**AN: So starting now, I'll consider this the second part of this entire story, Part 2: the college years. I don't intend for this to be too long, with the third and final installment being after college in their adult lives, and where this story comes to an end, sadly. So sorry for the long break, I've had to come back from some seriously dark episodes of my life since the end of the school year and it's been rough. I also have been working on some other projects I won't post until I have more done, so yeah.
I'm back for now and this approach is different from most other chapters in the story, the mood is different, along with some new characters you may or may not recognize (not a crossover though, just borrowing the people because I'm in love with them)
Chapter 38: Sometime Freshman Year
"Shit, Ali I'm late." Em popped out of their joined beds and rushed across their dorm to the closet.
Ali rolled over, the blankets slipping from her, revealing her naked body. The cold air blew over her torso and she opened her eyes in shock, groaning once she realized she was alone, "Em, it's Saturday, we don't even have class. Come back here."
Em pulled up some sweats and searched for her shirt, "I know babe, but I have practice, and I'm late."
"Late?"
"Have you seen my shirt?"
"But it's," Ali searched for her phone, finding it on the small dresser near the bed, "fuck! It's only 5:30."
"Already? Shit! Practice was at 5:00, why didn't anyone come and get me?"
Ali smirked, "remember what happened last time?"
Em stopped and put her hands on her hips, "not funny Ali. That," she paused, "and this especially, was not how I wanted to start my freshman year here, you know how much pressure is riding on me."
Ali smiled and pulled her camera app open, quickly snapping a pic of her shirtless girlfriend before Em had time to protest. "No, Em, I don't…but I sure did last night."
Em barely had time to recover from the photo being taken of her, or of the dirty joke her girlfriend had just made, "Ali, what are you doing?"
"I took a picture," then added, "of my insanely gorgeous, slightly angry and naked girlfriend, what did it look like?"
Em walked over, hovering over the smaller blonde and held her hand out, "give it here."
"What? Now Em, why would I do that?"
Em groaned, "delete it."
"What for, I'm the only one who will ever ever see it," and Ali turned her body, cradling her phone against her chest shielding it from Emily's grasp.
Em raised an eyebrow and smirked, "fine, you can keep it then."
"I would've kept it anyways."
"I'm sure you would've." Em laughed and presumed looking for her clothes.
Ali shrugged and when Em turned around she reached behind her, "here's your shirt," and threw Em's favorite old Sharks tee at her.
Em turned and snatched it from the air, "you're unbelievable!"
Em threw on her sports bra and threw the shirt over her head.
Ali laughed, "yeah sure, I'm the crazy one, when you're the one that always wants to wear that shirt for aaaall your practices."
Em groaned, knowing that Ali was right. She grabbed her sports bag and shoved her feet in her shoes, running to grab her toothbrush from their caddy basket and brush her teeth before she left.
Ali laughed when Em ran out their room and got up to put some clothes on before she got back. They both roomed together in a double, so no one else would walk in, but Ali knew that being in the South West dorm meant busy co-ed floors and Ali was not letting anyone but Em see her like this.
Alison moved quickly from the bed and put on another one of Em's old shirts and some sport shorts before jumping back onto the bed. She waited 3 minutes, laughing when Em came in right on time.
"Shit Ali, I'm sorry I totally forgot to close the door, no one seen-"
Ali beamed at the flustered girl in front of her, "babe, calm down would you, we picked this dorm for a reason, it's at the end of the hall, no one is even close."
Em sighed relief, "you're right, but you're sure-"
"Em, I'm only going to say it one more time, calm down. Take off the Killer pants and go be my little Mermaid now."
Em calmed down, hearing not only one, but two of her nicknames given to her by Ali, she smiled and walked over to the bed. She held Ali's waist in her hands and leaned in for a quick kiss on the lips, "I love you."
Ali leaned up on her knees and rested her forehead against Em's, "I love you." When she pulled away, she could see the hesitation, "Em," she warned, grabbing her phone, "it's now 5:40, you really need to go."
Em pulled away, snatching her own phone from the bedside table, "shit, I have 10 missed calls, Paige is gonna kill me."
Ali watched as Em scrambled for the door, yelling, "she better not!"
The last thing Ali heard was Em's sweet laughter and the sound of steps being taken down the stairs.
Ali shook her head and laughed again getting up to close the door. She gave it a push and made her way to her desk to do some homework, but she never heard the door close. She turned around and instead of a closed door, she saw none other than Lauren standing there, with her arms crossed.
"Ugh, Lauren, what do you want?"
"Really Queen B, I thought we were friends? And you were about to slam the door in my face?" Lauren feigned hurt and went on ahead with walking in and sitting on the bed.
"Well, in my defense, I didn't see you."
"Ouch, because that hurts less."
Lauren was a Psychology major with a minor in English and she and Ali met the first week of school in an early English class. Ali liked the girl, she was much like herself, she was confident, strong, didn't talk much about her family and although both came off as being reserved or stuck-up, each had a heart of gold. Not to mention the similar piercing colored eyes, but while Ali's were blue, Lauren had these bright green eyes that would change color, and sometimes had this ring of hazel around the pupil.
It wasn't an instant friendship, but one project together and they'd gotten close fast. It was weird because outside of Em and Hanna, Spencer and Aria, even Shana for a while, Ali couldn't remember having any other friends…it was different, but it felt nice.
"Shut up dork, what are you doing here?"
"Well I wanted to see if you and Legs wanted to hang out with Mila and I later, but I seen that she was late for practice so I don't know, she might have to stay later and do some extra laps."
Right, Lauren also met Emily the first week of school during the athletes meeting. Lauren was a starting freshman as the school softball team's third baseman and not that Ali ever seen her play, but she heard the stories from Em who heard them from other collegiate athletes.
"Damn, I forgot about that, but I'm sure Em won't mind. Where is Camila anyway?"
Camila was Lauren's girlfriend, and the two of them were Em and Ali's first friends who shared an interest in girls. It was nice to have another couple to hang out with.
"I let her sleep in, you weren't the only one getting some action last night."
"Oh god, shutup please, I don't want to know."
"Sure you don't, but I'm sure you heard us? We're just down the hall."
"No, god no we didn't, and thank the heavens."
"Hmm, too bad, you missed out."
"No, I'm sure I didn't. Hey I want to get some work done, don't you have practice, or some laps to run yourself?"
"What are you trying to say?" Lauren flipped her raven hair over her shoulder and walked towards Ali.
"Nothing, only…you're bugging me."
"Shit, you are the mean one, now I know how my friends felt about me sometimes."
Ali rolled her eyes, "whatever, you know you can be a bitch too sometimes, like at the restaurant last week, with that waiter eyeing Mila all night."
Lauren put her hands up, "hey that was not my fault, he had that coming, and besides don't act like you were okay with Em's tutor. I mean she was hot, but I know you told her something."
Ali's cheeks flushed, "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Oh yeah, so Em just randomly got assigned another tutor for her class out of nowhere with no real explanation from the office? Hmm, that must have been a nice coincidence for you."
Alison laughed, she knew she was busted and so did Lauren, "yes, as a matter of fact it was."
"You're unbelievable."
"Ugh, now you sound like Em."
"Really?" Lauren asked, "so that's how she sounds? Huh, I was thinking she sounded more like, 'oh god Ali, yes, Ali! ALI!'"
Alison got up and practically tackled Lauren, "oh my gosh, shutup!"
Lauren dodged a pillow and erupted into laughter, "OMG, why? Am I right? I'm right aren't I? Oooh I knew Em wasn't that quiet, god what else does she say? You know I haven't heard her cuss, I bet she cusses when you get right to the spot where-"
Ali chucked a water bottle at the girl who only caught it swiftly in her hand. "Haha, I have skills."
Ali sat back down and groaned, "Ugh, you remind of Hanna, minus the cockiness."
Lauren laughed and jumped back onto the bed. She had known the girls for three months, it was the beginning of November and all four of them (Ali, Em, Lauren and Camila) had all shared most of their past and somewhat personal life which mainly consisted of the high school memories, friends and family and how they met their girlfriends.
Except Ali and Em left out everything –A related, which made their stories more difficult than normal to share, but they managed none the less.
"Yeah, so speaking of the good ole gang, when do Mila and I get to meet them?"
Alison sat up straight, "wait, you want to meet them?"
"Yeah, duh, we told you we both did, and Em was all for it. Why, are we not good enough to be in your circle?"
Ali laughed, "no of course you are, I just, I don't know, I thought you guys were just kidding."
Lauren shook her head, "look around blondie, you and Em are stuck with each other, and stuck with us for the next four years. That means we're all going to be great friends by the time we escape, we all better keep in touch, and when we're old and have little lesbian babies, they're going to grow up around each other….soooo, I have to meet yours and Em's friends just like you and Legs have to meet mine and Mila's."
There was nothing but sureness and sincerity in the green eyes staring back at her, "you mean that?"
Lauren looked genuinely shocked, "hey, when I do things, I'm in for the long run, and when I make friends, I don't unmake them, maybe one day we'll all be like family. Why rob yourself of that possibility?"
Ali couldn't answer the girl, "I've heard a lot of crazy shit in my life, but honestly that's probably my favorite ever."
Lauren smiled, "aw look at you smilin', you do have a heart in there, I thought it was just a cold lump of stone."
Ali chucked a book at Lauren and missed, sending it crashing to the ground, "such a bitch."
"Just like you, now c'mon, we gonna leave or not, Camila is probably wanting breakfast by now."
"But," Ali protested, "it's only 6:15."
"You know what they say? Early bird gets the worm."
Ali laughed, "I thought Camila didn't like worms, she likes bananas."
Lauren rolled her eyes, "at least Em paces herself with her favorite foods, I just bought a bunch of bananas two days ago for Camz, and she already ate them all."
"Well, how is she supposed to wake up happy?"
"Exactly, put on some shoes, we're gonna take a drive to the store."
Ali groaned but did as she was told, it would be a few hours before Em was free anyways, she could use a little relaxation before her and Em did homework.
x-x-x-x
Lauren, Mila and Ali were all seated around a table in the dining hall having breakfast, waiting for Em to finish with practice and a shower.
"So there I was in the box," Lauren grabs a fork and holds it as a bat, "waiting for the pitcher to start her wind-up. It was the bottom of the 7th inning, we were down by two and this was my team's last at bat. I had a runner at second and third and I had a full count on me. The amount of pressure I felt was, I can't even begin to describe, but I hear everyone screaming my name."
Camila laughs, "screaming, yes we were, her coach, her parents, me, Dinah even, all just waiting for Lauren to make something happen like we all knew she would."
Lauren kissed Mila's cheek affectionately, "thanks babe. Oh, not to mention we had two outs, so this was really it, this was what I dreamed of doing, winning the championship game for my team. Of course we all did our parts but you know, if I messed up, it would be all over, I'd have to go back home, and Florida was a whiles away from Oregon. So anyways here I was, waiting and-"
But unknowingly, Em walks in behind them and places her hand on Lauren's shoulder, interrupting, "oh is this where the pitcher throws you some junk up the middle but you sail it over left field for the home run and win by one? I always loved that story."
Lauren's jaw dropped while Camila burst into a fit of laughter. The green eyed girl turned around to swat Em's hand, "EMILY! You ruined it, you literally just stole my thunder! I was just getting to the greatest part of the story and you haaaaad to just spoil it!"
Lauren huffed, and crossed her arms but Em laughed gently, kissing the top of her head, "good morning to you too Lo. Besides, Ali has already heard that one."
Lauren stared at Alison in disbelief, "what? How? Why'd you let me tell it then if you already knew?"
Ali shrugged, "well Em told me a while ago when she first heard it from you…but I know how passionate you are about softball so I still wanted to hear it from you." Ali tried to make her friend feel better, smiling awkwardly and tilted her head to the side.
Camila leaned in, grabbing Lauren's hands to uncross her arms, "easy tiger, Em didn't mean it."
Emily sat down, kissed Ali on the cheek and waited for Lauren to look up, "of course I didn't mean it, I didn't know it was the first time telling Ali."
Lauren laughed, "you're lucky I don't throw this fruit at you Legs."
"Hey, just not my banana or pancakes," Mila chimed in beside her girlfriend.
"Hey, why do I let you get away with calling me Legs anyway?"
Lauren shrugged, "because you're nice, it's Ali I'm surprised with. I excepted her to stop me along time ago."
Em and the other girls faced Alison and waited.
"What?" Ali defended, "it was kind of annoying at first, but we like you and Em doesn't seem to mind, besides I thought it was a jock thing, I just assumed that Em had a nickname for you too."
Lauren turned back to face Emily who sat across from her, "well, do you?"
Em shrugged, "it's not a nice one."
Mila laughed but flicked a grape at Em that caught her in the cheek.
"Hey Mila, what was that for?"
"Be nice."
Ali lifted her fork, loaded with a grape of her own and catapulted it at Camila, who took it square on the jaw.
"Wha-" Camila started.
"Fair is fair."
Em reached across and pulled both girls plates in, away from them, "hey, chill with the food fight, I was only kidding, I don't even have a nickname for you yet Lauren."
"Fine fine, but when you do have one-"
Em cut her off, "you'll be the first to know."
The girls all laughed before Ali's was cut off by the sound of her phone ringing.
"Hey, Em, it's Han, I'll be right back." Ali got up to talk somewhere more private and quiet, she hated to yell over the phone.
Em nodded and Ali walked towards the bathroom.
"So Em," said Lauren, "I was talking to Ali this morning and I told her me and Camz here wanted to meet your friends as soon as possible."
Em finished drinking her water, "really? You guys were serious?"
"Why do they keep saying that?" Camila asked, laughing.
Lauren laughed, "I have no idea, well what do you think Em, are we ready to meet the rest of the gang?"
Em nodded, "yeah, actually Hanna and the others were pretty excited about you guys too, and I'm sure Ali is talking to Hanna about what we're doing for thanksgiving right now."
"Yeah, we get two weeks off right?" Camila asked.
"Yup."
Lauren clapped her hands together and smiled, "well it's settled then, Mila and I will take a detour and spend a few days in Rosewood with you guys and then we'll head back to Miami until we have to come back.
"Really? What about your friends? Don't you want to see them too?"
Lauren shrugged, "we're all meeting up for Christmas holiday, don't worry, plus we all FaceTime at least once a week."
Camila jumped in, "well we try to."
Em clasped her hands together, "alright then, its settled, you are going to officially meet Hanna, Aria and Spencer."
Camila clapped her hands, "yay, this is so exciting, especially since you two have talked about them for so long."
Em bit her lip, "yeah, well we've been through a lot, hell and back, so they're just like my family."
"Who is babe?" Ali just returned to their table.
"The girls. Lauren and Camila are coming home with us."
"Really? I thought we said we'd never agree to Lauren's foursome idea."
Lauren practically spit her water out on Camila, who burst into yet another fit of laughter, "Laur- you told them?"
Ali stopped, "What? I was just kidding! OMG Lauren, do you really-"
Camila's face turned a shade of red, "oh god, Lauren, I had no idea babe-"
Lauren's face was so red, she couldn't stood in the street as a stoplight.
Emily on the other hand didn't know whether to feel bad for their friend's obvious embarrassment, or laugh with her.
She found a happy medium; Em allowed herself to laugh before settling the other two down, "okay, okay, Lauren gets it, would you two stop."
Lauren laughs too and lifts her head, "well that was fun," she turns to Em and mouths 'thank you.'
"Ok Em, they definitely have to come with us back home, between Lauren and Hanna, I don't know who'd be worse."
"Only one way to find out right?" Mila suggested.
Em nodded, "my bet is on Hanna still."
Camila held out her hand, "loser has to do whatever dare the winner thinks up."
Emily looked at Ali, "wait as a couple or is this just between me and you Mila?"
Camz looked at Lauren who shrugged, "I'm down for whatever."
Ali held her hand towards Lauren, "couples it is."
The girls shook hands and laughed.
"You're going down Jauregui."
"Not on you I'm not."
Laughter erupted and Ali grabbed Em's arm, "damn right Lauren. But Em, what did we just get ourselves into?"
Em shook her head, laughing, worrying just slightly that they might actually lose this time.
x-x-x-x
So there it is, I hope you enjoyed? Anyways, leave thoughts and comments on what you want to see in Emison's college life. As well as what you hope happens in the Thanksgiving reunion. Also did you like the new characters? Lol, thanks a bunch,
Lina xoxo
Woah, I almost forgot! I want to move over to Wattpad, I already transferred my stories as well as added a new one, please go follow me there…my username is the same: LinaDanielle13
Thank you