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"Emily? You there?" Lucas asked as he stood outside her room waiting for her. She was getting ready to show him her new style. Now that she knew she liked him, she got his opinion on some things, and wanted to show him the end result.
"Yes I'm still here! I'm almost done," Emily replied. Lucas knew girls took a long time to get ready and all, but he never expected Emily to put as much time into this as she did. He is quite the impatient person, after all, and would rather be doing something worthwhile instead of waiting to see something he could see any time.
"You or my sister; who takes longer..." Lucas teased softly thinking she couldn't hear. Of course, she could, and had to remind herself Lucas was a guy.
"I get you don't care about fashion at all, but do you want to see me look good or bad? I would assume good, which is why I'm taking my time. I'm almost done, I promise, and trust me, even I think I actually am looking good now," Emily said. Lucas was at least a little better when she said she liked how she looks now. Also, he knew she was going to be in a much worse mood if he rushed her and made her look worse, which was not beneficial to either of them. He did have one question he wanted answered.
"Em, one question; why do you care what I think about what you look like? I mean, shouldn't it be you that matters?" He asked.
"Yes, that's why I'm trying something new despite the fact you liked it before. If you like it now, I didn't lose anything, but I gained happiness in my own looks," Em replied
"So why does it matter what I think?" Lucas asked again.
"Because you are a boy, and boys know what makes a girl look cute. Sometimes," Emily added, as she finished up after making Lucas wait nearly twenty minutes.
"To be fair, asking me to represent our whole gender is kind of unfair, I mean, I'm only 15 and I have very specific preferences and..." Lucas got cut off by Emily's exit from her cave. Maybe this would be much easier than he thought to give his opinion.
"Glad you like it. Worth the wait?" Emily said, noticing Lucas's expressions and reactions. Lucas nodded. Emily laughed, now confident she had impressed Lucas.
"So, um... Yeah, it's... It's nice... I like it... It's... Great. I like it... Uh," Lucas said, while Emily just smiled. It was a very pacific-style outfit on the Atlantic side of the country, which is probably what surprised Lucas the most. It was an emerald green dress with sky blue accents. A necklace, wristband, socks, short heals and ponytail. It made Emily feel great. She has a connection to what she wears. Different colors and outfits make her feel different ways, but this one felt really good on her. The green and blue combination always gave her a relaxed, calm, peaceful feel, which she desperately needed when she was with Lucas for one reason or another.
"Alright! Well, this is all I can show you for now. The rest will have to wait. That's just a sneak peak of what I can do. Obviously you'll like the rest of it too, but I want to keep it a surprise. Anyways, let me get back into my normal clothes and I'll be right back," Emily announced as she went back into her cave, a.k.a her room and got back into her normal clothes. This left Lucas wondering what exactly that outfit could be used for. Or even what her normal clothes were.
"Em, how long will it take to get back into your normal clothes?" Lucas asked.
"Not long. I just have to decide what normal clothing outfit I want to wear," Emily asked. Lucas never understood how Emily kept her clothes organized. He never went in her room, in part because she didn't want him to go in there, but he was fascinated by how girls, or at least Emily, could have so many different types of clothes, make prearranged outfits based on them, and keep them organized so that each outfit stayed together. He just put on a random shirt from his closet and whatever pair of jeans were on top, while Emily appeared to have everything meticulously planned out.
"These are new too, right?" Lucas asked.
"Yeah, probably. You normally only see me in my summer clothes or my school dash professional attire clothes." Em said. "Oh, and my basketball uniform. I think you'll like those this year too," she added. Lucas smiled at the response. He was lucky to know Emily, let alone talk to her and be friends with her. She was a captain of one of the country's best basketball teams, and also a starter on the volleyball team as only a sophomore. Lucas took the available time to daydream about how he not only was able to meet and talk to someone like her, but know her well enough to develop a crush on said girl who somehow was placed right across the street from him. As he thought, Emily came out, only to see him daydreaming about her, so she just laughed a little and sat down next to him. Lucas had no idea what she saw in him, but the fact that she was talking to him was good enough for him. She was basically his celebrity crush. Most boys would say some famous actress or something, but he would just say a girl on his high school's girls basketball team. What Emily liked about him was how simple he was. He wasn't over the top, exaggerational, and she liked that. So many other guys would make a big deal about her, and how great she is, and Lucas treated her like any other normal girl that would live right across the street. When she was with him, all the attention wasn't just on her. She was just a part of a world where only two people existed, and the whole world outside of them was irrelevant. It made everything she did with him much more special and unique. He was there to support her, and vice versa, and most importantly, the only things she doesn't like about him are his natural shyness and obliviousness, which seemed to be helpful at some points actually. They fit together well, and ultimately, that is what matters.
"Woah, you scared me," Lucas said awakening from his daydream. Emily just smiled. "I didn't expect you to be done so soon," he added.
"It's been a half hour, I didn't even take that long to get totally ready! I've been waiting for you to wake up from your daydream for at least 15 minutes," Emily informed.
"You could have just tapped me somewhere and I would've woke up," Lucas said. "Sorry about taking up time. Want to make it up?" She asked.
"It depends. How?" Lucas asked back.
"Want to go hoop? You have a basketball?" Emily asked him.
"In my room. I'll be right back," Lucas said as he ran back to get the basketball, while Emily got ready quickly to go to the indoor courts on the other side of their subdivision.
"You ready?" Em asked, as she came out. Lucas nodded.
"Not ready to get destroyed, but I still think I have a chance." He said.
"Just don't go easy on me! I am good, you know," Emily encouraged, winking at him.
"Me? Go easy? On you?! Heck, I go easy on everyone, that's just who I am." Lucas replied. Emily laughed.
"Yeah, I know. That's why I want you to try. So you are at least good competition for me. I want to destroy YOU, not your ghost," Em taunted.
"Beating me is your goal? Maybe that's your problem, you need better goals," Lucas said. Emily shook her head.
"No, no, no, the problem is you not trying. The problem is you letting me win," Emily replied. She wanted to beat Lucas for real, not just to win, or to be good, or for any other reason. They both knew she was good, but Emily wanted Lucas's competitive edge she knows he has to come out. She loves him when he tries, plus, destroying him at her own game when he is trying is much more fun for her than no contest. Maybe he might even win a time or two.
"Fine, I might actually try one time," Lucas replied. Em eye rolled as a response. "What?! What's wrong with that! I said I might try!" Lucas asked.
"Yeah, you might try once? Really? You should try every time. What's the fun in one good person trying and one other person who doesn't spend half their life on a court trying? There's no point!" Em responded.
"Isn't it fun to win all the time?" Lucas asked her.
"No, not if there's no contest. If you came down here with nobody else guarding you, and counted the score for and against you, it wouldn't be fun to keep track," Em said.
"That's the best kind! It's like free practice! That sounds fun!" Lucas replied.
"Alright, show me how fun it is. Play against yourself and keep track of the score. Then we will see who's right," Em said.
-Five Minutes Later-
"I'm bored. You were right. It would be so much easier if it were just free practice," Lucas gave up. "Can you play against me now," Lucas pleaded.
"Only if you try. Then maybe," Emily said back, copying him from earlier.
"Fine, I'll try. Let's play, I start!" Lucas called out, as Em stole the ball from him so they could start 21. It was actually pretty competitive. Lucas had hit a couple of threes while Emily relied on beating him through the lane on dribble moves. The score was 19-15 Emily was leading, when she noticed Lucas start to get tired.
"Come on, you can't be tired already! Maybe you need to try more often," Em teased.
"I'm not tired. I'm just actually trying for once. You give me the ball two more times and I'll win, I don't recommend that," Lucas said.
"You really think so? Fine, let's test your hypothesis. Take two threes with me guarding you, hit them both and I'll give you something," Em said, passing Lucas the ball. He sprinted around the line, before Emily finally started to get tired. She left the right corner open for Lucas, who took his first three pointer and hit it. He'd get the rebound, draw Emily to the left corner and get over to the top of the court, where from right in the middle of three point territory he would hit a three pointer, after he got Emily to bite on a crossover. Emily looked pleased, mostly for him that he tried and won.
"Maybe I can beat you sometimes, can't I?" Lucas taunted. Emily laughed at it.
"Well, I suppose that's what happens when you actually want to beat me at something. You actually win every once in a while," Emily said. She took his hand as they both took the five minute walk back home. When they got back, they went inside Emily's house.
"So, you said you have something for me?" Lucas asked.
"Yeah, just give me one second..." Emily said back. She went inside her room, closing the door like normal. She then counted to five, threw the door open, pulling Lucas inside who was now frightened for his life after being pulled inside a door he thought was closed. After regaining normal breathing patterns, he became aware he was in his crush's room. He had always wondered what it looked like.
"Em? Where are you?" Lucas asked as Em laughed at him for asking.
"You only have four more minutes left in here. Then I'm kicking you out, just so you know. Also, no looking in my dresser. Only my closet and what's in the open," Em added. Lucas had finally figured out how she did everything. Her clothes being so organized, her other stuff being so organized, and all her systems and cycles that enabled her to keep her room clean. He then looked at her color schemes and designs. It wasn't pink or purple or any other girlish color that he might have thought. It was a deeper shade of red, with a darker shade of yellow that approached gold and a metallic like shiny silver, that was nothing like grey, that had a tint of black in it to make it a little bit darker. Lucas was intrigued by the color choices, as he had expected something either girly like a pink or purple or something like her, like a green or blue. Instead he found all kinds of fire and metal-like colors. Essentially, everything else. Lucas was glad he finally got to explore all of her trade secrets, until he felt something. She had grabbed his hands, turning him around to face her. "I can't let you remember any of this. Looks like I'll have to give you my special potion," Em said back, kissing him on the lips. Lucas went wide-eyed, then was effectively paralyzed losing all control over his body, and falling unconscious, just as Emily had planned. "That worked out as expected for once," Emily said aloud to herself.
She then carried Lucas to his house across the street, entered into his own room, and cleaned it for him. Within an hour, she was gone, he was still unconscious in his bed smiling, and she had cleaned his room for him as a reminder of what had happened. She left him a simple note, saying "You're Welcome- Signed, Emily Moore" with her name in cursive in blue pen before returning to her own room, happy with herself she had finally gotten the moment she craved.
After being happily stone-cold for an additional half hour, Lucas finally re-awoke from the dead. He obviously didn't remember anything until he saw the note she left him. What was he supposed to thank her for again? He looked around to find his room actually neatly organized. That's why he needed to thank her! Then as he removed the blanket Emily covered him with, he got a slight chill. He remembered it now! She had kissed him! He'd have to get her back for that sometime...