Chapter 1
"Is this the last suitcase?" asked Emily's father, as she handed him the black suitcase.
Emily nodded and watched as her father walked down the walkway and put her suitcase in the trunk. Her mom was signaling for her to hurry up. She just rolled her eyes and turned back to her friends. They had held a sleepover the previous night as sort of a going away party for her. And even though she would only be away from the summer they all hated being apart.
"This sucks Em." Hanna said her arms crossed over her chest. She had taken the news of Emily going away to swim camp the hardest. Emily had known that she would because out of all the girls she felt the closest to Hanna. And not only because she was the first person that she had ever came out to.
"Hanna it's only for two months and you can call her everyday remember." informed Spencer rolling her eyes.
Spencer was never one to really show her emotions. Sometimes Emily thought that Spencer thought she needed to be strong for the group. She was their anchor and Emily often worried about her friend. She knew that Spencer was under a lot of pressure with school and her parents. Plus the constant fights with her sister never helped the situation.
Emily just made sure that she reminded Spencer often that she was there for her whenever she needed her.
"Yea Spence is right Hanna. She's going to be back once school starts and then you can ambush her all you want about the details." added Aria. She could see the confused look on Emily's face at the word 'details' and decided to clarify. "Your going to an all girls swimming camp Emily. Now me and Spencer know that you are going to work on your swimming and meet recruiters. But in Hanna's crazy mind it's like her going to an all boys school if you catch my drift."
Emily couldn't help but smirk. Aria was always the one to keep Hanna in check when she had her crazy episodes. It was pretty funny actually, especially when she had dated Maya. Aria had been the only one able to stop her from calling every two seconds on their first date.
"Guys I'm not going to look for a girlfriend. I'm trying to get better because god knows I need to. After quitting last year I don't really feel on the top of my game and plus coach says that a scout from Danby is interested in meeting me. But I promise you Hanna that by some one in a million chance that I do meet somebody. You will be the first to know." promised Emily.
Hanna's expression softened and she stepped forward, throwing her arms around Emily and squeezing her tight. She was going to miss her best friend and was prepared to call Emily every single day so that they didn't grow apart one bit. It was definitely going to be weird waking up every morning and not having Emily there to go to when she needed someone to walk around the mall with her as she tried on every outfit in the store and ended up buying nothing. Emily was the only one who put up with it.
"I guess Aria is going to have to be my new shopping body." she whispered as they pulled apart.
Emily could see Aria roll her eyes before coming over and giving her a hug as well. She smiled her as she pulled away and they all looked at Spencer who slowly stepped over and gave Emily a hug as well. Emily smiled when Spencer squeezed her slightly which she guessed was Spencer's way of saying that she would miss her.
The sound of a car honking made them both pull apart and Emily looked towards her parents car.
"Hurry up Emily. We don't want to hit traffic." yelled her mom.
Emily sighed. Her mother would do just about anything to get her away from her friends and she hated that sometimes. Things were starting to get better between the two but there were always those weird moments that bothered her.
"Okay Mom. I'm coming." Emily yelled back.
She tuned back to her friends one last time as they all pulled in for a group hug.
Emily gave a sad smile as they pulled apart.
"I'm going to miss you guys. I will call you when I get settled." said Emily before turning and walking towards the car.
As she got in the backseat she waved to her friends until the disappeared from sight. She laid her head back on the seat and let of a breath that she didn't know she had been holding. She could see her mom watching her in the rear view mirror so she averted her attention to the window and watched the trees go by.
It wasn't until the passed the 'Now Leaving Rosewood' sign that the realness of her leaving set in and she couldn't help but feel sad.
She couldn't believe that she would be gone for the whole summer. A part of her was happy. She needed some time away from Rosewood. After everything that had happened with Allison she felt as if she was still holding her breath. She still carried around the unnecessary guilt for saying horrible things to Allison a few days before she had died.
The other part of her was worried. She was going to a place where she didn't know anyone. She was sure that she would be able to make friends but this was her first time being away since everything. It was nerve wrecking.
"This is a good thing." said Emily's mom suddenly taking Emily out of her thoughts.
Emily just shook her head. She wasn't surprised that her mother would say something like that. She made no effort to be discreet when it came to how she felt about Rosewood and the people in it.
"It's only two months Em." her father said softly.
Emily loved that her father was able to be here. He was the one that she usually confided in although most of the time it was hard because he was always away on work. She knew that he was fighting to protect her and the country but that didn't ease her worrying . She still flinched every time the house phone rang; her heart would get caught in her throat and she would wait. All she could do was wait and hope that the day that she got the news that her dad wouldn't be coming home never came.
If that ever happened she didn't think that she would be able to handle it. She did love her mom with all her heart, no matter how much they fought and disagreed, but her and her dad had a special bond. He was one of the few people that truly understood her and never judged. Even when she told him that she was gay.
"How long until we're there?" asked Emily trying to change the topic.
"So far there isn't any traffic so we should get to the bus stop in a half hour tops." informed her mother.
Thirty minutes. Emily hated sitting in the car for so long. The camp had some weird system that all of the people who were attending the swim camp would meet up at a designated bus stop. The camp was two and a half hours away and apparently the director of the camp thought that all of them riding together would help to break the ice between them all.
They even got a 'buddy' who they would be sitting with and was one out of the five people that she would be rooming with. The names of their buddies weren't given though and Emily just hoped that she was paired with somebody decent.
Emily couldn't take the silence anymore. She took her iPod out of her messenger bag and put headphones into her ears. She searched through her iPod before settling on the song Secrets by One Republic.
She leaned her head back on the seat and closed her eyes as she listened to the music.
Emily felt someone gently shaking her arm. She opened her eyes slowly, squinting at the light. Her mom was smiling down at her.
"We're here." she said in a low voice.
Emily shook her head and took her headphones out of her ears. She stepped out of the car and stretched wondering when she had drifted off to sleep. She looked around and saw dozens of girls as they unloaded their cars, said there goodbyes, and headed toward the check-in table where they all received their name tags and buddies.
Emily grabbed her messenger bag and walked over to her parents who were unloading her stuff from the trunk. She grabbed her duffel bag and threw it over her shoulder and her father closed the trunk.
A young blond woman in her twenties wearing a bright green shirt, cut jean shorts, and a grey hoody approached them. She was wearing a green boa around her neck and Emily couldn't help but crack a smile at the scene.
"Hi my name is Ellen. " the woman holding up her name-tag to show Emily and her parents, "I am going to be taking your bags. You can check-in at the table set up in front of the school. We will be boarding in a few moments so better find your buddy. I'll be riding on bus 1 and hope to see you there."
She was so bubbly and full of energy. Emily was used to getting up early for practice but that didn't mean she was a happy camper in the morning. She really hoped she wasn't on bus 1. She didn't have anything against Ellen. She actually thought she was pretty cool but she had hoped that she would be able to get some sleep during the ride. It was still only seven thirty in the morning.
"Well let's go sign you in." said Emily's dad as she handed Emily's suitcase off to Ellen and watched as she wheeled it away.
Emily and her parents walked towards the check-in table and waited in line. There were girls from all around Pennsylvania that would be attending the camp and she was excited about the chance to meet new people.
As they approached the front of the line Emily couldn't help but notice that all the Councillors seemed so cheery. They were all wearing the bright green shirts and had crazy accessories on. Even the guys. They had went all out.
"Hello there camper. What's your name?" asked the girl who was only a few years older than Emily.
"Emily Fields." she answered and watched as the girl went through about a dozen name tags before finding the one with her name on it.
She handed it to Emily and checked her name off of a list before handing her two pieces of paper as well. Emily and her parents stepped to the side and allowed the next person in line to go up and sign in. Emily put her name tag around her neck. It was a plane laminated piece of paper that read EMILY FIELDS on top and Em in quotation marks with a blue border around it.
Her parents were reading over the papers.
"Well it looks like they will be having a ceremony on the last day at a banquet hall in Rosewood the day you come back. We'll be there and if you'd like we could invite Aria, Spencer, and Hanna to come along to." said her dad.
"That would be great." Emily smiled. She knew her mother wouldn't be happy about that and would probably raise up an argument about it when she was gone but she needed to understand that Aria, Spencer, and Hanna were her best friends and she couldn't cut them out of her life or blame them for her being gay.
She needed to accept her.
"Your buddy's name is Paige McCullers." added her mother with a small smile, "She's top of her swim team at her school so you two should have a lot in common."
Emily's mom handed her the paper that had a picture of Paige. She had dark reddish brown hair, brown eyes, and light skin. What really drew Emily in was Paige's smile. She didn't know why but Paige's smile didn't seem to really touch her eyes. It was almost like she was trying to mask some underlying sadness.
Emily mentally kicked herself for over analyzing someone that she hardly knew, didn't know at all actually.
"BUS'S ARE BOARDING NOW! HURRY TO SAY GOODBYE. YOUR BUSES ARE ON THE BACK OF YOUR NAME TAGS!" yelled a Councillor who was Emily only knew was a guy because of his voice. He was standing amongst the crowd so Emily couldn't see him.
Emily turned her name tag and saw that she was on bus 1. 'Joy' she thought. She wasn't going to get any sleep. Well at least that would mean she had time to get to know Paige before they got to camp.
She turned to her parents and put her duffel bag on the ground, trying her best to smile. She was really going to miss them but if she cried it would make her mother's crying twice as worse.
Her mother wasted no time before throwing her arms around Emily. She didn't cry though and that surprised Emily. She knew that her mom was trying to keep it together just as she was. She wasn't one to break down in public. Emily was certain that once she got in the car she was going to break down.
As they pulled apart Emily looked at her Dad and smiled. He hugged her tight.
"I'm going to miss you kiddo." said her father as he gave her another tight squeeze.
"I'm going to miss guys too." returned honestly.
After a few second she head the male Councillor yelling again and her and her dad pulled apart. She picked up her duffel back and put it over her shoulder once again before smiling and heading towards her bus. Before she boarded the bus she turned and waved to her parents one last time. As she climbed the stairs she looked around the bus.
Girls were talking and smiling but most of the people on the bus were quiet. They didn't look any happier than her to be up at this hour on a bus with overly hyper camp Councillors.
As Emily walked down the aisles she searched for Paige. She was starting to think that Paige was a no show but then she spotted her in the back of the bus. Her favorite spot. Ever since middle school she had always had this weird thing about thinking that the back of the bus was the coolest place to sit and she made it an obligation to get there first during swim meets.
As she approached Paige she tried to think of things that they could talk about during the trip. She really didn't want there to be awkward silences between them. Awkward silences always made Emily feel uncomfortable.
She placed her duffel bag in the compartment on top of her row.
"Hi." Emily greeted as she took a seat besides Paige who was starring out the window sort of dazed.
Emily couldn't help but think that something was wrong but quickly brushed it off as her just being tired because she knew for certain that she was herself.
The short haired girl looked at Emily confused.
"Oh. right." said Emily quickly realizing that Paige must have not known about her being her buddy, "My name is Emily Fields. I am your buddy."
"Right. Sorry." said Paige extending her hand to Emily, "Paige McCullers."
Emily thought it was weird that Paige was seeking a handshake but she shook her hand none the less. After that it was quiet between the two. Emily hoped that the whole bus ride wasn't going to be like this because if it was then she was in for a long ride.
Suddenly they head whistles blaring and someone threw confetti as about six Councillors boarded the bus.
"Whose ready to have some fun?" yelled
Emily and Paige groaned. This made them both look at each other and laugh. Emily took her iPod out of her bag and put one in her ear. She offered the other on to Paige who took it happily.
"You wanna pick the song?" Emily asked Paige.
Paige shrugged and took Emily's iPod. After a few seconds TGIF by Katy Perry started up on the headphones. Emily smiled. This was her favorite song.
"You got good taste McCullers." smirked Emily as she nudged Paige with her elbow.
"You bet I do Fields." replied Paige with a smirk.
"Maybe this won't be so bad after all" Emily thought to herself.
There's chapter one.
Tell me watcha think.