Emily stepped behind Maya who was grasping onto her hand, tighter than necessary, as if holding her in place. Their bags had been taken, and the two approached the group of Rosewood High students, taking a seat next to Hanna, Aria and Spencer.
The teacher was taking roll and the girls listened for their names. Hanna leaned over to Emily to whisper in her ear. "Are you okay?"
Emily simply nodded at the fashion-forward blonde, hoping desperately that she would let it go. Luck was on her side today because Hanna turned back around to wave at Lucas across the crowd. He smiled then returned the wave.
Emily couldn't help but smile also. She could see a budding romance even if they couldn't. Maya nudged her arm, more like crushed her arm. When Emily turned to look at her, Maya wore an expression of fury. As soon as she turned her back on the swimmer, Emily rolled her eyes.
"Alright, so Mr. Bailey here will be passing out your room keys. You will each have your own room with a single bed. But don't get too excited, there will be a curfew at ten p.m. One of the advisers here will check on you at curfew. Other than that, feel free to do what you please! Enjoy your trip!"
And with that, everybody ran off to collect their card keys, then bolted to the various nether regions of the ship. As expected, Maya carted Emily off to collect keys.
"Name?"
"Maya St. Germaine and Emily Fields."
The teacher shuffled through the keys, attempting to find the correct one. After a few more tries, he finally found them.
"Emily fields." he said, handing Emily a silver card key, then handed the other to Maya, "Maya St. Germaine."
Maya snatched both of the cards before Emily could lift her hand. Mr. Bailey gave her a questioning look, but simply shrugged, going back to his papers. Maya looped her arm into her friend's, leading her over to an area of the spacious lobby that wasn't occupied. She scanned the room numbers then huffed.
"Our rooms aren't even close to each others." she said, passing the brunette her key. Emily felt slightly bad for being relieved, but she needed space. Ever since they had become girlfriends two months ago, Maya had been breathing down her neck, insisting upon controlling every detail of her life.
Thankfully, Hanna could somehow sense Emily's discomfort, so she excused herself from her discussion with Lucas to come to her rescue.
"Hey Em, Spencer's looking for you. She says that you borrowed her phone before we boarded the ship, and now she can't find it."
"Okay." Emily turned to Maya. "I'll be right back."
Without waiting for a reply, Hanna grabbed Emily's hand, alot more delicately than Maya would, and led her over to where the other girls were standing.
"Thanks Hanna." Emiy smiled, for the first time in a while. Hanna smiled back. "No problem, you looked like you needed to get away."
"Yeah, why do you let her walk all over you like that?" asked Aria.
"Aria." Hanna whispered.
"What?" Aria whispered back, genuinely confused.
"It's okay Hanna. Honestly Aria, I'm not sure. I guess I just feel like I was so confused about who I was for so long that I feel like I owe it to her for not making my descision for so long."
"That makes some sense, but you still shouldn't cower like a lost puppy. Be strong, but if you're just not ready for that yet, you've always got us." said Spencer, placing a hand on Emily's shoulder, then pulling her into a warm hug.
"Yeah Em, we're here if you need anything." said Hanna, joining into the hug, pulling Aria as well. The four friends remained encircled in a hug for a few more seconds before they all pulled away.
"Thanks guys. I'm gonna go check out my room now. See you guys at dinner?"
"Totally. Let's all meet up at the dining hall." said Spencer.
"Okay. See you then."
The girls said their goodbyes and Emily headed towards her room. Once she found the white painted door with the same number that was printed on her card, Emily picked up her baby blue suitcase and slid the card key into the monitor, not removing it until the monitor beeped, unlocking the wooden door. She stepped into the room, admiring it. The bed seemed bigger than an ordinary single bed. The comforter was a shade slighlty darker than white, almost an eggshell. The walls were the palest of blues and the room was accented by dark oak furniture. A t.v. set was propped onto the dresser and the closet had a decent amount of space.
Emily placed her suitcase onto the soft cotton of the bed and began unpacking, rhythmically placing her wardrobe into the drawers and hanging them in the closet. Once she had tucked away her last shirt, she grabbed the travel case holding her toiletries necessary for the duration of the ten day cruise. Walking into the bathroom for the first time, she took in the white countertop and the silver sink faucet. The shower was small, but would be fine. Emily put her shampoo, conditioner and shower gel in the shower, then placed her toothbrush, toothpaste, mouthwash and makeup onto the counter.
Once finished, Emily stretched out onto the bed, eyes closed, enjoying the softness of the sheets. Emily heard her door click shut, then threw her eyes open, shooting up to a sitting position.
"Maya? How did you get into my room?" Emily shrieked, scared and creeped out of her mind. Instead of smiling, Maya's face wore an expression of anger.
"Where were you."
Emily stared her, confused. Hadn't she been there when Hanna had come up to her. "Maya, you saw me walk off with Hanna."
"After that. You came up here and unpacked all your stuff, and I get that. But I come in here, trying to find you, worried that you were lost, and you're laying on your bed?"
"Okay, Maya I just layed down so stop yelling at me!"
Maya walked closer to Emily and threw her hand back, swinging it forward, connecting on Emily's left cheek. The girl's slap held enough force to knock Emily back onto the bed. She grasped her pain filled cheek and began tearing up.
"Don't ever tell me what to do." said Maya before turning on her heels, exiting Emily's room, leaving her to cry in silence.
Emily looked into the mirror that hung on the wall. Her cheek was already starting to turn deep red, a hand print not noticeable, but rather a large round circle on her left cheek. She sat crying, thinking about everything. A was harassing her and her friends, she was confused about her sexuality, she was worried about her father and now her girlfriend had just hit her. Everything was becoming too much for her.
Emily Fields stood at the bow of the boat, shaky hands on the railing, staring out at the ocean. She pushed herself up onto the railing, swinging her skirt-clad legs over. Her tiny feet landed on the base that jutted out past the railing. Emily gulped, staring down at the treatening water that was a deep blue, almost black from the night sky and lack of sun. Just as Emily was about to step off of the safety of the ship into the threat of the sea, Emily heard a voice.
"Don't do that."
She turned her head, startled. Her eyes landed on the tall silhouette of a man. Once he stepped out of the shadows, Emily drew in a breath when she realized who it was. Toby. His blue eyes were staring her down, concern flooding the light depths of his eyes. He stepped towards her, his arms out and up, as if in surrender.
"Don't come any closer." she said, clinging onto the metal bars.
Toby looked at her pleading. "Just give me your hand and I can pull you back over." he said, reaching out a hand, taking a step towards her.
"No Toby! Stay right there. I'm serious. I'll Jump."
Toby slowly closed the gap between them, standing next to Emily. "No you won't."
She stared at him in disbelief. "Don't tell me what I will or won't do."
"Well you would have done it already." he said, calmly.
"You're bothering me. Go away."
He shook his head slowly. "I con't do that Emily. I'm way too involved now. If you jump, then I'm gonna have to jump in there after you." he said, removing his jacket.
"Don't be stupid. You'd be killed. The fall would kill you."
"It'd hurt, I'm not saying it wouldn't. To tell you the truth I'm more concerned about that water being cold."
Emily looked away from him for a moment, thinking. "How cold."
"Cold enough. Probably close to freezing. It gets colder the later in night. And let me tell you, water that cold feels like you're being pricked with a million needles. It completely numbs you to where you can't think, can't breathe. That's why I'm not looking forward to jumping in after you. But like I said, I'm involved, so I don't have a choice. I'm actually hoping that you'll just come back over and get me off the hook."
"You're crazy."
"Most people think that." he said lightly laughing. "But no offense, I'm not the one hanging off the back of a cruise ship. Come on, you don't want to do this." Toby reached his hand out far enough to where Emily could see it. She grabbed onto it, turning slowly. As she lifted her foot, her ballet flat connected with water that had been washed onto the boat. She slipped, falling down, Toby's hand the only thing stopping her from crashing into the water. Emily let out a scream.
Hanna, Aria and Spencer walked down the long deck, calling out Emily's name. Suddenly, they heard a scream. Hanna looked at the two girls and ran in the direction of the noise, two brunettes following closely behind her.
"EMILY!"
Hanna was several steps ahead of the others and came to the bow just in time to see Toby pulling Emily up and over the railing. Aria and Spencer came up behind Hanna, only seeing Toby fall to the deck floor, Emily below him.
"Oh my god! Let go of her you sick perv!" screamed Spencer.
"Yeah, what were you thinking Toby?"
By now he had stood up as well as Emily. He looked at Emily, eyes asking for help.
"No guys, I was just looking over at the water when I slipped. Toby was there to catch me."
The two girls looked at Hanna. "She's telling the truth, I saw him pull her over. Right Toby?"
"Yeah." he said, confused at Hanna's gesture.
"Oh." said Spencer and Aria simultaneously.
"I'm really sorry Toby." whispered Aria.
"Yeah. You're kind of a hero." said Spencer.
"He is." whispered Emily, but nobody heard it but Hanna.
Sooo... Was it good or bad? Tell me what you guys think! Obviously Maya had to be a little ooc simply because of the plot.