Emma decided to spend the extra time she had that morning, thanks to her wake up call, taking a long shower. She typically did her best thinking while taking a shower, and she hoped she could think of everything she needed to get done before the party. 'Let's see,' Emma thought as she shampooed her hair. 'Nails. Maybe I could go get something silver or black. Maybe something that's really sparkly. Either way, it has to look really nice. Gosh, I hope it's okay if I just paint my own nails; I wasn't really planning on going out and getting a manicure, that could get expensive.' Emma reasoned that she often did a decent job at painting nails, and figured she should just paint her own. 'Hmm...' Emma wondered. 'Maybe Samantha would like me to paint her nails, too? Then we could hang out a little before the party.' Emma figured she could send her a text later. 'Okay, so now hair.' Emma thought with a bit displeasure. 'I wonder if I could make my hair look nice enough for a party without having to get it done somewhere. Gosh, I hope so. A hair appointment is probably out of my budget. Anyways, nails, hair, dress and shoes... maybe Mrs. Lynch will have a clutch that I could borrow, like Rydel said. I guess I'll just have to see when I stop by later.' Emma reasoned that she had probably covered all of the things she'd really need that evening as she stepped out of the shower. Emma glanced at her hair in the mirror; he saw the mess of loose waves that was her hair. She liked her hair curly quite a bit, and the days that she spent less time on her hair were usually the days she got the most compliments. 'Well, I've got time to think here before the party.' Emma decided to throw her hair up for the time being and just fix it up before the party.
Once Emma had gotten dressed in one of her high school tennis team's t-shirts and a pair of white denim capris, she checked to see if Samantha had sent her a text. It turned out that Samantha had responded to Emma's text while she had been in the shower, and she quickly read the message. "Sure, a ride would be great." Emma responded, knowing she needed to ask Samantha if she wanted Emma to paint her hails before Samantha made an appointment to get her nails done. "Sounds great! By the way, I was thinking of painting my own nails for tonight and wondered if you wanted me to paint yours too? Then we could chat for a bit." Emma told the girl. She sent the message and hoped Samantha hadn't already planned to get a manicure somewhere.
Emma wondered what Raini and Laura were up to at the time to prepare for the night and considered texting them just as Samantha responded. "Oh, I was planning on getting a mani and pedi," the message began. Emma was hardly surprised, recalling how much Samantha had spent the day before on her party dress. "But that sounds really fun! Let's see... how about I cancel my appointment. I'm sure my parents wouldn't mind be sparing them from losing another buck or two on my nails. Oh, but if you paint my nails I'm going to have to paint yours!" Samantha added with a sideways winking smiley-face. "Anyway," the message finished, "chatting sounds great. I can tell you all about my date with Rocky!" Emma laughed at the girl's intent to talk to Emma about herself and her night with Rocky, but shook off the thought. She could hardly believe Samantha was going to cancel a nail appointment to let Emma do her nails. Emma was even more surprised that Samantha was considering her parent's money. 'Okay, maybe that's a little unfair of me. I mean, it's not like I've known Samantha for a longer than a week. There could be a lot to her that I don't know about.' Emma decided to respond to the message with a friendly, "Sounds great! Can't wait to hear about your night! Let's see... how about you come by the hotel around 5:00, I'm in room 122." Emma sent the message and wondered if Samantha would e able to get over to the hotel. She knew the girl had asked for a ride from her on a couple of occasions, so she probably didn't have her license yet. 'Then again,' Emma thought, 'I'm pretty sure she's a little younger than me, so that would make sense.' Emma's question was answered when Samantha replied. "Okay, I'll take a taxi over there. See you at 5:00!" Emma knew this had merely only been a conversation occurring through text messages, but Samantha actually sounded excited about hanging out with Emma.
Once Emma had created plans with Samantha, she figured she could go grab a bite to eat before picking up Rydel's shoes from Mrs. Lynch. 'But,' Emma thought, 'where should I go? The only meals that I've eaten out were with the girls yesterday and Ross, but I don't know if any other restaurants are any good.' Then, a feeling of adventure came over Emma. A smirk came to her face. She wanted to take a drive and find a tasty joint to have breakfast at all by herself. Maybe she could even see some of the area while she was out. 'This is L.A.' Emma reasoned. 'There has got to be a LOT to see around here, and I probably haven't seen a fraction of the area.' With that, Emma quickly brushed her teeth and grabbed her purse, car keys and phone before heading out the door.
Emma hardly knew too much about all of the buildings she saw while she drove through the streets of Los Angelos. But what did she care. She drove with the windows down, and felt a refreshing breeze against her face the entire drive. Emma had to admit it was the best she had felt in days, just getting that fresh breeze and taking a relaxing drive. The view Emma had was great as well; she saw countless palm trees, and the sky was perfect. Emma considered finding a beach to take a walk down when she spotted it. The big Hollywood sign. She almost couldn't believe that it was right there. Okay, the sign was still pretty far away. But it was just far enough away that she could still get a decent photo if she wanted to. 'Wow.' Emma hadn't thought about it until then. 'I haven't taken a single picture yet on this trip. Okay, I'm definitely going to have to take pictures tonight at the party.' Emma knew she wanted something to keep to help her remember this trip and the people that she met, and a photo would do just the trick. Emma didn't have a camera on her at the time, so while sitting at a stoplight, she quickly took a picture of the Hollywood sign with her cell phone. The picture wasn't great quality, but what did it matter. Emma had just gotten to the see THE Hollywood sign. The real thing. She figured that was good enough for her.
Seeing as it was getting close to noon, Emma thought she ought to find a place to eat. Emma decided she'd really like to find a place by a beach. She drove a bit further, paying close attention to the streets she was taking to get to her destination. After a 20 minute drive, Emma spotted the ocean. She drove until she found a beach with some restaurants close nearby, and found a parking spot that wasn't too far away from it all.
Emma almost couldn't believe how perfect it all was; the beach, the buildings, the weather. Though she really didn't want to think it, the following day she wouldn't only be leaving Ross, his family, and everyone else she'd met on the trip; she'd be leaving paradise. Emma tried to remind herself to appreciate the time she had then and there and just enjoy it as she spotted a cafe that looked appealing. She entered and was surprised to see how busy the place was. She figured it had to mean the cafe was good, and hoped the wait wouldn't be too bad. Fortunately, just what Emma had hoped for occurred, and the wait to order Emma's food was short. Emma decided on an iced mocha and a sandwich. Once she received her meal, Emma headed out the door; she was determined to find a spot to enjoy her food on the beach.
Though the beach was absolutely packed with people, Emma managed to find a spot to sit and eat. Emma didn't mind sitting in the sand in her jeans, knowing it wouldn't be a problem to wash them. Plus, the sand was so perfect that who could feel anything besides happiness while sitting in it. Emma was excited to find that her sandwich was delicious, and the iced mocha was extremely refreshing and perfect for the warm day. As Emma continued to sip her coffee and enjoy the great view of the ocean, she noticed a few pairs of eyes on her. A group of what looked like teenage girls were to Emma's right, not too far away from where Emma sat. It didn't take long for Emma to figure out that they were talking about her. And then Emma figured out why; someone must have taken a picture of her and Ross together the day before. She figured the photo had probably made it's way around the internet thanks to social networking. 'Well,' Emma thought as she turned her attention back to the ocean. 'I've never had pictures of me with a celebrity on the internet. I kind of want to see this picture.' Emma's peace was disrupted when a girl who had been in the group of girls approached her. The girl had a smile on her face, and Emma wondered if she wanted an autograph from "the girl who was seen with Ross Lynch." Emma prepared herself to respond to the fan when the girl asked, "Hey, were you the girl that was seen hanging out with Ross Lynch yesterday?" Emma figured the girl might be about thirteen or fourteen, which was probably the average age of Ross's fangirls. Emma nodded. "That's me, I guess." Emma told her with a laugh. Emma expected the girl to laugh along, but instead her smile changed to a frown. Emma was surprised to see the girl's eyes turn to daggers. "Stay away from my man. Okay, sweetheart?" If Emma wasn't the somewhat-shy and modest girl she was, she would have barked back at the girl right then and there. Emma decided to just tell the girl the truth. "No worries, Ross and I aren't dating." Emma told the girl, who's face began to show relief. "Okay." the girl responded. Emma figured the girl would just leave, but before doing so the girl added. "Just make sure you keep it that way." Emma tried not to burst out laughing as the girl turned and returned to her probably also-obsessed-with-Ross-friends. As some of the girls began to glare at Emma, Emma took the cue to leave. She got one last look at the ocean before brushing off her pants and turning. She couldn't resist, however, turning back towards the group and waving. "See you, girls." she said with a smile, which was not returned from the girls. "Who cares." Emma decided. "Ross wouldn't be into girls like them. I know that."
Emma managed to take the same roads she had taken to get to the beach back towards her hotel, then drove past and in the direction of the Lynch household. The driveway only had one car in it today, which Emma figured belonged to Mrs. Lynch. Emma didn't have to wait long following ringing the doorbell before Stormie Lynch, the mother of four-fifths of R5, answered the door. "Darling! It's great to see you!" Stormie said, giving Emma a quick, friendly hug. The friendliness was refreshing compared to what Emma had just endured at the beach. "Rydel told you'd be coming by! Here, I've got everything you could possibly need for your evening." Stormie said enthusiastically as she motioned for Emma to come inside. The kind woman picked up a large paper shopping bad from Hollister. "Now I knew you needed the shows for tonight, so those are in there. But I thought I'd add a matching clutch, nail polish, some fun hair accessories, a few bracelets that Rydel has worn with those shoes, a hair mousse that gives a beachy-look to hair-oh, I just hope I haven't forgotten anything." Emma couldn't believe the absolute kindness Stormie had shown her. "I can't believe that you took the time to get all of these things together for me." Emma told her honestly. "Thank you so much! Now I'm sure I'll have a great night." Emma told her with a smile, and Stormie glowed. "Oh! How sweet are you! You're so welcome!" Stormie told Emma, giving her yet another hug. "I love doing this sort of thing, so I was more than happy to get these things together for you! Plus, it gives me something to do on days like today when no one is home. I just hope you have a fabulous time tonight!" Stormie told Emma. After not knowing Stormie for very long, Emma couldn't believe how much she already liked her. Sure, Emma loved no people more in the world than her mom and dad. But after not seeing them all week, having a motherly-figure like Stormie to take care of her for the night was just what Emma needed. Emma smiled gratefully. "Well thanks again. I guess I better get going, I have quite a bit to do tonight before the party." Stormie nodded and continued to smile. "Sounds great, darling! Well I'm sure I'll see you later tonight! Oh, and just give me a call if you need anything! You can just get my number from one of the kids. I'll see you tonight!" Stormie told Emma with excitement. The two said their goodbyes and Emma left feeling significantly better then she had moments before. 'Whoa,' she thought, 'now I probably have everything I could possibly need for tonight. Something for my hair, nail polish, and-thank goodness! A clutch. Okay, I officially can not wait for tonight.' Emma thought with excitement equal to Stormie's as she headed back to her hotel to get ready.