The Unexpected

Chapter 24

(EMMA'S POV)

Ali and I have our presentation for our project today. Being an introverted person, you can say that presentations are not my cup of tea. Ali's really good with it though. She can talk in front of a lot of people without feeling so nervous. I don't know how she does it, honestly.

I was the first one to present and I could feel myself shaking. Everyone, EVERYONE was staring at me. I tried to calm myself down by doing deep breaths. It helped, but not so much.

"You ready?" Ali whispered.

I nodded while still shaking.

I thought we did good. We really worked hard researching for this project and I'm just glad that it's over.

While I was walking back to my seat, I overhead some girls in my class say, "she's just dating Daniel to get attention. I mean, look at her! How can he fall for THAT. He probably just felt bad."

Ali heard it and mouthed "don't bother" to me.

I went back to my seat and tried not to think about what the girls said but I just couldn't.

We got home and Ali noticed that I was quiet the whole trip back.

I put my bag down in my room when Ali broke the silence, "Are you okay?".

I looked at her and nodded.

"Em, I know you. What's wrong? C'mon, tell me."

We sat down at the foot of my bed and I stared out the window. 

I sighed. "I've just been thinking about what the girls said. How could Daniel fall for me?? Maybe they were right. Maybe he just felt bad for me. I'm that stupid to believe that a guy like him would ever fall for me. Even the guys in our school think I'm disgusting. He's famous and has fans who adores him and I'm here still being unliked by about 90% of our school. They have more reasons to dislike me now. Yeah, definitely. He just feels bad for me and is just trying to be nice."

Ali was quiet for a second.

"Listen, I can't just sit here and let you say things like that about yourself. You are an amazing person inside and out. I know that since I've known you ever since we were kids. The guys in our school are just complete dickheads. You know how high school guys work, they suck. Daniel's one lucky guy to have you. He's the guy who actually saw who you are and loved you for it. Think about it like this, out of the millions of girls screaming for him, he managed to meet you. He fell for a wonderful girl like you. He chose you out of everyone. He does the sweetest things for you. Do you think he would go into that much effort if he didn't love you? He's willing to do long distance because he didn't want to let you go."

I stared at the floor for a moment and didn't speak. Tears were starting to roll down my cheeks.

I looked up and hugged Ali. "Thanks, Ali. You're the best but I think it'll take some time for me to actually get used to this whole dating someone famous thing and also long distance. It's just been so hard for me that I've become so sensitive with everything."

"It's okay, Em. I understand. Just that if you're ever feeling down, you know that I'm always here to listen."

I sniffed and gave her another hug. "Love you, Ali."

"Love you too, Em."

It's been a couple of hours since our talk. I'm feeling much better now. We just spent the rest of the afternoon watching TV shows while eating some popcorn.

After Ali left, I got ready for bed when Daniel called.

"Hey, babe." He says in his morning voice.

That sounded sexy.

"Hey, Dani. Good morning. Did you just wake up?"

"Yeah, I did. How's my princess' day been?"

I looked away for a moment. I didn't want to tell Daniel about what happened today. I didn't want him to worry too much about me.

"It's been good. We had our presentation today and I think we did okay."

"That's great! I knew you can do it! Listen, I have some news for you."

"What is it?"

"We finally finished the album last night."

"WHAT? REALLY? WHEN CAN I HEAR IT?" I say, sounding so excited.

"Soon babe, I promise. We just have to do a little bit more editing and we'll let you listen to it."

We spent about an hour talking. He told me how much fun it's been in the studio and how much he misses me. I haven't seen him since December and I just want to hug and kiss him again. Seeing him on a little screen is not enough.

THE NEXT DAY:

I met Ali during lunch and sat at our usual table. We were busy eating when she went, "Em, I have something to tell you." she sounded so happy.

I looked up and smiled. "What is it?"

"So last night, Jonah messaged me."

"Wait, Jonah Mara-"

She cuts me off "YES!"

"Omg what happened?"

"Oh you know, we just talked. Just trying to get to know each other stuff like that. He seems so sweet."

"He really does. I'm so happy for you, Ali. Looks like Daniel and I didn't have to do anyth-" I stopped myself.

"What's that?"

"Oh, nothing nothing. I'm just really glad to see you happy." I smiled at her.

"Thank you, Em. I'm glad that we're both happy."

I took a sip of my drink and just looked around.

Author's note

Sorry I've been MIA (pun intended) for almost a week! I just haven't had the motivation to write and I also ran out of ideas. Not sure if I'll be posting that often as well, but I'll try.

Thank you for those who are still continuing to read my story, it means a lot. I know I've posted such boring chapters lately but I have such good ideas for Emma and Daniel's future. I just needed something to fill in that gap of the story to let it go where I wanted it to.

Thanks for sticking around,
Much love,
Micah xx