I won't even try to give any excuse... But I promise I will finish this story!
Two months had passed since Monica decided to lose weight, and she could already see the difference in herself. She didn't have a body like Rachel or any of the cheerleaders, but she wasn't anymore the fat girl she used to be. And apparently, Monica was not the only one who'd noticed the differences.
"Hey, babe!" Monica heard someone say when she was by her locker. She ignored it.
"Hey, you! I'm talking to you," Monica heard again. This time, she turned around, slightly confused. Was she imagining the words were directed at her? Usually, no one approached her, and certainly not by calling her babe.
"How you doin'?" A black-haired guy asked almost immediately, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively at her.
"I'm good...," Monica answered apprehensively.
"Joey. I'm Joey Tribianni. What's your name?" The guy asked, now clearly flirting with her.
"I'm Monica. Monica Geller?" She answered the question, not knowing what else to say.
"So, do you wanna hang out after school, if you know what I mean?"
After endless conversations with Rachel about her boyfriends, Monica knew what "hang out after school" meant. And it made her feel scared. What if it was just some prank? That wouldn't be the first time. Monica still remembered vividly that one time Chris Mactaggart asked her out, only to be laughed at by the whole class when she accepted. But what if the guy was being serious? Monica had never had a boyfriend before and didn't know how to act around guys.
"I... I don't know...," Monica asked nervously.
"That's new. I've never had any other answer than yes from a hot girl," Joey said, more to himself than to Monica.
However, she heard the part where he called her hot. No one had ever called her that. And it made Monica throw any caution out of the wind.
"Okay. We can hang out after school," Monica answered with more conviction than before.
She was going to hang out with a boy! Monica couldn't wait to tell Rachel!
After classes ended, Monica went to the stairs to meet Joey. She didn't know what to do on a date. The only person with whom she used to hang out after school was Rachel. So, Monica figured doing date things couldn't be much different than hanging with her best friend.
"Do you wanna go to my house? I can make you some lemonade!" Monica suggested in her high-pitched voice. She was nervous but didn't want to show it.
"Oh yeah, baby! Some lemonade sounds good." Joey agreed immediately.
The house was empty when they arrived. Their parents were still at work, and Ross was nowhere to be seen.
"I'll go get us the drinks. You can sit on the couch while waiting," Monica said after showing Joey the living room.
Monica headed to the kitchen and prepared her special lemonade. She even added some peppermint leaves and colorful straws to the cups as decoration. She picked up a tray and headed to the living room.
However, as soon as Monica entered the room, she almost dropped the tray on the floor. Joey was standing up, completely naked. Holding the drinks with one hand, Monica used the other one to cover her eyes.
"What the hell are you doing?!"
"Oh, you really meant lemonade..." Joey said.
"Cover yourself up!" Monica yelled, her eyes still covered.
"Oh, right," Joey said, picking up his clothes from the floor.
Monica put the tray on the center table.
"What were you expecting other than lemonade?"
"Well... Usually, when a girl invites me over for something, it's never just that thing."
"Oh, god, I knew this would go wrong!" Monica yelled.
"Maybe I should go?" Joey asked, clearly as awkward as Monica was feeling.
"Yes, maybe you should leave."
That night, Monica sat on her bed wearing an old oversized t-shirt as a pajama and hugging a stuffed animal she still had lying on her bed. She cried, feeling horrible about the afternoon. What was supposed to be an opportunity to finally have a boyfriend turned into a fiasco, and Joey just wanted to... you know.
If that's what she would get for getting thinner, she would rather still be the fat girl no one cared about. Feeling frustrated, Monica opened the first drawer of her nightstand, craving the sweet taste of chocolate, but found it empty.
"Crap! Why did I get rid of my chocolate stash?" Monica yelled for the empty room.
She could go downstairs and try to find something to eat. But Monica didn't want anyone to see her in the state she was in. So, the only option was to call Rachel. So, Monica called her friend to talk about what had happened.
"And then, when I came into the room, he was there completely naked," Monica cried on the phone.
"So... You saw his...thing?" Rachel asked with a smirking tone.
"Rach!" Monica scolded her friend, although she laughed a bit herself at the question.
"I'm sorry, Mon," Rachel excused herself from the other side of the line. "But, why is it such a problem? It means that guy thinks you're cute. Wasn't that what you wanted? To have a boyfriend?"
"I do wanna have a boyfriend, Rach! But I want it to be romantic, not a random guy trying to get my flower!"
"I understand, honey. You will have a boyfriend soon," Rachel solaced Monica.
"Hey! I have an idea!" Rachel exclaimed. "Chip is going to throw a party this Friday at his house. Why don't you come too? Maybe you can meet some cute guys there!"
Monica wasn't much of a party person. Well..., actually, she wasn't used to being invited to other people's parties. But maybe Rachel was right. That would be a good opportunity for her.
The evening was going as any regular unsupervised teenage party. Half of the school filled the hallways of Chip's house, dancing to the loud music coming from the stereo. But Ross didn't even know why he was there. Well, he knew. Rachel had invited Monica and extended the invitation to him, which Ross rapidly accepted. But only an hour into the party, he was sick of seeing his crush and her boyfriend together. At least they were nowhere to be seen for the past half an hour. Which wasn't exactly a reassuring thing for Ross.
Ross stood by the pile of beers on the kitchen counter and, for a moment, considered that his best option would be to get at least tipsy to distract his mind from the situation. However, he listed the voice inside him saying it would be a bad idea and decided to leave.
So, Ross grabbed a beer and went to look out for Rachel to say goodbye. But the first person he found wasn't Rachel. Standing in a corner, his sister was talking with a guy. Usually, Ross would not be worried, but the situation concerned him. Now that Monica was not the fat girl anymore, he noticed how other guys had started to look at her. And it was not in the way Ross wanted guys to look at his little sister.
Monica seemed unbothered by the guy's behavior, but Ross could sense the guy had not-so-innocent intentions with Monica. In a second, he had an argument to step between them.
"Why do you always have to look so mopey at parties?" His sister asked him as soon as she saw Ross, clearly annoyed to have her conversation interrupted. He could also sense the other guy's eyes on him.
"I... I'm not feeling so well. I'm leaving. Have you seen Rachel so I can say goodbye?"
"No. I haven't seen Rach for a while. Last I saw, she was heading upstairs with Chip."
"I wouldn't go up there if I was you. They could be doing things you wouldn't want to see..." The other guy added suggestively.
"Oh god, I hadn't thought about it!" Monica exclaimed immediately
"Ew... Thank a lot. I didn't need that image in my head," Ross added simultaneously.
"I guess I'm going then..." Ross said goodbye to his sister and the guy he didn't know the name of but didn't like for sure.
Despite the guy's warning, Ross went to look for Rachel upstairs. Of course, Rachel and Chip were not doing that. A bit uncertain about continuing, Ross was almost turning back when he heard an unmistakable voice coming from the other side of the closed door at the end of the hallway.
"You can't seriously believe that!" Ross heard Rachel yell.
"I don't know, Rachel. It makes a lot of sense. How long did it take to find a new boyfriend after Liam broke up with you, hun? Maybe you were cheating on him too." Chip yelled back.
"I'm not cheating on you! Heather is lying!"
"Why would she make up something so specific?"
"I don't know, Chip, but you've gotta believe me, please!"
"I don't know. Maybe Heather is telling the truth, and you're really a slut! And I can't date sluts, so we're over, Rachel."
As soon as Ross heard Chip move to the door, he ran downstairs, so he wouldn't be seen spying on the couple's fight. Shocked by what he'd heard, he stood near the stairs trying to process it. Was Chip really breaking up with Rachel because of a rumor Heather had started? How could he even believe it? Ross would never doubt Rachel was telling the truth.
The moment Chip passed by him, Ross just wanted to punch the guy in the face for hurting Rachel's feelings. However, just a few seconds after, Ross turned his head and saw Rachel at the top of the stairs, and his heart broke a bit. Despite her head being lowered, Ross could tell Rachel was still crying.
Rachel lifted her face, and their eyes met. Ross didn't know what to say or even if he wanted to say something, but he didn't have to. He could see the hurt in Rachel's eyes, and from the way her gaze fixed on his, he knew Rachel knew he'd heard what happened.
"Ross..." Rachel whispered as she got closer to him. She was coming for him, Ross could tell. And he wasn't going to waste his perhaps only opportunity. So, he started to move toward Rachel, and then...
BAM. The whole house went dark. But it was now or never. So, before Ross lost the courage, he grabbed Rachel by her shoulders and kissed her passionately. A few seconds later, the light returned, and Ross opened his eyes to look at Rachel. However, he wasn't expecting the situation he saw:
The girl he had kissed was not Rachel.
