TRACK #10 MUSIC:

🎵 "Pretty Boy" - M2M

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TRACK #10 - FALL

"Pretty Boy" - M2M

The weekend ended all too soon with yet another Sunday staring at Brock's idle screen name. Needless to say, I was especially looking forward to seeing him at school. I walked down the hallway, scanning students until my gaze landed on him, confidently smiling while he leaned next to a long-legged redhead standing at her locker. Brittany Jenkins. She traced her perfectly manicured finger along his jawline as she began to walk away. My face contorted before I could stop it, and I quickly pivoted to rush to PE.

"Morning," Noah smiled at me before I threw my backpack onto the bleachers with a little more force than was necessary. Between that and the flustered look I knew I was sporting, he immediately asked if I was alright. My eyes softened when I saw his genuine look of concern.

"I'm fine. I just–"

I was interrupted by Emma and Kody filing in with enthusiastic greetings. Although on the outside I was pretending that I was okay, inside I was crushed. I thought my date with Brock had gone well. Especially the last part. My lips still tingled from the feeling of our heated kiss. By the time roll call was over, Emma was tuned in to my distress.

"I'm guessing Brock didn't give you any?" Kody questioned, and my jaw dropped. Noah shot him a daunting look. "What? She seems on edge. I figured it either had to be that he didn't fulfill her needs, or didn't give her any at all–"

"Oh my god, Aria!" Emma cut in as she dug through her bag hastily. "Do you have a tampon or something? I think I started my period."

"Ew, ew, ew!" Kody bolted off of the bleachers, pulling a baffled Noah behind him while they quickly exited through the double doors to walk outside.

I blinked at her, and she grinned at me in return. "It looked like you needed some girl time." Bless this angel. She offered me her hand to help me up; then we very, very slowly made our way outside, too. "Did your date with Brock not go as well as you hoped?" she asked gently.

I stalled a moment before responding, "No, it was fine... Actually, I thought it went really well. Then I came in this morning and saw Brittany basically all over him. It seemed a little more than friendly."

"Wow, that is so not cool," Emma said sternly. Her immediate defense actually brought me some comfort. It was nice to know someone had my back.

"Maybe it wasn't the way it looked. I don't know."

She looked at me sadly. "I'm sorry. Do you think you still want to go to Homecoming with him after seeing that?"

"Uh..." It hadn't even occurred to me that I was going to Homecoming. That didn't seem like something I would do. I didn't even know when the heck it was, let alone if I wanted to attend. "I may not go," I muttered before Noah and Kody spotted us and began making their way over.

"Oh, you're going. If you don't go with Brock, then you'll come with me and Adrian. Or maybe you could just go with Noah? I'm sure he'd want to go with youuu..." Her words faded in a singsong manner, and I knew she was teasing me. She smiled deviously when the boys were within earshot, then threw her arms around my neck and hung on me. "Aria, you have to go. It's Homecoming!" She giggled at the face I sported, making kissing noises at me.

Noah's chin instantly tilted up. "You're going to Homecoming?"

I glanced at Emma sideways, and her grin turned wicked. I sighed, resigned to the fact that I was now going to be ganged up on, which was exactly what Emma had planned. Curse this devil. "I doubt it," I answered as I gently shoved her off of me. "I don't know why everyone makes such a big deal out of it."

"It's, like, only the major event of the season." Kody looked at me mockingly.

"Pleeeaaassseee?" Emma begged.

"I don't know if I can even dance like that." I laughed at the thought.

"You can literally just jump up and down the whole time." Kody shrugged. "All of the guys are going to be too busy drooling over whatever sexy little number you will be wearing to notice what your feet are doing. Besides, you're a musician, aren't you? You have to have some kind of rhythm."

I grinned. "Playing the piano and grinding on sweaty dudes are two totally different things." I thought about how dreamy Brock would look and how nice it would feel to dance like that with him. Now I did want to go. Damn it, Emma.

"I'll be there, and I'm fun, so you should go," Noah reasoned. That made me laugh out loud.

"Well, Noah Walker, you almost have me convinced," I retorted sarcastically.

"People say I have that effect on them," he replied confidently. I smiled despite myself. He really was a dork, but it was entertaining.

"What if we go to the mall this Saturday to find the perfect dresses?" Emma offered sweetly.

"Oh, I'll be there, too. Elijah and I go weekly to, uh... test... all of the guitars." Noah smirked at his own verbiage.

I slowed my pace while I thought more about the dance. "I don't know..." I was hesitant. What if Brock did want to ask me? Then again, what if he didn't? A vision of Brock and Brittany in the hallway flashed in my mind's eye, and I felt my stomach clench. Emma bit her bottom lip, clearly knowing where my thoughts were. Talking about Homecoming made me want to go. But what I really wanted was to go with Brock. I just wasn't so sure he wanted to go with me. I frowned.

Sensing my shift in confidence, Noah cleared his throat. "If you wanted to– you and I could– we could–"

My eyes widened, and Emma jumped to my rescue. "–go as a group!" I watched as Noah physically deflated at her words. "I mean, we could all meet there as a group...?" She was trying to give me options. If Brock asked me, I could still go with him and meet up with them there. If he didn't, then I still wouldn't be alone because my friends would be there.

"I already bought my ticket, so I'm good," Kody announced as his way of agreeing to the impromptu plan.

"Elijah and I already have ours too," Noah offered in a small voice.

"Great! Adrian and I were already planning on meeting up with you all there anyway. I'll go with Aria so she can buy her ticket at lunch today." Emma looked at me to confirm her idea.

I thought about it for a few minutes while my nerves gathered. I was pretty sure this was the best option I had. "Okay."

"YAY!!!" Emma danced happily in place just as the bell rang to end the class. We headed back towards the locker rooms to change. "I'll find you before lunch!" Emma said excitedly before we parted ways. Great.

The line for Homecoming tickets was extremely long. I stood with Emma before watching as Brock entered the room with some of his posse. I knew he saw me, but I kept my eyes straight. I began playing with my hair, worried about what he thought of seeing me in line to buy a ticket. Would he think I was being silly? Would he think I didn't want to go with him? Ughhh. Dating was hard. Emma bumped her shoulder against mine in a comforting way.

I'm fine, I mouthed. I wasn't, but I was going to have to be. About a second later, I noticed a tall shadow in my peripheral vision. I knew it was Brock.

"Going to Homecoming, huh?" A sly smile was planted on his face. Emma turned around and pretended to pay attention to something else to give us a little bit of privacy.

"Looks that way," I answered nervously. Get it together, Aria. You can do this.

Brock shook his head before sighing a bit too overdramatically. "Well, I must say, you put me in a tight spot." He humphed and slid his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. God, he was so cute.

My heart began pounding outside of my chest. "Oh?"

"Yep," he answered casually before pulling his right hand out, flashing two tickets in front of me. He slowly leaned his face towards mine, and I instantly became transfixed by his megawatt smile. "If you buy your own ticket, who am I going to take?"

I both heard and felt Emma try her darndest to stifle a squeal of delight. I felt the blush spread across my face as I tentatively touched one of the tickets in his hands. "You want to go... with me?" I had to hear him say it. I had to hear the words come from his mouth so that I knew that I wasn't dreaming.

He chuckled slightly. "Aria Gray, will you go to Homecoming with me?"

I'm not sure how long I stood there in silence, but it was long enough that Emma lightly smacked my arm to rouse me. "Yes!" I replied louder than I intended. I pulled the ticket from his hand and gave him the best smile I could muster.

"Good." He cupped my chin in his hand for a second before taking a few steps back from me. "I'll see you around, okay?"

I nodded feverishly, then awkwardly waved to his departing figure. Emma nearly tackled me in a hug, and I giggled at her enthusiasm.

"Happy?" she asked.

"Happy," I agreed.

"Mall?" Her eyebrows rose gleefully.

"Mall," I confirmed. We laced our arms together and walked out of the lunch room laughing.

I lounged around the next morning, chatting with my mom about my plans while petting a mewling Oliver in my lap. She seemed excited that I was going to attend the dance, even going as far as offering to treat Emma and me to hair and nail appointments. I was surprised, but gratefully obliged.

It was getting chillier, so I decided on a pair of jeans with a black chunky sweater and my trusty black Doc Martens. I pulled my hair into a ponytail and applied a little makeup. I ran out the door when I heard Emma honk, yelling goodbye to my parents on my way out.

Cruising the mall to find the perfect dress was just as intimidating as it was when I was shopping for an outfit for my first date with Brock. The tension I felt was easily erased when Emma squealed about the news of our appointments.

"Your mom is so awesome!" She clapped her hands, putting a little skip in her step. "I really need to thank her..." she trailed off as she peeked inside of Sonic Sounds.

I followed Emma's gaze and smirked. I knew she was looking for the Walker brothers. "Come onnn!" I pulled her hand while I stomped right in to meet the boys.

Noah and Elijah had two additions to their testing crew. I smiled at Will and Zach, who both looked up when we approached. "Hey guys," I said confidently, waving to the group. They returned it warmly.

"Oh, hey!" Noah turned around, wearing a beautiful red Ibanez strapped around his neck. "Did you find a dress yet?" Elijah lifted his head, and an easy smile spread across his face at the sight of Emma, his hands never leaving the neck of the guitar he was working out a riff on. She started pushing on the strings in random spots, purposely messing with him until he had to stop from laughing.

"Not yet. We just got here," I replied, slightly distracted by the notes the boys strummed on the guitars. It took all of about two bars before I recognized what they were playing. "Oh, that's Lifehouse! Nice choice." Noah's eyes crinkled in delight, but he didn't say anything. Emma and I watched them tinker a bit longer. "So, we have to go shop around, but maybe you guys might want to meet up for lunch after you're done?"

Noah looked at the others, who all nodded their heads. "Sure, maybe in an hour and a half? At the food court?"

"See you then," I agreed. Emma and I bid them farewell then turned to leave. We could hear one of them say, "God, they're hot as hell," right before another one of them thumped whomever it was that said it. It drew a wild fit of giggles out of us while we headed towards our first department store.

It didn't take me long to find the exact dress I envisioned– black, slinky silk with thin straps and a plunging neckline. It landed right at my mid-thigh, accentuating my legs in just the right way. I might be short, but I thought my legs were a pretty good asset.

"You look smokin' in that, but your parents will not let you leave the house wearing it." Emma laughed, watching me twirl back and forth in the mirror. It was perfect.

"Oh, I know. I'm planning on wearing a long cardigan and my black booties with it, so it seems like it's a fall ensemble. Then I'll just lose the cardigan before we get into the dance." I had this planned out before we even started shopping. I turned the tag over and saw it was only forty dollars. "They will appreciate my frugality," I giggled, slipping back into my regular clothes. "Alright, let me see yours!"

"This one is my favorite," Emma said, stepping out of her dressing room in a short, strapless aquamarine dress that shimmered in the light as she moved back and forth. It fit her curves perfectly, cinching at the waist and poofing just enough at the hip to give it character. She strutted around the room, and I whistled at her in jest. "I have silver heels at home I can wear. Definitely doing long curls. Maybe half-up. Ahhh I'm excited!" She spent a few minutes dancing around the dressing room, admiring her choice. Seeing her so happy made me more excited about going. I was just hoping Brock would like the way I looked.

We paid for our dresses and had the store hold them until we were done shopping. We hit The Icing next to choose jewelry. I decided my hair was going to be up, so I wanted a statement earring. Unfortunately, I couldn't find anything that fit the bill. Emma took about thirty seconds to find big, sparkly silver hoops, which she paid for before finding me.

"Nothing?" she asked with a frown. I shook my head. We had little time to waste, so we headed towards the food court to meet the boys. Emma's pace slowed, and I could tell something was weighing on her mind.

I wasn't sure if she wanted to share, so I tried cheering her up. "I wonder which one called us 'hot.'" I smirked at her as I gave her a sideways glance, causing her to laugh. We quickly zipped our lips when we saw the boys all standing together outside of Orange Julius. I felt a nervous shift in Emma's energy. I glanced over my shoulder, but she shook her head. Not now, she silently begged.

"Hey!" Noah shouted, grabbing our attention. "Why do you look empty handed?"

"They hold your dress for you until you're ready to leave," I explained, approaching the guys with Emma in tow.

"What's it look like?" he asked.

"A surprise," Emma chimed in. There's my girl.

"Fine, fine." Noah smirked. "So, we usually just all go get whatever and then find a spot. Cool?" We all nodded in agreement and scattered to order our food.

When we all met back at the table, Noah immediately positioned himself across from me. Emma sat between me and Elijah, while Zach and Will filed into the remaining two seats. I laughed when Emma took a french fry out of Elijah's hand before it could make it into his mouth. He playfully narrowed his eyes at her teasing grin. Suddenly, she looked in the other direction, almost like she was second-guessing her actions. I watched him study her longingly, and I wondered if I was the only one who felt the intensity of his feelings for her. A quick glance at Noah told me I wasn't alone. He pretended to gag, and I had to hide my smile behind my hands.

I decided to take it upon myself to get the conversation going. "So, tell us about the band. Did you pick your name yet? When can we see a show?"

It was Zach that spoke up. "Resident Grace is the name, kicking ass is the game. Though I'm not sure if people are ready to succumb to our awesomeness yet."

"More like we're not ready for them to hear us." Will laughed. "But we're hoping to play somewhere soon."

"That's cool." I waited a minute to see if Emma wanted to add anything. She seemed to be a bit shy today, which was odd for her. Remembering Will played piano, I veered in that direction. "I play piano, too, Will. I don't know if I mentioned that when you guys were over." He perked up at this tidbit of info. "My mom is a classically trained pianist, so she's been teaching me since I was little."

"Maybe we can play together sometime," Will suggested. My eyes met his, and I swore that he was trying to communicate something more with his words.

I nudged Emma under the table, trying to see if she had heard it, too. She must not have been paying attention because her chair let out a huge squeak as she jumped in surprise. She mumbled an apology while her cheeks turned bright red. We exchanged nervous glances.

Noah cleared his throat loudly. "So, what are you girls up to after this?"

Emma looked up at a nearby clock with a frown on her face. "I promised my dad we would spend some time together tonight." I matched her frown with one of my own. Emma and her dad were close, but they didn't get to spend as much quality time together as my family and I did. Guess that was typical when your dad was a surgeon.

"We are due to leave, as well," Elijah reluctantly admitted as he rose to his feet. He leaned over slightly to poke Emma's cheek. "No pouting," he instructed her before turning to throw his trash in a nearby can. She lightly rubbed the spot he touched. While she sat flabbergasted, he scooped up her trash and turned to pitch it. I blindly reached for mine, only to let out a small gasp when my fingers brushed against Noah's. I watched as his cheeks pinked slightly.

"Thank you," I managed to say, still stunned by his gesture. He smiled at me warmly before heading over to the bin. We all said our goodbyes, my chest still feeling light from mine and Noah's exchange. Emma looked at me knowingly, but I just shook my head. We picked up our dresses and left.

Once I got into the house, I heard my mom giving a lesson in the other room. I slipped up the stairs to hang my dress in my closet and away from my mom's prying eyes. I wanted to leave it as a surprise as much as I could. That way I had a better chance of actually getting to wear it.

When I came back downstairs, I noticed there was a tiny black box on the kitchen counter and a card with my name on it. Curious, I walked over to it and inspected it. Figuring I should find out who it was from, I opened the card first and blinked in surprise.

Aria:

I'm really looking forward to going to Homecoming with you. You have no idea how happy you made me just by saying that you would go with me. I always have such a good time with you, and I never feel as happy as I do when I'm with you. I hope that you like these earrings–

Earrings? What?! I opened the box to reveal a pair of large, sparkling diamond earrings. I let out a small sigh while I looked at them; they were absolutely gorgeous. I turned back to the note.

–and wear them knowing you are more beautiful than any diamond ever could be.

-Brock

"Oh, pretty!" My mom's voice caused me to jump in surprise. I was so lost in the moment that I didn't notice her peeking over my shoulder. I blanched. "What? You should just be happy I didn't open it first," she teased. Despite her joke, I knew she would do no such thing.

"Yeah, thanks for that." I held the card and box against my chest before making my way quickly back to my room.

"Say hello to Brock for me!" my mom called after me as I shut the door.

I set the box and card down on my desk before plopping down on my computer chair to sign online. Oliver jumped onto my lap and began kneading my legs. I restlessly bounced in my chair while the sound of the dial-up connection crackled through the speakers. Oliver mewled in complaint at my sudden change in position, but I barely heard him.

C'mon, c'mon, c'mooon. The internet never felt so slow as it did in this moment. I just wanted to talk to Brock, thank him for the earrings, and maybe hint at how hot I looked in my dress. Oliver lay down and began purring. I absently stroked his fur while I continued to wait. Finally, I was on. Oliver let out another mewl of protest when I brushed him off of my lap to type. All of the excitement I felt was squashed when I noticed that Brock was away. I decided to leave him a message.

Piano__Rock: Thank you for the earrings. They're beautiful. I'm looking forward to Homecoming, as well.

Auto response from FenderBear412: !! L.J. PARTY!! WOOO!! SEE U THERE IF UR COOL. IF I DON'T... WELL THEN... U KNOW ;-)

I couldn't help the disgust that settled on my face. Sighing heavily, I headed back downstairs to enjoy a quiet night in, Oliver padding at my heels.

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