Hi everyone! This is my first FanFiction, so I hope you all enjoy it. Please please review to let me know what you think about Rylee and the rest of the story. The first chapter takes place on the night that Alison disappears, and then we jump to one year later.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pretty Little Liars, only Rylee Caldwell.

Chapter 1

"Hey, pass the popcorn!" Rylee jumped down from the couch in the center of the Hastings' massive barn.

"Slow down," Spencer laughed, but reached for the bowl anyway and passed it over. "We haven't even started a movie yet."

Rylee groaned, pressing a hand to her stomach. "I can't help it. I'm starving."

"Me too," Hanna agreed, the sleeve of her baggy t-shirt swishing as she leaned across Emily to swipe some kernels out of the bowl.

Rylee laughed, leaning back against the couch and pulling her knees up to her chest as she set the popcorn aside. While Hanna was sitting in the puffy chair on the other side of the coffee table, her arms wrapped firmly around her stomach, the other girls were all jumping around and dancing to the loud music. But Rylee didn't feel like joining in. Tonight she was just happy to watch.

A loud bang cut off the music, and the lights flickered, then went out altogether. The girls all screamed, and Rylee leapt off of the couch, banging her knee into the table.

Spencer grabbed a match and lit a candle just as a knock resonated off of the wall of the barn. "I think someone's out there," Aria whispered, snatching a flashlight and flicking it on, shining it toward the partway open barn door.

"Come on, guys," Rylee said with a nervous laugh, scrambling over to join her friends. "It's probably just the wind or…something."

"Guys," Hanna whimpered. She grabbed on Rylee's arm as another crash from outside the barn made them all jump.

Huddled together, the five girls crept slowly toward the door, Aria holding the flashlight in front of them. Rylee held tight to Hanna's hand, doubting now that what they'd heard was just "the wind."

It was completely dark outside, too dark to see anything through the little opening. Spencer was just reaching out when the door slammed open. They all screamed, leaping back. Rylee's heart jumped into her throat.

"Gotcha!"

Alison DiLaurentis let out a giddy laugh as she leapt into the barn, her blond wavy hair bouncing around her face. Her bright yellow sleeveless shirt seemed to make her face glow even more than usual.

"Oh my God," Rylee cried, out of breath from all the screaming. "That wasn't funny, Ali."

"I thought it was hilarious, girls," Alison crowed, striding into the barn and glancing down at her phone with a smile. Texting whoever her newest boyfriend is, Rylee thought, scowling as she stomped back over to the couch. Probably the reason why she hadn't been on time to the sleepover.

"Ali, did you download the new Beyoncé yet?" Aria asked, the grin back on her face as she settled back in, smoothing a hand through the pink streaks in her hair.

"Not yet," Alison said, still obviously halfway distracted by her phone.

"I'm loving her new video," Emily commented with a smile, pulling her knees underneath her.

Alison finally looked up, her smile turning into something closer to a smirk. "Maybe a little too much, Em," she said quietly, and Rylee frowned at the almost hurt look on Emily's face. What was that supposed to mean?

"Your turn." Alison reached for the red glass of beer on the table, holding it out to Aria. "Go on."

"Careful, Aria," Spencer said with a laugh. "Drink too much and you'll tell us all your secrets."

Rylee chuckled, but silently prayed that her turn to take a swig wouldn't come. The last thing she wanted was to drink too much and let out all of her own secrets.

But Alison was watching Aria seriously, her eyes crinkling and her expression suddenly warm. "Friends share secrets. That's what keeps us close." She paused, and smiled brightly again, the moment over. "Drink up!"

Finally Aria relented, taking the glass from Ali and holding it up in a "cheers" gesture before holding it to her lips and taking a sip.

"See?" Alison teased once she was finished. "I don't see you spilling all your secrets." She grabbed the glass away from Aria and took a swig of her own.

Then her eyes focused on Rylee, and she extended her arm. "Go ahead."

Rylee gulped, but took the cup without protest, even though she already felt a little tipsy from the bottle of tonic that Hanna had managed to steal from her liquor cabinet. But she knew from experience that if you wanted to stay in Alison's good graces, you did what she said.

She tipped her head back and felt the burn of the alcohol down her throat.

As the girls kept talking around her, Rylee leaned back against the couch. Suddenly she was starting to feel little tired.

x

Rylee woke a few hours later to the feeling of someone's hand shaking her shoulder. Aria stood above her, her face worried as she walked over to the open barn door and peered outside. "What's going on?" Rylee groaned, rubbing at her eyes.

"Where's Ali and Spencer?" Hanna asked groggily, sitting up as well, as did Emily.

"We don't know," Aria replied, her voice high with confusion. Then she glanced once more out of the doors, her eyes lighting up. "Ali?"

Rylee jumped up and hurried over to her just in time to see Spencer walk up, her hands rigid at her sides and her expression emotionless. "She's gone."

"What do you mean she's gone?" Rylee asked worriedly, glancing back as Emily and Hanna walked over to them.

"I've looked everywhere for her," Spencer said, shaking her head almost unnoticeably. "I think I heard her scream."

Rylee stepped around Aria to look out into the Hastings' huge backyard, her head swiveling back and forth as her heart sped up.

Everything was still, from the bright green leaves on the trees to the construction site of the new gazebo in the DiLaurentis' yard next door.

There was no sign of Alison anywhere.