They had sat beside the river until seven-fourteen that night, only leaving once Emily pulled her phone from her back pocket to see the time and check for any messages she may have missed.

Once he had driver her home, the fifteen year old gained a verbal beating from her mother, having missed the dinner they were supposed to have had with the governor.

A dinner Emily was never told about beforehand.

She had just rolled her eyes after standing there for a twenty minute lecture and made her way up to her room. She had checked her phone and found that her mother never even tried to reach her. So how exactly was it her fault that she missed the dinner?

Picking up her phone once she laid in her bed, snuggled under the covers with the lights turned off and a sad movie set on mute, Emily frowned. "Hello?"

"I saw you leave with that cutie!"

Emily let out a bark of a laugh at the excited voice that flowed through her phone. "Hi Pen," she smirked.

The blond on the other end let her jaw drop. "So you have nothing to say?"

"Not really," she shrugged, lying back against her pillow. "We just talked the entire time, really. He took me down to the river and we just sat on this huge rock. It was nice."

"Did you kiss him?"

Emily's eyes widened at the accusation. "No! Why would I do that?"

Penelope took her phone from her ear and glared at the plastic as if it were her friend's face. "Because he's the most beautiful thing to ever live," she growled. "And because you haven't had anyone since Johnny during the summer, so Aaron is the next one on your list!"

The brunette found herself burrowing deeper into the warmth of her blankets. "Can we not talk about that please?" Losing her virginity to a guy she was with for only two months was something she didn't want to revisit.

"How was he, anyway?"

Emily laughed. "Fast," the chortled word came out, her hand coming up to cover her gaping mouth. "And way too jerky."

The blonde's eyes shot open at the comment. "No way."

"Totally," the fifteen year old nodded generously. "But anyway, don't bring up Aaron again. It's not like anything is going to happen between us."

"Whatever."

Emily grinned. "Don't sound upset."

The younger girl shook her head, typing the end of the essay that she was supposed to have had done the day before. "So how was that dinner?"

"Excuse me? You knew about my dinner?"

Penelope frowned at the tone. "Your mom called me and asked if I was with you. When I said no, she went on a rant and then she hung up. I thought she was going to just text you after or something. Did she forget about you again?"

Emily immediately hung up her phone, rolling onto her stomach and screaming into her pillow.

Aaron seemed to be the only thing good about her day.