Rosewood via Philadelphia Central - DELAYED.
"Great." Emily mutters to herself, falling down onto the nearest bench, letting out the most frustrated huff she has to offer. Every single time, she complains to herself. It's times like these that she kicks herself for turning down the opportunity to become a swim coach. It would be 'taking a huge step back' and 'the salary is too low', she recalls saying. Now, she's working at a bar called 'Retros' and that is taking a gigantic leap back. She was meant for greater things. Emily was training with some of the most renowned swimmers in the country and every day was another step closer to that dream. It was supposed to be an epic beginning, but all of that came to a sudden halt when her father suffered a fatal heart attack. Thankfully, he survived, but her coach forced an ultimatum upon her; Family or future. Of course, she chose her father and went home and she would still choose him in a heartbeat. A whole year has gone by since then.
Now?
Emily Fields is twenty one years old, working at a 90's themed bar. It could be worse, she reminds herself, though, it could be better. So, here she stands, alone on a platform, waiting for her train to arrive which is already forty minutes late. Her internal rants get interrupted when she feels her phone vibrate in her pocket.
She answers. "Hello?"
"Oh my God, Em. I swear, it's easier to get in touch with Obama. Where are you?" Right on que. It's her roommate Hanna; she phones every night when it's gone two, to find out where she is.
"I'm still in Philly. The train's delayed."
"Again?"
"Mhm." Emily hears her friend sigh.
"Isn't that like- the third time this week?" Hanna points out, her voice raising with every word.
"Yep. I might just start walking back."
"It's like ten miles, Em. Don't even even think about it. You need a car." Hanna suggests, causing Emily to scoff loudly.
"I have to hold my bed up with books, what makes you think that I can afford a car?" Emily casts her memory back that day. She went to bed one night and the next morning, she was awoken when her bed suddenly caved in. Those books have been holding her up while she sleeps for eight months.
"You make your point. Want me to come get you?" Just as Emily's about to say yes, she spots the lights of the train approach the platform.
"Don't worry about it, it just got here. See you soon?"
"Yeah, I'll order a pizza."
Emily hangs up and waits for the train to stop. When it does, she gets on. It's a single carriage and it's jam packed with only two seats to spare. Her choice's; Sit in the front with some shady looking people who tend to stare a lot or attempt to steal your purse (it's happened twice), or sit in the back with drunk people and risk having to socialize with them. She takes a deep breath as she tries to figure out which is the better of two evils tonight. Her decision is made when someone in the front watches her with an unsettling stare. And we have a winner, back it is. She avoids eye contact with the drunk passengers as she approaches the back and sits in her seat quietly. She's about to place her headphones in her ears, when she feels a tap on her shoulder. She turns around, dreading that it's a drunk person trying to hit on her and unfortunately, it is.
"Hey." He greets with a grin, swaying uncontrollably. Clearly, he's had a night of it. She rolls her eyes, deciding not to respond and turns to face the window in hope that he will take the hint.
"Hey." He says again, slightly louder. Is this guy serious? After a couple more attempts, Emily finally turns back to face him and is overcome with an unpleasant scent of cigarettes and whiskey. It's so strong, that she has to take a second before she yells at him.
"I'm not interested." She snaps. The man jumps slightly at the unexpected outburst, raises his hands in surrender and walks away. This is a common occurrence on the train at this time of night and it's what Emily hates most about it; Sleazy older men, hitting on young women who are half their age, couples practically going at it with no shame and groups of friends laughing at every damn thing that is said. The carriage is filled with loud laughter and chatter and she attempts to once again put her headphones in her ears to block out the horrendous racket, she gets enough of this at work. She's successful this time 'round with no interruption. She hits play, stares out the window and enjoys the music.
The train stops at Ravenswood and thankfully, a majority of them get off. Peace at last. That's until the conductor makes an announcement.
"Okay folks, we will be stopping here for five minutes. We apologize for the delay." Groans echo through the train and Emily leans back, hitting her head back onto the head rest with deliberate force. It get's even worse when that majority is replaced with more people getting on. Another drunk group stumble their way past Emily and a couple of people who look like they've just finished work sit in the front. One girl, however, catches her attention; Her hair is blonde, she's wearing what looks like a diner uniform and she's sporting a huge coffee stain on her shirt. But that's not what got her attention, it's the extremely pissed off look on her face. The energy coming off of her is intense with anger and Emily can feel it, from twelve seats away. It makes her feel uneasy.
The girl is standing at the front, scanning the carriage with her eyes for a place to sit. She eyes every single person on the train, analyzing them and Emily's mind is screaming, praying that the blonde's eyes don't land on her. Sadly the universe hates her and the blonde looks right at her. It startles Emily and she turns her gaze to the window again, but something urges her to look back and when she does, the pissed off girl is staring right at her, as if she's sussing her out. Her mind begins to jump to wild conclusions; Is there something on my face? Did I do something annoy her? Oh no, oh God, she's walking over to me.
The young woman approaches her, with her arms crossed and Emily tries to avert her gaze, but fails miserably. Emily fears that this girls stare could set her on fire; it's very pointed, though there's a hint of familiarity in it? She's unsure. As she get's closer, Emily finds herself admiring this stranger's piercing blue eyes. But that's the last thing that she should be doing, especially if this is about to get ugly. Emily gulps and slowly removes her headphones, briefly looking down to brace herself. When she dares to look up, the girl is standing in front of her.
"Is this seat taken?" She asks, in a surprisingly timid voice. Emily feels relief sweep through her body and she simply shakes her head, moving her bag to her feet for her to sit. After a beat, Emily puts her headphones back in. Every now and then, she finds herself looking at the blonde woman beside her. The first time she does, the girl is on her phone. The second time, she's reading a book 'The Catcher In The Rye'. The third time, it's when the woman's phone rings and she answers.
"Hey. Yeah, I'm on the train- Some asshat spilled coffee all over me, I swear to God that I'm going to quit-"
Emily finds herself turning down her music to eavesdrop and listens to her conversation discreetly. The girl's voice is snappy, laced with what sounds like a waver, as if she's going to cry. She looks at her again, for the fourth time. This time though, she notices a badge on her top. It says 'Alison'.
"You're right- I know. Yeah, see you soon." 'Alison' hangs up and it's only then, that Emily realizes that she's been staring at her badge for longer than intended. She quickly checks her phone, pretending not to be weird, but sadly it doesn't work because she feels Alison watching her. When it seems like she's about to say something, Hanna calls Emily again and she couldn't be more grateful to her friend and her overprotective nature. She quickly answers.
"Hey Han, I'm nearly home." Her voice goes on a roller-coaster of pitches (kind of like when you're talking and go over a speed bump) and in that moment, she wishes the floor would just swallow her up because she's pretty certain that this is the most embarrassing moment in her entire adult life.
"Thank God, because we've run out of toilet paper."
"And let me guess, you're on the toilet right now, only just realizing this?" Her voice is back to normal. Why couldn't this have happened when I answered the phone?
"Kylie did say that it's the year of realizing things, Em." Hanna says matter-of-factly. Emily groans in annoyance at the reference before replying. Even more so that she used it on such a mild situation.
"I'll pick some up on the way home. See you soon-"
"Wait, Em!" Sigh.
"What, Hanna?"
"Could you bring back some cheetos too?"
"Goodbye Hanna."
"Wait-"
Emily hangs up before her roommate can continue with her shopping list and laughs to herself. She moved into Hanna's apartment when her friend Lucas moved out to go live in New York just over a year ago and it's been an interesting experience. She's learned that Hanna's actually the messiest person on the planet; She has a collection of mugs in her bedroom and hasn't done the dishes in five weeks (she's been counting). She also stays up until three in the morning most nights and binge watches shows on Netflix (her record to date is binge watching the entirety of Breaking Bad in four days). She always waits up for Emily (even if it's gone four in the morning) and has dinner with her. She's also learned that Hanna hates being on her own in the apartment, because she's convinced that it's haunted. It's probably part of the reason that she waits up..
"Did you go to Rosewood High?" The girl beside her questions, snapping Emily out of her thoughts. She looks at her before answering.
"Yes.." She replies, cautiously. The blonde girl, or 'Alison' smirks smugly.
"So, you were listening." She points out. Emily swears that her heart stops for at least five seconds when she realizes that she's been caught out. She's still wearing the headphones and she stopped listening to music at least twenty minutes ago. She tries to think of a way to respond in defense.
"To my music?" Ugh. She kicks herself internally, but to her surprise, 'Alison' starts laughing.
"O..kay." The blonde replies. Emily feels the blood rush to her cheeks and waits patiently for the floor to do it's thing.
"Emily, right?" Alison asks. Emily is unsure if this is a trap or her genuinely trying to be nice. She just nods, not risking embarrassing herself again.
"We were in the same English class. I'm Alison." So her name is Alison, cool. Emily stares back blankly, not remembering. She swears that she sees a flash of disappointment in the the girl's eyes.
"You don't remember." Emily thinks of everyone she ever went to school with, but comes up empty. How the hell don't I remember her? I would never forget someone like her.
"I'm sorry. I have a really bad memory, I sometimes forget people that I dated back then." Wow, good one Em. Ten out of ten, she must think that you're a self absorbed ass. She forgets sometimes that she once had a boyfriend (we all have regrets). His name was.. Something beginning with B? To her surprise, Alison finds it amusing.
"It's okay." Again goes the flash of disappointment in her eyes. What the hell is wrong with me, why can't I remember this girl?
"The next stop is Rosewood." The conductor says over the tannoy.
"This is my stop." Alison tells her, getting up.
"Me too." Emily grabs her bag and stands. They both look at each other for a moment in a silence, unsure of how to end this awkward conversation.
"Bye, Emily." Alison finally says, before walking away, leaving a puzzled Emily.
"Bye."
Alison..
SLAM
Emily throws her keys onto the kitchen counter and empties her bag of groceries. Hanna phoned her twice since she left the train station with more requests; a slushie, chocolate fudge pop tarts and an avocado.
"Emily!" Hanna yells from the bathroom. Emily shakes her head and removes the packaging of the toilet paper, removing one roll for her roommate who has been trapped on that toilet for almost an hour. She walks over to the bathroom door and opens it just enough to pop her hand through. Hanna grabs the paper and groans dramatically.
"My hero." After a couple of minutes, Hanna finally leaves the bathroom, walking over to the couch that Emily is sat on and falls onto it with a blissful sigh.
"How was work?" Emily rubs her temples.
"They played Wonderwall three times and there was a Spice Girl themed bachelorette party. Scary Spice made me dance." Emily reveals, with her face falling into the palm of her hands. Hanna cackles.
"Oh my God, that's amazing." Her friend says through her laughter. Emily throws a cushion at her.
"Hey, what was that for?"
"It was horrible." Emily complains.
"How was your day?" She adds.
"Gillian made me separate two hundred clothes hangers today." Hanna works as an intern for fashion designer Gillian King. What she thought would be a fun, learning experience and a step up the ladder towards her future has been separating hangers, going on coffee runs and baby sitting her children. This is the most action she's had in the fashion department in months and that's saying something.
"It took me three hours Em, three!"
"I'm sorry, Han. She sounds-"
"And! She yelled at Angus in front of everyone for putting too much cream in her coffee. He cried. She's just so mean." Emily feels for her (and Angus), what was meant to be a great opportunity has turned Hanna's dream into her worst nightmare. Hanna takes a breather before she continues.
"I hate it. I don't know if I want to do this anymore, the fashion industry is filled with toxic people."
"Hey, something better will come along someday. I know it." And Emily does. Her roommate is very talented. She's designed Aria's mum's wedding dress and it was jaw dropping, incredibly stunning. Hanna changes the subject.
"Let's eat, I'm starving." Emily gives her a nod, understanding that she doesn't want to discuss it any further.
"Did you order pizza?"
"Yeah, it's on the counter." They both walk over to the kitchen, Emily sits on the counter and Hanna picks up the pizza, opening the box. Ham and pineapple, she knows me so well. They both grab a slice and dig in. A thought crosses the brunette's mind.
"Do you remember anyone from high school?" She asks. Hanna raises a brow as if to say 'elaborate'.
"When I was on the train, this girl sat next to me and told me that she knew me from Rosewood High. Apparently we were in the same English class or whatever.." She explains, playing it off like it's not that big of a deal (it is).
"What's her name?" Hanna responds.
"Alison.." Her friends eyes go wide and she pulls her 'intrigued, gossip hungry' face.
"Dilaurentis?" Hanna finishes. Emily shrugs.
"Tell me everything."
"There's not really much to tell. She said she that we were in the same English class, I don't remember her." Emily says honestly. Hanna's expression goes from intrigued to what a kid would look like if Christmas was cancelled.
"You're no fun. Also, how do you not remember Alison Dilaurentis? She was like- Queen bee." Hanna speaks like it's rude not to know her, or of her.
"I was more focused on swimming than school royalties, Han." Her friend gasps, offended.
"Alison Dilaurentis was badass with a capital B." Here we go, Emily thinks.
"I heard that one time, she broke into Principal Hackett's office and t-p'd it because he confiscated her booze and stole it back." That's not badass, that's just rude and childish.
"And, she slept with Noel Kahn." What's the big deal with this guy?
"She skipped school and went to Vegas with her sister Charlotte for three days." Okay, that's kind of badass but her parents must have been worried sick. Not cool.
"You sound like you're reciting a scene from Mean Girls." Hanna sticks her tongue out and pulls a funny face.
"I bumped into her at the Brew last year and she didn't recognize me. We were freaking lab partners. If she remembers you, you must have made some sort of impact." Hanna takes a bite of her pizza, waggling her eyebrows at Emily as if she's suggesting something.
"I've never had a conversation with her until today, what impact could I have had?" She was, what most people in her grade would say, the 'quiet one'. She wasn't shy, but she kept to herself. She thinks that Hanna's reaching, far.
"Maybe you pissed her off. Or maybe she had a thing for you. Who knows?" The first one, definitely the first one.
"I think she hates me." Hanna tuts and grabs another slice.
"Netflix?" Emily suggests, wanting to close the door on this conversation.
"Can we watch Mean Girls?"
`Emily hates her job, so damn much, but today she's kind of looking forward to her shift. She feels giddy and deep down, she knows why. It's because of Alison Dilaurentis. She wants to know why the blonde remembers her, more than she's willing to admit. Emily just doesn't get how she doesn't remember her and it's infuriating when she tries to. It's like when you forget an actors name and it stays at the back of your mind until you remember it. English class, Mr Fitz, I sat in the front and-
"Fields, where's that gin and tonic?!" Her boss rudely interrupts, though to be fair, she's daydreaming in the middle of happy hour and there are a dozen customers waiting to be served. He's filling a pint glass with beer, throwing Emily one hell on an unimpressed glare. She get's to work and helps get the que down.
Once it's pretty much settled down, she finds herself analyzing every single English lesson that she's ever attended in her life, determined to remember.
Why is it so hard?
Rosewood via Philadelphia Centrail - DELAYED.
Of course it's delayed for the fourth time this week, how wonderful. She counts down the seconds to when Hanna inevitably phones her, worried out of her mind. Three, two, one.
RING RING.
She answers. "Hey Han."
"Don't tell me snailmobile's delayed again?" Hanna already knows the answer and sighs.
"I'm making pasta, want some?" She adds.
"I'm okay thanks, I had McDonald's." She hears Hanna 'ah' followed by the sound of pots clanging.
"Lucas called." Hanna reveals.
"Oh, how's he doing?"
"I don't know, he left me a voicemail. He said it was urgent, but when I called.. It went to voicemail. What's the point in having a phone if you're not going to answer it?" Hanna complains.
"What do you think it is?" Emily wonders.
"I don't know, but I hope it's nothing bad, I can't take anymore bad news this year, it's depressing."
"Yeah, this year hasn't been very kind to us."
"2016 is a fucking bitch." Hanna mutters. It is, it really is. Emily stands when she sees her train approach, her eyebrows raise when she sees that it has two carriages. (Yes, this is a big moment).
"It is. Train's here, see you in a bit."
"See you soon!"
For the first twenty minutes of her journey, she goes through the same process she does every day (apparently, two carriages doesn't make things any better); choose a spot to sit (she chose the front today) and get hit on or creeped out (man opposite her started yelling at her 101 different reasons why he hates his job). When the train finally stops at Ravenswood, Emily's disappointing when the man opposite her doesn't move. She bites the inside of her lip, refraining herself from simply telling him to fuck off and looks at the door as people get on. She thanks whoever's up there when the man plugs his headphones in and listens to music. She begins to lose hope after eleven/twelve people get on, but then the door from the next carriage to her one opens and there she is. She doesn't have scary vibes bouncing off of her tonight, she seems to be in a good mood, which is nice.
Alison walks down the aisle, sussing out the crowd as she did the night before and once again, her eyes land on Emily. Though she's in a better mood, the stare is still intense. Emily can't describe the feeling that goes through her body when Alison smiles and walks over to her. It's a tingly feeling allover and a rush of adrenaline. It makes her shudder and then, she smiles back.
"Is this seat taken?" Emily shakes her head, as she did before and moves her bag. Alison sits. For the next few minutes, they don't speak. Alison reads and Emily listens to her music, occasionally glancing at one another. She's still reading The Catcher In The Rye.
"It's a good book." Emily's eyes snap shut in instant regret. What am I doing? She expects Alison to ignore her. She doesn't. Instead, she closes her book and looks at her, to continue. Emily suddenly doesn't know words.
"My friend Aria loves it." What are you saying? She doesn't know who Aria is, why would you bring her into this?
"Aria Montgomery?" Alison wonders. She knows Aria? She gives a small nod, deciding that speaking should be kept to a minimum before she makes things worse.
"You know her?" Damn it.
"Mhm, she was my roommate at Hollis." Wow, small world.
"We're friends." Emily doesn't know what's more shocking, the fact that she's managed to say the same thing twice or the fact that Alison hasn't gotten up and left yet. Alison doesn't point it out, thankfully and she smirks.
"I kind of stole this from Rosewood High, when we did a paper on it." Alison says, changing the subject. This makes Emily chuckle lightly. It's actually kind of endearing that she liked the book so much, she kept it.
"I remember that. I got a D minus. I think that Fitz hated me."
"I got a B." Alison boasts, grinning proudly. She has dimples. They're cute.
"He hated me too. But I was hardly there, so I can see where he's coming from." She adds. She skipped class a lot, that explains it.
"Isn't it weird that Aria and Fitz are a couple now?" Emily points out. Alison's jaw drops and she gasps, completely not expecting it.
"You're kidding? Aria and Mr Fitz? No way."
"Oh, trust me, it's a thing." For the next thirty seconds, Alison tries to wrap her head around this piece of news, whispering 'no way' every now and then while letting out a small giggle.
"English was my favorite class, it was the only one I made the effort to go to." Alison reveals. Emily can see how she lights up when talking about English, but then her expression turns sad, almost regretful. Emily knows that look all to well, she has that look on her face whenever she thinks about her swimming career. Perhaps Alison wanted a career in English, but life dealt her a crap deck of cards, like it did for herself.
"Did you study English at college?" Emily questions.
"Mhm, English lit. I wanted to be a teacher. Kind of funny how the kid who skipped class wanted to teach, isn't it?" Alison looks down, like she's kicking herself. Emily can't help but notice that she's speaking in the past tense; she's completely given up all hope.
"I think it's nice." She encourages, offering Alison a sweet smile. The blonde looks up and that spark Emily saw a moment ago returns. After a beat, Alison speaks up again.
"How about you?" Emily gives the girl a puzzled look.
"What did you study?" Emily catches on and replies.
"Sports science." Alison 'ah's', with a look of realization painted on her face.
"You were on the swim team." She points out. Emily's kind of impressed that she remembers that. But mainly confused as to why.
"Yeah, I was training to join California's swim team." She recalls.
"What happened?" Emily shrugs, breathing in slowly.
"Life did." They share a look of understanding; they've both been there.
"Next stop, Rosewood." The conductor announces, putting a pause to this oddly deep conversation. Emily heads towards the door and Alison joins her. When the train stops, they both step onto the platform.
"See you tomorrow?" Alison wonders, looking hopeful.. She thinks. Emily isn't too sure, but a part of her hopes so.
"See you tomorrow." She responds, giving the blonde a small smile. Alison waves, turning around and leaving. Emily watches as she walks away and it's then that she decides that maybe, trains aren't so bad after all.