Emily didn't know why she lied to her friends about where she was going. It wasn't like it was some huge secret she needed to keep. It wasn't illegal, embarrassing, wrong, or even unreasonable, but for some reason she just couldn't bring herself to tell them or invite them along. As she entered the front doors of the roller rink a few towns over from Rosewood she was met with a décor and smell that likely hadn't changed since the 1970s. The sounds of pads crashing into the wooden floor and wheels dragged to slow down assaulted her ears, as did the voices of women echoing off the walls. She quickly slipped onto a bench and tried to look as nondescript as possible. She wanted to witness what she came here to see, but she didn't want anybody to see her.
Three days earlier she had been shopping for a dress in Philadelphia when she had passed a girl on roller skates handing out fliers. The girl was the most badass woman Emily had ever seen, her tattoos on proud display under her tank top and her skates catching the sunlight and Emily's eye. "Come check out the Liberty Belles" the girl said as she handed Emily a flier "we're always looking for Fresh Meat" the girl winked and skated off before Emily could even respond. She wasn't even sure what that meant, but for some inexplicable reason she blushed as she pocketed the flier and went back to drinking her latte and window-shopping.
"Emily, bring me your clothes to be washed before you leave the house for school or you will go to school naked for the rest of the week" Pam had yelled at her daughter as she tried to leave for school on Thursday morning. Emily sprinted back up to her room, quickly emptied her pants pockets, threw everything from the floor into the bin and ran back down the stairs. It was only as she was slowing her sprint out the door to begin her walk to school that she noticed that she was once again holding the flier that had been shoved into her pockets carelessly three days ago. She stopped walking and stared at the girls on the neon pink piece of paper, there were very few visible faces, but each body was in a state of motion that seemed to scream pure athletic prowess. Emily knew she needed to see what the tattooed girl and her friends were all about.
By lunchtime Emily had been dwelling on the pink paper in her purse all morning. "Do you want to come help me with my homework tonight" Hanna asked her as they sat down at their usual table "you know I can't figure out what to do for this psychology project we're supposed to be working on." "Sorry Hanna" Emily gave her friend a small smile "I have something going on tonight" she said being intentionally vague and hoping Hanna wouldn't bother to ask "but I'll definitely help you this weekend if you want." That response was good enough for Hanna who quickly focused on eating her cookies and stealing Emily's coffee. Immediately after school Emily walked home before her friends could catch up and ask her what her plans were, she changed into a pair of skinny jeans, a black v-neck t-shirt, and her favorite boots, grabbed her car keys and headed for Philly.
Splaying her legs out in front of her and fiddling with her phone in an attempt to seem disinterested and confident, Emily kept one eye on the rink. The girls had stopped stretching and were dividing into two teams and putting on black or white jerseys. She noticed that the names on the jerseys were definitely not last names as they said things like "La Vida Diva" and "A-Pocalypse" on them. A whistle blew and a number of girls took to the track. Two girls stood a bit behind the rest of the girls wearing Stars over their helmets. Emily's eyes were immediately drawn to the girl in the black tank top. Her eyes trailed from bright green wheels, up long, lean and muscular legs, to the shortest, tightest shorts she'd ever seen out in public; over a skin tight tank top that showed off toned abs and chiseled biceps, and up to a look of pure intensity. Emily's breath caught in her throat as she realized that she knew this badass goddess on wheels. She had seen her around her high school, sitting in some of her same classes. She was always hidden under baggy hoodies and khakis. She was quiet, she mostly kept to herself, she avoided eye contact, and as Emily recalled, had been quick to shy away when Alison had been her usual bitch self to her in the hallways. Emily couldn't even place a name to the face, as she hadn't bothered to really notice her until now. As the whistle blew the girl exploded off the line, yelling through her mouth guard at her teammates to "take the fucking jammer out" and "open a goddamned hole." This was not the quiet girl Emily vaguely recognized from Chem class; this girl was hell on wheels. As she came careening around the track she hip checked the girl next to her so hard the girl came crashing to a halt at the wall in front of Emily. Emily looked up just in time to see a black jersey labeled "McKiller" fly past her.