A/N: Hi Everyone! I've been so inspired by all of your amazing stories that I've decided to try my hand at writing my own. This is my first fic ever so it's going to be rough but I hope you'll bear with me.
I have not been able to read every Paily story yet so I do apologize for any similarities my story might have with someone else's. It is not my intention to copy anyone's work, just draw inspiration from it.
Please let me know what you all think. Be gentle with your comments but please be honest. How else will I get better, right?
Hope you all enjoy!
Emily Fields finished the last refreshing sip of her ice water, savoring the ice-cold liquid as it coated the sides of her throat sending a much-needed chill through her veins. She set the glass down in front of her before flagging down the waitress for another. Though it was late September in Rosewood, Pennsylvania, it still felt like the middle of summer. She was sitting at a table at the Apple Rose Grille with her best friends, Hanna, Spencer, and Aria on a hot Sunday evening, enjoying a nice dinner before a new school week began.
"Are you finished with that?" Hanna asked, pointing to Emily's glass which now only contained ice. Not waiting for Emily to respond, Hanna grabbed an ice cube from the glass and began rubbing it on the back of her neck. "Why the hell is it still so hot? It's almost freakin' October!"
"It's actually the humidity that you're feeling, not the temperature. It's not that uncommon for the humidity levels to be this high so late in the year." replied Spencer, answering Hanna's rhetorical question.
"Whatever," Hanna retorted. "I might spontaneously combust if it doesn't cool down soon."
"So, Em, how's swim practice?" Aria asked, changing the subject.
"Good. I've shaved a couple seconds off my best time from last year. Coach Fulton might let me anchor at our next meet."
"That's awesome! Congrats, Em! I guess all that extra practice over the summer really paid off." Aria beamed.
"Yeah. It's been a good…distraction." Emily replied, swallowing the lump that formed in her throat.
All four girls fell silent for a moment.
"I'm sorry, Em. I didn't mean…" Aria replied, kicking herself.
"It's fine, Aria. Don't worry about it." Emily assured her.
As if sensing their need for a distraction, the waitress returned with Emily's water. "Here you go, dear. Is there anything else I can get for you girls?" she asked sweetly. "An ice bath?" Hanna answered, only half kidding. "No, we're fine, thank you." Spencer replied, kicking Hanna under the table. The waitress smiled and went back to the counter to help a customer with a take-out order.
"Oh my God." Spencer whispered, trying to control the shock that had spread across her face.
"What?" the girls asked in unison. Their eyes searching to see what Spencer had seen, finally landing on the customer sitting at the take-out counter.
"I don't believe it." Spencer added.
"Spit it out, Spence. Do you know that girl or something?" Hanna asked, frustrated at Spencer's vagueness.
"Yeah, don't you recognize her? It's 'Pusher Paige'." Spencer responded to the girls' confused looks.
"Who?" questioned Aria.
"Paige McCullers. Don't you remember? She got busted last year for drug possession and was sent away to some troubled youth camp in Podunk, Idaho. I can't believe she's back already."
Paige McCullers. Emily never thought she'd ever see her again. It had been almost a year since she'd last seen Paige and with everything that had happened since then, she'd almost forgotten about her.
At first glance, Emily hadn't recognized her, though she could only see one side of her face. But after hearing Spencer speak her name, she took a second look at the girl. The last time she saw Paige, she had bright auburn hair with a fray of long bangs that almost completely obscured her eyes and a severe A-line haircut that tapered off into sharp points that fell just above her shoulders. But this Paige…this Paige had long, shiny, golden chestnut hair that hung like silk curtains just past her shoulder blades. There was still a hint of auburn, but a much more subtle and natural shade. Aside from a one-piece bathing suit, Emily had only ever seen Paige in polo shirts, long-sleeved cardigans, Capris and saddle shoes, as if she'd walked right off the cover of a Gap catalog. It seems this Paige has completely abandoned her old wardrobe as she was now dressed in a thin, loose-fitting black tank-top, with only a tight black sports bra underneath, exposing almost the entire side of her torso. Emily's eyes zoned in on the creamy white skin of Paige's bare rib-cage, slowly shifting her gaze down to her trim waist, past her cut-off jean shorts to her long, smooth, muscular legs capped off by a pair of faded gray Chuck Taylors. Emily suddenly didn't seem to mind this Pennsylvania heat-wave so much.
"That's Paige?" Aria asked surprised, snapping Emily out of her reverie. "She looks…different."
"Yeah, looks like juvie did her good." Hanna remarked, impressed.
"Shut up, Hanna." Emily retorted, worried that Paige would overhear them.
"Well, her sudden makeover doesn't change the fact that she's still a criminal. She better not be transferring into Rosewood High. The last thing we need is some degenerate junkie roaming the halls." Spencer added, a little too loudly.
"Spencer!" Emily snapped back in disbelief. Her eyes glanced back up at Paige only to discover, in horror, that she was looking over at them, finally fixing on Emily. Emily could see the shock and hurt in Paige's eyes, giving her the feeling of being punched in the gut. Though only a few seconds had past, it felt like an eternity as they bore into each other. Emily's mouth opened slightly, as if to utter an apology but no sound came out. The waitress returned to the counter with Paige's food, snapping them out of their trance. She took the bag and thanked the waitress before walking swiftly out the door, though not before Emily noticed the small tear that escaped from Paige's left eye.
Emily desperately wanted to go after her to apologize for her friend but she remained glued to her seat. After all, what could she say that would make the situation any better?
"What the hell is wrong with you, Spencer?!" Emily snapped.
"Look, I'm sorry she heard me but it's true. I'm not going to pretend that I'm comfortable with the idea of a reckless druggie sitting next to me in home room."
Emily looked over at Aria and Hanna who were mirroring each other's stunned, open-mouthed expressions. "You know, Spencer, you can be a real asshole sometimes!" Emily stood up abruptly, slamming some cash on the table before walking out the door.
Hanna had been her ride to the Grille, but Emily hoped none of the girls would follow her out as she was seething with anger and needed time to calm down. The ten minute walk home would allow her to do that. Thankfully, none of them did.
Emily couldn't believe her friend sometimes. Spencer was always so quick to judge, never assuming there could be some other explanation as to what happened.
As she walked home through the streets of Rosewood, her mind flashed back to that day at swim practice when Coach Fulton announced that a 'situation' had come up and Paige would no longer be on the team. Emily was surprised but didn't think it could be anything too bad, assuming Paige's grades had dropped below acceptability to be on the team. It wasn't until the next day when Emily saw the vice principal cleaning out Paige's locker that she realized it was much more serious than she'd originally thought.
Rumors circulated through the entire school, over the next few days, about what Paige could have done to get kicked out of school. Spencer had been able to fill the girls in on what really happened, before the story broke in the newspaper, because her mother was good friends with the prosecuting attorney on the case. Apparently, Paige had been stopped by police one night in a bad part of town and was found with almost a half a gram of heroin. She was caught literally holding the bag. In exchange for a guilty plea, she was sentenced to spend 250 days at a probation camp rather than serving a year in juvenile detention.
Though Emily didn't know Paige very well, she still had a hard time believing Paige would ever get involved with drugs, at least, not merely out of curiosity. She knew Paige could be a little intense and had a bit of a temper sometimes but that still didn't explain why she'd turn to drugs. There had to have been something major going on in Paige's life for her to resort to such extremes.
Emily felt a twinge as she remembered Paige's mother had passed away just over a year before it happened. Was that it? Could the grief of losing her mother and an inability to cope have been what pushed her over the edge? Emily had considered that as a possible reason back when the 'incident' occurred. At the time, she didn't fully understand the lengths grief can cause a person to go to just to make the pain stop. But within the eight months that Paige had been away, Emily had learned, all too well, about the gut-wrenching agony that comes with losing someone you love.
Emily realized she had a new understanding for Paige that she didn't use to. She felt the sudden need to find Paige and hold her in her arms and tell her how sorry she was for the loss of her mother; that she had ever known this kind of pain. A single tear escaped from the corner of her eye.
When she reached the front steps of her house, Emily quickly wiped her cheek with the back of her hand before she opened the front door. "Hi, Mom" she said as she came into the kitchen. Pam was sitting at the table reading a book.
"Hi, Honey. How was dinner with the girls?" Pam asked, looking up from her book.
"Good for the most part, until Spencer had to open her big mouth."
"What happened?"
"She freaked out when she saw Paige McCullers at the Grille and said some really nasty things about her, which Paige ended up overhearing." Emily groaned. "Ugh, I don't get Spencer someti-"
"Wait, Paige McCullers is back in Rosewood?" Pam cut Emily off, looking concerned. "Is she back for good? Do you know if she'll be going back to Rosewood High?" She closed her book and set it on the table waiting for Emily's response.
"I don't know, Mom. I didn't talk to her. She just stopped into the Grille for take-out and then ran out the door when she overheard Spencer. I wanted to run after her to apologize but I wouldn't have known what to say." Emily's face fell slightly.
"No, Emily. I want you to stay away from that girl. She's a bad influence. I don't want you anywhere near that world." Pam said, unsmiling.
"What world is that?" Emily asked, baffled. Why is everyone talking about Paige as if she's some horrible monster?
"Drugs, Emily. I don't want you exposed to any of that. Promise me you'll stay away from her." Pam gave Emily a stern look, unwilling to break eye contact until Emily agreed.
"Alright, fine! I'll stay away from her." Emily replied, too tired to argue with her mother. She turned to head up to her room, stopping just as she reached the first step. "Although, for the record…" she started, turning back to look at her mother "…I think you're wrong about Paige." She continued up the stairs and into her room, closing the door behind her.
Once inside her bedroom, Emily felt her phone buzz and looked to see she had a text message from Aria.
So sorry about dinner, Em! We should've left with you but it all happened so fast. Spencer's always had a big mouth but she took it too far this time. Don't worry though – Hanna and I gave it to her good. ;) Things will be better tomorrow. See you at school. Night. – Aria
Emily couldn't help but crack a smile, picturing a screaming match in the middle of the restaurant. She was glad she wasn't the only one who felt Spencer was out of line. Deep down, she knew Spencer had a good heart but she could be very distrusting. It takes a lot to get into Spencer's good graces.
She sent a quick reply to Aria, thanking her for having her back and assuring her she wasn't mad at her, then collapsed on her bed, exhaling loudly. What a day. She couldn't believe how quickly the evening had turned sour. A sudden wave of anxiety washed over her as she thought about going to school tomorrow. She wasn't looking forward to the uncomfortable and inevitable conversation she would have to have with Spencer. She felt better though, knowing Aria and Hanna did most of the yelling for her so, hopefully, all that would be left would be for Spencer to apologize for her abhorrent remarks and then they could put this all behind them and move on.
As much as Emily hated fighting with her friends, she knew that only explained half of her uneasiness. She knew this feeling wouldn't subside until she talked to Paige; apologized to her and explained that she didn't share Spencer's feelings. She didn't know why but she couldn't bear the thought of Paige hating her. All she knew for sure was that she never wanted to see that heartbreaking look on Paige's face ever again. She didn't care that her mom wanted her to stay away from Paige; she needed to make this right.
Exhaustion finally hit due to the roller coaster of emotions Emily had experienced in just the last hour. Her eyelids began to droop and the last image she saw in her mind before sleep took over was a pair of big, beautiful, chocolate brown eyes.
