"Excuse me, I've been waiting for five minutes here. Hello?" Emily heard from in front of her.

She snapped her head up to the sound, grimacing. Her coworker, Spencer, walked by and hip checked her into the counter.

"Staring at blondie over there won't sell perfume, Em," she muttered.

Emily glared at Spencer before shooting a fake smile at the clearly irritated customer in front of her.

"Sorry, ma'am. I'll ring that up for you right now," she said, grabbing the woman's purchases.

Spencer was one of Emily's closest friends—they'd worked together for over a year now, trying to pay their way through school. She was incredibly bright, majoring in psychology and passing with flying colors. Emily was grateful for her—Spence helped her out with difficult classes, and they often went out for drinks after work and shit talked the other coworkers. Still, she could deal without the teasing.

Emily had been crushing on Alison DiLaurentis from the Bed and Bath section for months now. When the gorgeous blonde started working a section over, Emily was immediately drawn to her. Ali was fun—when her department wasn't busy, she'd often come over and chat with Emily, people watching and talking about the TV shows they both binged on netflix. As far as Emily could tell, Alison was straight, but Emily knew the saying—everyone is bi until proven otherwise. Either way, she apparently hadn't been as subtle in her affections as she thought because everyone knew about her crush. That is, everyone except for Alison, who remained blissfully ignorant. Spencer had pestered Emily to ask the girl out already, but Emily was always a bit shy. Confidence wasn't her forte.

"Seriously Em, how she doesn't know is beyond me." Spencer pulled the girl out of her reverie, sliding up to the counter next to her.

"She doesn't know and will never know, got it? That goes for both you and the other girls."

"You rang?" Aria said as she walked by, walkie talkie on her hip. Aria worked over in menswear, and also had a shift at a photography studio on the other side of the mall. Emily had seen a lot of her pictures, and they were really good. Sometimes she wondered why Aria still worked there. She never really teased Emily, but occasionally tossed out advice on romantic ways to ask Alison out. She was big on romance. Emily always appreciated Aria's softness when it came to her crush.

"Just saying that Emily needs to suck it up and ask Alison out. Right, Ari?" Spencer asked, nodding repeatedly.

"Emily can do what she wants in her own time. Don't you two have work to do?"

"Ah yes, as you can tell from the long line of customers trying to buy Divina Eau de Toilette. Some of these brands have ridiculous names." Spencer rolled her eyes, "Besides, don't you have work to do?"

Aria looked at Spencer pointedly, "My shift is over, duh. I'll be down at the studio if you guys want to meet up and go out later. Emily, don't let her get to you. You are just fine doing this at your pace, alright?" She smiled sweetly at Emily.

Did she mention she loved Aria?

"Thanks, Ar. Take some pretty pictures for me, will you?" Emily asked.

"Sure thing. Later guys." She then took her leave from the store.

"Whatever. Aria's a killjoy. Fine, ruin my fun, whatever." Spencer mumbled, wandering off to the other register. Emily sighed, resting her elbow on the counter in front of her. Ali was over in the bed and bath department talking to customers. Emily giggled as the other girl faked a polite smile, knowing she was bored out of her mind. Alison glanced over at the cashier, giving her a tight-lipped grin she reserved just for her. Emily felt butterflies rush up in her stomach, and looked away trying to contain her smile.

So maybe her crush was really obvious. And maybe she shouldn't be so caught up in this girl. But honestly, she could handle the teasing if it meant she got to see that face every day. Anything was worth that.