MATT

Everything was going great.

At least, not that bad.

The Harriers had won 20 out of 26 games in the last three months and their last game with the Knights would be the next Friday, from which one team would advance to the playoffs for the State championship. It was the longest winning streak the school ever had, and Matt could not be prouder of his team.

Matt had spent a lot of time with Emma these past few months, even though those hours came under the banner 'studying'. Emma was one hell of a determined person. She would not get up until Matt understood at least one-fourth of what they were doing. He spent hours with Emma, trying to get some calculus questions right.

He had finally started understanding Pride and Prejudice! Elizabeth was a girl, and she liked this loaded dude called Mr.Darcy. Her parents were high on getting her married to a rich guy, so when they find out Mr.Darcy likes Elizabeth... Bam! Jackpot! Their daughter made them proud. This Elizabeth girl had a sister called Jane, whose name was coincidentally the same as the author's ( Matt still thought that the author did it on purpose), and this girl also married a rich guy. Then there was third girl who married a poor guy, and two other sisters left, who had to still marry someone. That was all. Everybody wanted to marry somebody. He never really understood what took him so long to understand all this.

But things with Emma were still a bit tense. Every time that he tried talking to her, she would cut him off and tell him to study. She was still angry about homecoming. Which was four months ago. Girls and their grudges. He would never understand them.

So now there he was, happily skipping through the corridor after school, being greeted by half the people in the corridor because of their many wins in that particular season, towards the tutoring center where Emma was waiting to do Physics with him. And he sucked at Physics really bad, so she was going to be stuck with him for a couple of hours at least! Yay!

EMMA

Emma really did not know what was going on with her life.

Everyday she would sit with Matt and shatter her brain inside, trying to teach Matt what a leaf was, or how people move, or how hydrogen sulphide is extremely poisonous.

And she liked it.

Matt was just so innocent and cute. When he made mistakes, he tried really hard to solve them. She loved it when she explained something to him again, and his eyes would light up when he understood them. He was very dumb, but equally sincere with his work. He proved that three weeks ago.

3 weeks ago

Emma knocked at the door to Matt's house. She was there for their usual session after school because the tutoring center was full of basketball players who did not get much time to study.

Matt opened the door, and grinning wide, he handed her a paper.

It was his literature test on Pride and Prejudice. And he got...

"I got a C! I did not fail! Can you believe it?", he said, jumping up and down.

Emma narrowed her eyes, "Did you cheat?" Emma couldn't believe it, considering that Matt still thought Elizabeth was into Mr.Darcy's dad, and that her sister Kitty was actually their pet cat.

Matt stopped jumping, "No, I did not! I stayed up all night!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, he is", said a soft, squeaky voice from behind him. His seven year old sister Erica appeared from behind him and looked at Emma nervously with those big beautiful green eyes, just like Matt's. "I took coffee for him in the morning."

"Oh, did you?", asked Emma softly.

"Yes. Ma made it and told me to give it to Matty", Erica said softly.

"Matt knelt down and kissed Erica on the forehead, "Go take your afternoon nap, kiddo. You have a Peppa Pig date with me in the evening, don't you remember?"

Erica smiled, showing her half-broken teeth, "Okay, Matty", and she turned around and went upstairs.

Emma's heart melted. It was just so cute. Who knew that a big tall dude like Matt could be so gentle?

"So I guess you didn't cheat", said Emma, feeling ashamed for thinking that way.

"No, I didn't", said Matt, holding the door open for her to enter. Her body acted while her mind screamed at her to back-off, and she wrapped her arms around him tightly. And it felt amazing.

Back to the present

So things were extremely weird with Matt. She was still slightly hurt by the betrayal, but she was not angry with him anymore. It was impossible to be angry with that guy. Every time he messed up she had to try real hard not to laugh. And now, she couldn't even go back to being chummy, laughing, smiley, sitting under ME friends. How could she go back to that, after how she had treated him for all those months, when he was nothing but sweet and patient to her?

Ugh, she was so messed up. And it was all Matt's fault. Matt had just waltzed into her life one bright sunny day in the Chemistry lab, and completely messed her up.

And then there was Will to think about. She did not know what was going on with Will and her. They went on some completely awkward things where they had nothing to talk to each other about. And he spent almost three-fourth of his time with Liv. She did not know what to do. Was this what people usually did, when they were...dating? She did not even know what to call it. They had gone for like, five dates in four months. And she did not even have fun.

So here she was, going out with a guy who she did not have a lot of fun with, and distancing herself from the guy she did have fun with. That, was exactly the definition of messed up.

So there she was, sitting at the corner desk of the tutor center, staring at Kyle and Penny in the other corner, laughing at something the other said, occasionally stealing kisses when they thought nobody was looking. She closed her eyes and wished that she could have what they had. And when she opened her eyes, she jumped to see Matt sitting across from her, smiling wide.

Did she mention her life was seriously messed up?

WILL

"So, when are you going to get out of that house?", Will asked Liv. They were sitting in the studio, watching a photographer running around Dad wearing a suit, clicking pictures wildly. Will never understood how photographers were so energetic.

"I don't know Will", Liv replied, staring at the board, her luscious chocolate curls spilling out, covering her face.

"It's been four months! And my Dad told you he can make arrangements for your accommodation", Will said sitting back, looking away from the photo session. All those bright lights were giving him a migraine.

"I just need more time Will, it's not that easy", Liv said, not meeting his eyes/

"What are you afraid of, Liv?", Will asked.

Liv looked flustered, "No, nothing. Just trust me when I say I need time."

"Fine", Will said grumpily.

"Hey, Will! I'm gonna need you to go on a coffee run!", said Dad, "One latte with skimmed milk and an extra shot of espresso. And ask Liv and Phil whatever they want."

"Ask Liv! She's your assistant!", Will complained.

"Will I need to tell you something", Liv said in an urgent tone, but Dad shouted louder.

"I need her to make some phone calls! And its not like you are doing anything! Now go!", said Dad.

"Fine", Will grumbled and walked out of the studio, wondering what Liv wanted to talk to him about.

PENNY

"Where are you taking me?", Penny asked, a blindfold covering her eyes, as Kyle pulled her forward by the arm, "And that too, so late?"

It was around 11 o'clock, way past her curfew at 10. She had been completing her homework, when she heard some strange sounds at her window Ping, Ping, Ping.

She had gone to the window where she saw Kyle standing down, throwing rocks at her window, like a typical cliche romance story. She had told John she was going to Emma's place for the night, and rushed outside to Kyle who put a blindfold on her eyes.

And now there she was, not being able to see anything, being guided by Kyle to some unknown destination.

Finally they stopped and Kyle said, "You can look now", and took the blindfold off.

Penny had been expecting to see some beautiful scenery, or something like that. Instead she gasped as she beheld a lingerie shop in front of them.

"Kyle!". she shouted, her cheeks reddening, and when she turned, she saw him doubled over the ground, laughing hard.

He wiped a tear from his eye, "Oh, that was amazing!"

Penny hit him with her handbag, "You frickin' perv!"

"Ow!", Kyle said indignantly, "This was just a prank. The actual surprise is over there", Kyle said, pointing to a closed ice-cream parlor.

"Kyle, I love ice-cream, but I think you can see that it's locked."

"Not when I swiped the key", said Kyle, holding up a pack of keys, "I've always wanted to raid an ice-cream shop. You ready?"

Excitement coursed through Penny, they were about to do something adventurous. She had always wanted to do something like this. Like stalking people, which she did with Emma and Matt, then raiding shops and painting graffiti on the walls. Moreover they were raiding an ice-cream shop. Excellent!

Kyle quietly crept up to the door and put the keys in the lock. Penny heard a soft click and door swung open. They crept inside and turned on the flashlight in their mobile phones. Kyle led her to a room near the money counter, closed the door and switched on the light. And Penny was completely overwhelmed by what she saw.

They were huge boxes, stacked one on top off the other, filled with ice-cream!

She looked around and spotted her favourite flavor. There in the corner, in a green box, was her favourite, Mint chocolate chip.

She ran towards it, pried the box open, grabbed an ice-cream scoop, and started shoveling the ice-cream down her throat. She was getting a terrible brain freeze but she did not care. There was so much ice-cream in front of her that she lost her mind.

"Penny, here. Try my favourite flavor!", said Kyle, holding up a scoop full of buttered pecan ice cream. Penny grabbed and scoop and ate. And it was so good. There was that sweet and salty taste of butter, along with the nuttiness of the pecan. It was perfect!

But she still liked mint chocolate chip more.

They tried many different flavors. Cotton candy, Cookies N'Cream, Rocky Road, Belgian Chocolate, Blueberry and so many more, till their stomachs started to ache with all the ice-cream in them.

"I'm gonna go outside an check if it's safe to go out", said Kyle, and went outside.

KYLE

Kyle stepped outside to see an man waiting for them.

He smiled and took out a wad of money and gave it to the man, "Thanks, Uncle Bert."

Uncle Bert pushed Kyle's hand away, "No, I'm not taking money from you kiddo."

"Please Uncle, I insist. If you don't I'll feel guilty the whole night."

Uncle Bert sighed, "Fine", and he took the cash.

Kyle took the keys out from his pocket, "Here are your keys. Do you know what to do now?"

Uncle smiled, "You bet!"

Kyle went in and smiled at Penny, "It's all clear."

She breathed a sigh of relief, "Oh, thank God!"

They both went outside but then they heard Uncle Bert's voice, "Hey, what were you kids doing in my store!"

Kyle said, "Shit! Run!", and then he grabbed her hand and they ran towards his car. He quickly started the ignition and they were on the road. He turned and gave Uncle a quick smile and then grinned at Penny who was laughing wildly. How cute could a person be?

"Are we going home now?", Penny asked.

"Are you crazy? The night has just started", Kyle said with a grin.

PENNY

Penny laughed, "When did you plan all of this? And how?"

"All by myself", said Kyle, "and with a little help from Emma."

They pulled out of the highway and went on a small dusty road, then just stopped.

"Why did we stop, Kyle?", Penny asked.

"Cause we're going on a little trek", said Kyle, grabbing a big backpack from the trunk of his car.

Kyle took her hand in his, sending shivers down her spine all over again, and they began walking among the trees, going up a tiny hill.

They walked for like, half an hour, during which they discussed random stuff like who was hotter Dwayne Johnson or Vin Diesel, or what would they do if they were locked into a classroom with Mrs. Hughes, or would Emma end up with Matt or Will? The last one, they had a big debate. Kyle said Will and Penny said Matt. They even made a wager.

Yes, they were terrible people, betting on their friends' love lives.

KrishaRaut

At last, they reached the top of the hill. There was a clearing where Kyle ran, and Penny followed. He took her hand and pulled her toward the edge. As they went closer, she could see lights below. When they did reach the edge, she gasped. It was the most beautiful sight she had ever seen. They could see the whole city below, half dark half lit. She could see the lake in the eastern corner, glimmering in the moonlight. She could see small red and yellow specks, which must be cars. A gust of wind blew around them, blowing her hair in her face.

She spread her hands and laughed loudly. She felt so, so happy. She got this feeling in her stomach she could not describe. She felt weirdly free, being at such a height, the cars and the people tiny specks below her. She felt a sense that she belonged to a much bigger world. At this height, being with no one but Kyle, who was smiling at her, his light brown eyes twinkling like the countless stars above them, she felt whole. All her life, she had felt that there was something missing, even though her parents' wealth had bought everything she wanted. But now, she felt like she had everything she had ever wanted, now that she had Kyle. And she made a promise to herself that she would never mess that up.

Looking at him, looking at the stars above, she saw one fall through the sky. She closed her eyes and made one wish. Kyle. The last four months had been the best months of her life, all because of Kyle.

She opened her eyes and he was much closer, looking at her with questioning eyes. And she knew what to say.

"I love you", she whispered.

Kyle smiled so wide that Penny knew she had said it at the right moment.

"Say it again", Kyle whispered.

"I love you", Penny said again.

"I love you too", said Kyle.

And Penny knew that this was the happiest moment in her life as she jumped into Kyle's arms. They held each other for a moment, after which Kyle pulled away, and crashed his lips on hers. This kiss was not like the quick, fast ones they had. This was long and slow, filled with passion and desire. And love. Her mind went blank. She could not think of anything else but Kyle. About his beautiful brown eyes crinkled with laughter lines. His golden brown hair which looked almost black under the moonlight.

They broke away and looked at each other. He was too good for her. What had she done to deserve him?

"Come on", Kyle said, gesturing towards his backpack, "I'm hungry."

They spread a picnic blanket and Kyle laid out all the snacks he had bought for them. They ate, talked about what they wanted to do in life, threw chips at each other, and basically had the best time.

They then lay down next to each other and looked at the stars.

"That one is Sirius", said Penny pointing to the stars, "and that one is Betelgeuse."

"How do you know so much about stars?", asked Kyle.

"When I was younger, and wasn't able to sleep at night if I had nightmares, my butler John and I would go to the roof and count the stars. As I got older, he started telling me the names of the stars that we counted", Penny said.

"That's sweet. But I should tell you, I don't remember any name. I just like hearing your voice", said Kyle. Penny could feel heat rising in her cheeks.

"You're being too cheesy", she told him.

"Can't help it, babe", he replied, smiling.

They spent so much time talking, she didn't realise when she drifted off to sleep, only to be woken up by Kyle.

"You ready to see the most beautiful sunrise?"