Author's Note: This is just an introduction to a new story I'm working on, which takes place after the episode "Grave New World." If I receive a good response about the intro, then I'll start posting longer chapters. This is set in Emily's point of view. Hope you all like it.

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or settings from Pretty Little Liars.

"Keep Your Eyes Open"

Three weeks have passed since our encounter with Alison. Three weeks, but it feels like three centuries. Why hasn't she tried to contact us again? What is she so afraid of? Why did she stay hidden for so long while I was left to grieve and mourn the loss of not only my best friend but my first lover too? I have so many questions, but I can't even find Alison in order to uncover the answers.

My phone chimes loudly, ripping me from my train of thought. One unread text message, from Paige. "Meet me on the second floor of the parking garage on 135th St. at 11 p.m. I have a surprise for you," the text reads.

I smile as big of a smile as I'm able to muster as I type a response. "I'll be there. I love you."

I feel bad, because I have spent so much time worrying about Ali recently and so little time nurturing my relationship with Paige. Still, she always thinks of sweet ways to cheer me up or surprise me. I make a promise to myself to make it up to her in some way tonight as I curl up in bed and start to doze off for a quick nap.

When I woke up a few hours later, I felt even more emotionally drained than I had before falling asleep. I can never remember my dreams, but I'm almost certain that this one had something to do with Alison. She always takes so much out of me, even in my dreams. But I miss her. I need her.

I look at the clock and let out a sigh. It's almost time to meet Paige, and for a second, I think about texting her to say I can't make it. I know better, though. Our relationship is so fragile these days that bailing on her might leave me with no relationship at all. So I pull on a hoodie—one that Ali had given me years ago—and head out the door. The drive there is quiet, but my thoughts are loud, like always. I drive up into the parking garage and pull into the second floor. Paige's car isn't here, so I hop out of my own car and decide to wait…until I notice the person at the other end of the garage. The person wearing a red coat.

Suddenly, I stop thinking and my body starts moving. Feet, running. Heart, pounding. Head, shaking. The person in the red coat doesn't turn around until I stop, just a few feet away from her. I kneel over, hands on my knees, gasping for breath. I feel like the universe is sucking all of the breathable air out of this parking garage and replacing it with thick, heavy air that I can barely pull into my lungs. I feel lightheaded. I feel like I'm dreaming…I feel…like I'm looking straight into the eyes of the first love of my life.

Alison.

Her smile, the one that has haunted me since she first disappeared years ago, is a mere three feet from my own face.

"I've missed you the most," she says. In a way, it sounds like she's rehearsed this over and over again.

I rehearsed what I would say in this situation too, but I've forgotten all of my lines. I have forgotten everything.