EMMA

"So, how are you now?", Emma asked Matt, who was sitting opposite of her, The Great Gatsby open in between them.

"I feel like I can run a marathon", Matt said, grinning lazily.

But Emma was worried. Even though he tried to hide it under all the coolness, she had seen how terrified Matt was, when he collapsed that day. It was just a sprain, but Matt had still been scared. And why wouldn't he? It could have ruin his chance to impress college scouts. She was so happy the Harriers were getting a chance with the scouts. She was so proud.

"That's good. What did the doctor say?", she asked.

"Even though I told him I am more than fine, he told not to play for a week. I'll have to miss two games. Two games !", Matt said, crossing his arms, "but I'm more worried about Liv. Poor thing, everybody thinks she got Stan and his family arrested by framing them. Neither she or Will tell the truth."

"I know, people pick on her so much, that I asked her to sit with me under...well ME, during lunchtime yesterday", Emma said, "but I'm happy she trusts us with the truth."

"Yeah...that's good", said Matt. He sounded weird. 

"What's on your mind, Matt?", Emma asked curiously.

"Well, you and Will have been going out, right?", Matt asked.

"Four months", Emma replied with a smile.

"But I've never seen him with you. I've only always seen him with Liv", Matt said, looking down.

Emma felt anger surge through her, "Matt, how stupid and immature can you possibly get. My life with Will is my business, so back off!", and with that, she got up.

"But what about studying?", Matt asked.

"We'll continue here tomorrow, after school", Emma said and walked out of the tutor center.

"I'm coming for the play tonight!", he called to her.

How could he? First he cheats and sabotages their relationship, well, future relationship, then he tries to sabotage hers and Will's relationship? 

But she did have a small, teeny tiny, feeling in the back of her head that Matt might actually be correct. But he had no right to say that to her!

Will did spend a hell lot of time more with Liv than he did with her. Emma saw how his eyes twinkled when he talked to Liv. He acted freely  when he was around Liv, and was more rigid around Emma. And she did not want him to be like that.

WILL

"How does it feel to get your own family arrested, virgin", yelled Chloe, as Will and Liv passed her in the corridor.

"I'm sure Will must have helped", called Vanessa.

Will clenched his fists. No, he would control his anger. No lashing out.

They went into the cafeteria. And the catcalls began.

"So, how did you frame him?", a guy asked.

"I'm sure they hooked up after doing it", a girl called out.

"Poor Stan. He got such a loser as a sister", said a guy.

And Will had had enough.

He climbed onto the bench and clapped his hands as loudly as he could.

"Hey everyone. If anyone does not know me, my name is Will. And I'll kick all of your asses like I kicked Stan's that day, if you even say a word to Liv. And as to why I kicked Stan's ass", Will said, after a brief glance at Liv, "that asshole assaulted his own damn sister.  Yes, he did that, which the entire court has seen in a recording from my phone. So don't you dare think Stan's innocent."

He jumped off the bench and took Liv's hand, steering her out of the cafeteria. Every touch made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. It reminded him of the kiss. They had not even said a word about it for two days now. Will was uncomfortable.And that was because he liked the kiss, even though he was dating Emma. He had to tell her. It was not fair to her.

                                                                             ._._._._._._.

Emma stood in the wings with Will, wearing a beautiful, very shimmery pink gown, her face loaded with makeup. Will himself wore a weird suit, with an old-fashioned blazer whose front end was a lot shorter than the back end, and this pink shimmery sash to match Emma's dress. He felt ridiculous in that outfit, but Emma was seriously pulling off that dress.

The coordinator gave them the signal and they both, along with the other dancers, walked onto the stage in the dark and took their positions as the lights were switched back on.

"I don't think my eyes will ever adjust to these lights", said Emma, squinting at them as she came opposite Will.

"It is the last time that they have to", said Will, holding his hand out.

Emma smiled and took his hand. And it felt completely normal. There were no goosebumps, no shivers, no electricity, nothing. It had been like this for a while now. Will just did not feel that feeling when he danced with Emma anymore. He felt that feeling like he was dancing in the streets with Shane. It was friendly.

They started moving to the rhythm, Will aware of all the eyes on him. 

"Emma, I need to tell you something", he said, twirling her once. No turning back now.

"Is it something about Liv?", Emma asked, her eyebrows knit together.

"How did you know?"

"I...had a feeling. Will, do you like Liv?", she asked directly. Wow, this conversation was not going as he had planned in his head.

"I...um", Will stuttered, "we kissed", he confessed, "but only once", he added hastily.

Emma smiled, "It's okay, Will. I'm not mad. Actually, I have a confession."

Now, Will was curious. What kind of confession did Emma have?

"After thinking about this for a long time, I realised that I, partially dated you, because I was angry with Matt and you were there for me, so I hanged onto you", she said, not meeting his eyes.

Will knew he should have been offended, but he was surprisingly not. He had a crush on Emma, but when they did start going out, he felt they did not really have that spark.

"It's okay Emma, I'm not really mad", said Will, meaning every word. They both had guilty reasons. So they both were equal, right? No, Will was worse. But Emma was okay with it!

"So you used me to make Matt jealous?", he asked, his eyes narrowed.

"N-no. How could you say that. I'm still angry with him for doing such a thing", Emma stuttered.

"If you didn't like him, you would have dropped the matter, you know", Will said, enjoying seeing Emma all flustered.

"Will can you drop it", said Emma, harshly, a her lips curled into a frown.

They did another complicated move, in which Will held Emma's waist and lifted her into the air and brought her back down.

"Okay, don't get mad", Will said. He had noticed Emma have mood swings every time someone mentioned Matt. Weird.

The song slowly faded away, and they stopped dancing and left the stage. Done. All those months of practice for a dance which lasted for maximum five minutes. Will would never understand theatre.

They both entered the wings and Emma gave him a hug, "It was nice being your partner", she said with a smile. Mood swings.

"Ditto", Will said.

"Now go get your girl, tiger", Emma said,"If anyone asks, I dumped you."

Will smiled, "Whatever you say."

They waited in the green room till the play got over, then walked onto the stage with the rest of the cast to take a bow. Shane was the first one to run up to them.

"Dawg you look like Johnny Walker, on the cover of the bottle", said Shane, looking at Will from top to bottom.

"That was the first comparison that you could make?", Will asked.

"I thought you looked like a male prostitute from the seventeenth century", Kevin offered.

"You know what, I'm gonna go change right now", said Will, and ran to the changing room, which was surprisingly deserted. Oh yeah, they were having a costume party at Ian's. It was so convenient, wearing your play costume at that party. Will could not stand a second more in his costume. How could the others spend the entire night in it? 

When he came out, his heart skipped a beat as he saw Liv standing over there, waiting for him.

She smiled at him, and the back of his neck tingled, "Hey, you wanna go grab some fro-yo? I really don't wanna go for that-", she began, but stopped when Will ran over to her.

He took her face in his hands, his thumbs brushing over the smooth skin of her cheek. And, as if on impulse, he pressed his lips on hers, savoring the warmth that spread through him, the happiness that coursed through his veins when she responded immediately, placing her hands on his shoulders to steady herself. Oh God, he loved her. He loved the sincerity, the honesty, the innocence in those rich brown eyes. He loved the way she distractedly kept pushing strands of her hair behind her ear. He loved how free she acted around him, how she did not keep any secrets from him.

"I love you", he said, without thinking.

"It's about time", Liv said with a smile. But there was something in her smile that bothered him, as if she was holding something back.

MATT

"How creepy can you fools get?", asked Penny, with her hands folded across her chest.

Matt pressed his face on the window, trying to see from the tiny spot of the window that Shane, Emma, Kyle and Kevin had spared him.

"They look so cute together", said Kyle.

"He looks happy", said Emma.

Matt knew Emma took what he had said that afternoon seriously. He had not tried to sabotage their relationship. Heck, he would never do that to his best friend. But Emma and Will breaking up was a bonus...yeah he was a terrible person.

But it worked out well for Will...

"How long are they gonna kiss, man? They've been kissing for seven minutes thirty seven seconds straight", said Shane, "if I was in his place, we would already be-"

"Don't finish that sentence", said Matt.

"Shane, stop", said Emma.

"Gross, Shane", said Penny.

"Shane! You perv", said Kyle.

"Go on, I'm listening", said Kevin with a wink.

Everybody turned towards Kevin.

"Ew!", they said, all at once, except Shane, who winked back.

"Stop, or I'll throw up", said Kyle, and stepped away from the window, giving more space to the rest of them.

"Okay, freaks, step away and give them some privacy", said Penny.

Everybody ignored her.

Will and Liv did look cute together. Both of them were smiling like crazy, and kissing each other again and again. He was so happy for him. Will looked so happy. He remembered feeling like that, that day in the park, when Emma had kissed him. It was the last time that Emma had kissed him. He imagined being there with Emma at that moment. 

"What are you children doing here?", said a voice.

All of them turned at once to see Mrs. Hughes standing over there, holding a clipboard, frowning like she always did. Why was she always holding a clipboard, Matt wondered. He got the weird office secretary vibe from it. He shook his head. This was not the time to have such useless thought. What is she gave them detention? It was Mrs. Hughes. She handed out detentions like pamphlets for a party. So, there was only one thing left to do...

"Code red!", Matt shouted, and Emma and Penny bolted immediately, the others running after them, looking  extremely confused.