Innocent Emily Kim

Chapter 30: Lovely Lunch

Emily sat with Nathan for lunch. She wanted some best friend time, and the only person that could give her that was him. After she embarrassingly confessed her weekend to him, he began to lecture her on the importance of birth control.

"... and make sure he puts it on correctly. You can never be too careful. If he can release as much as you told me, you need to make sure that there are no holes in that rubber. Do you understand me?" he lectured.

Rolling her eyes, she laughed at him, pulling him in a tight hug.

"Don't worry, ma. I was in health class with you. We both learned how to put it on."

He laughed back.

"They could've shown a better thing, but I did enjoy watching all those preppy boys blush."

She giggled at his playful behavior.

"Speaking of boys, have you met any?" she asked, poking his side.

He grinned.

"There have been a few... flings. But nothing serious," he replied.

"Oh. Well, I hope you find the man of your dreams. He's out there, somewhere."

"I hope so-"

"Emily."

They looked up to see Aiden walking toward them, Ross and Tristan in tow.

"Mind if we sit with you?" Aiden asked in his sweet and sexy voice.

He plopped himself next to her on the bench.

"Sure, just sit down, will you," Nathan replied sarcastically, knowing that Aiden didn't even bother asking him, as he was caught up in Emily's gaze.

He leaned down, giving her a tender kiss on the lips, before lounging his arm across her shoulder and facing the group. 

Tristan sat next to Ross on the ground. He opened up his lunchbox and Ross stuck her hand in, rummaging through it's contents. Finding her peanut butter and jelly sandwich container, she pulled open the lid and gave Tristan the other half.

"Why is your food in Tristan's bag?" Emily asked Ross.

"Oh, you don't know? We're neighbors," Tristan replied as Ross munched on her sandwich.

Emily's mouth opened in surprise, but before she could pry more, Ross spoke.

"So, how was the afterparty?" Ross asked in between bites, referring to the night of the music concert. A suggestive tone was dripping from her words like the jelly oozing on the corner of her lip.

Tristan took his thumb and brushed it away, licking the jelly off his digit. Ross gazed at him with wide eyes, before looking away quickly, a blush reddening her cheeks.

"From what I heard, it sounds like they had a pretty nice time, if you know what I mean," Nathan snickered, giving Ross a fist bump.

Emily's ears tinted pink. She cuddled into Aiden, trying to hide herself from the embarrassment. Aiden squeezed her shoulder comfortingly, grinning at the fact that he knew she confessed her romantic nights to her friend.

"What about you guys? Things seemed pretty hot and heavy between you two," Aiden remarked, switching the object of question.

Ross made a face of confusion. Tristan's eyes widened as he looked pleadingly at Aiden, silently warning him to shut up. Aiden narrowed his eyes in response, confused as well.

"What are you talking about? Trish and I didn't do anything. I mean, sure, I woke up in his bed, but that's happened plenty of times before. I did have a killer headache, though," Ross explained. "We would never do anything, right Trish?"

She hit Tristan's chest with the back of her hand. Tristan looked up, wiping the solemn expression from his face.

"Y-Yeah, right. We're not like that. Just friends," Tristan said, mumbling off at the end.

Ross nodded.

"See?" she laughed. "It's not like that. But I think we might have gotten in a fight or wrestled or something. My perfectly white shorts were completely ruined. I'll have to bleach them."

Tristan pretended to laugh with her.

"Sorry about that," he replied, scratching the back of his head.

"It's fine, Trish. I can't stay mad at you," she smiled, knocking her shoulder against his playfully.

Emily and Aiden stared at them with confusion. Just then, the bell rang, indicating the end of lunch.

Aiden turned toward Emily, standing up.

"I'll see you around? Let's stay together this weekend," he urged, hoping she would agree.

"Maybe. I need to check if I can," she replied, silently hoping that her mother would allow it.

"Okay. Text me when you find out."

He bent down, giving her a chaste goodbye kiss. Smiling at her affectionate response, he turned around and walked away, leaving Emily with giddy butterflies fluttering in her stomach.