"All discarded lovers should be given a second chance, but with somebody else."- Mae West

Will wasn't usually up at 2 am, but his damn English teacher demanded a five paragraph essay in which the students analyze the most boring piece of text ever written. Will hummed the A Rush Of Blood To The Head album that pulsed through the fabric on his stereo.

"Youuuuu arrrrre" Will sang along. He was feeling really good and he hadn't felt that way in a while. It wasn't that he was sad but he wasn't as upbeat and happy go lucky in so long he forgot when. His phone beeped on his couch and he jumped off his bed to see what kind of notification he would get in the middle of the night.

A text from Emma. She seemed to let sentences flow into each other, never really ending but always beginning. Will plopped on the couch cushion and tried to understand. It seemed she thought they were already talking about something, but he didn't text her all week.

"I don't understand you Will. You want me then you don't. I want to date you. You seem like you would be a good boyfriend. I know I'm not your type I can see it in your eyes but opposites attract right? I don't know."

Will stared at his phone blankly and in a state of shock, with his laptop sitting on his bed, paper completely forgotten, and a song about urgency playing in the background. He would have to finish his paper tomorrow because now all he was thinking about was Emma.

Monday came and Will put Maroon 5on an endless repeat 'cause it seemed like that kinda day. Emma smiled widely at him when he walked through the doorway of their English class. The desks were arranged in groups and had been for a few weeks. Emma was in his group, along with Eric and Rebecca. They insisted on sitting next to each therefore forcing Will and Emma to sit closer than they probably wanted. If they told that to themselves though, they would be lying and they both knew.

Emma admired the way his shirt, featuring Bob Dylan, fit on his torso and how his black sweat pants that although baggy, looked wonderful on his legs. Before she could say any type of greeting he asked her the question he was burning to ask all weekend.

"Did you mean it?"

Emma smiled gently at him, "Mean what?" Will pulled out his phone and showed her message, the one that was engrained in his brain. A long 'oh' escaped her mouth, falling across the time stamp and the words she recklessly texted him.

A long moment passed before she finally lowered his phone back to his lap, looked directly into his eyes and answered him as Eric and Rebecca took their seats. "Yes."

"Are you guys finally going out?" Eric teased them as he plopped his book bag on the floor and slid into his desk. He put his intertwined hands on top of the desk and waited in excitement.

Emma looked at Will who exchanged a pleading look. "Well,"

Will cut her off before she could make a mountain out of a mole hill. "Not in so many words." Will smiled brightly at both of them before indulging in a mundane conversation of what Eric and Rebecca did that weekend that both Will and Emma zoned out of, entranced in their own creative minds.

x

Emma stretched herself out on his bed which made her shirt ride up past her belly button. Will noticed this just like he noticed her toned thighs and messy hair when she came into his room. He invited her over to watch a movie because Sophie wouldn't stop asking him. Ironic thing was, Sophie went down for a nap half an hour after Emma arrived. An old 50's movie played on the tv.

"Are you tired?" He sat up in his bed. She said all she wanted to do was hang out but Will didn't believe her. He never really did. Despite her disagreement he saw her yawn. "Do you want more popcorn?" He handed her the large bowl but she refused that as well.

If anything, she was aroused. She knew what they could do while they were alone in his room and why they weren't doing those things. She sat up hastily and turned around to him. His eyes darted from the tv to her and he raised his eyebrow in suspicion.

"Is something wrong?"

"I've just been thinking a lot," She bit her lip and looked down at her hands and realized he let go. "About that text and how you felt about it."

Will couldn't take the tension he felt from keeping a secret from the girl who easily became his best friend. "I'm dating someone." Her head shot up and she nervously played with her fingers. "Her name is Brittany. She's a cheerleader." Later, this would be the moment in which each of their hands would fly to their forehead as they realized what a mistake that was. But now, now it didn't matter. All that mattered was the hurt and broken feelings.

He restrained from apologizing. He wasn't sorry he liked someone else. He liked her too, but she was too confusing for him to figure out. He wasn't giving up on her, he was simply taking a break.

"I thought we had something."

"Why would you think that?" He didn't give her time to answer, but continued speaking his thought process as it came about. "You're on every mind on the upper east side. Why do you want me?" He threw the blankets off him and turned down the volume of the tv, wishing he could turn down the craziness of his life.

"I think I love you." She spoke with confidence, she never told a boy she loved them because she never did. She hoped she was doing it right but she knew she wasn't. "I want you to belong to me, and me only." She whispered, a little fearful of his tone.

"I'm sorry, Emma." He truly felt sorry, though moments ago not wanting to apologize. "I know this thing with Brittany won't last forever, but I had to move on from you." He took a deep breath because he wanted nothing more than to be with her.

"What was all that 'I'm not ready for a relationship' then?" Emma spat back, only now remembering the things he whispered when they almost kissed. Thinking of that made her hurt in ways she never thought she could and she hoped this would be over soon so she could go home and cry.

"It's complicated." Looking at her, he knew that wasn't enough. "I know that's a shit excuse but I couldn't do this with you anymore. It was confusing, it was giving me headaches!"

"Okay Will. I'll see you around." Emma bolted from the bed and let her feet carry her out the bedroom as fast as they could. He tried to call her name but he knew it was pointless and instead watched the muscles of her butt and upper thighs carry her from his room.