Chapter 1

"Is it just me or does that sound a lot like…"

"Alison."

All four girls watched the blonde woman turn around.

Emily's breath hitched. Of course it wasn't Ali. But damn, this woman was just as beautiful.

"Something wrong?" the woman asked.

Emily's head was fuzzy as the others spoke to her. All she really picked up from the conversation was that her name was Cece and she had known Ali… and she was working at the boutique across the street.

That's why Emily was standing outside the boutique, trying to settle the butterflies in her stomach. This was so stupid, she thought, she didn't even know anything about this woman other than that she'd been friends with Ali and she was drop dead gorgeous.

"Emily?"

Emily turned around from absenting flicking through a rack of clothes, "Oh, Cece, hi," she smiled politely.

"Hey," Cece flashed that award winning smile, "Looking for anything in particular?"

Emily froze, "Uh, not really," she shrugged, "Just bored."

Cece nodded, "Uh-huh, tell me about it," she moved closer, "You know I'm still surprised Alison never mentioned me to you guys. She sure mentioned you."

"She did?" Emily blinked.

"Yeah," Cece said slowly, "Like I said earlier, she spoke about you guys a lot."

Emily nodded, "Like… what did she say?" she asked nervously.

Cece shrugged, "Just that you were her crew. That Spencer was a perfectionist pain, that Hanna had an eating disorder, that Aria was kind of quirky and her dad was a prick and that you… that you had a giant crush on her."

Emily blushed furiously, "She said that?"

"That's what she said," Cece confirmed, the smile never leaving her face, "Hey, I better get back to work," she said as a customer walked in, "But if you want to talk more, call me," she handed over a card.

Emily smiled, "Sure, I'll do that."

Cece watched her walk out; Ali had mentioned Emily, more than the others in fact, but she had failed to mention her insane attractiveness.

"Em? Earth to Emily," Hanna waved a hand in front of her friends face.

Emily came to attention, "Huh?"

"Jeez, where's your head at?" Hanna asked.

"Oh, nowhere," Emily smiled as she shrugged.

Hanna squinted, "Okay," she shrugged, "Hey, what do you think of that Cece chick? You were pretty quiet…"

Emily's fingers stilled in her pocket and withdrew from the card she had been playing with, "I don't know," she sighed, "She seems… interesting."

Hanna nodded, "It's like Ali version two… it's kinda creepy."

"Uh-huh," Emily agreed.

Hanna continued thinking out loud, "She seemed to know a lot. About us. But Ali never even mentioned her… It's weird, right?"

Emily shifted uncomfortably, "I guess."

Hanna watched her friend, the wheels turning in her head, "Oh!" she lent forward, "Are you, you know, attracted to her?"

"Wh-what?" Emily stammered.

"Well, you know, she's just like Ali, right? So it would make sense," Hanna said matter-of-factly.

Emily squirmed in her seat, "I don't even know her."

"But maybe you want to," Hanna suggested, "I mean, Em, even I can admit she's pretty hot."

Emily sighed, "Okay, she's hot, can we talk about something else?"

Hanna put her hands up in defence, "Okay, okay. Just be careful, Em. If she's anything like Ali…" she faltered under her friends glare, "Okay, that's all I'm saying."

Emily wrapped her hands around her hot coffee, trying to keep herself warm as she walked home. She heard the tinkle of a bell as she kept walking.

"Hey."

She turned around to see Cece grinning at her.

"Oh, hey," Emily smiled.

"You delivering?" she nodded at the coffee.

"Oh, no, I'm finished," Emily replied.

"Americano…straight…" Cece tilted her head, "the coffee at least."

Emily laughed nervously, "Right."

Cece laughed too, "Do you want to grab a drink? I know this bar that serves underage," she bounced her eyebrows.

"Sure," Emily kicked herself as she heard the words drop from her mouth before she even thought it through.

"Sweet, follow me," Cece flicked her hair over her shoulder as she led the way.

Just like Ali used to, Emily thought, god that hair flick always killed her.

"Whoa, slow down there Americano," Cece laughed.

"I'm fine," Emily mumbled as she struggled to keep her balance walking down the street, "But my mum is going to kill me," she groaned.

"I bet. Drunk on a school night doesn't usually go down too well."

"I am not drunk," Emily protested, "I don't get drunk. Like ever."

Cece quirked a disbelieving eyebrow, "Could have fooled me," she sighed, "Listen, if you want why don't you stay at my place? Tell your folks you're at one of the girls studying late," she shrugged.

Emily bit her lip, "Are you sure that's okay?"

"No worries, Americano. That's what the couch is for," she grinned.

"Okay," Emily agreed, pulling out her phone.

"Whoa, hand it over," Cece held out her hand, "I'll text them for you."

"I know how to text," Emily slurred.

Cece rolled her eyes, "When you're sober I'm sure you're an award winning texter, but right now, I bet you can't even type your name."

"Pshhh," Emily waved her phone around drunkedly, "I can totally type my name. My name is Emily. It's E – "

"Oh my god," Cece shook her head, snatching the phone from her new friends hand, "You're ridiculous."

Emily pouted, "That's my phone. Don't break it."

Cece fixed her with a look, "Do you want to go home to mummy dearest a stumbling and slurry mess?"

Emily sighed dramatically, "No," she mumbled.

"Good, then shut up and walk," Cece quickly tapped out a message to Emily's parents and pocketed her phone, "And try not to fall over, would you?"

Eventually, after stumbling up a flight of stairs the two arrived at Cece's place. Emily crashed unceremoniously onto the couch.

Cece rolled her eyes, "High schoolers," she muttered, disappearing into the kitchen for a moment and returning with a bottle of water, "Hey, Americano."

Emily's eyes fluttered.

"Emily," Cece said louder.

"Ow, you're noisy," Emily growled, struggling to open her eyes.

"See this?" she held up the bottle, "Water. Drink it. And the bathroom's just there," she pointed, "But I'll get you a bucket in case," she added, watching the younger nod sleepily, she smiled, "Go to sleep, kid."

Emily let her eyes fall close, "I'm not a kid," she mumbled, "But thanks. You're nice."

Cece laughed, "You have no idea."

The sun coloured Emily's eyelids red until she gave in and opened them. She looked around in a panic and tried to get up so quickly she half-fell off the couch.

"Whoa, you still wasted Americano?"

Emily looked up to see Cece. She frowned, looking around the apartment.

"Is this your place? Did I sleep here? Oh my god, my parents – "

Cece waved a hand dismissively, "Don't worry, I texted them, all is well."

"You…oh," Emily sank down onto a chair at the kitchen bench, "Thanks," she smiled weakly.

Cece shrugged, "No worries, you want some toast?"

Emily groaned, "No way," she shook her head, "God, I swear I didn't drink that much. I feel awful."

"You're a lightweight, for sure," Cece grinned, "Hey, shouldn't you be at school?"

Emily looked at the clock, "Oh, shit. Only an hour ago," she put her head in her hands.

"You look like crap," Cece noted, "Take the day off," she shrugged.

Emily bit her lip, "I really shouldn't…"

Cece swept a hand through her hair, teasing the ends absently, "It's one day, kid. You really wanna sit in math class right now?"

"Not really," Emily admitted, "But don't you have work? I mean, I can't exactly go home…"

Cece chuckled, "Day off. You see I only drink when I don't have an early morning, a tip you should really consider," she winked.

"Yeah, yeah," Emily muttered.

"I'm going to have a shower, make yourself at home, alright?" Cece said, "Keep drinking water. It helps. Trust me."

Emily nodded, "Okay," she crawled back onto the couch and let her eyes close.

"You spent the night at Cece's?" Hanna sounded sceptical, "Did you…," she lent closer, "hook up?"

Emily huffed, "No! Jeez, I don't hook up with every girl I see, you know."

"No, but you generally don't get drunk, lie to your folks and stay with a stranger either and you did both of those so…" Hanna shrugged.

Emily rolled her eyes, "Well, we didn't. It was just nice to have a break from all this…A crap."

Hanna sighed, "I get that… Did she say anything else about Ali?"

Emily shook her head, "Not really. Just that Ali used to tell her all our secrets."

"And that didn't seem suss to you?" Hanna asked incredulously.

Emily shrugged, "Nothing about Ali really surprises me anymore," she drawled.

Hanna frowned, "Em, she knows all our secrets… Sound familiar?"

"Oh come on," Emily chuckled, "She's not A. She's been in town two minutes and you're accusing her – "

"She's been in town two minutes and you're defending her," Hanna shot back.

"Who's been in town two minutes?" Spencer asked as she joined the table along with Aria.

"Emily spent the night with Cece," Hanna claimed.

"God, don't say it like that, Han," Emily groaned before turning to Spencer and cutting her off before she could speak, "We had a couple of drinks and I didn't want to go home so I slept on her couch. It's not a big thing."

Aria looked to Hanna before fixing her gaze on Emily, "Did she say anything else about Ali? Did she say – "

Emily stood up, "She didn't say anything about anything, okay?"

"Em, we're just worried, okay? We still have no idea who A – "

"I'm over talking about stupid A, okay? It's all we do. It was so nice to actually have a night out away from… this," she motioned her hand between her and her friends, "Why do you have to ruin it with stupid questions?" with that, she turned around and walked away, leaving her friends watching her.

"Whoa," Hanna mumbled.

"It scares me when she's like that," Aria bit her lip, "She's usually the calmest of us all."

"Yeah," Hanna agreed, "I mean, I get it though. I feel like that sometimes too… don't you guys?"

Aria nodded, "Of course. We should be talking about clothes and boys and colleges, not some psychopathic stalker. It sucks."

"Yeah," Spencer said slowly, "But don't we get through all this by sticking together?"

Emily lay on her bed, trying to study. Her eyelids were heavy and it was an effort just to keep them open, let alone try to actually take in the words on the page before her. She sighed as her phone beeped and she gave up, closing her book. It was probably Hanna, bugging her about some new theory. She was tired of living in constant fear. She just wanted to be a normal teenager for once. What was so wrong with that?

It wasn't from Hanna. It was from Cece.

Yo Americano, wanna hang out tonight?

Emily smiled.

Sounds good, my head hurts from studying.

Well then, let's make it hurt for a better reason. Put down the books and get yourself over here.

"Hey, girl," Cece smirked as she opened the door, "You over your hangover?"

Emily sighed, "Yeah, yeah."

"No Friday night sleep over with the girls?" Cece asked.

Emily shrugged, "Nope," she answered simply.

Cece tilted her head, narrowing her eyes, "Trouble in paradise?"

"Not really," Emily shrugged again.

Cece poured the two of them a drink, "You're a terrible liar but I'm not going to push you."

Emily smiled, "It's nothing really. It just gets…same same sometimes…"

"Yeah," Cece nodded, "I get that. Well, cheers," she lifted her glass.

Emily grinned, "Cheers," she took a long drink, empting half her glass in one go.

"Really?" Cece flicked her eyes to her friends glass, "You didn't learn anything last time?"

Emily smiled coyly, "Sure, I did. You said to drink when you don't have school or work the next day. It's a Friday, right?"

Cece laughed in surprise, "Nicely played, Americano."

"Are you going to call me that forever?" Emily asked.

Cece shrugged, "Traditional names are boring," she claimed, "I like nicknames."

Emily sighed, "Maybe that's where Ali got it from," she muttered.

"Hm? What'd you say?" Cece frowned.

"Nothing," Emily forced a smile.

"You still miss her, huh?" Cece asked softly.

Emily took another drink, "She was my best friend."

"Yeah," Cece nodded, "Mine too."

Emily downed the rest of her drink, "We going to go out?"

Cece shrugged, "I thought we'd stay in. Avoid all the lame Rosewood guys trying to hit on us at the bar."

"Really?" Emily sounded surprised, "I thought you'd like the attention."

Cece quirked an eyebrow, "What, you're not going to give me any attention?" she grinned.

Emily cleared her throat, "You got any more?" she held up her empty glass.

Cece laughed, "Sure do," she poured her friend another drink, "Don't drink too much, you'll tell me all your secrets," she winked and flashed a smile that Emily couldn't help returning.

"Has anyone heard from Emily?" Hanna asked.

Spencer shook her head.

Aria sighed, "I sent her a couple of messages but I haven't heard anything all weekend."

"Hm, same," Hanna nodded, "Guys, I think Cece's bad news."

Spencer thought about it for a moment, "She could be."

"Oh, come on, the moment she steps into town Emily just disappears. I mean, isn't that weird? And how old is she anyway? Why was she even friends with Ali, she's like way older, right?" Hanna stopped to take a breath.

"And why didn't Ali ever mention her?" Aria added.

Spencer nodded, "And she knew stuff about us… but I mean, she can't be A, right? What would she have against us? We don't even know her."

"Maybe she's just continuing Alison's work," Aria suggested.

Hanna frowned, "Ali could be a bitch but she'd never actually want to hurt us… right?"

"She wouldn't," Aria confirmed firmly, "She just liked knowing peoples secrets. A is dangerous… it's way more than the games Alison used to play."

Spencer sighed, "You're right. Cece doesn't make sense, not really," she paused, "Still, we should try and find out more about her. Just in case."

"And to keep Em safe," Hanna added.

Emily yawned widely, stretching her arms out in front of her before rolling onto her side and clutching the blanket tighter around her. She felt something hit her in the face. She opened her eyes to see a pillow lying next to her.

"Ow, what the hell?"

Cece sat next to her on the couch, "It's like midday, you're so lazy."

"How are you so peppy all the time?" Emily grumbled, "You drank just as much as me."

"But I remember everything," Cece laughed, "Do you?"

Emily's brow furrowed as she thought, "I think so?"

Cece grinned, "Uh-huh. Your phones been going crazy by the way," she threw it to Emily who caught it clumsily.

Emily opened it up and groaned.

"Parents?" Cece guessed.

"Nah," Emily shook her head, "Just… friends."

"Hope that's not your reaction when you read my text," Cece raised her eyebrows questioningly.

Emily smiled sheepishly, "They're just… frustrating."

Cece yawned, "Yeah, you mentioned. What's going on with you guys? I thought you all were tight as but you've been ignoring your phone all weekend."

Emily shrugged, "It's just…" she paused, should she really be talking about them with Cece? She sighed angrily; she was sick of not being able to trust anyone, Cece was Ali's friend, she'd been good to her, why shouldn't she trust her, "It's just they're always talking about the same old boring thing and I'm not interested. It's just annoying."

"Same old boring thing…" Cece echoed, "Not interested… Boys?" she smirked.

Emily laughed, "No, I can deal with boy talk. God, I'd kill for trivial boy talk or fashion or anything lame like that."

"So, hang on, what do you talk about if you're four girls not talking about boys or fashion or?" Cece looked confused.

Emily bit her lip.

"It's cool, you don't have to tell me," Cecee shrugged.

Emily thought for a moment, "It's just things have been pretty complicated since Ali left…"

Cece nodded, "Complicated…"

"Well… after her funeral… we started getting these texts. We didn't know who they were from, they were just marked… A," Emily paused.

Cece frowned, "What kind of texts?"

"Just with… secrets. Like about me being gay and stuff… it was stuff nobody else knew," Emily frowned, "Then bad stuff started happening. Hanna even got hit by a car, all our secrets started getting exposed… but then eventually, it came out it was this girl at school. She hated Ali and after Ali disappeared, she became good friends with Hanna and then when we all reconnected… she was jealous or something," Emily paused again to look at Cece who was watching her intently, "We thought it was over. But then… the texts started up again."

"Well, who is this bitch?" Cece asked, "I'll sort her out."

Emily smiled, "Thanks but it's not her. She was in Radley, an institution when stuff started happening again. So now," she frowned, "All we do is live in fear and talk about who A could be. We're wary of anyone, we can't tell anyone or trust anyone… I hate it."

"That's no way to live, Americano," Cece said gently, "Do you have any ideas on who it could be?"

Emily shook her head, "No, not really. It's like we've hit a brick wall," she shrugged.

Cece nodded, "You shouldn't live in fear though. That's not cool," she pushed a hand through her hair absently, "You know you can always crash here if you need to like get away. I don't mind."

Emily smiled, "Thanks, Cece," she stretched her arms out in front of her again, "I'm going to go have a shower."

"Go for it," Cece smiled as the younger woman trudged to the bathroom.

She knew she'd be able to gain Emily's trust. She just hadn't realised how easy it would be.