June 1st 2006
"Emmy, were almost there." her dad called out from the driver's seat. Emily eyes fluttered open at the sound of his voice, she forced a smile and sat upright in the back seat. Her parents seemed so excited to move back to this Rosewood place, she...not so much. They were already discussing their new life, new home, Emily's new school - but her mind was still stuck in Texas. She had a fixed nature, so this sudden and drastic change was hard on her. They had lived in Rosewood before, she was born there, actually. But they moved to Texas when she was three, to be closer to where her dad was stationed. Having an introverted, shy personality; she didn't connect with people very easily. She was always very liked, but prefered to shy away from most. She has two really good friends back in Texas but apart from that she kept to herself. Knowing her difficulty to get close to people, Emily was upset - as she knew she'd have no friends.. She curled her legs underneath her and gazed at the scenary as they drove up the highway.
"You're going to love it in Rosewood, Emily" her mom said with a comforting smile. Emily nodded dejectedly, forcing a smile. She didn't want her parents to feel guilty, as they were so excited to move back home. She would just make the most of it. The entire area leading up to Rosewood was surrounded by forest. The prospect of camping with her dad was something she could look forward to, depending how long he could stay.. They drove on for about 15 more minutes when they reached the town sign of Rosewood, population 7989...well now 7992. Emily let out a deep sigh.
"This is it, guys!" her dad exclaimed, pulling into the drive way of the grey-paneled house. It seemed pleasant enough, Emily had to admit, and it was bigger and a lot fancier than their house back in Texas. Emily reclined on the large tree in the front yard while her dad removed a few suitcases they'd brought with. "Rest of our stuff will only get here later with the moving truck," her mom said.
"What do you think, baby?" her dad asked, motioning at the house. Emily responded with a weak smile and light nod of approval. He pulled her in for a comforting hug, "It will be okay, Emmy. As soon as you get used to it, you'll love it here" he reassured her.
Emily forced a smile, "I know, dad" she responded in a put-on chirpy tone. He kissed her forehead and continued towards the house with their bags. The inside of the house was as pleasant as its exterior suggested. It had a warm, homey feel to it and as soon as their old stuff would be brought to fill it, she would feel a little more at home, she thought to herself. "Want to see your room, honey?" her mom asked, trying to cheer her daughter up, as she could see how hard she was taking the change. Emily nodded, "Yeah sure!"
Her room was awesome, she thought. It was bigger than her old one and had much more light shining in, making it warm and bright. The best part was the window seat that overlooked the street.
After an hour or so of sitting on the front porch playing snake on her dad's cellphone, she grew bored and restless. All her belongings were in the moving truck that hadn't arrived yet and so she had nothing to keep herself occupied. She gave the phone back to her dad and asked if she could walk around the nearby neighborhood a little.
"Okay, but don't go too far. Stay on our street, okay?"
"Okay, dad."
"Wayne," her mom interrupted, "do you think it's safe letting her walk around alone? On the first day?"
"You couldn't find a place safer than Rosewood!" he reminded her. She gave an agreeable nod and caressed Emily's head. "Don't get lost now."
"I won't" Emily called out as she walked away.
The house was long out of sight when she reached the end of their street. She made note of it to remember the street name before turning the corner, against her parents' wishes. She was bored and inquisitive over the new surroundings, and besides, it wasn't like she'd forget her way back. Reaching the end of the next street, she turned another corner, and soon another, and another. Just across the street ahead, she spotted a large playground built in soft sand. It was completely empty and Emily was put at ease by that, she made her way towards the swings and sat in one.
Swinging softly while running her feet through the warm sand, she forgot about the world around her.
It was around fifteen minutes later, that three boys around the same age as Emily appeared on the playground - clearly looking for trouble. She didn't notice them until they came right up to her and tugged her swing sideways, making her break from her day-dreaming. "And what do you think you're doing on my swing?" the one boy asked harshly. Emily stared at him, unresponsive. "Well?!" he barked again. There were another five open swings he and his friends could use and Emily looked around at them suggestively.
"Why don't you just swing on one of the others?" she asked timidly.
The boy didn't actually care for that particular swing, not any of them for that matter. They had been walking through the neighborhood searching for mischief, and unfortunately Emily posed as a splendid target.
All of a sudden, the other two boys came from behind in attempts to pull her off - succeeding as such. Emily fell back on the sand, head first. The boys found it extremely amusing and began laughing and pointing fingers at the girl huddled on the ground, crying.
"Michael? What are you doing?"
The three boys turned around and Emily looked up too. Behind them stood a little girl with long blonde hair, dressed in a floral summer dress. She glanced over towards Emily, who she could see looked unhappy and possibly crying - then back at the boys.
She crossed her arms over the music notebook she was holding and scolded at them with her eyes. "Picking on a girl? Seriously, Michael?" she began. "Does it make you feel all cool and tough in front of your friends? Maybe, I should tell them about what happened at my hou-"
"SHUT UP ALISON!" the boy shouted, his face turning a deep shade of pink.
She smiled a wicked smile, "Good, so get lost. And if I see you picking on her or any other girl, just know that I'll be telling everyone at school about your little secret." A nervous look was plastered on his face. Alison's threat was enough to make him want to get away as fast as he could, and soon he and his minions were running off. Alison watched smugly as they disappeared from sight.
"Are you okay?" Alison asked, holding her hand out to Emily. Emily accepted the gesture, dusting herself off once up on her feet.
"He won't bother you again," Alison said, smirking. "His mom and mine are friends, so around two weeks ago our moms went to some fancy event together and Michael had to spend the evening over at our house." Alison started laughing. "Woke up in the morning and he'd peed his bed, soaked. So unless he wants the whole school to know that he's a bed-wetter, he'll think again before bugging you again."
Emily stood silently in awe, staring at the blonde while she talked on and on. She seemed so confident and strong and proud - everything Emily was not. "Your face doesn't seem familiar.." Alison inquired, "you're new around here, right?"
Emily nodded shyly.
Alison laughed, "you don't say much, huh?"
Emily shrugged lightly and looked down, working her foot through the sand in a circular motion.
"Guess I'll be going then.." Alison said sarcastically, a little offended by the brunette's stand-offish behavior. Emily watched as the girl walked towards a pathway that led away from the playground. Why was she so stupid around other people? she thought.
"Wait" Emily yelled out, just as Alison was about to disappear from sight. Alison stopped and turned around to see Emily running towards her.
"Thank you" Emily blurted out, trying not to make eye contact with the girl in front of her.
Alison smiled widely. Emily looked up and returned a shy smile. "You're weird," Alison laughed.
Emily's face fell...she knew she was.
"But I like you! I'm Alison by the way, or Ali for short."
I like you the words made Emily's face light up. The blonde seemed like someone that would never even associate with someone like her, she was so... perfect.
"I'm Emily." she responded a little too eagerly.
Alison laughed, "so weird.."
She turned around and continued walking. Emily's smile faded.. That's it? She's leaving.. well done Emily. You managed to scare her off with your weirdness. So stupi-"
"Hey! You coming or what?" Alison called out.
They walked along for a good while, Alison rambled on and on, telling all sorts of tales, while Emily listened silently. She was completely captivated.
"Why are you so quiet? You're not still worked up over those idiots, are you? Because I promise you they won't dare bother you again. My dad always tells me that you don't fight with your hands, you do it with your brains. Like this one time, at my grandma's, she lives on this farm - it's awful, I hate it there. But yeah, so last Summer we went to visit her there. So one day I was sitting under a tree being bored, and Jason - my brother, was driving his four-wheeler around the back yard. My grandma's ugly old cat was lying on the ground and Jason didn't see him and drove right over his head. It was so gross. He didn't know I saw. So he took it and buried it out in some tall grassy area. Afterwards, I told him that I saw what he did, and if he wanted me to keep his secret, he'd have to do whatever I wanted him to. So now he does all my chores." Alison winked.
Emily stared at her, a little horrified, but still in awe of Alison's power. She was incredible.
They reached the end of the path way and Emily realized that by going this different route, she had no idea how to get home.
"Where do you live? Maybe I know where it is.." Alison asked.
"43 Serenity Lane."
Alison thought for a moment, "Nah, doesn't sound familiar. Come to my house and I'll ask my mom to drive you home."
"Wow thanks."
Alison shrugged, "That's what friends are for."
Emily was thrown back by that. Friends? Alison already thought of her as a friend? She looked down, smiling. She'd already made a friend, on her first day. And with someone as amazing as Alison.
When they reached Alison's house, her mom was covered in dirt, working on her rose garden.
"Mom, this is my new friend, Emily." Alison announced, pulling Emily forward by her arm to show her off.
"Hello Emily." her mom said sweetly. "Are you new in town?"
Emily nodded shyly.
"Aww lovely. You're going to love it here," she proclaimed, "and of course, you are welcome here anytime."
Alison cut in, "Mom, can you drive Emily home? She forgot the way. Serenity Lane, right?" she turned to ask Emily. Emily nodded.
Her mom agreed with no problem, just as soon as she'd finish in the yard and get cleaned up. Alison poured Emily and herself a glass of lemonade, then guided Emily to the living room to watch cartoons.
"Wait here!" Alison commanded after a few minutes, before running upstairs.
15 minutes later, Emily was still waiting for Alison to return. Wondering where she had disappeared to, Emily began to think that maybe Alison had already grown bored of her. She let out a deep sigh and sunk into the corner of the couch.
"HERE!" Alison said loudly, appearing suddenly with a pink envelope that had Emily's name written on it with colorful glitter glue. Emily took it and looked back up at Alison with questioning eyes.
"It's an invitation to my Birthday next week. You'll come, right?"
A huge smile spread across Emily's face and she nodded in affirmation.
An hour later, Alison's mom was driving them off to Serenity Lane to take Emily home. The girls sat in the back seat, laughing and singing along to songs on Alison's ipod. Emily was a particularly awful singer, and Alison found it hilarious, especially when Em attempted the really high notes. In their own world, they didn't even realize the car had stopped in front of Emily's house. Alison's mom sat silently for a moment, smiling at them adoringly before announcing that they'd arrived.
Emily stood on her front porch, waving frantically with a huge smile plastered on her face. From the car window, Alison waved back softly, giggling at the silly girl in front of her.
"What a sweet girl, I like her." Mrs. DiLaurentis said, while driving back home.
"She's really weird." Alison chuckled. "I like her too."