The first time Emily saw Paige at school the next day was in English class. Paige had been just about to walk over to Emily when another girl had called Paige over to talk to her and then Mr.F had walked in and started the class.
Like usual, Emily was sat next to Aria. They had been set a short writing task to do in class but Emily couldn't concentrate, she just kept staring blankly into space. After a little while she heard Mr.F announce that they had 2 minutes to finish their writing before they had to hand it in. Emily looked down at the paper she was supposed to be writing on and realized that all she had written so far was the title. Aria glanced over at Emily and could see the worry in her eyes. "What happened?" She whispered to Emily. "Crap, I don't know." They only had a few minutes to finish writing before they were supposed to be giving them in. "Don't worry." Aria said. "I have an idea. Just hand in the paper like everyone else and then explain to Mr.F afterwards. He's really nice and if you just tell him you'll hand it in later then he'll be fine." Emily gave Aria a worried look. "Seriously, I promise Emily."
Emily didn't really have any other choice. They had been given over 45 minutes to write anything they wanted as long as it was true and she had written nothing! She folded her piece of paper in half and handed it in like everyone else. At the end of the class Emily waited for everyone to leave before approaching the young teacher.
"Mr.F. I wanted to talk to you about the writing we did in class."
"Sure Emily. What's up?"
"Well, you see…I…well I didn't write anything. I basically handed you a blank piece of paper. I'm really sorry. I can write it in my lunch break and hand it to you later?"
Mr.F could see the worry in Emily's eyes and said, "Don't worry Emily. You're a good kid. I'm sure you have a good reason. Just hand it into me tomorrow. I won't have time to grade them until later this week anyway."
Emily gave the teacher a huge smile and said 'thanks'.
Emily knew that she needed to wake up. She couldn't keep daydreaming about Paige through every class otherwise she'd end up with more homework than she would ever have time for.
It was going to be tough though. She hadn't had chance to really see Paige and she just needed one moment with her. One word or look or anything from Paige just to reassure her that everything was okay. Paige hadn't said or done anything to make her feel otherwise, but she just needed something. She needed to be near Paige.
Emily managed to make it to lunch where she knew she would, as always, get to see Paige.
They were about half way through the lunch period and Paige still hadn't shown up. Eventually Aria asked Hanna, "Where's Paige? She's usually here by now."
"She had to stay behind in math class. We were supposed to finish some pages in the book and Paige hadn't even started them by the end of class so was making her stay and finish." Hanna responded.
Aria looked quizzically over to Emily, who just shrugged. Everyone knew that Paige was exactly the biggest fan of math, so she would probably just use that as an excuse.
Emily could tell what Aria was thinking though. That it was strange that the same thing had happened to her in English, but Aria just smiled and moved the conversation on.
Emily was upset that she still wouldn't be able to see Paige properly. Only two more lessons then we have swim practice. I can get through two more lessons.
The afternoon dragged along. Emily did her best to actually do the work that she was supposed to, even though looking at the clock every 30 seconds wasn't helping.
Time for swim practice finally arrived and Emily made her way to the changing rooms. When she got there she saw that Paige was already changed and ready to head in to the pool.
"Hey, Emily."
"Hey, Paige. We missed you at lunch."
"Yeah. That sucked. Guess it'll teach me to actually do my work in class!" Paige smiled and turned to leave.
Swim practice went a lot better than the rest of Emily's day had been. She was gliding through the water keeping pace with Paige and matching her stokes perfectly. The coach would blow her whistle every 10 minutes or so to tell them which stroke they should do next. Each time the whistle blew Paige and Emily would look over to each other and smile. Even though they weren't alone or even that close, they were both just content with being near each other for the first time that day.
When the coach blew the whistle for the final time to signal the end of practice, everyone got out of the pool and headed back to the changing rooms. But Emily was called back to have a talk with the coach.
When Emily had finished talking to the coach everyone was already out of the showers, including Paige.
"Is everything okay, Em?"
"Yeah, fine. She just wanted to talk about improving my turn. She actually said you have one of the best turns she had ever seen and was thinking that you could help me?"
Paige blushed slightly at the compliment, but nodded that she would be happy to help.
Emily went to shower quickly and left Paige alone to get changed. By the time she was out of the shower there was only Paige left in the changing room. Paige was laying down on one of the benches with her eyes closed. Emily could sense that she was only doing this because she was feeling a little uncomfortable at the prospect of watching Emily get changed.
"You ready to go now?" Emily asked, to signal that she was now fully dressed and Paige could open her eyes.
Paige stood up quickly and then picked up her bag. Emily looked stunning. She always looked stunning, but there was something about her wet hair and casual attire that made her look particularly stunning at this moment. Paige dropped her bag back down on the bench where it had just been sat and slowly walked over to Emily. Paige lifted her hand to cup the back of Emily's wet hair. She then stroked her fingers over her cheek, her eyes following the path that her hand was making. Then gently Paige returned her hand to the back of Emily's head and pulled her closer. Now Paige was staring at Emily's lips as she moved closer and closer. Finally after what seemed like an eternity without kissing Emily, she pressed their lips together. At first the kiss was slow and tender, but then it became more frantic and lust filled. Emily's hands were resting on Paige's hips and slowly started making their way under Paige's loose jacket and onto her bare back. This sent a noticeable shiver through Paige who responded by pulling Emily deeper into the kiss.
The kiss was broken by the sound of the coach shouting to ask if anyone was left in the changing room. Emily was the first of the two to be able to stutter out some sort of response and shakily shouted that they were just about to leave. Emily then planted a light kiss on Paige's lips before grapping her hand and pulling her out of the room.
They both said 'goodnight' to the coach and quietly began their walk home. They walked more slowly than they usually did, both realising that this was the first time that had managed to be alone all day.
When they eventually reached the intersection they both just stopped. Neither wanted to say goodbye. Paige looked up and then gently grabbed Emily's hand and led her behind a small group of trees. They weren't exactly completely hidden from the rest of the world but neither seemed to care. Paige connected their lips quickly and they resumed an almost identical position to the one they had in the changing room. Paige's hands gripping the back of Emily's head and Emily's hands touching the skin on Paige's back. The last time they had walked home from school together was before the camping trip. At that time they had never kissed before, but now they were kissing each other like it was the most normal thing in the world.
For the first time Paige gently brushed her tongue against Emily's bottom lip. At first Emily was a little taken aback by this new feeling but slowly she gained enough confidence to mimic Paige's actions.
They continued like this for a long time. Emily's hands drew small delicate patterns on Paige's back, each one causing Paige to shiver, while Paige gently played with Emily's hair. Their tongues dancing together.
Emily was enjoying the kiss a lot, but she suddenly got really nervous and gently pulled away. The thoughts running through her mind were scaring her. She was seriously falling for this girl. Paige noticed the concerned look in Emily's eyes and whispered, "Are you okay, is this too fast?"
Emily shook her head, "Everything is amazing Paige. This is just a little scary. All day all I've wanted to do is…kiss you."
Paige kissed Emily again and then whispered in her ear, "I haven't stopped thinking about wanting to kiss you since the first time I saw you".
Every time Paige whispered in her ear Emily could feel her stomach doing somersaults. The words she used always drove her crazy.
Paige noticed that Emily was a little out of it so decided to bring her back to reality. "Do you want to come to my house for dinner tomorrow? My parents usually get home later but I can cook us something if you' like?"
"You cook?" Emily smiled. Paige nodded, "A little."
"Are there any other talents I should know about?"
"You just have to wait and see." Paige gave a cheeky smirk before giving Emily one last kiss before they came out from behind the trees.
"See you tomorrow, Paige."
"So, are you coming for dinner?" Paige asked.
Emily smiled and nodded. She couldn't wait.
Emily sat down at her desk to start the writing she was supposed to have already finished in class. 'Write a story about you. It can be anything, a trip to the zoo, a TV show that you like. Just as long as it's true' had been all that Mr.F had said.
He had been so nice to her after the class. He hadn't asked for a reason why she had failed to write anything in the 45 minutes that they had been given. He just understood.
Emily began to write.
I've read a lot about people having a moment. A moment where everything in their life changes. I believe that people have many of these moments in their lives. This moment could be anything. It can be accepting or not accepting a job offer, deciding on which university to go to, going on vacation to Europe or Asia or it could simply be taking a left turn instead of a right. But when that moment happens, things change. This change can be good or bad. It can be something that you can or can't see. Either way it's important. Important to the person that it happens to.
Up until recently I can't think of any point in my life where I'd had one of these moments. Of course I've had some great experiences and made some great memories, but nothing like recently.
The first one happened not so long ago, before I moved to Rosewood. Over one weekend everything in my life changed. If you asked any of my friends or my family then they would say that it was a weekend like any other. Nothing different, nothing special. But for me everything changed, in a good way.
I realised something that made everything in my life suddenly make sense. I felt free.
Since moving to Rosewood these 'moments' have become more frequent. It seems like every week my life is changing. One perfect moment is followed by another and I just hope and pray that this never stops. I know that not all 'moments' will be perfect; I just believe that the tougher ones will eventually lead to better ones.
One of my most recent moments happened this weekend. No matter what happens in the future I will always remember this weekend. It's changed my life. I understand that I am only a teenager, but this moment was important.
I had a moment this weekend so important that it has consumed my every waking moment since. So much so that it would cause me to sit and stare at a wall for forty five minutes when I was supposed to be doing something else.
I think that people should always respect and be understanding of other people no matter what they do. You never know when someone has just experienced a 'good or bad moment'.
Moment's can make you act crazy. Make you run shouting and screaming down a hallway or simply make you stop.
I'm looking forward to waking up tomorrow and maybe having more moments.
Emily wasn't the sort of person who expressed her feelings to other people. Especially not to teachers who she didn't really know that well. She had just realized two things when she had sat down to write her story. One, that Mr.F should know that he was a good person for simply understanding and two, no matter how long she sat there for, the only thing she was going to be able to write about was how she was feeling right now. All she could think about was Paige.