Jar of Hearts

♡ 0 ♡

Have fun (and leave him "hanging")

Don't get attached

Wear your heart on your cheek (never on your sleeve)

Look pure (leaving him wanting more)

Notes:

-Boys like danger

-Be a "stranger"

Emily reads the words scribbled on her notepad over and over again. She deliberately focuses on every individual word written in her friend's handwriting, making sure she doesn't miss a thing.

After about ten minutes of memorizing the contents on the blue sticky-note, Emily decides that she knows the words well enough. She taps a few buttons on her phone and listens to the soft hum of the dial tone. As she waits, she props her phone up with her yellow Hufflepuff pop-socket, on her desk.

"So, have you decided if you're ready to live your life yet?" A soft, feminine voice comes through the phone.

Emily sighs before answering. "This is crazy, Rory! I don't know if I can do this..."

She lays her head down on the desk, causing her brunette hair to spread around her in a tangled mess.

The other line is silent for a moment before Rory's gentle voice is heard again. "Em, you complain all the time about how you're 18 and how you've never had a boyfriend-- never kissed a guy. And that sucks, girl. You were just telling me earlier that you were ready to live a little and do something crazy. You told me how much you admired Marina in the music video. You want to be badass, right? So embrace it!"

Emily's mind drifts to the music video and she thinks about how confident Marina looked. She wants that. She wants to be able to have any guy she wants (not in a vain way, just in a way where she isn't forever alone like she definitely thinks she is going to be at this point).

A small smile appears on Emily's pink lips and she peeks her bright blue eyes out from behind her arms to look at the screen. "Then I'm gonna need your help."

♡ ♡ ♡

"Let's start slow. Look." Rory points a French-manicured finger to a boy down the hall before she forces Emily to turn around by grabbing her shoulders.

The boy with messy auburn hair laughs and dodges a playful punch from a boy with contrasting bleach-blonde hair. The latter grins when his fist misses the auburn-haired boy's shoulder and says something with a mischievous smirk, causing the other guys around them to laugh in unison.

The auburn-haired boy shakes his head, but nevertheless, a smile still on his lips.

"Jack Tatum. He's cute and he's friendly. He would be an easy target," Rory says casually as she takes her hand off Emily's shoulder.

Emily looks up at her blonde best friend, who is a few inches taller, mentally questioning her sanity.

Down the hall, Jack laughs with his friends as they continue to mess around.

"Uh, no, Rory. First of all, I'm not killing him." The girl with wavy brown hair turns around to face her. Emily's eyes narrow in disbelief. "And secondly, he's way out of my league." She glances briefly over at the boy Rory had pointed to.

She knows Jack. Not well, but enough to know that every girl swoons over his charming smile that could eliminate your depression and make you forget your own name.

Rory rolls her light brown eyes and shakes her head softly. "Gosh Em, you're so thick sometimes, you know? You guys are in the same league. Want to know why? Because there is no league, to begin with. Now stop making excuses before I take things into my own hands."

"Good grief," Emily mutters under her breath and she turns around to face her locker. She pulls out her last notebook before shutting it.

"I'm serious." Rory places her hands on her hips, glaring at the back of Emily's head.

Emily turns to face her very serious friend and they glare at each other until finally, she rolls her eyes. "Whatever. So, how do I do this?"

Rory grins, showing off her perfectly straight teeth. She lets out a quiet squeal and claps her hands together. She even jumps a little on the balls of her feet. "Oh, this is going to be so fun!" She slings her pink Prada bag onto her shoulder and hugs her books tight against her chest.

Pink tints Emily's pale cheeks and she glares at Rory, not amused with her far too enthusiastic behavior.

"I think we should go to class now," Rory says confidently. Too confidently.

Emily fights back the urge to question her friend and walks next to her down the hallway, not wanting to deal with her weirdness any longer. She keeps her eyes straight ahead. She's careful not to stare at Jack as they near him, anxious that he might have sensed that they were talking about him--even though he was way out of earshot.

Fully expecting that they are actually going to class, Emily is caught extremely off guard when a hip bumps into hers suddenly. She is sent stumbling, ungracefully, into the person who happened to be next to her in the crowded hallway.

Before Emily can even process what has just happened, hands latch onto her hips, keeping her from fully falling onto her butt. She grabs the forearms of her savior instinctively. She stabilizes herself before looking to see who has helped her. Once she is still, her eyes move up to find bright hazel ones staring back at her.

At this moment, Emily realizes that she has literally fallen into the arms of Jack Tatum like some cliché rom-com.

She is stunned, to say the least. But she is not impaired enough to shoot Rory a spine-chilling glare.

A/N

QOTD: Have you had an embarrassing encounter with your crush?

AOTD: I will never forget it. I tried to make a joke and he didn't get it, so I repeated it. He finally just said, "Okay..." I never got in my car faster or cringed harder.