Redemption Chapter 4

A few weeks had passed since Alison slept over at Emily's house. Their friendship had grown since then. Ali learned more about her. But Ali kept a lot of things about herself from Emily. She didn't want Emily to find out the real reason behind why she was volunteering at the Center. Ali did tell Emily about her friendship with Aria. In the past few weeks, Ali had been spending time with Aria too. They were slowly reconciling over the past.

One day at the center, Ali invited Emily to come to Rosewood for a sleepover. She said yes. It was a Friday afternoon, Emily and Ali were on the bus to Rosewood. Aria would be picking them up. Ali had told Aria about Emily. Aria was interested in meeting and hanging out with Emily.

The bus pulled up to a stop near The Brew. Ali helped Emily out of the bus. She saw Aria sitting on a bench. Aria started a bit at Emily, as the blind girl unfolded her white cane.

Aria walked to them and said, "Hi guys"

She saw Emily smile and she took Emily's hand and said, "I'm Aria, it's good to meet you."

Emily said, "Thank you, it's good to meet a friend of Ali".

Ali said to Emily, "We are going to get some coffee now, take my arm"

The three girls headed into The Brew. They saw that the place was crowded, but there was an empty table near the back and far off from the register area. Ali guided Emily to it and said the she and Aria were going to order their beverages.

Aria said, "Will you be ok here alone Emily?"

Emily said, "I'll be fine here"

Aria and Ali got in the long line of customers.

Emily reached into her purse and pulled out a braille book. She opened it and started gliding her fingers across the pages. She occasionally paused at times to hear the sounds of the cafe. People chatting, the sounds of spoons stirring in cups, sometimes the sounds of people chewing cookies or other pastries. She also took in the smells of coffees, different flavorings like vanilla or hazelnut.

She then heard someone come near the table.

A female voice said, "Hello there, are you new to Rosewood?"

Emily said, "I'm here visiting and staying the night with a friend who lives here. What is your name?"

"Spencer." The female voice said.

Emily said, "It's good to meet you Spencer, I'm Emily Fields. I'm here visiting and staying the night with my friend Alison DiLaurentis."

Spencer responded, "Yes, I know Alison."

Emily responded, "She is a nice girl. She volunteers at a Center for The Blind in Philadelphia that is how I know her."

"That is interesting Emily. I have to go, but it was nice meeting you. I hope you enjoy your visit in Rosewood."

Emily responded with a thank you and she then heard the girl's footsteps as she walked away from the table.

Several minutes later, Aria and Ali came to the table.

Aria said, "I got you a french vanilla cappuccino and we also got some peanut butter cookies too."

Emily said, "Thank you, just set the cup down in front of me. I will feel for it"

Aria did as she was told. She and Ali took their seats at the table and started sipping on their own beverages. Emily did as well.

A few minutes later, Emily said, "While you two were in line, a girl came here to the table. She said her name was Spencer and that she knew Ali."

Looks of panic formed on the faces of Aria and Ali. They looked at each other.

Ali said, "Oh yeah, Spencer she was in some of my classes at school.

The blonde felt bad for not saying the whole truth about her past relationship and connection to Spencer. She couldn't tell Emily that she and Aria had been friends with Spencer.

Aria jumped in and changed the subject by asking Emily if she liked her beverage and cookies.

Thirty minutes later, the three girls were at Ali's house. When Emily went into the bathroom.

Ali and Aria in low voices discussed Spencer.

Aria said, "Spencer, must have seen us walk in with Emily."

The blonde responded, "I'm just glad she didn't spill to Emily, about what happened to Jenna. I don't want Emily to ever know that."

Later on, the girls watched TV and ate dinner with the DiLaurentis parents.

Aria was helping Jessica wash dishes as Emily and Ali went into the living room.

Jessica said to the short brunette, "Thank you Aria for being nice to Ali and reconnecting with her. That whole thing took a toll on all of us. I'm just glad you are all out of juvie. I know that you are no longer friends with Spencer and Hanna. Anyway, I'm just glad Ali is doing her volunteer work in Philly. She seems to really like Emily."

Aria said, "Emily is a nice girl and it's good that Ali has friends.

Awhile later, the three teen girls went up to Ali's room.

Emily asked, "Can you describe your room to me, Ali?"

"Well, it's pink. The walls are a darker pink, but my bedding set is a lighter color. I have some knick knacks here and there. Like some snow globes." Ali said she guided Emily to the bed.

Emily said, "I remember the snow globes I had as a little kid before the tumor. I got a few of them for Christmas. One of them was of a Christmas tree and another had Frosty the Snowman."

Ali said, "I have a few Christmas ones, Easter ones, some of different animals, ballerinas, my favorite one is my Eiffel tower snow globe."

Emily smiled and said, "Aw Paris, I've heard good things about it. I have people describe it to me and I also remember seeing pictures of the Eiffel Tower before I lost my vision."

Ali was saddened again that a beautiful person like Emily couldn't see the snow globe, pictures of beautiful cities and other beautiful things. She noticed that Emily was still smiling. She often wondered how Emily could remain positive despite having a disability.

She then said to Aria and Emily, "About we play cards, we brought Emily's braille deck."

Aria responded, "Sure that sounds fun."

The girls played cards for an hour before Aria decided to head home. Emily thanked the short brunette for the ride from The Brew to Ali's house.

Ali walked Aria to her car.

"Thanks again, for picking us up Aria and also thank you for being so kind to Emily."

Aria said, "It's no problem. I really like Emily."

"Me too. I'm now worried about Spencer causing trouble for me."

"Like you said before, she didn't tell Emily about Jenna. She might not be out to start trouble for you. If you see her town just avoid her." Aria said.

"I guess I will avoid her."

A few moments later, Aria drove off.

Ali went back up to her room. She found Emily under the covers. Earlier in the day, Ali asked if it would be ok Emily slept with her in the bed since her family didn't have a raised air bed or a cot for Emily to sleep on. The brunette said it was fine.

Ali changed into sleep clothes and got under the covers. Emily was reading a braille book.

The blonde smiled at the sight.

She faced Emily and asked, "Em, how do you stay so positive? I mean, you can't see many beautiful things or do certain things. You seem so adjusted."

Emily said, "I do my best to be positive, but I get down at times. When I first went blind, things were difficult. My parents had trouble readjust their lives for me and I was put into the blind school and had re learn to live my life. I was a little kid, but it was still hard. I try to make the best of things, again it's not always easy. There are things I worry about in the future, like finding someone to spend my life with. I don't think I'm going to worry about that while I'm still in high school"

Ali thought of Jenna again. She thought of the difficulties Jenna faced.

Emily said, "I'm starting to get sleepy. I'm going to lay flat down. Good night, Ali."

Ali smiled and said, "Good night, Emily."

The blonde stayed up for two hours after Emily fell asleep. She kept thinking of Jenna as well Emily. She thought of both girls not having sight. At one point, Ali got out of bed and went over to her desk. In one of the drawers, there was the braille letter she had for Jenna. She thought about mailing it out, but she still had some uneasiness.

She went back to bed. She watched as Emily slept. She ran her hand over Emily's dark and felt the softness. She eventually fell asleep.

The next morning, she woke up before Emily. She got into the shower and came out and dressed and got ready.

Emily woke up later on. She asked for Ali's help in the shower. Ali watched as Emily undressed in the bathroom. She guided Emily into the shower. She looked over the brunette's naked body like she did in the past. She help Emily out of the shower and watched as she dried off her body and dressed.

The girls later went down to eat breakfast with Jessica, who had prepared waffles, bacon and scrambled eggs.

Jessica said, "I know Ali has been helping you with guide dog training. I hope she is doing a good job."

Emily said, "She is. Connor likes her and she has helped me out well. You have a good daughter, Mrs. DiLaurentis."

Jessica smiled and said, "Thank you."

The older woman than smiled at her daughter.

Later on, Jessica drove the girls to Philadelphia.

She dropped them off at the Center for the Blind.

Emily got out on her own.

Jessica asked Ali to stay in the car for a few minutes.

She said to her daughter, "I'm really proud of Ali. The things you are doing here are good things. I hope at some point in the future, that incident with Jenna Marshall won't hold you back."

Ali said, "I'm glad that I'm helping out here and that I've befriended Emily. I still feel really bad for Jenna. A few weeks ago, when I spent the night at Emily's, I used her braille machine to transcribe an apology letter to her. I haven't sent it."

Jessica said, "The DA and our attorney both said, that it is best that we don't contact Jenna or her family. Maybe it's best that you didn't send it."

"I just want to apologize to her. I owe to her."

Jessica said, "Wait things out and we will talk your parole officer about the letter to Jenna."

"Ok Mom.I know the things I've done in the past have hurt you and Dad."

"They did hurt. But we all need to move past all of our mistakes. Ali try to forgive yourself" Jessica said as she put her hand on her daughter's cheeck.

Ali smiled and said, "I better head inside. I'll see you tonight."

A few days had past and back in Rosewood, Ali was walking around town. She then came face to face with her former friend, Spencer Hastings outside a dress shop.

Spencer said, "I have known for awhile that you were out. I saw that blind girl with you and Aria at The Brew. Emily is her name right? Let me guess, Ali you are using that girl for something."

Ali rolled her eyes and said, "I'm not using her for anything. She is my friend and I care about her. I have to volunteer at the place in Philly as a part of my release agreement. Don't start anything with me Spencer.

Spencer said, "I don't buy it Ali. Someone like you would never be besties with a blind girl. Does your friend know about Jenna?"

"No. She doesn't need to know"

Spencer said, "I feel sorry for that girl for not knowing that her new friend blinded someone."

Ali didn't respond to that and she walked away quickly from Spencer.