The Runaways

Chapter 3

"I am so full." Maya complains, throwing herself onto Emily's bed, as they walk back into their room from dinner. The food in the cafeteria actually wasn't bad, much to Emily's surprise, it was really good. Dinner was a lot of fun also, she had met some of Maya's friends; Charlie, Sarah, Aiden and Ryan. Charlie and Sara were both girls. Charlie was a little taller than Maya and had bleach blonde short hair, styled in a faux hawk. She also had very bright gorgeous green eyes. Sara was completely the opposite of Charlie and was kind of a girly girl. She had light brown long hair that she curled slightly, and was wearing makeup, and tons of jewelry. Her personality kind of reminded her of Hanna. Aiden and Ryan were both big guys; as in very muscular. Aiden had dark brown hair whereas Ryan was a blonde. They were all very nice, and welcoming to Emily, and made her feel included right away.

Emily laughs at her new friend who was lying on her bed groaning, and sits down next to her, but not before glancing over in Kaylie's direction, where she saw her sleeping. "I'm full too." She states, before looking down at her friend who had her eyes closed; falling asleep. "You do know this is my bed right?" Emily jokes, nudging Maya on the leg.

"Yes I am aware, but I am way to full and lazy to climb up there right now. So I think I'll just sleep here." She says, cracking a smile, her eyes still closed. Emily smiles back, before grabbing a pillow from beside her, smacking Maya on the stomach with it, causing her to scream, and her eyes to shoot open. Emily just begins laughing hysterically as Maya also grabs a pillow. "It is so on." She says, smacking Emily in the back of the head with her own pillow. Emily just gasps in reply as the two begin smacking each other with their pillows, laughing hysterically.

Across the room however Kaylie was not laughing. She sat up, and pulled her eye mask off of her face, seeing what the cause of all the noise was. She sees Maya and Emily hitting each other with pillows and shakes her head. "Guys." She says calmly, only to have them not listen to her. "GUYS STOP!" Kaylie screams causing the two girls across the room to halt their actions, and look over at her. "I am trying to sleep so please keep it down!" She states, glaring at the two of them. Maya returns the glare, and Emily just looks down at her feet awkwardly. "Besides, Emily you have your first group meeting tomorrow. You should probably get some sleep." She adds, making Emily look back up at her before nodding. Kaylie slips her eye mask back on her head, before lying back down on her bed, making the other two girls quietly giggle.

"You got me in trouble." Emily whispers, with a smile, hitting Maya on the arm.

"Yeah I am so bad." Maya replies, sarcastically, making Emily laugh. After the laughing subsides Maya just looks at Emily, giving her a small smile, as she returns it. "Night." She says, softly, before getting up out of Emily's bed.

"Night." Emily replies as she watches Maya climb into her own bed. Emily smiles softly to herself before crawling under the covers, letting herself drift off to sleep. The smile on both girls faces never fading…

Emily wakes up that morning the sun shining through the blinds and onto her face. She rolls over groaning, trying to hide herself from the sun to no avail. She hears a door open and looks up to see Maya walking in the room in only a towel; her hair wet. Emily can't help but scan the other girls body up and down a few times, as Maya just smirks at her, knowing she was checking her out. Emily then notices Kaylie watching her and quickly averts her eyes away from Maya, much to her disliking. She could stare at the gorgeous brunette all day long, if possible. "Like what you see?" Maya whispers to Emily a smile on her face, as she passes Emily on her way to her dresser. Emily feels her cheeks turn a deep shade of red as she just laughs nervously in return, watching Maya pull out some clothes.

"Emily you should get ready for breakfast. You want to probably eat something before the meeting. The first meeting usually makes people a little nervous, although I promise there is nothing to be nervous about." Kaylie states, as she looks at Emily through her mirror she was previously brushing her hair in. Emily snaps back into reality and quickly nods as she gets up and heads into the bathroom to get ready. Kaylie was right she probably should eat something although she was too nervous for food. She wasn't really sure what to expect of these meetings. She had a few ideas in her head of how it could turn out and some of them were not too pleasant. Some people were harsh when it came to homosexuality.

The girls all went down to the cafeteria. Emily wasn't feeling hungry, but Maya had made her at least eat a few pieces of fruit, and a bite of her muffin, hoping to help ease her nerves slightly. The two of them were now walking down the hallway on their way to the Emily's first group session. "You'll be okay." Maya says, looking over at the taller girl. She could sense Emily's nervousness, and wanted to make her feel better. She hadn't known her for very long, but she already cared about the girl…a lot. "I promise you it's not bad at all. But if it makes you feel better, I was super nervous my first time also." She says, making Emily smile at her as they stop outside the door. "But I'll be there with you the entire time." She adds, as Emily turns to her smiling.

"Thank you. That means a lot." Emily replies, making Maya's grin widen, as the two just stand in the hallway gazing at one another.

"Come on guys." They hear Kaylie say as she walks in between them, breaking their trance they had on one another. They quickly snap into reality, blushes creeping along both their faces, as they follow Kaylie into the room. They walk into the room, and Emily takes in all of her surroundings. It was a big white room with a big circle of chairs in the middle. She watched as people walk around, picking out their seat. She sees Maya sit down, and look at her patting the chair next to her. Emily smiles and quickly takes the seat next to her.

Everyone takes their seat, and Lisa; the woman who had shown Emily around, walks into the middle of the circle. She looks around at everyone and smiles, before waving her hands, telling everyone to quiet down, and listen; that they were now starting. "Okay first off we have a new member to our group everyone." She says, turning her attention over to Emily, who smiles nervously, as everyone in the circle looks over at her. "Why don't you introduce yourself sweetheart. Tell us your name and a little something about you so we can all get to know you better." She states with a smile, before taking a seat in the circle also.

"Okay." Emily says, slowly as she stands up from her chair. "Um hi everyone. I'm Emily fields." She says as everyone in the group replies with a, 'hi Emily.' surprising her for a moment. "So something about myself um well I am a swimmer. I am on my school's swim team and I absolutely love it." She says, with a smile as everyone smiles back at her. "That's about it." She says quietly, before sitting back in her chair, looking down at her hands, slightly embarrassed. She wasn't really one for public speaking; it always made her feel super nervous.

"Hey, you did great." Maya whispers to Emily, nudging her arm. Emily looks up from her hands, and looks at Maya and quickly returns the smile Maya was giving her. Seeing Maya smile at her gave her even more butterflies than she already had, but in some weird way, it eased her. The only person she had ever felt that way with was Allison. She always made her feel butterflies, and nervousness, but she loved every second of it.

"So how terrible did you think group session was?" Charlie asks, looking over at Emily, as they sit down at their table in the cafeteria, eating their lunch.

"Oh it wasn't as bad as thought it was." Emily replies, looking over at the other girl. "I'm not sure I agree with what they were saying, but it wasn't as bad as I had imagined believe me." She states, making them laugh.

"Well as long as you stay true to yourself, and don't let them brainwash you like they did Kaylie, you will be alright." Maya states, making the others nod in agreement. They all were friends with Kaylie when she had first gotten here also. "We all know this place is whack we just have to stick together and tough it out." She adds, as Emily just smiles. Emily wasn't sure how she felt about this place. The idea of a rehab trying to change your sexuality was pretty stupid, and she was happy with herself, and with the fact that she was gay. She had really come to accept herself as she was. She just wanted to make her mother happy though, and she wasn't sure if that meant she needed to actually try and change or not. She had both sides of homosexuality being preached to her, and she was getting confused as to where her beliefs fell. She didn't to think homosexuality was wrong nor did she actually believe it was, but if it wasn't then why was everyone making such a big fuss over it?

"Emily?" She hears Maya's voice say. She snaps out of her thoughts, and quickly looks over at her friend. "We were talking about going to the pier do you want to come with?" She asks hopefully, smiling at the brunette.

Emily sighs, and shakes her head."I actually have a one on one session that I need to get to." Emily says, making Maya's grin fade. She knew it wasn't Emily's fault she couldn't come with them, but it didn't mean she couldn't be disappointed. "I'm sorry." Emily adds, after noticing her newest friend's disappointed face. She really did want to go with her, hell she wanted to be with Maya every second of the day, but she knew she couldn't skip her first meeting; no matter how much she wanted to.

"Don't worry about it; it's not your fault." Maya states, flashing Emily that smile she loved so much. "We can hang out when you get out, and you can tell me all about your first meeting." She adds, making Emily nod, her smile never fading. It seemed her smile never went away anytime she was around Maya. She was surprised her cheeks weren't hurting from all the smiling she had actually been doing the past couple of days. Emily gets up out of her chair, and watches as Maya also stands up. "I'll walk you down there." She states, picking her trash up off the table. Emily nods and also picks up her trash, following after Maya.

"Emily. Tell me, what are your views on homosexuality?" Anne, her counselor asks Emily as they sit alone in her office, across from one another. Emily was sitting on a brown leather couch, and across the coffee table in front of her Anne was in a brown leather chair.

"Well…" Emily starts, pushing a piece of hair behind her ear, out of nervousness. "I don't get what is wrong with it really. I mean love is love right? How can someone tell you that you are wrong for loving another human being? How can love in any form be wrong?" She asks, looking up at Anne desperately. She needed these questions to be answered; she needed know why what she was feeling was so wrong, and why everyone wanted to change her. She needed to know. She needed a good enough reason as to why she had to change herself for everyone else around her to be happy.

"Emily did you ever go to church?" Anne asks, seemingly, avoiding her questions. Emily just nods her head in reply. Of course she had gone to church. Her parents were probably some of the most involved in their church. "In the bible it states homosexuality will not be tolerated. Emily the way you are feeling, it isn't natural. I usually find that the people here, they have some kind of a bad history that has maybe pushed them to choose this lifestyle, maybe bad experience with men, or just to rebel against their adult figures whoever that may be." She states making Emily just look at her confused. "So tell me about your family." She asks, crossing her legs over one another.

"Well my mom she is a personal trainer. She's really great she has always been supportive of me. She always pushes me to do my best and to be the best I can be." Emily says, as Anne nods, and scribbles something down on her notepad. "And my dad he's in the army. He's been in Afghanistan for a while now." She states, sadly, looking down at her lap, as Anne scribbles down something on her pad again. Emily wasn't sure what she was writing, but she was a bit curious.

"So do you think maybe this has to do with your dad being away? Maybe you're upset and this is your way of dealing with it. Maybe you think this will bring attention to you, and he will have to come home." Anne asks, making Emily shake her head.

"What? No. this has nothing to do with him; Either of my parents. I'm not doing this to spite them. The last thing I want to do is disappoint them. That's why I have kept it hidden from them for so long." She replies, making the woman nod. "Besides I was already feeling this way, before he left." She adds, as once again Anne scribbles down on her notepad.

"Sometimes we do things subconsciously and don't even really realize that it's the cause of why we are acting the way we are." Anne states, as Emily just continues staring down at her hands. Could that really be what was going on with her? Was she just doing this as a way to cope with her father being gone all the time, and her mother being so strict on her? "Emily have you ever had a girlfriend?" The woman asks, making Emily look up at her. She didn't know whether or not she wanted to talk about Allison. But she knew if she wanted help, she would have to share things with this woman.

Emily lets out a small sigh, and looks up at Anne, nodding her head. "Uh yeah I did. Her name was Allison." She says, smiling brightly, just thinking about the young girl.

"I couldn't help but notice you said, "Did," what happened to Allison?" Anne asks, making Emily instantly look back down at her hands, not wanting to talk about her anymore. Anne just watches as Emily closes herself back off. She had really started to open up, and she could see she was slowly getting more comfortable. That was until she mentioned Allison. She could tell this had hit a nerve with the young brunette, and she didn't want to push Emily too much on the first day. "Okay Emily I think that is enough for today. We will talk again tomorrow okay?" She states as Emily just nods, not looking up at the woman. She stands up and grabs her purse before walking out the door, not speaking another word.

Emily walks out the door being met by the bright sun, and warm rays hitting her skin. She crosses her arms over her chest and begins walking back to her room, not being able to shake Allison from her thoughts. She knew the woman was just trying to help her, but she couldn't talk about Allison and especially not what had happened to her it hurt way too much.

Emily gets woken by a loud clap of thunder as she bolts up from the couch she was sleeping on. She, Allison, Hannah, and Aria had spent the night at Spencer's in her barn where they always hung out. Emily looks around at the others but only sees Aria and Hanna who are fast asleep. She leans over nudging Hanna and Aria waking them up from their deep slumber. "Guys Allison and Spencer are gone." Emily says, her voice full of concern as she looks between the two of them. They all stand up, looking around worriedly as another clap of thunder hits, making them all jump. Emily's mind was on overdrive right now. She was thinking and feeling so many things she didn't know what to do. All she could think about was where Allison was and if she was okay. Why had she not woken her and told her if she was going somewhere. Allison knew how Emily worried over her. Emily then sees Spencer walk back into the barn a shocked look on her face. "Spencer. Where is Allison?" Emily asks her voice filled with urgency, and fear.

"She's gone. I heard her scream, and l went outside to look for her. I…I couldn't find her." She states, looking at the other three girls, her face pale as a ghost. Next thing they knew Emily darted out the door, running as fast as she could. The other three girls take off after her, screaming her name.

"Emily!" Emily snaps her head around after hearing that voice and sees Maya running towards her, with a smile on her face. "Hey!" She says once she approaches the taller girl, giving her a quick hug. Emily just flashes the girl a smile, pulling out of the hug. But it wasn't her usual bright smile, and Maya noticed. She knew something wasn't right. "What is it? What happened?" She asks, placing her hand on the brunette's shoulder. Emily just shakes her head as tears begin to well up in her eyes. "Come here." Maya says, pulling on Emily's arm. She takes into the woods nearby, where after walking down a small trail, they approach an old abandoned gazebo. They walk inside and sit down on the bench. Maya places her arm around the upset girl, letting her know she was there for her. "Do you want to talk about it" She asks.

"Just some things got brought up at the session that I just don't want to think about, let alone talk about." Emily states, wiping way some of her tears that had now fallen from her dark brown eyes.

"First few sessions are always the hardest. Once you get a little more comfortable with them it gets better." Maya states, as Emily just continues looking down at her hands. "If you want to talk to me you can. I'm here for you, but if not then I understand that also. I'll be here just to sit with you." She states making Emily smile softly for the first time in the last hour. Emily just sighs and lays her head on Maya's shoulder, as Maya holds her closer. She was going to tell her what they had talked about, and tell her more about Allison, but she didn't. Sitting here with Maya was enough to make her feel better and to forget about Allison…for now.

That night Emily laid in her bed thinking about her first official day here. It had not been as bad as she had imagined it being. Everyone here was actually really nice, and although she wasn't sure if she agreed with the counselors she still felt they treated her like a person and was accepted. Even if they did think there was something wrong with her. They treated her nicely, and like they just wanted to help her and for her to be happy. Also all the other people who were in the center were all really cool. There were a few like Kaylie who were now set against homosexuality, and who would be kind of harsh about it, but there were more so people who were like her. They were going through exactly what she was and they understood her. She was accepted here. Then there was Maya. From the first time she saw her she was instantly attracted to her. She knew she shouldn't be she was here to get rid of those feelings, but she couldn't help the feelings she was having, and every moment spent with the brunette her feelings were getting harder and harder to ignore. She also couldn't understand the fact of how someone could tell her these feelings she was having for Maya were wrong when they felt so right…

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