that Alison can tell that she is lying. She has no poker face, she never did, and she probably never will, but, one thing is sure, she can't stay in this room any longer. In now way does she want to resume the conversation they were having. She would rather leave her friend's house right that instant.

Rambling about how annoying her mother can be when she decides that they must spend quality time together to maintain their close bond, Emily swings her bag over shoulder and bolts out of her friend's bedroom.

She loves her best friend Alison to death. She always felt like they had a strong connection, but sometimes Alison's behaviour irks her. The line between Alison's friendly teasing and pure viciousness is thin. It's so thin that sometimes Emily gets the feeling that, for some reason, her friend is trying to get a rise out of her. As much as she likes Alison, Emily is starting to be tired of playing at her little games especially considering the fact that she never knows if she's one of the players or simply another chess piece on her friend's board game.

Emily climbs on her bike and starts pedaling as fast as she can. She needs to evacuate all of her anxiety. She has a feeling that she's about to climb on a long ride.