It appears I have a bit of a writing bug for Emily and Aaron right now. I just love them together! I hope you enjoy this story which will see some moments Aaron and Emily shared before the worked together in the White House, from boarding school, college and working in Washington.
So how did Aaron and Emily know each other before they started working together in the White House? /3 PARTS/
Boarding School
16-year-old Emily Rhodes walked into her dorm room after making a trip to the bathroom. She had been back at school for almost a week now and was exhausted already, attending one of the most prestigious schools in Washington would do that to a girl. Ever since Emily had shown political aspirations, her parents sent her to school in Washington, right in the heart of it all, to give her the best start, and she couldn't be more thankful. While she never saw herself as a politician, she could see herself as an adviser of sorts.
Emily tied her hair up into a quick and messy ponytail and pulled back the covers of her bed. Before she could climb in, however, her two roommates burst through the door with excited looks on their faces.
"Emily Rhodes whatever you do, do not get into that bed." Vivienne warned with a raised eyebrow and a pointed finger.
Emily sighed; "Viv, I get that the concept of class in the morning is foreign to you, but some of us actually intend on being there and therefore need a good night's sleep..." she said putting her hands on her hips with a light smile.
"Em, we love you and all your nerdy nature but tonight is not the night to be getting into bed at 9pm." Emily's second roommate Lenny warned.
"Lenny..." Emily said with a groan and they both leaped forward and pulled her towards the wardrobe.
"We just scored ourselves an invite to a senior party!" Vivienne said with a shriek.
"On a Thursday?" Emily asked as Vivienne began rummaging through her clothes to pick her something to wear as Lenny pulled the hair bobble out of her hair and began fixing it.
"It's the first week of school, the one week in the year where the adults overlook what is right under their noses before the hard work kicks in." Lenny reminded her. "Or they're just really dumb and don't realise what's going on right under their noses..."
"How did you get invited?" Emily asked as Vivienne throw some clothes at her to put on.
"I locked eyes with one of the guys on the football team at practice this afternoon, clearly he thought I was worth having there and he told me to bring whoever I wanted." Vivienne said with a giggle.
"And I take it you're not going to take no for an answer?" Emily said as she fixed her appearance in the mirror.
"Absolutely not." Lenny said. "Let's go, it's already started!" she said as the girls dragged a reluctant Emily out the door.
A few minutes later, the girls opened the door to the senior boy's dorm of who was throwing the party. They looked round in awe at the size of the room. They had their own lounge, bathroom, kitchen area, then three bedrooms off to the side.
"Damn..." Vivienne said as the three friends looked around the dorm in awe.
"Looks like somebody's daddy was feeling generous" Lenny added.
"Hey George, look who's here!" they heard a guy say as he and his friend George walked towards them.
Vivienne's face instantly lit up, indicating that this was the boy she met at football practice.
"Glad you girls could make it" George said. "I'm George, this is Warner" he introduced. "We live here along with our friend Aaron who has vanished..."
"Probably with Melissa" Warner said with a shrug.
"No, he's definitely moved onto bigger and better things than Melissa." George said in disagreement. "Oh, wait there he is, Aaron! Come over here." George said, waving his friend over.
Aaron walked over and instantly locked eyes with Emily. He gave her a small smile which she returned as she shifted awkwardly in her position. This guy was insanely hot with his curly hair and tall physique. Aaron thought the same about her, she was beautiful.
"This is Aaron Shore, our chaperone for the evening." Warner said as Aaron pushed him slightly.
"Watch it Shapiro." Aaron warned.
"Aaron here is just a little less fun than us, he wanted to cancel the party altogether because he had an early morning class..." Warner explained.
"Oh, that's funny, Emily didn't want to come either because she has an early morning class!" Lenny said, getting a glare from Emily. "I'm Eleanor by the way, but everyone calls me Lenny, this is Vivienne and Emily." Lenny introduced.
"Well it's nice to meet you guys" Aaron said, not taking his eyes off Emily. She looked uncomfortable, like she didn't want to be there, like she didn't know her place, she was a curiosity.
"Enjoy the party" Aaron said as he walked off in the other direction with his drink, immediately bombarded by a girl. Emily rolled her eyes, immediately judging that daddy's money got him here and he was the typical jock. But he did want to be in bed for early morning class...
"Yeah so that's Aaron. I swear he's fun, he just hasn't quite got the concept that senior year is supposed to be the most fun year of all!" George said loudly as everyone around him whooped and cheered.
"Can I get you ladies a drink?" Warner asked as he held his arm out for Vivienne. Vivienne smirked and looped her arm through his.
"Absolutely." She replied as they walked through the mass of people towards the drinks, with George and Lenny quickly on their tail.
Emily held back unsure what to do in that moment. She had never been a partier, she always had her mind set on her future in this place and relied largely on Vivienne and Lenny to make sure she didn't take life too seriously. She twiddled her thumbs for a few moments before deciding to venture forth into the party.
An hour or so later, more and more people had arrived and the place was getting cramped. Vivienne and Lenny appeared to be having the time of their lives, but Emily had had enough. She pushed her way through the crowd and towards the door, she quickly opened and rushed out and as she looked back, she ran straight into a tall and towering figure.
"Oh, I'm sor...ry..." Emily said as she looked up and realised it was the guy from earlier, the guy who lived in the dorm. Aaron.
"Emily, right?" he asked as she nodded. "I'm Aaron"
"I know" she replied quickly before cursing herself for sounding obnoxious yet keen.
Aaron chuckled; "Had enough of the party?" he asked.
"I just needed some air." she said as she leant against the wall and pushed some of her hair behind her ear. "What about you?"
"Ice" he said holding up two bags. "Would hate for Warner's drinks to get cold"
"Right" Emily said, thinking she should have seen the bags. "So, is this what senior year is going to be like for you? Constant parties in your dorms?"
"God, I hope not. Some nights will substitute parties for pranks" Aaron said with a smirk as Emily returned it with a roll of her eyes. "Warner and George will settle down, they're just excited about it being senior year. They actually do care about their studies believe it or not." Aaron said on a more serious note.
"Well you kinda have to be if you go here." Emily said, pointing out the obvious. "Unless daddy will be able to buy you guys out of trouble. Maybe even your high school diplomas. I mean, you can afford the best dorm on campus. Or maybe football will keep you in business, quarterback, right?" Emily said, immediately passing judgement.
Aaron scoffed lightly as he looked down at the feisty girl in front of him. She had completely stepped away from the intimidated girl who had first entered the party and towards a judgy one who appeared to be determined to get to the bottom of Aaron Shore.
"Yeah football will keep me afloat... considering it's part of my scholarship" Aaron told her.
Emily stood up straighter; "you're a scholarship kid?" she asked.
"Well when you put it like that you make me sound like scum of the earth" he said with a light laugh. "Yeah, I'm from a small town in Texas, this isn't really the sort of place my parents could afford. I got here on an academic and football scholarship and as for the room... George's family own it so I don't pay a dime for it. An old alumni thing." Aaron explained.
Emily nodded her head; "You chose your friends wisely."
"More like they chose me wisely. They felt a need to take the new, poor kid under their wing."
"Right..." Emily said. She took a breath and closed her eyes for a moment; "I'm sorry if you thought I was judging you. I mean... I kinda was but I didn't mean to and I was wrong and... I'm sorry." she said in a ramble.
"It's cool but... just because I'm a poor little scholarship boy doesn't mean I'm not a dick." he joked.
Emily nodded; "Yeah I guess the jury's still out on that one."
"So, what about you? I'm guessing daddy's money didn't get you here either?" Aaron asked leaning against the wall as he faced her, completely forgetting about the ice he was supposed to deliver as he set it on the ground.
"Uh… my grandparent's money. My parents saw that I had some political aspirations so they made it work and my grandparents were more than willing to help." Emily explained.
"You want to be a politician?" Aaron asked.
"No, I see myself as more of an adviser." Emily explained.
"So, like the chief of staff in the White House?"
"Well that sort of role but not necessarily that one" Emily said.
"You don't want to get to the White House? I don't think anymore here who has political aspirations doesn't have the goal of getting to the White House." Aaron said surprised at his choice.
"I just want to be in a position that makes a difference. Change can happen at all levels of government; the president doesn't control everything." Emily argued, growing frustrated that he didn't get her position.
"If you want to get anywhere in this town you're going to have to be a little more ambitious, this is the big leagues and you cannot be a minor leaguer like you clearly are now." Aaron challenged.
Emily's eyes narrowed, her posture stiffened and her arms folded. "Minor leaguer? Did you just call me a minor leaguer?"
"I believe I did yeah" Aaron said, knowing he had pushed a button
"You don't even know me, you don't know what I can do."
"You don't know whether I'm a dick or not, I don't know whether you can make it in Washington. I guess we'll have to find out." Aaron said with a smirk.
"Well I can tell you now, things are not going in your favour." Emily said harshly and before Aaron could reply, Lenny and Vivienne came out.
"Hey! We've been looking for you!" Vivienne said. "We should have guessed you'd be out here with this hottie, you're so rouge Em." She teased.
"I was just leaving" Emily said as she pushed passed Aaron and down the corridor.
"I guess that's our cue too… see you around Aaron!" Lenny said as she and Vivienne quickly went after her, immediately seeing that Emily had a face like thunder.
"See you. Hey Emily? Watch out for those pranks this year. You just might find yourself as a target." Aaron warned as Emily glared further and stormed away.
"Ok what happened?" Vivienne asked as they quickly made their way out of the building.
"He thinks that I'm a minor leaguer." Emily said through her teeth
"No way! You are not a minor leaguer… wait, what does that mean exactly?" Lenny asked.
"He doesn't think I have what it takes to make it in Washington. What does he know anyway? He's an immature 18-year-old kid who has had everything handed to him because he has rich friends and a flare for football!" Emily ranted
"I'm pretty sure he's top of his class but you know…" Vivienne pointed out, everyone knowing that Aaron Shore had everything.
"Oh whatever!" Emily said as they quickly walked into their room. "And what's this whole, 'you'll be a target for pranks' thing, is he trying to make me think he's a dick? Well he can also watch his back because I am no minor leaguer, I grew up with three older brothers, I know pranks, I can take pranks and I can dish them out." Emily said as she paced in front of her friends who both had concerned looks on their faces.
"My God he has really hit a nerve with you" Lenny noted as she put her hands on her hips. "I've never seen you like this before."
Emily sighed and ran a hand across her forehead; "I just don't like being told that I can't do something."
Vivienne smirked and wrapped her arm around her friend; "She knew she could so she did Emily. She knew she could so she did."
Over the next few days, the girls had been on high alert for any pranks coming their way. They were paranoid and knew it would be unlikely that they would evade them, but they also were prepared to play a few tricks of their own. They didn't think it was fair that the seniors got to have all the fun.
The following Tuesday evening, the girls were getting ready to go and play basketball with some friends, when Lenny opened the closet and realised that something was off. She rummaged around in the bottom for a while before turning back to the girls.
"Uh… do you guys know where all of our shoes have gone?" Lenny asked as Emily and Vivienne eyed her with confused looks.
They both walked over to the closet and looked inside and saw that all their shoes had gone.
"Where the hell have our shoes gone?!" Vivienne exclaimed.
"They took them" Emily said with a groan. "They actually took our shoes!"
"Yeah remind me to make sure our door is locked from now on." Lenny said as she scrunched up her face in annoyance.
"I don't think that would matter, something tells me they would know how to get in anyway." Emily said as her phone buzzed. She took her phone out of her pocket and saw that she had a message from Aaron.
Missing something?
Emily sighed and typed back a response; I think you already know the answer to that. Care to help our search?
Not much of a search. Look out your window.
Emily furrowed her eyebrows as she showed the girls the message. They walked over to the window and pulled back the curtains and their mouths fell open.
"Oh… my… god." They all blurted out at the same time.
Their shoes were lined neatly across the roof beam of the opposite building, a few were even tied around the top of the lamp posts that lit up the central courtyard.
"Are you freakin kidding me?!" Vivienne exclaimed.
"Stay calm Viv" Emily told her.
"How can I stay calm?! They stole our shoes and hid them on the roof." Vivienne said with a clenched jaw.
Emily nodded; "Yeah… but if they want to steal our stuff… then they're going to get a taste of their own medicine." She finished with a smirk as her two friends eyed her with suspicious glares.
The following day, Aaron, Warner and George arrived back in their dorm after class. Aaron collapsed on the sofa as Warner went into the kitchen to get them a soda.
"Hey, George, do you have that tie I lent you a few weeks ago for that party your parents dragged you to?" Warner asked; "I need it for the party that my parents are now dragging me to." He finished with a sigh as he chucked Aaron a soda and shrunk down into the chair beside him.
"Yeah I should do" George said as she went into his room.
Aaron chuckled; "Oh to be a part of the political elite."
"You're lucky, you get all the benefits of being from a rich political family, without the family part, by being friends with us." Warner said. "Don't you ever take us for granted."
Aaron laughed; "Aw Warner I could never take you for granted."
"Uh guys?" George said as he came back into the room. "All my underwear is gone."
"Not the Calvin Kleins!" Aaron joked as Warner laughed along.
"I'm not kidding, check your drawers" George said as Aaron and Warner rolled their eyes and walked into their rooms.
Aaron opened his drawer and saw that it was completely empty. He checked the other drawers and his underwear was nowhere to be found. He walked back into the living area.
"Yeah mine are gone. Yours?" He asked Warner.
"Gone. Looks like someone thought they could test the pranking masters…." Warner said folding his arms.
"But stealing our underwear? It's a little amateurish don't you think?" George asked.
"Yeah… like they're in the minor league…" Aaron said absentmindedly. He lifted out his phone, knowing exactly who was responsible.
Stealing our underwear? Are you trying to prove you're a minor leaguer? He typed.
You're right, stealing underwear is a minor league prank… good thing I'm not a minor leaguer.
Aaron furrowed his eyebrows; "Guys… I don't think stealing out underwear is all that they've done…"
"What do you mean?" Warner asked.
Aaron furiously typed his reply; Care to elaborate?
You might want to check the freezer in the campus kitchen.
2 minutes later the boys were running through the kitchen and into the freezer. They opened the large door and their mouth fell open when they saw what was in front of them. Their underwear, frozen in a block of ice.
"You have got to be kidding me." George said as they stood there, unsure what to do.
"That is one big block of ice…" Warner commented.
"Yeah I think we're going to need a wheelbarrow" George said as they turned to walk away.
"And some bigger pranks." Aaron added as they left the kitchen to find something to transport the block of ice.
After half an hour of trying to lift the ice, they finally managed to get it into the little trailer they found and began dragging it through campus, much to everyone's bemusement. Just before they arrived at their building, they walked past Emily, Vivienne and Lenny who had bright smiles on their faces.
"Well… that is a problem…" Vivienne said as she pulled a sarcastically sympathetic smile.
"This was a good effort guys, really good, but with our reputations on the line like this, we're really going to have to pull out the big guns." Warner said, ready to pull the best pranks yet.
"We look forward to it, greatly." Lenny said with a smirk as they walked on.
"I hope you're ready… minor leaguer." Aaron said as Emily shook her head and walked away.
Emily was sitting in her bed the following day doing some homework, when she saw a note slipped through the door. She immediately got up and opened it.
Sports center. 1am. Bring your best game minor leaguer.
Emily scoffed, wondering what the boys had been planning. But no matter what it was she and the girls would be ready.
As the clock approached 1am, Emily, Vivienne and Lenny made their way to the sports center, ready to face what was coming. They had no idea what it could be, but they were ready to hatch their own plan. Emily sent Vivienne to the shop nearby to build up a supply of flour, eggs and honey.
Emily knew this was juvenile, she knew this prank war should be the last thing on her mind, but she had never had this much fun and was not about to give up now.
The girls wore all black as they snuck into the already unlocked building, signaling that the boys were already there.
"Ok they're probably already here, be on the lookout guys" Emily warned as they walked forward.
"Uh…. I think I know where they are" Vivienne said as she pointed to the entrance of the pool where the light was coming from.
Emily nodded and smirked; "Well, then let's take the bait."
Lenny and Vivienne looked at her with wide eyes and she walked into the swimming pool.
"Emily! Get back here! We need to make a team decision and walking into the lion's den is not a team decision!" Lenny shouted in a whisper, but Emily ignored her and went on ahead.
Lenny and Vivienne looked at each other before sighing and following their friend through.
They looked around the pool, not seeing anyone, but they all knew that it was too quiet. They stood at the top of the pool and dropped their bags, trying to think what they could be trying to pull.
"What is their game?" Emily mumbled as she looked around her. Before anyone could say anything else, they all felt a tap on their shoulders and they all turned around.
They came face to face with the three boys who were all smirking at them.
"Ladies" George greeted.
"Making yourself known… what's your game?" Vivienne asked as she folded her arms.
"Simple… we're using your game against you." Warner said as the girls furrowed their eyebrows.
The three boys lifted the girls bags and smirked when they saw what was inside them;
"Just as we thought." Aaron said as Emily reached out for the bag. He quickly stopped her and smiled wider. "Have a nice swim!" he said as the three boys pushed the girls backwards and they fell straight into the pool. They dashed out the door, just as they came up for air.
"I'm going to kill them!" Lenny shouted as they bobbed in the water.
"Well then go after them! Go!" Emily said as they all rushed out the door and after the boys.
As soon as they ran into the hallways they were hit with flour, eggs and honey. Using their own game against them. As the girls screamed and tried to avoid being hit, the boys dashed off in various directions. As soon as the girls got their bearings again, they had dashed off in pursuit of the boys.
Emily quickly walked through the corridors, ready to slap Aaron silly for making such a mess on them. Suddenly, she was pulled by the arm, straight into a closet. When she regained her balance, she looked up and saw Aaron smirking at her under the faint light above.
"Hey!" He greeted happily.
"God, you are the worst!" Emily said pushing him, causing some toilet papers to fall around him.
"Hey, you're the one who brought the flour and eggs and honey." Aaron said holding up his hands and he walked closer to Emily again. There was barely any room in the closet and their chests were mere centimeters from each other and their faces just as close.
"You could have just chucked us in the pool!"
"That is a prank worthy of a minor leaguer, and I am no minor leaguer. Unlike you, who stupidly let their stuff get taken."
"How did you know we had all this stuff?"
"We've got eyes and ears everywhere…" Aaron teased as Emily glared; "I'm kidding, Warner saw Vivienne at the shop. You should really be a little bit better at covering your tracks."
"I suppose you think you're really clever huh?"
"Oh, I know I'm really clever, just like you should know by now that you're a minor leaguer, but don't worry, you'll learn." Aaron said, looking down at Emily's lips. She frustrated the crap out of him, there was no doubt about that, but in that moment, there was nothing more that he wanted to do than kiss her.
Emily smirked, catching Aaron looking at her lips. She leaned forward and teased him as they were a breath away from their lips making contact.
"Hm… you're right… you are pretty clever…" Emily said as she paused before closing the gap. "But I'm no minor leaguer."
And with that, Emily took the two eggs from her pocket, and smashed them against Aaron's perfect curls and stood back. Aaron stood in shock as the egg ran down his face.
"Always keep your guard up Shore. You never know who might slip past. Goodnight Aaron." Emily said as she smugly left the closet. She may not have gotten him in the same scale that he got her, but that one moment of victory was enough to prove Aaron that just maybe, he was wrong.
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