The next Monday morning in the school's brickyard, Nathan revealed his secret to Emily. One that was eating him up inside, his heart convincing his mind to tell someone. And who better to tell than his best friend.

"Axel and I hooked up."

He glanced up to see not only Emily, but Aiden standing next to her, both holding expressions of utter shock. Emily's mouth hung open wide and Aiden, wide eyed and maintaining eye contact with Nathan, reached over to gently close it with his palm. He smiled wide, the thoughts of his brother being so far shoved in the closet making him laugh.

"Man, I knew it. He spends too much time trying to prove to us that he likes girls so we knew something was up. Wait till mom hears this, she'll be so pumped. She always wanted a gay son."

He laughs and Emily smacks him in the stomach.

"Don't tell them. It's his place to tell, not yours."

He groaned, then nodded.

"Right right. Special moment and all."

"Yes. Now let my bestie continue."

Nathan, enjoying watching them bicker and not really wanting to continue explaining, cleared his throat.

"W-well, I didn't mean for anything to happen, since you liked him and all, but out of nowhere he started coming up to me during school and asking me out on secret dates. He's been really romantic and sweet. I think he's the-"

"Em!"

The group was startled by a rather clumsy Ross barreling at them in her sweaty soccer jersey and running shorts. Aiden caught her as she tumbled. Once she became steady on her feet, both her and Aiden produced sounds of disgust as they pulled away from each other.

"Guys, Axel," she panted, pointing toward the gym. "Crystal."

Emily gasped, and they all took off toward the gym. Unbeknownst to Nathan, Crystal was the girl Axel was sleeping around with when Emily was first starting to seduce Aiden.

Not knowing exactly why they were standing in the gym watching Crystal confront Axel, they only knew it was important and that they needed to be there.

"What did you say?" they heard Axel question Crystal, who was standing at a distance in front of him.

"I'm pregnant."

Ross, Emily, and Aiden all turned their heads to Nathan. The loud clap of a basketball hitting the glazed wooden floors was heard as Tristan dropped the ball in surprise. Nathan's eyes watered briefly before he released a broken sob and ran back through the glass double doors. Axel, hearing the sound, turned around just before Nathan was out of sight.

"Nathan!" he called loudly, running after him and not looking back.

Everyone stood still, drifting their gazes back to Crystal.

"What're you all silent for? I'm having a baby!"

Someone clapped in the background and the sound dispersed as other people applauded around the gym. The group engaged in an awkward clap as they mulled over the predicaments of Nathan's situation.

About a year and a half passed in a flash. Nathan agreed on taking a second chance with Axel, as he explained that he stopped hooking up with Crystal after they started seeing each other. Crystal quickly lost the fame surrounding being a pregnant teenager and with that the desire to have the child at all. Axel begged her to keep the baby; however, and managed to gain full custody after the birth of a now eleven month old Savannah. Axel scraped up enough cash to buy a small home for his boyfriend and daughter. Crystal, wanting nothing to do with the baby, aside from occasional visits, got a pilates instructor license and was avidly working to lose those extra calories from her "mom-bod."

Tristan and Ross got into the same university. They were still stuck in their flirt-hate relationship, both too stubborn to admit that their feelings for each other were through the roof and not calming down anytime soon. Ross got in on a soccer scholarship and Tristan on the basketball program. He worked as a bouncer for Maniax, the underground fighting arena, and Ross took that waitressing job.

As for Emily and Aiden, they were happy as ever. Throughout the year and a half together they never once broke each other down, only building up. Emily created an app through her computer progamming classes that was gaining swift popularity, and quite a bit of pocket change. Aiden applied for an internship with a biological research lab studying wild animals in their natural habitats. He was guarenteed the position after he graduated from high school and was ecstatic to work in the outdoor environments he loved so dearly. Second to Emily, of course.

Emily had no plans for college or career, but she knew exactly what she wanted to do. Freedom was where she headed, and she was just about to get it.

Graduation day came, and Emily packed up all that she needed early, throwing it in Aiden's old Voltswagon camper van he found at a junkyard and fixed up for their big adventure. Travelling the world and living with nature... that was their dream.

Today was also the day her mother was forcing her to marry Daniel, the stuck-up prick from the town's snootiest private school. But that wasn't going to happen, not on Emily's watch. After many arguments with her mother on the topic, she knew there was no way the wedding was being called off. So she did the best thing she could think of... she ran. Not before leaving a little farewell gift; however.

Mari Kim entered the empty kitchen, following the scent of freshly baked oatmeal raisin cookies. Her favorite. Grinning greedily at the scrumptious looking plate of treats, she took one and munched down. How could fat-free cookies taste so good?

Noticing red inklings on the plate underneath the pile of cookies, she squinted and lifted the plate, pouring the treats onto the table. An oil-stained paper lay on the plate, which Mari quickly realized was a copy of the recipe. But it wasn't just a plain copy, certain words were highlighted and marked on in red. Fat... fat... fat was jotted next to just about every other ingredient on the list.

"What is this?" she questioned in astonishment.

A small note was written at the bottom, it's details making Mari gasp in horror.

Maybe this will remind you that perfect weight isn't everything. Sometimes, you need to respect what you have before you lose it. Goodbye, mom.

Mari's ears tinged red. Her face heated and a sharp pain built in her forehead. She wasn't grateful for the wise words of her daughter, she was pissed at all those wasted hours of liposuction.

"That BITCH!"

Emily giggled low under her breath as she heard her mother's scream reach the front yard. Hopping into the van, she gazed at Aiden lovingly, who smiled at her slyly in response.

"Ready," she stated, pulling her seatbelt over her body.

He leaned over, placing a swift and passionate kiss on her lips.

"You're one clever fox, my angel. Tricking the wicked witch like that..."

She giggled again, pulling his lips back to hers.

"Well, she had to know what was coming. Harsh treatment has harsh reciprocations. Karma comes in many ways."

"Indeed it does." He kissed her again. "Now let's go, runaway bride."

Aiden pulled the car out of park and headed down the quiet suburban street, glancing beside him at the girl he loved. 

His innocent Emily Kim.