How About Forever? [Emison Fanfiction]

Berkeley?

Emily's POV

The whistle blows loudly and I quickly take off my swimming cap before shaking my head side to side to get all the water out of my ears. As I pull myself out of the water, I see a set of feet standing right next to me.
"Emily Fields?" The deep voice above me says.
I look up to see a middle-aged man dressed in a warm up swimming jumpsuit smiling down at me.
"Uh hi yes that's me. How may I help you?" I reply, getting to my feet to shake the man's hand.
"Hi, nice to meet you! I'm the head swimming coach from Berkeley, and I must say, I am highly impressed with your swimming. Your stroke, your speed, and your eloquence is all nearly perfect! With someone your height and talent, I think Berkeley would be an amazing fit for you!"
"I-uh..Wow I'm just..thank you!" I barely manage to stutter back.
"You're very welcome. You are a junior this year, correct?"
"T-that's right."
"Well then perfect! You have a year to consider and explore many different colleges. Have you considered Berkeley as one of your possible choices?"
"Well..no actually. California is a long way from Pennsylvania and the majority of kids here go to UPenn on the state tuition. Berkeley is pretty expensive so I don't know..." I confess.
"Woah Emily, back up for a second. If you accept your recruitment to Berkeley, it's full ride! With someone that has your talent, there's no doubting that we would give you a full scholarship. However...there is a catch."
"What is it?"
"Well...You would need to give up your senior year to go to training out west to prep for real college swimming."
"Bu--"
"I know what you're going to say. But before you say anything, you should know one thing. The training is held by the official swimming coach of the USA Olympics swim team. And each year, the coach chooses one swimmer to qualify for the Olympics team. Though "qualify" doesn't mean you're going to be on the team for sure, it at least gives you that chance. And you know..that could be you. Either way, if you swim for Berkeley or potentially for the Olympics team, I see a bright future ahead of you."
I stay silent for a couple seconds, not knowing what to say. The official USA Olympics team? Oh my god. There's no way I would get recruited; I'm not THAT good. Nonetheless, the training from the official coach of the Olympics team would really help my swimming..
"Well, here's my business card. If you have any questions or anything, you know where to reach me. I'm Tom Murray, by the way. I hope to hear from you, Ms. Fields." Tom says, smiling genuinely before nodding and walking away.

As I shower in the locker room, I can't help but to repeat Tom's words over and over again. This is insane...the Berkeley swim team is ranked #3 in the nation! But, I can't go...I can't leave all my friends here, my family, everything. I can't leave...Alison. As much as I would love to go to Berkeley, there's no way I could commit myself to do it. There's too much I'm leaving behind. I sigh and turn off the running water before grabbing my towel.

"Hey sweetie, how was practice?" My dad greets me as I walk in the door.
"Hi daddy, it was good." I smile and walk over to give him a hug. "When are you leaving to go back to Texas?"
"In a month, after Christmas and New Years is over."
"Yay! I'm so happy that you can finally spend Christmas home this year. I'm still mad that you weren't here last year hmph." I pout.
"Aww sweetheart...well things were tense last year at the base. But don't worry, I'll make sure this year's Christmas is extra special to make up for last years."
I immediately break out into a smile and kiss him on the cheek before grabbing my backpack and walking upstairs.

As I plop down on my bed to do my homework, my phone rings. *Incoming call from Alison DiLaurentis*
"Hello?" I answer.
"Hi baby I miss you!" Alison chimes.
"I miss you too, Ali. What's up?"
"Open your front door."
"What?"
"Just go and open it."
"Alison... as much as I want to see you, I have a ton of homework tonight. I said tomorrow.." I half whine as I climb off my bed and walk downstairs.
Alison laughs and hangs up. Her laugh is so cute and playful that I might just change my mind on what I just said. But when I open the door, Alison isn't there. What the? I was expecting her to be here. Why else would she have told me to open my door so cryptically? I look right and left, but I see nothing. I look down and I see a basket sitting on the mat. I pick up the basket and carry it up to my room, anxious to see what's inside. Inside the basket lies an assortment of candy and baked goods, ranging from cookies to brownies to sour patch and York peppermint patties. The basket is slightly warm so Ali must have just baked them. At the bottom of the basket is a little note that says "Just to cheer you up after a long day :)". I smile to myself and send a quick thank you text to Alison. The little things that Alison does just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I lay back and pop a peppermint pattie into my mouth. How can it be that someone is so perfect and imperfect for me at the same time?

The next morning, I see Alison at her locker arranging her books. I run up behind her silently and place both my hands over her eyes. Alison jumps in surprise but soon realizes it's just me - probably by my perfume.
"Guess who?" I ask, trying not to laugh.
Alison giggles and puts on a fake pondering face. "Hmm..I don't know. Have we met before?" Alison teases playfully.
I put my hands down and Alison quickly turns around to face me, giving me the cutest smile I've ever seen in my entire life.
"Oh actually you're right. Wrong person, I'm sorry." I reply nonchalantly before turning around to walk away.
Alison grabs my arm and pulls me back to her, pinning me against her as her back hits the locker. She smiles at me and puts her arms around my neck before tippy-toeing to kiss me.
"Short." I tease.
Alison slaps my arm and rolls her eyes. "Did you like what I made for you yesterday?"
"It was okay." I reply curtly.
Alison's face falls, despite trying to hide her disappointment, and turns around to face her locker again. "Oh."
I try not to laugh, but I can't hold it in any longer. "I'm kidding baby. It was amazing." I wrap my arms around her shoulders and hug her from behind, resting my head on her shoulder. Alison obviously didn't find my joke as funny as I did because when I tilt my head to look at her face, she's not smiling. I lean forward and give her a million pecks on her cheek until she finally breaks a smile.
"Okay okay okay!" Alison laughs. I turn her around and smile at her. "You're the best. Honestly."
Alison reciprocates the smile and closes her locker. She leans forward to give me another kiss, but the bell rings, startling the both of us.
"See you in math?" I pull away reluctantly.
"Yep." Alison gives me a wink before walking away.

"Hey Em, have you thought about what you're going to get Alison for Christmas?" Spencer asks, while we're walking to English.
"Uh...crap."
"Wow, A+ girlfriend right here." Spencer gives me an amused look.
"Shut up. I've been busy with so much stuff I completely forgot that Christmas was this month." I reply defensively.
"Mhmm okay. Well get thinking about it because you have like twenty days, which is not that much time at all." Spencer warns.
"Got it. Thanks Spence."

Great. Just great. Now how am I going to think of something amazing to get Alison in twenty days? My family hasn't even gotten our tree yet. Wait. Maybe Alison and I can go Christmas tree shopping together and we'll decorate our trees together. That would be super fun and cute. An imaginary lightbulb lights up in my head. The 17th is our one month anniversary, so we can go get our trees and decorate them on that day! Good thinking, Em. But that still doesn't account for an actual present that I'm going to have to get her for Christmas. Shit. Looks like I'm going to need to get Hanna to help me for this one since Aria's planning to spend Christmas at her dad's in Syracuse. Which is more or less code for: I'm spending Christmas with Ezra.

I quickly shoot a text to Hanna.
E: Hanna I need your help. Can we go shopping this weekend for Ali's Christmas present?
H: Alison's Jewish...
E: ...
H: Hahaha just kidding! Of course I will. Shopping is my oxygen, gurla.
E: Right. Okay thank you thank you.

I breathe a sigh of relief; at least I got a helper to aid me in finding the perfect present for my perfect girlfriend.

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Congratulations, you guys did it! 35 votes wasn't easy but you guys always manage to pull off the challenges I give. Honestly, writing this story is so fun because you all are always so encouraging and kind. A lot of you have already tweeted me and talked to me via twitter, but in case you haven't and you want to, my twitter is: @crazy4jbb

It's always super fun to just talk to people so don't be shy. Send me a tweet tweet and I'll be more than happy to chit chat :D
New challenge..hmm.. 230 reads and I'll update ;)

7/26