Emily opened the door to her locker only to have her books and binder crash onto the grey tile floor of Rosewood High. "Great." She sighed as she crouched down to pick them up. She attempted to quickly gathered her fallen items, but as she reached for her last binder she saw a high heeled shoe land on top of it, preventing her from recovering it. She looked up and locked eyes with none other than Alison DiLaurentis. The most popular high schooler in all of Rosewood and the biggest bitch anyone had ever met. Emily's breath caught in her throat as the queen bee smirked down at her. The blonde went out of her way every day to ensure Emily's life was a living Hell. Sure, Alison treated everyone as though they were beneath her, but for some reason she always singled Emily out and treated her worse than anyone.

"Someone is a little clumsy today." Alison said in a sickeningly sweet tone.

"Yeah." Emily whispered, worried about what Alison was going to do next.

"Here, let me help you." Alison said before swiftly kicking the binder, sending it down the hallway.

Her papers scattered in all directions. Emily sighed and put the rest of her belongings in her locker and closed it. She began collecting the loose papers while Alison crossed her arms and smiled as she enjoyed watching Emily struggle as a result of her actions. Soon a second pair of hands began helping Emily, causing Alison to scowl.

"Thanks, Aria." Emily said, smiling at her best friend.

"No problem. I see Satan is giving you Hell again." Aria said sympathetically.

"I heard that, you little shit." Alison growled.

"Well, I wasn't exactly whispering now was I?" Aria spat back.

For some reason Aria was never afraid to stand up to Alison. Alison never did anything about it, she merely seemed interested in tormenting Emily.

"Have a nice day, ladies." Alison once more said in her false sweet tone.

She shoulder checked Emily as she passed the brunette, effectively slamming the other girl into the lockers. Emily winced in pain, but tried to hide it. She didn't want to give Alison the satisfaction.

"I still don't know why you don't report her. This school is supposed to have a zero tolerance for bullies." Aria once again tried to convince her best friend to seek help.

"I've told you. It won't help. If I ratted her out she would only make things ten times worse for me. You know she can convince her friends to do anything she wants. If she couldn't get to me then she would make sure they did. I can handle her for the rest of the year. After that I'll go to college and never see her again." Emily reasoned.

"What if you end up in the same college." Aria questioned, though she doubted the possibility.

"I don't think that will be an issue. People like her are usually too worried about boys and the latest fashion trends to bother picking up a book. If she actually does make it to college I don't think we would aim for the same schools."

Emily wasn't full of herself by any means, but anyone could tell that she was highly intelligent. She could have gotten into almost any college she wanted and the fact that she was an incredible swimmer would only help her case.

"You're right. You have your sights set on some pretty prestigious universities. I think Alison's concerns about college consist of which ones have the most parties and best sororities." Aria thought out loud.

"Anyway, thanks for sticking up for me." Emily said as she reached the door to her class, which thankfully she didn't share with Alison.

"Any time. I'll see you after class."

"Bye." Emily said quickly, then turning to enter the biology classroom, which happened to be her favorite.

Emily wasn't sure what career she wanted, but she knew while in college she wanted to major in biology. There were so many job possibilities with a degree in biology. She could even start medical school with a bachelors degree in Biology, which she was putting a lot of thought into. For now her focus was on surviving high school and getting far away from Alison DiLaurentis.

X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~

Emily and Aria sat in the back corner of the cafeteria. They were accompanied by their friends Toby and Caleb. Lunch had been the same as it usually was. The guys goofed around and ensured that all four friends enjoyed every minute of their lunch period. Emily, however, wasn't focused on her friends like she usually was. She was lost in thought.

The swimmer gazed across the crowded room and observed her blonde tormentor. From afar Alison seemed harmless. She was beautiful, though Emily hated to admit it. She seemed well liked by her friends, which was most likely due to fear. She seemed like a normal teenage girl, yet she was one of the most awful people that could ever exist. The more Emily studied Alison the more confused she became. What was it about this blonde that made her so hateful?

Aria noticed Emily's lack of attention and followed her friend's line of sight across the busy lunchroom. She squeezed Emily's shoulder causing the taller girl to break her staring contest with the popular table. Emily smiled as if she hadn't just spaced out, but Aria knew better.

"What's up, Em?" Toby asked.

"I'm just trying to figure her out. She's such a terrible person, but what could possibly drive someone to be that awful?" She questioned out loud.

"People like her aren't wired normally. She clearly has some issues of her own and you unfortunately happen to be her punching bag." Caleb said sympathetically.

"That is what I don't understand. I have literally never done anything to her. I have never gone out of my way to make her angry. She just always seems to show up, ready to ruin my day."

"I doubt you will ever know why. She is probably just jealous." Aria suggested.

Emily scoffed. "What could she possibly be jealous about?"

"Em, you have a lot going for you. You are tied with Spencer Hastings as smartest person in school. You have a great family life." Toby began to list, causing the others to join.

"You have real friends that actually enjoy being around you instead of following you out of fear." Caleb added.

"And on top of that you are gorgeous. You have everything it takes to be the it girl of Rosewood High, if you ever wanted it. I think she is threatened by you. Maybe she believes that if she keeps breaking you down you will never stand up at take her position as top dog." Aria finished.

"Thanks, guys. But I don't know if that is her motivation. I wouldn't want to be popular anyway. I like my life the way it is. Minus Alison of course." Emily replied before taking the last bite of her salad.

A sudden voice coming from behind their table caused Emily to freeze mid chew. "Aw, why would you want rid of me? As sweet as I am to you."

Emily slowly turned around, knowing it was Alison. Emily gulped down the remainder of her food and held her breath. She knew what ever Alison was about to dish out wasn't going to be good. Suddenly Alison's tray fell from her hands and landed on Emily. Food splattered all over the swimmer's clothes causing her cheeks heated up in embarrassment.

"Oops." Alison smirked before walking back to her table of minions.

Emily stood and quickly made her way out of the cafeteria and into the closest washroom, followed by Aria. Both girls grabbed paper towels to try and clean the mess off of Emily's outfit, but it was pointless. She was going to have to change clothes. The door slowly opened revealing a different blonde, though similar to Alison in looks. Emily recognized the girl to be Hanna Marin, one of Alison's friends. Emily froze as the other girl entered the restroom. She just knew that she was going to come rub salt in her wounds, but she was surprised when Hanna actually opened her mouth.

"I'm sorry about Alison. I don't know why she acts out like that." Hanna poke with sincerity.

Emily and Aria both stared at her in shock.

"Look, I don't want you to think we're all that way or that we approve of her hateful behavior. I mean, some of them don't care, but I can speak for myself when I say I don't like it."

Aria had to speak for her friend because Emily was still in shock. "Thank you... for apologizing. You didn't have to."

Hanna grabbed a piece of paper and a pen from her purse and began scribbling. "Go to locker 358. The combination is 12 23 15. I have some extra clothes stashed in there. Sometimes I get bored of my outfits halfway through school, so I keep a few extras just in case. Help yourself." Hanna said as she turned to exit the restroom.

"Won't Alison be angry with you if she finds out?" Emily finally found her voice.

"I won't tell her if you don't." Hanna cheekily grinned and left the other two girls alone.

"That was weird." Emily breathed out in disbelief.

"No kidding...but you can't go out there like this," Aria gestured toward Emily's filthy clothes. "I'll go grab the clothes from Hanna's locker. I'll be quick. I promise."

True to her word Aria had returned in under five minutes. Hanna's clothes weren't exactly Emily's style, but at least they were clean and surprisingly they fit pretty well. It was an extravagant looking black and white top with black shorts to match. Emily looked stunning in the outfit to say the least. She exited the restroom and was instantly greeted by a whistle.

She looked up to see the goofy smiles of Caleb and Toby as they waited across the hall. They always worried about Emily when it came to Alison. The blonde started off with simple insults, but over time she had gradually become worse. She was surpassing words and getting physical with her bullying. All three of Emily's friends tried to convince her to tell someone, but she had it set in her mind that things would only get worse. Out of respect for Emily they never told anyone either, though it pained them to sit back and do nothing.

"This is not your usual t-shirt and flannel button up." Toby commented.

"Yeah, it's definitely not me, but it is better than the alternative." Emily said while looking down at the outfit once more.

"You mean going nude?" Caleb teased.

Emily laughed and gently shoved his shoulder.

"I meant better than having stained clothes all day, but yeah, it is definitely better than that too. At least this way I wont be kicked out of school." Emily found herself smiling again.

Her friends could always brighten her day, no matter what Alison threw her way.

"Do you guys want to meet up at my house after school? Jenna is supposed to be going out and my dad and step mom won't be home until after five. We'll have the house to ourselves." Toby asked the group.

Caleb and Aria agreed, but Emily unfortunately had to decline.

"Sorry guys, I have swim practice as soon as school lets out." Emily frowned.

"That's ok. Maybe next time." Toby suggested.

The bell rang signaling the end of their lunch period.

"If I don't see you guys after last period then I will catch up with you tomorrow." Emily called over her shoulder as she quickly made her way down the hall.

She didn't want to linger around for fear of bumping into Alison once again. However, running away was pointless because Emily's next class was with the she devil herself. She usually didn't have any issues with Alison bullying her in their Literature class, but the blonde seemed to be on a role that day and Emily was on edge because of it. She took her usual seat at the front of class and soon other students began to file in.

When Alison entered the room her eyes instantly landed on Emily. She slow looked the brunette up and down. The swimmer could feel the other girl's eyes scrutinizing her, but she kept her eyes locked on the front of the room. She had never seen Emily dress in clothes like that before. The outfit seemed familiar, but Alison couldn't quite place where she had seen it. All she knew was that they definitely didn't belong to Emily.

Alison shook her head and quickly took her seat in the back of the room with two of her friends, Mona Vanderwaal and Noel Khan. Alison began talking to them before class started, but every so often her eyes would land on Emily. She wasn't sure what it was about the brunette that angered her so much. If Alison wasn't so hateful she was sure the two could have even been friends, but Alison didn't want that. She had an overwhelming urge to lash out at the other girl and she couldn't begin to figure out where such animosity came from. Instead of wasting her time trying to figure herself out she did the only thing that felt natural to her, which was to act on her feelings. She felt anger, so she unleashed that upon Emily even though she knew the swimmer didn't deserve it.

For the remainder of class Alison tried to pay attention to the lecture, but her eyes kept wandering to Emily. Ali watched as the brunette ran her fingers through her dark locks and flipped her hair to the side. Emily diligently took notes and ever so often would cross and uncross her legs. This motion had definitely caught Alison's attention. She never noticed how long and tanned Emily's legs were. Probably because Emily never wore shorts that were as revealing as she currently was wearing.

Alison felt a foreign feeling creeping up inside of her and she didn't like it. She forced herself to look away from her classmate and instead began paying attention to the teacher once again. The class couldn't have ended fast enough for the blonde and soon she was rushing out of the door the second the bell had rang, followed by a curious Mona.

"What is your rush?" Mona asked with a curious expression.

"I'm just ready to go home. I'm tired today. I think I need a nap or something." Alison lied.

"Well that's too bad. I thought we could go shopping." Mona pouted.

"Maybe next time." Alison said.

It took her several minutes to convince Mona to go shopping without her, but soon she was walking away from her friend in the direction of the school parking lot. Once outside Alison made a beeline for her car, but before she reached her destination she once again found herself frozen and staring at none other than Emily Fields. Emily was unaware of Alison's presence as she bent over grabbing her duffel bag full of swim gear out of her trunk. Alison noticed the way her too short shorts were sliding up the back of her thighs. That unfamiliar feeling returned to the blonde and she felt herself enraged as a result of it. She stormed toward Emily and slammed her hip into the brunette as she passed by, causing Emily to fall forward into her trunk.

Emily quickly stood up and looked around to see who had shoved her, though she knew it had to have been Alison. She looked up as Alison was storming toward her own car. The blonde looked over her shoulder to see Emily appearing dumb founded. Emily felt as though she could have burst into flames with the way the shorter girl was glaring at her. The swimmer had never had someone look at her with so much hatred before and she still had no clue what she ever did to deserve such treatment.

Emily watched as Alison angrily sped out of the parking lot. She shook her head and grabbed her swim supplies, deciding she didn't have time to try and figure Alison out. She had to bring her A game to swim practice if she wanted to secure the position as team captain. She knew her rival Paige McCullers was also after it, so she couldn't afford to allow anything to cloud her mind. Emily made her way back into the school and went straight to the lockers rooms.

She changed into her Sharks swim suit and began stretching, noticing Paige was across the locker room doing the exact same thing. She was going to blow Paige out of the water if it was the last thing she did. There was no way she was going to let the other girl take this opportunity from her. It would look amazing on a college application and Emily was going to achieve every last thing she could to help her get away from Rosewood. If anything she could thank Alison for her torment. She used it to fuel herself to study more and swim harder. It was her only way to ensure she would get away from Alison once and for all.

"Good luck out there, Fields. You're going to need it." Paige called from across the locker room.

Emily paused mid stretch and locked eyes with the other girl. Paige was smirking and Emily knew she was trying to psyche her out. Instead of responding Emily grabbed her phone and ear buds. She shoved them into her ears and turned on her pre-swim playlist. It always got her pumped and in the zone to perform at her absolute best. She wasn't going to let Paige or Alison get under her skin. She reminded herself that she only had one more school year left with them and she would finally be free.

Emily only had time to listen to one song before the coach entered the locker room. She put her phone away and listened as the coach gave them their usual pre-practice speech to try and get them pumped up. Soon enough the entire team was filing out of the room and headed to the pool. The coach stopped Emily as she tried to pass by, ensuring that all the other swimmers had left them behind.

"I'm counting on you to do your best today. I can't just make you captain without you earning it, no matter how much I want to." The coach chuckled. "Unfortunately I have to be fair about this. Just get out there and blow McCullers out of the water. Between you and me, she is a little too arrogant and I would hate to have her as captain. You are the only one that is worthy of the position. Now get out there and make me proud." The coach encouraged and it made Emily feel like she could accomplish anything. She took her position beside the pool and secured her hair inside of a swim cap while the coach began talking to the group of girls. Emily was only halfway listening, as the coach had already filled her in on what was about to happen.

"As you all know, today we will be announcing the new team captain. I know you ladies have voted for who you want to be captain, but it has resulted in a tie. We are going to have a tie breaker. I thought it would be fun to let Paige and Emily face off in a race." The coach called out. "Ladies, take your positions."

Emily and Paige glared at each other before covering their eyes with a pair of goggles. Paige just knew she was going to win. She was overly confident as opposed to Emily who was actually worried. She had a lot riding on this. It was immensely important to her that she win.

"Who wants to go first?" The coach asked.

"I will!" Paige announced before Emily could even think of speaking.

The coach looked at Emily and the brunette merely shrugged.

"That is fine with me." Emily said.

The coach pulled out her stop watch and counted down. She blew her whistle and Paige launched into the water. Emily nervously watched the other girl swim. She hated to admit it, but Paige was an excellent swimmer. She was definitely giving Emily a run for her money. She made her final lap just as smoothly as the first one and was barely breathing hard by the time she pulled herself out of the water. The coach wrote her time down on a clip board and signaled for Emily to take her position.

Emily bounced on her feet a few times in an attempt to loosen up. She crouched down beside the pool and waited for the coach to give her signal. As soon as she heard the whistle she was in the water and swimming harder than she ever had before. She put every ounce of energy into her strokes. She was smoothly gliding through the water, but in the back of her mind she was worried. Worried that she wasn't good enough to beat Paige. Worried that she wasn't good enough to be the team captain. Worried that she wasn't good enough to make it out of Rosewood. She forced those thoughts out of her mind and finished her laps with ease.

She pulled herself out of the water and once again locked eyes with Paige. The other brunette was wrapped in a towel and smirking. Emily could tell that Paige just knew she had beaten her and it left a hollow feeling in the pit of Emily's stomach. Everyone stared at the coach as she scribbled down Emily's time. The coach looked up and scanned the room, ensuring that all eyes were on her.

"Well, it looks like we have a new team captain. It was close, very close, but there was a 1.3 second time difference."

The coach looked around the room once again, clearly enjoying keeping everyone on the edges of their seats.

"Come on, coach. Tell us!" One of the girls from the team called out.

The coach laughed at the anticipation. "Ok, ok. The new captain for the Rosewood High Sharks swim team is none other than Emily Fields. Congratulations, Em. You deserve it."

Everyone clapped and cheered for their new captain except for Paige. She had a sour look upon her face and crossed her arms. She was furious that she had lost, but Emily wasn't going to let anything bring her down. Not Paige, not Alison, not anyone. Nothing was going to wipe the smile off of her face in this moment. Things were starting to look up for her and she was going to enjoy every second of it.

There will obviously be a lot more Alison in the other chapters, but I hope you liked this introduction. Let me know if I should continue updating. I have already written the first fifteen chapters, so I'm prepared to do weekly updates. Feel free to share you thoughts and comments. Thanks for reading.