"I cannot believe they actually pulled that off!" Emma said as they filed out of the gym. The rush of cool night air hit her face, and as much as she loved coming to these games, she loved getting out of the suffocating gym even more.

"Nah, I knew we'd win." Logan told her confidently. "You just don't have enough faith."

"How do you figure that?" Emma asked. Had he been watching a different game?

"Because I know. We've got a great team." Logan insisted.

"You sure about that?" Jackson asked. "Because the way they played today..."

"Yeah, ok. It was a little touch-and-go for a while there." Logan admitted. "But we pulled it out in the end, didn't we?"

"True." Abby nodded.

"See? And that's what matters." Logan said, looking vindicated.

As they neared the first line of cars in the parking lot, the group automatically slowed down, letting the crowd part around them. Emma started idly scanning the cars, trying to remember where they'd parked. She was pretty sure it was on the far left.

"So what are you guys doing now?" Logan asked, looking from Abby to Emma.

"I don't know..." Emma said, turning back to the group. "Usually we grab something at Tony's."

Tony's was the local diner. Emma had been going there with her family for as long as she could remember. It was cheap and only a few blocks from school, making it the perfect place to grab a bite while reliving the minutiae of any game. Besides, they had the best chicken sandwich in town. Emma and Abby went there after every single game – either to celebrate their wins with burgers, or to drown their sorrows in milkshakes.

Sometimes, they'd go there to critique the shortcomings of various players or to ask each other what the coach could have possibly been thinking. But more often than not, they'd end up reliving the highlights. It had always been a guilty pleasure of Emma's – to nitpick and analyze until she figured out exactly what had been the deciding factor of each game. And while she did love pulling apart the losses, she preferred reliving the high points a lot more. Today, they definitely had a lot of high points to review. At least, as long as they ignored that somewhat pathetic first half.

"Why don't you guys come with us?" Abby asked the boys. Jackson spoke up instantly.

"Tony's sounds great!" he said. "I haven't had one of their burgers in forever."

"You had one last time we won." Logan scoffed.

A slow smile started to spread across Jackson's face.

"And before you even say it – No, it wasn't forever ago that we won." Logan said quickly.

Emma snickered.

"So, you guys coming?" Abby asked. It seemed to Emma like she was more focused on Logan's potential answer than on Jackson's actual one, but she let it pass.

"For sure – I'm starved." Logan said. "Can I get a ride with one of you guys?"

"You didn't drive here?" Emma asked before she could stop herself. His car probably wasn't in the best of conditions at the moment.

"Not with this." Logan said, raising his arm. "I might be able to sort of steer, but there's no way I can shift."

"Oh, well... yeah..." Emma shrugged. Really, she should have known that.

Jackson turned to Logan, looking surprised. "You're not going to go celebrate with the team?"

"Celebrate the win I had absolutely no part in?" Logan asked. "Nah, I think I'll just take it easy – let them enjoy it themselves."

"Fair enough." Jackson shrugged. "I'll take you."

"Thanks."

Emma followed Abby to her car, glad that her friend had picked her up today. She'd driven to school the past few days, but ever since that accident, she tried to avoid it as much as possible. Besides, Emma never had liked driving in the dark. As they drove to Tony's, Abby turned to Emma.

"I can't believe we're actually hanging out with Logan and Jackson! And it's not even a school-related event! At least, not anymore." she said. She had a kind of giddy tone that almost made Emma scoff. She would have almost thought Abby was excited to hang out with them, but she didn't think that made a lot of sense. They were just two guys in school that Abby had never expressed any particular interest in as far as Emma knew. She decided to put it down to leftover excitement from the game.

"Really?" Emma asked vaguely.

"Well... I guess I'm more surprised that you're hanging out with them."

"Why? I've known Jackson for a while." Emma said, trying not to be insulted. Was Abby trying to imply that she didn't hang out with anyone? That she really was that devoid of fun? Or did she mean that Emma never hung out with guys? Emma had to admit, that part was true. But that wasn't because she wasn't fun. She was just... busy. As far as Emma could tell, guys tended to be a real time-sink.

"Yeah? What about Logan? You having fun hanging out with him?" Abby asked knowingly.

Oh. So this wasn't about Emma not hanging out with guys in general; it was about her hanging out with these two specific guys – or, one specific guy and his friend.

"It's... not as bad as I thought it'd be." Emma admitted grudgingly.

Abby looked quietly vindicated. She didn't say anything about it, but she did smack the steering wheel in triumph. That was probably worse, because Emma didn't really have a comeback for something that wasn't said in the first place. Instead, she did her best to ignore it. But she still scoffed quietly under her breath.

They drove along for a few minutes, just listening to the radio. But as they pulled into the parking lot of Tony's, Abby turned it down.

"So anyway..." Abby said slowly, obviously working her way up to something. "You've been hanging out a lot more with Logan lately..."

"It's not like it's been planned." Emma told her. "The gym, the car accident—"

"The accident caused because he offered you a ride home." Abby interrupted. "The basketball game today, and he's sat at lunch with us a couple of times—"

"Sat with us so you could help him with his homework." Emma cut in.

"Details." Abby waved off Emma's comments as she slowly made her way down the aisle, looking for a free space. "But it has been a lot more lately than it ever was, hasn't it?"

"Yeah..." Emma said when Abby didn't continue. Where was she going with this?

"...And you're still going to Homecoming with him?"

"Looks like it." Emma told her. She wasn't liking where this was headed.

"He hugged you at the game." Abby said finally.

"Did he?" Emma wondered. She thought back, trying to remember.

"Yeah. After we won." Abby told her. "So how close are you two, anyway?"

"I don't know." Emma sighed. "It's... I guess it's complicated."

Abby snickered for a minute before turning serious. She pulled into a space and then turned to look at Emma. "So... are you guys, like... dating now?"

Emma burst out laughing. She'd known this was where Abby had been heading, but it was still amazing to hear her say it out loud.

"What?" Abby asked, sounding offended.

"No. Not at all – don't worry." Emma said, still laughing.

"Then what's so complicated about it?" Abby asked. Emma took a deep breath, trying to get ahold of herself.

"I mean..." Emma sighed, gathering her thoughts. "It's complicated because I don't completely hate him."

"Even though you want to." Abby grinned.

Emma set her jaw before nodding curtly. Logan might have been growing on her, but she still couldn't bring herself to actually say that he wasn't so bad out loud.

"I see." Abby said thoughtfully.

"Don't worry – we're not dating." Emma assured her. "We'll never date."

"Why is that?" Abby asked. "I mean, he's cute, he's athletic, he's actually a lot smarter than you give him credit for..."

"Yeah, on paper he looks great." Emma conceded before she had time to stop and think about what she was saying. Did she actually compliment Logan Harris? She was just glad he wasn't around to hear it!

Abby snorted.

"Well, how about the fact that I don't want a boyfriend?" Emma asked, trying to get back to the point.

"Well, you say that, but..."

"Trust me. He might not be as repulsive as I'd thought, but that doesn't mean I have any interest in being his girlfriend."

Emma had more than enough on her plate without adding dating to the list – especially dating someone like Logan. She'd mostly forgiven him for being so obnoxious for as long as she'd known him, but he still wasn't exactly date-worthy material. Everything about him just seemed to attract drama. It wasn't his fault, she knew. But in the last two weeks, she'd been locked in the school overnight and gotten in an accident with him. She'd never had anything like either of those things happen in her entire life before she met him. It was like he was cursed or something. No, as nice as it was to hang out with him on occasion, she had no intention of ever stepping into the dating arena with him.

As the two got out of the car, Abby seemed to be chewing on her lip in thought, but Emma ignored it. Her friend was just surprised by her decision, that was all. There was nothing to read into it. But she was still unusually quiet even as the four of them made their way through the restaurant and squeezed into a booth in the corner.