𝐏𝐈𝐂𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐄 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐅𝐄𝐂𝐓 ( 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧 )

𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍

THE DAY AFTER ASHER'S PARTY, Emberly felt a sense of dread as she woke up for school. She made a conscious decision to linger in bed after silencing her alarm. Wrapped in her blankets, she secretly wished for her bed to magically swallow her up, sparing her from having to confront the challenges of the day ahead.

She couldn't understand why she bothered setting an alarm; she didn't get any sleep anyway. Throughout the night, she tossed and turned, her mind consumed by thoughts of the almost-happened incident in the jacuzzi. The scene kept replaying in her head, as if stuck on an endless loop.

The tension was palpable, the proximity almost suffocating as they could practically sense each other's breaths. The strange sensation she experienced only in his presence intensified as they leaned in. The memories replayed in her mind on a loop, each one more vivid than the previous. Was her mind playing tricks on her, trying to torment her?

She was torn between feeling proud of herself for taking the plunge and feeling like she wanted to kick herself for being so reckless. It was unbelievable that she had actually gone into the water without a drop of alcohol in her. She remained completely sober throughout the whole experience. If only she had been tipsy, she could have blamed it on the alcohol. But no, this was all her, fully conscious and accountable for her actions. She regretted letting Evelyn talk her into attending the party in the first place.

If she had stuck to her initial plan for the evening, she would have gone to bed peacefully, without any worries about doing something foolish. However, she decided not to follow that plan. Now, she has to face the consequences of her decision and she has no idea what lies ahead.

Was there going to be any change in the relationship between her and Spencer? Would they continue as friends or could there be something more? Or were they expected to ignore what happened and act like nothing happened? What should she even say to him when she sees him? "Hey, how's it going? We almost kissed last night, but we're just friends, so hey, right?" No, it's not a common occurrence. The last time they kissed was when they were kids.

The thought of skipping school and faking a cold had crossed her mind, but then she remembered today was his birthday. How could she almost forget that? Maybe she could tell him the almost kiss was an early birthday gift. That would work right? Probably not. 

 She would feel horrible if she avoided him on his birthday of all days. And if she missed school Spencer would also know that something was off because of last night. She wanted to just waltz in school and show that everything was good, but what could she do when she couldn't stop picturing her and Spencer kissing every 5 seconds? 

Why were things so complicated? Why did she have to give into her intrusive thoughts that she so desperately pushed down and got in that damn hot tub? 

Emberly couldn't help but groan as she kicked her feet and punched into her blanket. After a moment, she finally brought her hands down and removed the blanket from her face. Her hair was a mess, spread out all over the bed, as she stared hopelessly at the ceiling. She knew that lying here any longer wouldn't solve her problems, but she also wasn't quite prepared to confront them just yet.

As she laid in bed the shared bathroom door opened and walked in Evelyn. "That's not going to help you." 

"Thank you Captain Obvious. Like I didn't know that." Emberly says. 

"You guys didn't even kiss. What's the big deal about it?" Evelyn asks. 

"Only the fact that we're friends. Friends, boy and girl friends don't kiss or almost kiss each other." Emberly says before she quickly sat up as an idea came to her. "Kill me."