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Chapter 10

Emily glanced around her room when we got back from break. It was just the way that she left it. Her books were stacked neatly next to her fridge, and her photos still hung on the wall.

"Hey Em, everything okay?" Hanna asked, coming in behind Emily.

"Yeah, the room just feels…I don't know…different."

"I might have moved a few things around…sorry."

"What no, no. I didn't mean it in that way. The room just feels different, like its missing something or I don't know."

"I know what you mean…the room feels empty in a way?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I'm sure we'll figure it out…or you'll figure it out…or something."

"Yeah…" Emily said quietly, looking around the room.

"Come on, the girls are meeting at the Brew in an hour," Hanna said, pulling Emily out of the room.

Paige felt her phone vibrate in her pocket just as she entered her room. She took a look at the name, before shoving the phone back into her pocket. She wasn't ready to hear what Shana had to say, fearing that Shana might say just the right words.

She thought about what Hanna had told her. She wondered if maybe Emily had been the one she was looking for all these months. At first Paige looked at their relationship as a friendship, but when she hung out what Emily, it was something completely different. Everything about Emily made her heart skip a beat, made her skin tingle, and her wonder if she was actually falling in love with Emily.

"Hey Paige, what do you think about Chinese takeout?" Sydney asked, walking into Paige's room.

"Ah, Chinese sounds so good right now!"

"I was thinking about inviting some teammates over if that's cool."

"Yeah of course," Paige said, unpacking her clothes. Sydney punched in the order before returning her attention to Paige.

"Awesome! So how was your break?"

"It was pretty good."

"I'm sure you enjoyed those rays of California sun this week."

"Actually I was in Rosewood this week."

"Really? I thought one would want to get as much warmth as they could before coming back to the North Pole."

"There was something important that I need to take care of before school started."

"Ah, and would this something have to do with a girl?" Sydney questioned. Paige stopped what she was doing instantly. She felt her face become warm as she started blushing. "Ah, I knew it! So who's the lucky girl?"

"What? No it's not like that. I just needed to apologize to Emily. We fought before break and well, you know why, and I just didn't want to come back to school on bad terms."

"Oh come on Paige…really?"

"What?"

"What time of person flies thousands of miles to tell a person their sorry, when you could have easily just called her or skyped or something."

"I felt like it should have been done in person."

"Uh huh…sure…you did…"

"Syd!"

"Just saying…I think you've got a little crush on Emily."

"…and what if I do?" Paige asked, defeated.

"Do you like Emily?"

"I don't know," Paige said, taking a seat on her bed.

"Well, tell me a little bit about Emily. What is it about her that you enjoy? Or love? What makes her, her? Describe her to me."

"I don't even know where to begin. I guess since I first met her, I knew that there was something special about her, something that I couldn't really put a finger too. I guess I was too caught up in my relationship with Shana to realize that I actually missed spending time with Emily. Whenever I'm with her…I feel different…lighter, and I feel like I can be my stupid, funny self, like I don't have to hide anything."

"What is it about Emily that makes you want her?"

"Her…she's perfect, humble, thoughtful, kind, there are so many words to describe her. Sometime I wonder what would happen if I woke up and she wasn't there, like she didn't exist. And then I realize that if Emily didn't exist, I don't think I could go on…" Paige said, quiet. "I know if sounds stupid."

"No Paige it doesn't. You obviously have strong feelings for Emily," Sydney said, placing an arm around Paige's shoulder. "Sometimes you just have to take a deep breath and take the first step."

"But what if I mess up?"

"Then you mess up, but if you love Emily as much as I think you do, then there's no way that you'll mess up?

"But what if Emily doesn't feel the same way?"

"Trust me Paige, she feels the same way."

"How do you know?"

"I obviously have better eyes than the both of you. Just trust me on this one, okay?"

"Okay…"

"Now, get up and put a smile on that face Emily should be here soon."

"What, Emily…here…?"

"Oh sorry, I meant to say Chinese food," Sydney said getting on the bed with a mischievous smile on her face.

Paige felt a rush of nervousness flow through her body. Emily was coming over, and Sydney wanted her to make a move. She suddenly felt anxious about everything. She hopped in the shower, and took the fastest shower of her life, before frantically trying to find something to wear. Most of her clothes weren't unpacked so she ended up throwing everything out her bag to find a pair of decent jeans and a shirt.

She had just finished drying her hair when there was a knock at the door. Paige held her breath as she listened to Sydney open the door. She let the breath out when she heard it was the delivery man.

"Paige, the Chinese is here," Sydney called from the kitchen.

"Yeah, I'll be right out."

Paige quickly put a light layer of make-up on before heading out to the living room area. Sydney was already pulling out several plates and a few pairs of silverware.

"I got that," Paige said, taking the bag of food from her. Just as she took the bag, she heard another knock at the door.

When Sydney opened the door, a few of the teammates stood in the doorway, along with them was Emily.

Emily glanced around the room, as Sydney opened the door wider. The last time she was in here was when she and Paige fought. She felt a wave of sadness wash over her, but it was soon replaced with happiness when she caught sight of Paige organizing the food.

"Hey, everyone! Welcome to our humble abode. Please come in, the food just got here."

Emily filed in with the rest of the girls. They took off their coats and put them on the couch before hovering around the kitchen.

"Dig in, there's plenty," Paige said moving away from the boxes of food. The girls slowly started serving themselves, before taking a seat in the living room.

Emily took a seat on one of the empty couches, and by the time Paige grabbed her food, the only place left to sit was next to Emily.

Paige took a deep breath, before sitting next down next to Emily. She gave her a small smile. They ate their food in silence, and listened to the rest of the group talk about their winter break. Emily would chime in every once and a while, but all Paige could do was admire Emily in silence.

"So, anyone up for a late night swim?" Sydney asked, holding up the keys to the pool.

"Where did you get those?" Kelsey, another teammate asked.

"I have my ways," Sydney said, swinging the keys around. "Meet up at the pool in like an hour?"

They group gathered their things and left the apartment. Emily was the last to leave, but Paige knew that she would see in an hour.

"So, I see you didn't say anything to Emily," Sydney said, cleaning up the food.

"I panicked…I don't know. I was just afraid that I would say the wrong thing."

"Paige…I repeat…I have eyes. I saw the way that Emily was looking at you. She obviously has feelings for you. She couldn't take her eyes off of you. Every movement you made, her attention was focused on you. If you're nervous, maybe play with the middle card and see where you stand. Sound good?"

"Yeah…thanks Syd. I probably seem like a desperate person."

"No course not! You're my friend, it's what friends do. Besides, I'm just gonna say this, and you can hate me or slap me or whatever, but I never like Shana," Sydney said quickly, waiting for Paige to react.

"Yeah. I guess everyone else saw it before I did."

"You find the good in people Paige. Not a lot of people can do that. That's what makes you so special. Now tonight, you're not going to ignore Emily. You're going to talk to her. Okay?"

"Okay!"

Paige was on edge for the next hour. She kept running different conversations thought her mind, trying to gauge which would be the one she used tonight.

"Paige, stop overthinking it," Sydney said on their way over to the pool. "Just be you. That's the one Emily likes."

"I know, I know," Paige said, taking a few deep breaths. She's never been this nervous in her life. She didn't want to screw things up with Emily, but she also wanted to be with Emily.

They arrived at the pool before the rest of the group. Sydney waited outside, while Paige turned on the lights and got everything running. They showed up a few minutes later, ready for a good time.

Emily found herself outside of the pool. She saw Paige splashing water around, laughing. Her heart fluttered a little, something about Paige's contagious smile made her heart skip a beat.

She pulled open the pool entrance and made her way in. She quickly removed her clothing before diving into the cold water. She emerged from the water next to Paige.

"Hey," Emily said softly, wiping the water from her face.

"Hey," Paige said kindly. "I'm glad that you could make it tonight."

"Yeah me too! It feels like forever since I've been in water."

"I know what you mean, but hey, no competition right?"

"With you Paige, there's always competition," Emily smirked, before diving under the water.

Paige managed to catch up with Emily and grab her around the waist before pulling to her to the surface. Their faces where only inches apart from each other, and Paige's arms were tightly wrapped around Emily's. Emily glanced around at Paige's hands, that were now grasping her waist. Paige must have noticed Emily staring because she removed her hands quickly.

"Sorry," she said avoiding eye contact with Emily.

"It's okay," Emily said warmly, turning Paige's head so that they could make contact. "Really."

They continued to goof off with the rest of the group, but Paige attempted to keep some distance between her and Emily. It was almost midnight when the group decided to get out of the pool.

Paige found herself next to Emily in the locker room. It wasn't like they had seen each other before, but for Paige it was uncomfortable to look at Emily in that way. She loved Emily's body, but it felt wrong to look at her, to scared.

Paige quickly changed out of her swimwear and threw on a pair of sweats before turning around. Emily wasn't behind her anymore. She glanced quickly around the locker room, and caught a quick glimpse of Emily leaving. She was mentally rapping her thinking of what to do. In the end Paige found herself running out after Emily.

Emily heard the pattering of feet behind her, and when she turned around her saw Paige running after her. She slowed her pace until Paige had caught up with her. Paige's breath was ragged and it looked like she had full on sprinted from the locker room.

"Paige, are you okay?" Emily asked, checking to see if Paige was indeed okay.

"Yeah…just give me a minute…" Paige said, catching her breath.

"What's wrong? You seemed to be in quite the hurry."

"What are you doing tomorrow?"

"Well, classes start tomorrow, so probably going to class, then pool, then hopefully still be alive."

"Would you wanna get dinner or something tomorrow night?"

"Dinner or something would be great," Emily said, smiling.

"Great!"

"I'll see you tomorrow," Emily said, pulling Paige into a warm hug. Paige could have sworn that when Emily pulled away she placed a small kiss on her cheek.