Saturday morning. Emily.
Emily bit her lip as her thumb hovered tentatively above the 'Send' button.
Would Hanna even want to see her? She had seemed so distant the night before. All week, she'd been her normal, cheery, bubbly self – and then, last night, out of nowhere, she'd completely distanced herself from Emily and the others, cold as ice with all of them.
Emily furrowed her brow in frustration. All she had to do was hit send. One click and it'd be over.
She hit send. There. Finished. Done. She couldn't do anything about it now. Only wait.
Almost immediately, the phone that had never left her hand buzzed with a reply from her best friend.
Ofc we can hang out :) Meet you at the lake in a half hour?
After reading the text with bated breath she let out a deep sigh of relief. She'd been so stupid. Hanna wasn't mad at her. She'd just been paranoid as hell, as always.
Plus, Emily absolutely adored the lake. Ali often used to bring all of them there when high school had first started. She'd sneak a bottle of vodka from her parent's cupboard, and the five of them would the bottle around and just spend hours laughing and getting to know each other. They were some of Emily's happiest memories of Ali.
But she didn't think about that anymore. She couldn't.
However, curious couldn't even begin to describe how much Emily wanted to know why Hanna had been acting so weird last night. It wasn't like her at all. Not once did she complain when Emily had changed the channel from Katy Perry's Greatest Hits to some shitty horror film.
Something was up, and she was going to get to the bottom of it.
The lake. Emily.
"It's been so long since I've been here," Hanna said.
Emily jumped. She'd no idea that Hanna had silently walked up behind her, scaring the living daylights out of her.
"Shit! Hanna! You scared me!"
Hanna grinned. "Guess you're a lot more scared of zombie movies than you let on, huh?"
The brunette shook her head, smiling shyly as her cheeks went a dark shade of pink. "Shut up."
Hanna shook her head, amused, then looked down at her feet, having apparently taken a sudden interest in kicking dirt in circles with the toe of her shoe. "So what did you wanna talk to me about, anyway?
Emily sighed. "Um, about last night. Don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about, because something was definitely up and… I'm worried. About you."
Hanna paused. Biting her lip, she looked up at Emily, her beautiful blue eyes wet with the threat of tears. Emily's heart practically skipped a beat. She couldn't bare to see her friend so upset.
"Do you wanna sit down?" Hanna suggested. Emily nodded, quickly removing her hoodie and spreading it on a patch of grass by the edge of the lake. The two girls sat, their feet almost skimming the shimmering surface of the lake.
Hanna took a deep breath, and then exhaled, twiddling her thumbs constantly.
"I'm sorry for ignoring you last night. I didn't mean to. I was just in a bad mood, and I had a terrible stomach ache, and… and my mom has just been really bitchy with me lately. I'm so, so sorry if you thought I was angry with you, because I'm not. I promise."
Emily put her arm around her best friend, sighed, and shook her head.
"Hanna Marin, I love you to pieces, and you're incredibly sweet to try and make me feel better like that, but you're the worst liar on the history of the planet. At least half of that was complete bullshit," she smirked.
"What? It so wasn't."
"Really?"
"Really."
"Then how come you're so sweaty all of a sudden?" Emily inquired with a knowing look. "How come you're tripping up on your words and you're doing that adorable little lip-bite you've reserved only for whenever you're nervous as hell?"
Hanna sighed dejectedly. "Wow. Well, shit. Am I really that much of an open book?
Emily took her hand, smiling sweetly at the one person she felt closest to in the world. "No. I just know you like the back of my hand. Now can you please tell me what's bothering you? I hate seeing you like this. It breaks my heart."
Hanna sat in thought for what felt like a million years. She opened her mouth, closed it, opened it again, seemingly unable to form words.
Then,
"I, just –
I'm sorry, Em. I can't. It doesn't matter. I'm sorry."
She got up, her voice breaking on the last few words. Emily quickly stood up after, pulling the trembling blonde into a hug.
"Shhhh. It's okay. Hanna. I'm here. I'm sorry. I just-"
"No, I have to go, I'm sorry-"
Picking up her bag, she swung it onto her back, brushed the dirt off her jeans, and jogged off, leaving Emily alone, feeling more confused and helpless than she'd felt in a very long time.
Almost as soon as Hanna's last footsteps had faded away, Emily's phone beeped in the pocket of her worn, navy jumper. She fished it out of her pocket and opened her newest text.
"Must feel nice to be in Ali's position for once, huh, Em? Maybe you're not the only one who's been harbouring some forbidden feelings. Kisses! – A."