Hey guys. Thank you so much for continuing to read and review, you are all making my day! Here's another chapter, I hope you enjoy. Thanks :)
102 messages. Not even a letter in return, not even a goofy face. Emily sighed. What was it going to take to get Paige to talk to her? Swim practice had been an awkward mess the past 3 nights and with Noel's party tomorrow night she was at a loss with what to do with herself. Paige had even cancelled the extra driving help. Emily was going crazy. The girls were beginning to notice something was wrong with her but she wouldn't talk. She couldn't do that to Paige. Emily's mom was watching her play with her food for the fourth night in a row but knew by now Emily was going something she wasn't ready to discuss.
"Honey, if you want to be excused I understand. Well, I don't. But if you need to take some time your dinner clearly isn't being eaten any time soon."
"Thanks mom," Emily muttered absent mindedly. She scraped the food into the kitchen bin and left her plate in the sink. She looked at her knife as she placed it down on top. Why? Why would someone do that to themselves? Paige was right. She didn't understand. She wasn't even sure that she wanted to. She just wanted her best friend back. A little joke or even a little smirk but no. The universe wasn't on her side right now. It wasn't meant to be. The thought of being absolutely intoxicated tomorrow night was sounding more and more appealing as the seconds passed.
Emily walked almost zombie like into school after another night of being sleep deprived. She had to double take when she saw Paige sitting with the girls, laughing and joking. As the girls looked at Emily one by one, Paige turned her head to see what so eye catching. She clocked Emily faster than you could say "go sharks." She mumbled something to the girls about having to check in with Coach Fulton but she would see them all later at Noel's. Emily stared with disbelief as Paige walked away in the opposite direction. Hanna shouted hi and Aria waved with Spencer smiling slightly at Emily. She joined them, taking the seat Paige had just left vacant.
"Em. I don't want to intervene but are you two okay? You don't seem to be getting along all that fine," Hanna expressed her concern.
"We are fine. Finer than fine," Emily almost spat out. Spencer gave Hanna a look which told her not to press any further.
"Oh good, the bell. I'll see you guys later." The girls watched her leave and crumple her coffee cup before throwing it in the bin. They couldn't tell if it was anger or sadness or both.
The girls were getting ready at Hanna's when the doorbell rang. Emily looked quizzically around as she counted all 3 of her group, with Aria away for the weekend.
"That will be Paige! She's my plus one since Toby bailed." Emily just about scowled but Spencer had already left the room to go and let Paige in.
"Em please lighten up. We are about to get drunk on all kinds of levels."
"Hanna I'm fine."
"You might want to tell your face that. I don't know what's wrong but it's nothing alcohol won't fix."
"That's what you think," Emily whispered as Paige entered the room guided by Spencer. Paige almost smiled at Emily, obviously trying to keep the peace in front of their friends before looking away.
"We just have to wait on Hanna reapplying her face for the 5th time today then Caleb will drive us. Hey Em that could be you soon," joked Spencer, "especially with Paige helping you!"
Emily smiled but not with her eyes as she quickly stammered that they should get going. They all nodded and left to join Caleb.
Noel's party was in full swing when the girls and Caleb arrived. Bottles of beer were chucked their way and they split to mingle with different people. Emily headed straight for the table full of cocktails but Paige bet her to it. She decided to stick to beer for the meantime and go and watch college boys playing pool. She glanced back at Paige to see her pouring more than several amounts in the one glass to then down it in one go. Emily shook her head as she continued walking.
7 beers later and Emily wasn't caring if Paige was at the cocktail table or not, she needed something stronger. Fortunately, Paige was nowhere to be seen when Emily got there. She poured herself a mixture that shouldn't be legal and left to go outside and down it. Someone was sitting on a log with their hood up. It kind of looked like- oh great; it was Paige. Emily walked over quietly and took a place beside Paige, who looked up to see who was joining her. Upon seeing who it was she started to rise but Emily grabbed her arm.
"Paige. Please talk to me."
Paige grunted and sat back down. The alcohol was getting to her head anyway. Hopefully it would act as a buffer if Emily started anything.
"What do you want me to say, Em?"
"Anything that isn't just a noise or a look. I get that I asked about something really heavy but ignoring it isn't helping. We've never had a fight before. I wouldn't like this to be our first."
Paige looked over and locked eyes with Emily. "I don't know what to say. I don't want to talk about it."
"And that's okay. I just want you to know that I'll always be here for you. You don't have to talk about anything, I just want my friend back."
Paige looked away as she answered Emily, "I'll try my best, Em. I'm sorry for being this way. I just flipped out when you noticed. I didn't know what to do. I was so scared," Paige was choking back tears.
"Hey, come here," Emily said as she enveloped Paige in the first hug they had shared in days. They held on tightly, breathing into each other's necks, not wanting to be the first to let go. Emily could breathe again.
"How's the hangover :-)"
Emily almost fell out of bed when she saw Paige's name flash across her screen.
"Awful. Thank God there's no swim practice today. My head is swimming fine all by itself."
"You never could handle your drink xD" Emily laughed and happily sighed as she rolled over to fall back asleep knowing all was well once again.
A few hours later and she had regained enough energy and enough time to be able to attend her driving lesson. She was going out looking like something from the horrors she liked but that didn't matter; last night was worth it.
Mid October. Almost Halloween, almost time until Emily was holding down the fort for the weekend. Which actually meant throwing a crazy Halloween party, courtesy of Hanna. The past few weeks had seen her and Paige back to normality; swimming, driving and curled up watching horrors. Paige hadn't brought up anything regarding Emily's concerns but Emily was waiting patiently. She would get there one day. She just wasn't sure when that day would be. Her thoughts regrouped as she sat down with Paige on her right, Hanna on her left, Spencer and Aria across from them, all ready to eat lunch.
"Okay so vodka? We can throw in red food colouring to make it look like blood," Hanna eagerly suggested.
"I like it!" Paige squealed, "we can all help out with the baking beforehand, right Em?"
Emily smiled at them both. "Sure. As long as there's no repeat of the empanada saga," she laughed. The group giggled as they reminisced.
"I want you to be careful. Lock the doors and windows. No answering the door without checking who it is. Don't answer the phone if it's an unknown called ID. No parties. No alcohol. Did I mention no parties?"
"Unfortunately, yes you did mom. Go. Your flight won't wait for even you," Emily subtly told her mom to leave. They hugged goodbye and Pam was on her way to catch a Saturday mid-morning flight. Emily, on the other hand, was about to leave for a driving lesson. She now actually looked forward to them as Paige was helping her a lot during the week. They had even began talking about road trips during spring break. Emily just had to pass the tests first.
An hour later she returned home to get changed before the group came over to help set up.
"How red are we making the drink again xD?"
"Just pick up whatever you can Paige. And please hurry up, I'm getting lonely."
"Aww :-( don't worry I'll be there soon :-)"
"See you later!"
A clattering in the hallway announced the arrival of Hanna and her going overboard in the form of what looked like an AA member's dark past. Hanna sure knew the meaning of a party.
"I hope you at least got some food to soak all that up," laughed Emily, "How did you even persuade your mom to buy all of that?"
"Let's just say momma Marin thinks way more than 30 people are coming to this 'small gathering'," Hanna snorted.
Spencer and Aria were next to get there with Paige not far behind. They seemed to be carrying the food Hanna had "forgotten" to pick up. Paige was talking to Spencer excitedly about costumes. She and Emily were dressing complimentary but they didn't want to ruin the surprise. Spencer was dressing as Elizabeth Bennett with Toby as Mr Darcy. Hanna wanted to go as Barbie with Caleb as Ken but he opted for army Action Man instead. Aria was going as a snowman; no Ezra meant no need for dressing up. They were getting almost annoyed at not being able to guess Paige and Emily's costumes so they get to work on the food and drink instead.
The amount of drink laid out in the kitchen was enough to give every single one of them alcohol poisoning but that was understandable considering how much they all liked to down. The blood red of the vodka was making Aria feel sick so she chose decorating the house instead with help from Spencer. Hanna was already tipsy and went upstairs to try different Barbie looks. This left Emily and Paige alone in the kitchen to cook.
"So we got pastries, pasta, pizza, candy, I think all we have left to do are the cakes?" Emily asked Paige.
"Yeah. We saved the best till last but this part requires an apron," laughed Paige.
"I actually own aprons funnily enough. Here, catch!" Emily tossed one at Paige.
"I can't tie this. I feel like a T-Rex," Paige joked as she struggled to put a knot in her apron.
"Here, let me." Paige's breath hitched as Emily caught her off guard, winding her arms around the other girl's waist while staring at her mouth.
"There. Wasn't as hard as it looked," grinned Emily, still staring at Paige's lips.
"It's always harder than it looks.. Speaking of, do you want yours tied?"
"Go for it," Emily said lowly as she bit her lip and turned around for Paige to reach her ties. Paige let her hands rest slightly above them and ran her hands down Emily's back slightly before actually tying her apron.
"That's so tight Paige," moaned Emily.
"Okay. I'll do it again." Paige put one hand firmly on Emily's hip while she pulled the knot with her other hand. She tied it delicately this time and let her hands rest for a second too long.
"Let's make some cakes," smiled Paige as she let go of a very confused Emily.
"Just one more then I promise we will get ready," pleaded a very tipsy Emily.
Paige rolled her eyes and sighed. "Fine but if you don't remember your own name later then don't blame me."
"I'm sure I'll make you say it anyway," Emily whispered in Paige's ear as she poured another shot. Paige looked away before standing up to get changed. She left the bathroom 5 minutes later as a very feminine Batman.
"Paige, you gotta try this stuff, it's... wow. Who knew Batman could look so hot?" Emily looked Paige up and down as the other girl blushed. She felt as though she were being undressed by Emily's eyes.
"C'mon. We have to do your makeup and people are already arriving."
"Okay Miss grumpy," laughed Emily. Paige sat down across from her with her makeup bag, crossing her legs. Emily shuffled closer before staring at Paige.
"Can I help you, Em?"
"You have such pretty brown eyes. Like melted chocolate. And your jawline could've been chiselled by Adonis himself. And your-"
"Em, stop. I think the cocktails have well and truly taken over your ability to even process what you're saying." Paige was putting this down to Emily's drunkenness but a small part of her hoped this was a side that sober Emily was too scared to show. Paige picked up a can of green spray dye and went to down on Emily's hair. Emily giggled at the tingly feeling.
Next, Paige pulled out white face paint and carefully pulled Emily's face into her left hand while sponging it with her right. Emily was captivated by Paige's eyes and didn't look away once.
"Ooooh I make an awesome Joker so far," Emily buzzed as she caught herself in her mirror.
"You do indeed. Just your eyes and mouth and then we're done."
"Can I have your eyes instead?" slurred Emily.
"Shhh."
Paige switched sponges and began to blacken Emily's eyes. As Emily opened them again they stared at each other.
Paige quickly pulled out a lip brush and red paint and then went on to finish Emily's face.
"Do you ever just wanna kiss someone?"
"Uh what? Em, no. What are you talking about?"
"I think you know exactly what I'm talking about," Emily whispered as she leaned forward into Paige, mouths meeting in the midst of Paige's shock.
"Hey, you're getting your makeup all over me," Paige complained as she pulled away slightly.
"Oh no that's okay, I'm going to be all over you"...