Monday morning comes and Emily walks into school with a new aura around her. She walks over to Rory and Carlos who stand at her locker, waiting for her arrival, as she had always had the habit of being the last one to arrive at school.

"Good morning, friends," Emily says, approaching them. She grins and practically radiates giddiness.

Rory looks up at her and cocks an eyebrow. She doesn't say anything aloud, but she takes in Emily's outfit and makeup choices. It isn't a drastic change, but it's enough for her to notice a clear difference. Instead of dark colors and graphic t-shirt's, she wears a pastel blue halter top bodysuit under a pair of tight-fitting light wash ripped jeans. And on her face, instead of minimal makeup, today she sports just a little more to accentuate her soft features.

"Good morning?" Carlos asks unsure, never have seen her this chipper in the morning before. Emily is not what you describe as a morning person usually.

Rory's honey-brown eyes glance away from her friend's chestnut hair that's pulled back into a neat french braid to her feet, where she wears a pair of white Adidas sneakers. A small smile pulls on her cherry-red painted lips. She's glad to see that she hasn't completely stepped out of her comfort zone.

Emily opens her locker and glances over at her best friend hesitantly, wondering why she isn't bombarding her with questions.

Rory rakes a hand through her pin-straight blonde hair and stares right back at her with a knowing smile playing on her lips. "So, how did it go?" She finally caves and squeals.

Carlos groans and places her hands over his ears while grimacing. "Mios Dios woman," he mutters and removes his hands when she's done.

Emily slams her locker shut, holding only a notebook and a book now. "It was amazing!" She refrains from squealing when she catches Carlos's less than enthusiastic gaze.

His arms are crossed over his Manchester United jersey-clad chest and his lips are pulled into a deep frown. "So are you guys a thing now? You're really going to be his rebound?"

She scoffs and rolls her eyes while Rory's grow wide and takes a step away from them. It's Emily's turn to cross her arms now. "Seriously? Don't pretend for a second that you're actually concerned for my sake. You just don't want me to be with him. And for what?" She throws her hands up. "So that he doesn't take me away from you or something? You did this with Luke too, don't think I didn't pick up on that."

She takes a step closer to him, her eyes narrow and darker shade than they were seconds before, "I get that you think you're my big brother now since he died, but you're not."

Carlos's eyes grow wide and his frown disappears. He opens his mouth and hesitates, choosing his words carefully, "Yeah, sorry. I'll back off." He gives her a tight-lipped smile before turning on his heel and walking away from them.

The two girls watch him disappear into the sea of teenagers that consume the hallway.

"You better give me details later," Rory spins around, her blonde hair rippling behind her. She takes a couple of steps backward.

Emily laughs. "You were going to get them whether or not you wanted them." With that, Rory walks off, leaving her alone in the hall now.

Then, her eyes catch a glimpse of auburn hair, closely followed by his infamous smile. Her heart metaphorically melts in her chest.

"Hey," he gives her a head nod as he comes to a stop in front of her.

She blushes, of course, like any cliche school-girl. "Hey, Jack. Fancy seeing you here."

Jack lets out a loud laugh.

Out of the corner of her eye, Emily notices a couple of girls whispering while staring at her. Jack doesn't, however, and he leans against the lockers, his smile having not faded a bit.

Emily shifts on her feet and tries her best just to focus on Jack, who looks effortlessly amazing in a plain grey t-shirt and jeans.

"So, I was wondering tomorrow night, do you want to-" He isn't able to finish his sentence because Parker jumps out of seemingly nowhere and captures him in a headlock. "The hell, Dyer!" He laughs and shoves off his friend.

Parker cackles as he stumbles away from him. He flicks his head so that his blonde hair moves out of his eyes, revealing warm brown eyes that narrow on the girl in front of him. His gaze moves up and down her body quickly as if he's trying not to get caught looking, but she's noticed his actions anyway.

Emily sucks in a sharp breath and tightens her grip on her books, pulling them closer to her chest. The actions of Parker, make her nervous. He's never seen her as anything other than his former best friend's little sister, and now it feels like for a second he sees past that label.

Jack shoves Parker, bringing both him and Emily back to reality. "Go to class, loser." He shakes his head while chuckling.

Parker rolls his eyes but cracks a smile. "Okay, mom. Looking good, Thompson," He says, giving the girl a quick wink before scampering off.

Asshole, Emily thinks while shaking her head. "What a lovely friend you have there," she jokes.

Jack laughs but then it's quickly drowned out by the sound of the bell. "Oh wait, I forgot to finish asking you a question, about tomorrow," he says as soon as it's over.

"Just ask me later, after the last period. Meet you here?" Emily says. As much as she's dying to know what he wants to ask her, the stress of getting another tardy is on her mind. Her GPA can't take any more hits if she wants to get into the University of Central Florida.

Jack nods, "Sure." He grins and they part ways, going off to their separate classes.

As she speeds to class, Emily does not neglect to notice the curious stares from gossip-hungry girls, who surely by the end of the day, will have spread the news of her and Jack's newfound closeness. However, her mind can only take one stress at a time, and right now, she's focused on getting (or trying to get) to class on time.

♡ ♡ ♡

When the last period rolls around, Rory has been sufficiently filled on Emily's date, and now, they both stare at the clock on the wall, counting down the seconds until they're free from prison, I mean school (not really).

The bell eventually rings and the girls jump out of their seats, Rory especially quickly and in an instant, she's next to Emily. "Text me right after he asks you, or call me, I'm dying to know what he's going to say." She practically jumps up in down.

Emily laughs at her excitement. "Of course," she says.

Rory gives her a quick hug and a quick, "Bye," before skipping off to band practice with Carlos. Emily's supposed to be going, but she promised her mom last night that she'd see her dad tonight after she purposefully avoided him yesterday by hiding out at the mall with Rory all day.

When Emily reaches her locker, she's surprised to see someone other than Jack leaning against it.

"What are doing?" She asks him, causing him to look up. His obsidian eyes meet hers but he doesn't move.

He shrugs while shoving his hands into his pockets. "I need help with catching up and Mrs. Parks recommended that I seek out your help."

She narrows her ocean blue eyes at him. "Well I know that's BS because I'm barely getting B's in all my classes."

Luke rolls his eyes and moves off her locker. "Okay so her recommendation was Parker Dyer, but from what I've gathered so far, I'm sure we wouldn't mesh well."

Her heartbeat quickens in her chest and a thought crosses her mind, He thinks we mesh well then? "Oh, yeah, he's..." she contemplates her next words. "Interesting." She laughs lightly.

A small smile appears on Luke's lips. "So you'll help me?" He pulls his hands out of his pockets and steps closer to her.

"Sure." She nods, wringing her hands together.

"Cool, I'll meet you at eight tomorrow night at La Colletta, it's a gym." He turns and walks away before Emily can even process the problem.

Then, she sees Jack walking toward her with a bright smile on his face, and her heart falls in her chest. "I'm so sorry, Jack," she says as soon as he's near.

His smile falls and his eyebrows knit together, "Why, what's wrong?"

"I sort of, accidentally, made plans for tomorrow night." Emily frowns.

"Oh, that's fine, we can just do it Wednesday!" Jack's smile returns and a weight is lifted off of Emily.

Her eyes grow wide in relief. "Oh, okay, thank goodness. What is it exactly though?" She laughs.

Jack steps closer and grabs one of her hands, causing a deep blush to appear on Emily's fair cheeks. "I want to take you roller-blading."

The words are simple but they warm her heart. "That sounds amazing!" She bites her lip and squeezes his hand just a little harder, so happy to be there with him in the moment before it's ruined by a familiar foe.

"Whore, much?"

Jack and Emily turn to see Jaclyn standing there, eyebrow raised, arms crossed, and two more "plastic" wannabee goons by her side.

A/N

QOTD: Who's your favorite "plastic"?

AOTD: Has to be Gretchen Weiners. "That's so fetch."