Chapter 2: College Student Woes

Saturday morning, Emily was lying on her stomach on her bed. She was still in her pajamas, which consisted of a concert T-shirt and red plaid pants, despite it being nearly 11:00. Her laptop was situated on her pillow, and a half-filled word document was on the screen. She was working on an essay for her American History class, and she had hit a wall. Well, she hit the wall approximately fifteen minutes ago. Ever since then, she had been playing a game on her cell phone.

It'll come to me eventually, she thought. I just gotta wait.

At least, that was what she hoped would happen.

Thankfully, Emily's roommate was gone for the weekend. If she hadn't been, Emily would have been criticized for procrastinating her essay even more than she already had. Her roommate was the perfect Type-A personality, and she never missed an opportunity to remind Emily of that.

A knock on the door pulled Emily away from her game. She tossed her phone on her bed as she stood up, moving to open the door. She smiled brightly at the person on the other side.

"Good morning," greeted Aaron. He raised an eyebrow and nodded at her choice of attire. "Slumming it today?"

"Shut up," said Emily with a laugh. "I'm trying to write my essay."

"Oh. Well, then if you're busy…" Aaron started to leave, but Emily grabbed his hand and tugged him inside the room.

"I haven't written anything in nearly twenty minutes. And I haven't written anything good in… let's see… I started it about an hour ago, so… an hour ago?"

Aaron chuckled and took a seat on Emily's desk chair. She perched herself on the bed, crossing her legs beneath her.

"Sounds exciting," he said.

"Thrilling. So, what brings you to my tiny room on this lovely morning?"

"I thought we could hang out today." He reached over to pick up her laptop, but Emily smacked his hand away.

"Nope. You can't read it."

"I can help edit!"

"Yeah, sure, when it's done. Which it is so not."

"Fine, fine." Aaron gave her an expectant look. "So? You wanna do something?"

"Yes, I do."

"Good." He smirked. "Write your essay."

Emily let out a groan, and she punched his arm. Aaron laughed and pretended to be hurt.

"Not funny," she said with a pout.

"You have to admit I have a point."

Emily glared at him. "I thought you wanted to hang out!"

"I do."

"Then don't tell me to do my homework!"

Aaron grinned mischievously and propped his feet up on her bed. Emily's heart skipped a little at seeing him look so casual and relaxed. During the school year, Aaron often looked like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders, and there were days when getting a smile out of him was impossible. But when he was like this, well, there was nothing like it.

Emily loved it.

"So," said Aaron, nudging her knee with his foot. "How about lunch? Then a walk through the park, maybe a movie?"

"You sound like such a romantic."

Aaron scowled. "Would you rather me be a jackass?"

"I've seen you be a jackass, so no."

Aaron's face fell at the reminder of his pre-Emily high school persona. He hadn't always been a nice guy, and he hated it. He had let himself become molded by the people around him. It wasn't until he met Emily and her friends that he changed into his own person, a person he could be proud of. He never wanted to go back to who he used to be.

Emily immediately felt bad for reminding him of it. She got up off the bed and carefully placed herself on his lap. Aaron's arms encircled her waist and held her close.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, kissing his cheek. Aaron closed his eyes.

"It's alright. I know you didn't mean it."

Emily tilted his head back by placing her fingers under his chin and pushing up. He opened his eyes and gazed at her, a sad look coming from him. She smiled a little and kissed him on the lips. She tried to convey her exact feelings, that she didn't blame him for how he acted in the past. Aaron pressed his lips closer to hers, savoring her touch.

"I love you," she murmured when they pulled apart.

"I love you too."

"Lemme get dressed. Then we can go."

"Okay. You sure you don't need to work?"

Emily lightly swatted his arm and extracted herself from his grip.

"Believe me, I would much rather spend the day with you."

Aaron smiled, the lightness in it returning. "Good."

"I have to say, I liked the first one better," Emily stated as she and Aaron exited the movie theater. Her hand immediately found his, and they began walking down the sidewalk.

"I don't know, this one had its perks," argued Aaron. Emily smirked.

"Do you mean the main female character? If you can even call her a main character?"

"She had… substance," he insisted. Emily burst out laughing.

"She had major cleavage, if that's what you call substance!"

"Oh, like you weren't drooling over the main guy!"

Emily gave a fake-pout. "Not fair. Zachary Quinto is very attractive. And his character had substance!"

"What is it with you and substance?" Aaron shook his head in amusement. Emily shrugged.

"I feel like every person needs it. Otherwise they're flat and uninteresting. Like cut-out paper dolls."

"You should have been a writer. Than you can give everyone substance."

"Okay, you can stop using that word now," Emily said. "And besides, I'm a shit writer. You know that."

"If I say I don't, will you stop mocking me for my opinion on this movie?"

"I wasn't mocking you."

"There isn't a single person who would say your tone wasn't mocking."

"I think you're just sensitive."

"I think you're mean."

Emily stopped walking and raised her eyebrows. "Oh, is that what you think? Well, in that case…" She started to pull her hand away from Aaron's, but he simply held on tighter. A smile began to tug at the corners of Emily's mouth.

"Scarlett Johansson doesn't compare to you, you know," Aaron said shyly, referencing the film.

"You're so sappy."

"You said that earlier today."

"I mean, it's true…"

Aaron laughed under his breath and pulled her close to him. He kissed her, and they lost themselves in the contact, ignoring the fact that they were standing in the middle of the sidewalk. Someone coughed as they walked by, bringing them to their senses. They separated, blushing like the caught teenagers they were.

They resumed walking, and they quickly fell into a conversation about the merits of sequels. Emily was insisting they would always be inferior to the original while Aaron defended them, saying they could be quality pieces if done properly.

Emily's cell phone rang, interrupting Aaron's passionate argument. He frowned at the phone, causing Emily to grin.

"It's Penelope," she told him before picking up. "Hey, Pen."

"Hello, my best girl. And hello, Aaron."

"Who said I was with Aaron?" Emily said innocently, glancing at her boyfriend out of the corner of her eye.

"Oh, so you're not?"

"Well, no, I am."

"Knew it!" Penelope cried. "You two are sooo not hard to predict."

"Glad to hear it," Emily said with a roll of her eyes. Aaron kept giving her questioning looks. She shook her head in response.

"No, believe me, it's a good thing."

"Thank you, then."

"Thank you for what?" Aaron pressed.

"Calm down, Nosy," Emily said, nudging him with her shoulder.

"Who's nosy?" Penelope asked on the other end.

"Aaron."

"I'm not nosy!"

Penelope laughed, having heard him. "Tell him to relax. What I have to say pertains to him too."

Emily relayed the message. Aaron huffed a little, muttering, "I don't need to relax." Emily giggled.

"Alright, what's up, Pen?"

"Welllll," she said, drawing out the word. "As you know, Spring Break is coming up."

"Really? I had no idea."

"Fine, then, Ms. Snark. No need to be a jerk about it."

"What about Spring Break?" Emily asked. Aaron raised his eyebrows.

"We – and by we, I mean our Merry Band of Misfits – are going on a trip."

"A trip? Are you serious?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

Emily shrugged even though her friend couldn't see her. "Because we're college freshmen who can barely eat out on the weekends. Where were you thinking, for this trip?"

"Somewhere nice."

"See, 'nice' might be hard to come by. Recall my previous statement."

Penelope let out an exaggerated sigh. "It was Spencer's idea."

"Really?" Emily asked, raising her eyebrows. "That doesn't seem like him. His idea of a vacation is reading fifteen books in a day, then watching Star Trek." Aaron snorted.

"He thinks JJ is having a difficult time, and he wants to make Spring Break special for her. He figures having all of us together on a trip will be just what she needs."

Emily took a deep breath. Just over a year ago, she would not have given a damn about what JJ wanted or needed. Of course, times had changed, and now JJ was one of her best friends.

"Then I guess we need to start saving."

"I now call this emergency meeting of Thomas Jefferson High School's Greatest Alumni to order," Penelope announced. She was seated on her bed in her dorm room, with Spencer at her side. Her laptop rested on both of their laps, and its screen held three familiar faces. Aaron and Emily were in one Skype window, and Derek was in another.

"I'm sure there are some people who would object to that," Aaron remarked, leaning back on his bed. They had opted for his room since Emily's roommate was on the warpath about the history essay.

"Like Strauss," Derek said. His face became clouded with nostalgia. "God, I still remember her face when Emily won Prom Queen…"

"When you MADE me win Prom Queen!" Emily cried. "You ran up with my name on a piece of paper!"

"And her face was priceless!" Derek asserted. "It was totally worth it."

"And besides," Penelope said, "Aaron couldn't be King without his Queen!"

Everyone minus the couple in question made cooing and kissing noises. Emily rolled her eyes as Aaron kissed her cheek, which only increased their friends' teasing.

"Okay, okay," she said firmly, bringing everyone back to the present. "Let's get down to business."

"Yes." Penelope clapped her hands together. "Spring Break."

"Is not possible," Emily said. Penelope glared at her.

"Wow, ye of little faith."

"I'm just trying to be realistic!"

"You said we needed to start planning! That's like saying you're up for it and you think it's a good idea!"

"Because I did think that, at first," admitted Emily. "But Aaron and I talked about it on the way back here, and we just don't know how we can swing it."

"That's where the planning comes in."

"Penelope…" Aaron said. "We need to think this through."

"We're about to!"

"Guys," Spencer said softly, drawing everyone's gaze. "I know that this won't be easy, and that it's probably not possible, but I think we should try. For JJ. She's seriously doubting herself out there, and I think she really needs the time off with all of us. A vacation would be the best way to do so, because we'll be somewhere completely new, where nothing old can hurt us."

Everyone was quiet as they took this in. Spencer had never been the one to beg for anything (unless it was to get them to watch something sci-fi related). But his plea now… it said a lot to the group.

"Hypothetically," Aaron said, breaking the silence. "Where would we go?"

"Well," Penelope started, picking up her sparkly pink notebook. "I Googled popular Spring Break spots for college kids, and I found this website that helps students plan trips. They have several locations, many of which are in either Mexico or the Bahamas…"

"Let's not do that," Derek said. "Traveling will cost way too much."

"I agree," Aaron said. "Is there anywhere in the US?"

"Yeah, there's a spot in Texas, and one in Florida."

"Oooh," Emily said, a faraway look appearing in her eyes. "Florida."

"Yeah," Penelope said. "Panama Beach. Apparently it's the number one Spring Break spot in the US."

"Wouldn't that make it more expensive?" Aaron asked apprehensively.

"Negative, Captain Hotchner," Penelope replied. "This website is budget friendly."

"Are you serious?" Aaron asked. Emily nudged him with her shoulder.

"The whole point of it is to help college students go on vacation," Penelope shot back. "It's as cheap as we're gonna get."

"Well, how cheap is that?" Derek spoke up. "Because I'm not exactly rolling in dough over here."

"We're not either," Spencer said, looking at Penelope. She shook her head.

The three of them looked at Emily and Aaron. Aaron shrugged, then glanced at his girlfriend, who looked down at her lap.

"I'm not, but…"

"But what?" Penelope asked, her eyebrows furrowing. Emily sighed.

"My mother keeps offering to send me money. I tell her no for the most part, but sometimes I cave."

Silence.

"So, what you're saying is that if you asked your mom for vacation money, she would probably give it?" Penelope did her best to give Emily a sharp look through the webcam. Emily bit her lip.

"Most likely…"

"Then what's the problem?"

"You guys won't have money!" Emily cried. She paused then, a look of concentration appearing on her face.

"What're you thinking, Princess?" Derek asked. Aaron shot him a look before turning back to Emily.

"Well… I haven't taken the money recently…"

"So?" Derek prompted.

"Maybe I can get my mom to pay for you guys too, since I haven't accepted any of her offers since, like, Christmas."

"We can't allow your mom to pay for us!" Penelope chided. "That's too generous."

"Do you think you can make it on this trip without her help?" Emily countered.

"We might be able to make it work…"

"So the answer is no. I'm sorry, Pen, but you know it's true." Emily let her gaze flit to each of her friends. "Look, when I was younger, I didn't really have a lot of birthday parties, or any kind of get-together with other kids, really. I moved a lot, so it was hard to make friends. Plus, no one really wanted to hang out with the odd girl. My parents have never gotten the chance to do something like this for me. I think they wouldn't mind doing it now."

Penelope opened her mouth, then closed it again. Aaron squeezed Emily's hand, and Spencer offered a sympathetic smile. Penelope finally spoke.

"Okay, so since there is a computer screen between us, just imagine I'm hugging you. As for the trip…" She thought about it for a second. "Okay, how about this: We pay as much as we can, and then your parents help with the rest?"

"Done," confirmed Emily with a nod.

"Hold on," Aaron said, holding up his free hand. The other was still holding Emily's. "We don't even know if your parents will agree to this."

"Let's worry about that if they don't. Until then…" Emily grinned at her friends. "Panama Beach, here we come!"

A/N: That student trip website it a real thing. I seriously Googled spring break spots and found a site that helps students plan trips. It's pretty cool.

Anyway, sorry about the wait! I've been settling in back at home, and I haven't had a lot of time to write (one of the many things I miss about my camp is writing time haha). Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please let me know if you did! I'll appreciate it so much.

Also, a BIG thank you to everyone who has favorited or followed this story. Your tremendous support never ceases to amaze me. Thank you thank you thank you.