"So wake me up when it's all over. When I'm wiser and I'm older." The Aviicii song played from Emma's phone, just one choice on the "Wake-up Playlist" on her phone. Emma moaned and wanted to hit the snooze button, until she remembered she would be driving Jen to school. Emma got up and looked through her closet. 'I wonder if anyone at school knows Jackson and I broke up.' Emma rarely used Facebook and she never changed her relationship status to begin with, so her classmates would only know they broke up if Jackson told them. 'Or showed them," Emma thought, picturing Jackson kissing someone else in their school. Emma concluded she should pick one of her favorite outfits so she could feel her best on her first day back to school. Perhaps Jackson would feel a little disappointment if Emma brought her confidence to school.

Emma fixed her up her hair and gathered her school things. The outfit she selected included jeans and a red down vest that she had gotten the previous holiday season. While it had been pretty warm in California, Emma was back in Indiana where winter kept people pretty cold. Emma went downstairs where her dad was enjoying coffee. "Hey, dad," Emma said. "Did mom already leave for work?" Emma's dad nodded. "Yep. You know how hard she works for those fourth graders." Emma's mom was a fourth-grade teacher, and she left for work early to prepare for her "kiddos," as her mom called them. "You want some coffee, Emma?" Her dad asked. "Please." Emma replied.

Emma drank a few sips of her coffee. She texted Jen that she'd picked her up in fifteen minutes. "So, are you ready to get back to school?" Emma's dad asked. "Yeah..." Emma started. "I'm a little worried about catching up on the work I missed in class. Plus I won't even understand what my teachers are talking about today since I've been gone for a week." Emma's dad nodded. "That's true, but you'll be fine. And your mom and I will help you anyway we can." Emma smiled. "I guess I'm a little worried about seeing Jackson today." Emma admitted. She took a sip of her coffee. Emma's dad looked at his daughter. He may have not known what to say, and this was a whole new conversation for Emma as well. After all, Jackson had been her first boyfriend. "Emma, you know..." her dad started. "It sounds like that Jackson broke up with you while you were on your trip. I think that guy has some growing up to do. Don't worry about him." Emma nodded. She smiled at her dad. He did alright for his first time giving advice about a boy. "Thanks, dad." Emma said.

Emma picked up Jen at her house to drive her to school. Emma got out of the car to give her friend a hug. "Emma!" Jen said as she gave her friend a hug. "I missed you so much! Okay, tell me everything about your trip." The two got in the car. "I don't know where to begin" Emma admitted as she started the car. Emma just jumped in with when she went to the Austin and Ally studio to record the episode. She told Jen about meeting Ross. Jen's eyes grew bigger as Emma spoke. "Oh my gosh, Emma. You have wanted to meet Ross forever! Were you starstruck when you met him? I'll bet he was even cuter in person." Jen elbowed Emma, who giggled and elbowed her back. "I was so nervous meeting Ross. But now, we're friends." From there, Emma told Jen all about Ross and everything they did together. Emma still wasn't finished telling Jen about the trip when the two arrived to school. Jen could not contain her excitement as Emma told her best friend about Ross. "I called him last night, and I'm going to FaceTime with him tonight." Jen was thrilled. "So, does this mean Ross is your boyfriend now? This is the best day ever! My best friend is dating a superstar." Emma laughed. "Actually, when I left I told Ross I wasn't sure about a long-distance relationship. I just don't know if it will work. We're really good friends for now." Jen looked at her friend. "Really? Oh, but you guys sound like an awesome couple. Well, I've never been in a long-distance relationship either so I can't give you advice there." Emma opened her car door. School would be starting soon. "We better go in, Jen." Jen nodded. "Okay. Aw, this is so exciting. Can we hang out after school today?"

"I would love to," Emma started, "But I know I am going to have tons of homework to catch up on. Tomorrow may work better." Jen nodded. "That sounds good." The two headed into school. "So, you said you and Ross went to a party together that his band played at? That sounds pretty cool." Emma nodded. "Yeah, and there was some paparazzi there taking pictures. They took pictures of the band, then the Lynch family. They even took some pictures of just Ross and me. I wonder if any of those pictures are online somewhere."
Some of the pictures must have gotten online. When Emma entered school, a few girls rushed up to her. Then more girls spotted Emma and gathered around her. "There she is! Emma," one of the girls who first came up to Emma started, "Is this you?" The girl showed Emma a picture on her phone. Sure enough, it was a photo of Emma and Ross with his family at the party. There was also one of her and Ross. "Um," Emma quickly became nervous. She was not expecting this when she came to school today. "Yes, that's me." Emma said. "Hey, I should get to class." Emma did not know any of the girls who were coming up to her. "Oh my gosh, I can't believe you met Ross! What was he like?" The girls around her were all asking her the same questions. 'Wow,' Emma thought. 'So everyone knows I was at that party?' Emma was "saved by the bell" when the school bell actually did ring. A school teacher and the high school security guard noticed the large group of girls and rushed them to class. Emma escaped the group and started to walk to class. "Emma!" Jen ran up next to her friend. "Oh my... you okay?" Emma nodded. "We should get to class." Jen nodded and the two went their separate ways.

Emma went to her class and things were pretty normal. She got all of the work she needed to catch up on and realized missing a week of high school would take some time to catch on. The next couple of classes were normal as well. Emma walked as quickly as she could to each class with the hope that she would not see any Ross fans again. When lunch came around, Emma bought a couple of granola bars from a vending machine. She went to study hall where students were allowed to work during lunch. Study hall was often almost empty during lunch, making it the perfect place for Emma to both hide and do work. Emma felt bad not sitting with Jen for lunch like she usually did, but she did not think going into the cafeteria where everyone in her grade would be eating lunch would be a good idea.

It was finally that time: Emma needed to go to the class she had with Jackson. As she walked down the hall she took a deep breath. She had not been bombarded by girls asking her about Ross since this morning. 'That might make me feel good right about now. It sure would throw off Jackson.' Emma entered the classroom. She first spotted her teacher, Mrs. Mathews at the white board. "Hi Emma. Don't forget to get the work you missed from the 'Absent Bin.'" Emma nodded. "Thank you." Emma liked Mrs. Mathews and she liked math. She really liked this class back when she was dating Jackson. Emma made her way to the Absent Bin which was in the back of the classroom. She looked around. 'Jackson isn't in here. Maybe he's not at school today.' Emma got the work she missed from the Absent Bin and took her usual seat. Emma was taking a look at the school work she missed. Mrs. Mathews stepped into the hall, then someone else walked into the room. Emma looked up and frowned. There he was. Jackson walked in and prepared to take his usual seat before he spotted Emma. Emma looked back at her math work and tried to act like she was not paying attention to Jackson. Unlike she had planned, Jackson did not sit down. He walked over to one of their classmates, Victoria. "Hey, babe." Emma may have actually gasped when Jackson started kissing Victoria. She was shocked and terrified- could Jackson really be dating someone in the ONLY class she had with Jackson? And now he was KISSING her in front of Emma? Emma looked around and a few other students were looking at Jackson and Victoria. Then Mrs. Mathews returned from the hallway. She looked more surprised than the other students. "Uh... please save that for the hallway." A few students laughed at the comment. Jackson and Victoria stopped when they heard their teacher's voice. Jackson then took a seat... right next to Emma. "Sorry, Mrs. Mathews." he said. Mrs. Mathews frowned. "You all have a job to be doing right now- the math warm up problem. Get to work." Emma got out lined paper and started working on the problem. "Oh, Emma, you're back from your trip. I didn't even notice you were here." Emma could feel herself getting angry. Now Jackson was talking to her and saying he "didn't even notice" her. Emma knew he must have started kissing Victoria to make Emma mad. "Really? You're ignoring me?" Emma tried to keep working and ignore Jackson. She was starting to get frustrated. She was already so mad at what Jackson did, and now he was trying to distract her during class. "Hey, Emma, can I borrow some paper? Please?" Emma sighed. Was he being serious? Emma thought she may need to excuse herself to use the bathroom (but really, to get herself back together) when a student sitting behind Emma handed some paper to Jackson. "Here, Jackson." The student said. Jackson frowned because his fun was ruined, and started his work. Emma was relieved that he stopped talking to her. Emma did not solve the math problem correctly because she was so distracted by Jackson. Fortunately, Mrs. Mathews was teaching for the rest of the class. She typically saved a few minutes for the students to begin that night's homework, but today, she taught until the bell rang. "Before you all leave, here's tonight's assignment to complete." Mrs. Mathews wrote the homework on the board. Emma wrote the homework down quickly and packed up her things. She did not want to leave a second for Jackson to speak to her. Emma walked into the hallway and heard "Hey, Emma?" Emma knew this voice was not Jackson. She turned around to see Daniel, another student in her math class. He must of been the one sitting behind her who gave Jackson the paper. He heard everything Jackson said to Emma. "Uh... I just wanted to check and see if you're okay." Daniel said. Emma was surprised this boy was talking to her. She had seen Daniel in class but had not talked to him before. Either way, this was nice of him to check on her. Emma tried to smile, but she wanted to get away from class quick. "I'm okay. Thanks, Daniel." Emma turned around to walk away when she felt Daniel touch her arm. "Hey," he said. "Let me know if you need someone to talk to." Emma looked at Daniel. Daniel smiled and walked away. Emma walked towards her last class of the day. 'That was really nice of Daniel.' Emma thought.

The end of the day could not come soon enough. Emma could drive straight home because Jen had band practice after school, and she could get a ride home from someone at practice. Emma was the first one home: her mom must have been finishing work at school. Emma's dad managed a business, so he was typically gone until 5:30 in the evening on weekdays and he was sometimes working over the weekend. While Emma wished she could see her dad more often, she enjoyed her chats with him before she went to school and her dad went to work each morning. And she knew her dad worked so hard to give Emma and her mom a good life. She was grateful.
Upon getting home, Emma brewed some decaf coffee and went to her bedroom. She had a desk in her room where she did her best school work. Emma got out all of the assignments she missed, including the homework she got during that day of school. Emma liked to think she was a good student- she got A's and B's in her classes. But, even the class valedictorian would probably look at all of this work and feel a little overwhelmed. Emma needed to shut her eyes and take a few deep breaths. This was the first time all day she had stopped and let the memories and emotions from the day sink in. Emma reminisced over Jen's joy when Emma shared about her and Ross's friendship. Jen was a lifelong friend, a girl who cared so much about Emma and felt happy when Emma was happy. Then, Emma pictured the crowd of female students forming around her at school that morning. That moment was SO unlike anything Emma had experienced in her life. Emma thought for a second about hunting down that photo of her and Ross online. Until she visualized the moment Jackson started kissing Victoria right in front of Emma. Emma felt anger start to build in her, but she needed to shake that off. She had too much work to do, and Jackson should be in her rearview mirror. He was not a good guy, and she could not let the stupid things he did affect her. At the same time, Emma prayed that Jackson would not kiss Victoria every time they had that class.
Emma worked and completed one math assignment over the next 30 minutes. She was beginning to move on to an English class assignment from when she had been absent before getting an e-mail that caught her attention. It was from Jen, who must have been done with band practice for the day. The e-mail was titled "Look what I found!" and included a link. The link took Emma to a magazine story about the party Emma had attended where R5 had played. It included the two photos Emma had seen earlier that day on that girl's phone. This was a first- Emma had never had her picture in the newspaper before, let alone a magazine with a celebrity. Emma read the caption next to the picture of only her and Ross. It stated "Ross Lynch and his date at the Hollywood Records Party. No word yet on who this girl is. Is Ross Lynch off the market?" Emma's mouth dropped open. A magazine was reporting on her a Ross's relationship, and stating he may be off the market! Emma felt violated. She felt like she did not have any privacy. And, she felt like this may not be over. Even though Emma had cried so much the previous day, she felt tears come to her eyes once more.

Emma took a few moments to try and catch her breath and calm down, though she could not help the unease and discomfort she felt. Just then, Emma heard her mom and dad entering their home through the kitchen door. Emma needed to talk to her mom about. "Emma!" Emma's mom said with glee and hugged her daughter. She then noticed Emma's eyes were pink and puffy. "Baby... what's wrong?" she asked. Emma took a moment to hold onto her mom and collect her thoughts. Part of Emma wanted to ignore the magazine article and just get back to her school work, but part of Emma also wanted to let her parents know what was wrong. "Some girls came up to me at school this morning because a picture of Ross and me was posted in an online magazine. Jen just sent me the picture, and there's a caption with it. It says 'Is Ross off the market?' I mean, that's OUR business and no one else's!" Emma got a little louder and worked up again as she said that last sentence. "I just can't believe that magazine was writing about me and Ross, and said he might be "off the market!" Emma's mom nodded. She set Emma down at the kitchen table, and held onto her hand. Emma's dad listened as Emma explained what was going on, and sat at the table as well for support. Emma's mom spoke slowly and softly to her daughter. "Emma, you are so right. That is only your business. You and Ross get to choose how you will handle this. You can either set the record straight and explain your relationship to someone at the magazine. Or, you both can just leave it alone." Emma's dad nodded along. "Emma, I hate the thought that this magazine is invading your privacy, but your mom is right: you and Ross can either explain the relationship you two have, or you can ignore the magazine altogether." Emma almost did not let her parents finish. "Yes, I want to leave it alone! I want to ignore the magazine, and maybe they will stop writing about us." Emma's mom put a finger up to signal 'Hold on, I have one more thing to say.' "I don't think this is the end of you and Ross being written about in these magazines. I think the people who write these magazine articles will write about you two if that's what readers want, and they will write whatever they learn. If you decide to set the record straight, they can share the correct information. If you leave it alone, they may write articles with the wrong information about your relationship." Emma did get quiet then after listening to her mom and dad. She partly was still shocked- she never imagined a magazine would write about her and Ross, and now they may write more stories about her and Ross. "Emma," Emma turned to look at her dad. "You should call Ross. While we want to help you make this decision, he's the one you need to talk to." Emma nodded. Her dad was really putting his trust in his daughter, allowing her to make this decision with Ross. Emma knew time was not on her side- for all she knew, more magazines could be writing more articles about her and Ross. Emma stood and hugged her parents. "I'm going to call Ross now. Thank you."

Emma sat on her bed and called Ross on FaceTime. It was earlier in the day than yesterday when she had called him, but this could not wait.

It was 3:00 when Ross's phone began to ring. Ross looked at his phone and smiled. He was a little surprised to see Emma's name, knowing it was 6:00 in Indianapolis. He had just gotten home from practice with R5. Practice was a good distraction from thinking about Emma, and his band mates knew how to cheer Ross up. Ross headed for his bedroom as he answered his phone. He could see Emma's face right away.

Despite the circumstances, Emma could not help herself from smiling when Ross's face appeared on her phone. "Hey." she started. Ross smiled "Hey, beautiful." he started. Emma blushed and Ross smiled. He took a moment to shut the door to his bedroom and sit on his bed. "It's... really good to see you." Ross admitted. "How are you?" Emma knew it felt so good to see Ross again. He looked like he had gotten some more sleep since she saw him the previous day. "I need to talk to you." Emma explained. Ross's expression shifted. "What's wrong?" He asked. "Did you see a magazine posted pictures of us from the Hollywood Records party?" Emma asked. Ross nodded. "Yeah, my sister spotted that earlier and showed me. She showed me the caption, too. I'm sorry." Emma shook her head. "You did not post it, Ross. Don't apologize. But I wanted to ask: my parents think that magazine, and maybe others, will write about us again. I'm just wondering, if you get approached and asked about us... what are you going to say about our relationship?" Ross took a moment to look down and think about his response. He knew that, when he was dating Brittany, they were a little younger and did not care that the magazines were writing about their relationship. In fact, the publicity was not a bad thing. They admitted to the magazine that they were "boyfriend and girlfriend."

But this was about Emma.

She was so special to Ross. But their relationship was complicated. They would not be calling themselves boyfriend and girlfriend. At least, not while Emma still had the same feelings as she did before about long-distance relationships. Ross wanted to keep Emma comfortable. That meant, the magazines needed to take the spotlight off of her for now. "Emma," Ross started, and he looked into the eyes of the girl on his cell phone screen. "I want to tell that magazine, and any other reporters who talk to me, that we are 'good friends.' The magazines will lose interest knowing that we're not in a relationship and they'll probably stop writing about us." Ross gave her a reassuring smile. "I mean, you know I'm not going anywhere... but we'll keep that between us."

Emma was relieved. Actually, she was the happiest she had felt all day. Ross not only solved their problem, but he knew this situation was out of Emma's comfort zone and he was going to fix that for her. Plus, he was admitting again just how much he cared about her. "Thank you." Emma said, and Ross smiled back. "I hate doing this but... I have SO much schoolwork to do." Emma stated, frowning. Ross sat up quick. "Wait, Emma, uhh... can you give me a couple more minutes? I wanted to play something for you." Emma smiled and nodded. A moment later, Ross had his acoustic guitar in his hands and was quickly tuning it. "So I heard this on the radio this morning. I can't play the whole thing yet, but I'm working on it. This song makes me think of you."

Ross began strumming the guitar.

"Today is a winding road that's taking me to places that I didn't want to go, whoa.
Today in the blink of an eye, I'm holding on to something and I do not know why
I tried
I tried to read between the lines, I tried to look in your eyes
I want a simple explanation for what I'm feeling inside
I gotta find a way out
Maybe there's a way out..."

Ross had faced the phone camera towards him as he played the guitar and sang. Emma knew this song. And it made him think of her.

As Ross picked up the phone again, Emma clapped and cheered. Ross laughed in response. "Thank you, thank you. I'll be here all week." Ross joked. Emma giggled. She wanted to keep talking to him. She was so happy seeing him. His smile. His eyes. "I gotta go." Emma stated. "I can't wait to hear the rest of that song."

When the two hung up, Ross sat his guitar back on its stand. Speaking to Emma yesterday was the beginning of Ross feeling a sense that he would be okay, as long as he could keep talking to Emma. Their FaceTime call just now healed Ross even more from the pain he had felt from the previous day when Emma left. And Ross knew it was time: time to tell his parents that he had not been totally honest with them this week. He had slept in Emma's hotel room when she needed a friend, and had gone with her to a party where Emma could have been hurt. Nothing could excuse Ross from not being honest with his parents, but these experiences did give Ross and bond with Emma that he never had with any other girl. Ross then had an idea.

He decided, once he was done telling the truth to his parents, he would ask them for help with a surprise for Emma. And this surprise would be something she would never forget.