Crazier ➳ Emison (COMPLETED)

19 - Promise Me

"Oh. My. God." was the only thing that escaped Alison's wide open mouth. "Mona?" Alison whispered mostly to herself.

"Hi, you guys!" Mona waved enthusiastically to the group. She was nearly unrecognizable. Gone was the dorky sweater, replaced with a stylish dress, gone were the glasses, instead, she was wearing contacts, and gone were the horrific pigtails, her hair now loose and falling delicately on her shoulders. Alison had to confess, it was quite impressive. Mona finally didn't look like a loser.

Noel pulled Mona closer, declaring to everyone, "Guys, this is Mona. Mona, these are Toby, Spencer, Ezra, Aria, Hanna, Caleb, Emily and Alison," he ran an introduction, pointing at each person as he spoke their name.

Alison looked over to Emily, who seemed almost as confused and surprised as she was.

"Actually, I know Mona already," Alison said tentatively to Noel, still taken back by the whole scenario.

"Well, you know everyone, Ali-" Noel's knowing chuckle was interrupted by Spencer.

"No, we all know Mona already. How are you, Mona? You look... different," Spencer asked Mona with a skeptic smile, as if she could read the minds of everyone in the room.

"My friends CeCe and Sara came to visit me and they gave me a makeover. Does it look okay?" Mona asked hesitantly.

"It looks perfect," Noel assured and kissed the top of Mona's head.

Alison wasn't sure how she felt about this ridiculously strange scenario. She presumed she was glad that Noel's mystery date wasn't some stranger, but on the other hand, this was Mona. Loser Mona. Alison decided to debate what Emily would tell her about this whole situation. She came to the conclusion that the brunette would say that from everything Alison had learned in the past few days, maybe Mona wasn't as bad as she thought. Giving the short girl the benefit of the doubt, Alison switched her eyes switched carefully between Noel and Mona.

Ezra glanced at the big clock on the brick wall, noticing the time before announcing to the group, "Well, it was really nice to see you again, Mona, but we should really get going."

Everyone mumbled agreements and went to grab their bags, except for Alison who rooted in her spot a bit longer. She snapped out of her thoughts, lifted her chin and made her way to Mona, who was now standing alone since Noel went to help Toby carry some of the bags.

"I have to admit, I'm impressed," Alison said to the short brunette, folding her arms over her chest.

"Thank you, Alison," Mona said to Alison in admiration and smiled.

Alison examined Mona for a second longer, making the girl squirm under her criticizing gaze, then spoke again. "Take care of Noel, okay? He can be a douche sometimes, but he's a good guy," Alison finished with a small nod and turned around to get her bag, when a hand closed around her wrist. She spun back around and met Mona's brown eyes.

"Thank you. For giving me a chance, Alison," Mona said gratefully. Only genuine appreciation was evident in her brown orbs.

"It's Ali now, I guess," the blonde said with an aloof shrug, but that only got Mona to smile at her widely, making her break into a petite smile of her own. Yes, this was definitely surreal.

Alison looked to her left and caught a glimpse of Emily, laughing along with Caleb and Hanna at something on the computer. Alison's faint smile could only increase at the sight of her girlfriend. "I'm not the same person I was a week ago, Mona. I know that sounds like a bit of a reach but I really am trying to be better. For her."

Mona looked over to see what Alison had her eyes on, and smiled when she saw none other than Emily. "Who on earth would've thought you'd end up dating Emily and I'd be dating Noel?" she quipped and Alison shared a light laugh.