Spencer pulled up outside with a self-assured smile, her fingers drumming on the dashboard as she thought. Emily was still slumped in her seat, but she gazed out the windscreen, puzzled. "I haven't been here before."
"Always good to go somewhere new." Spencer informed her, leaning back across the seat and pulling a bag into her hands. "Plus, I'm positive you are going to love this place."
She swung the door open and jumped out, fondly surveying the environment, as she remembered many good times had here when she was younger. She stood on rocky ground, tall oaken trees swaying above her head, and a beautifully calm lake lapping at the shores in front of her. The water was a deep shifting blue, reflecting the trees above and the sparkling sun. She turned back to the car with a grin. "Doesn't it look amazing?"
Emily had opened the door and was now stumbling out, trying to disguise her weakness by leaning against the car, somehow exhausted. She looked around at the blissfully peaceful environment, catching her breath. The weather was delicously muggy, and she could feel sweat forming down her back from the heat. The lake seemed like a very inviting prospect, if she could move.
Spencer seemed to read her mind. "I brought your swimsuit, I knew you'd want to swim here. You can get changed in the back of the car. If you're too tired, I'll help you into the water."
Emily shot her a look of mild amazement intermingled with agreement and perhaps even, Spencer hoped, a tinge of gratefulness. She crossed over to her, and opened the door, helping her onto the back seat, then passing her the bundle of clothes. Emily marvelled to have the sleek material in her hands again. It was comforting, almost like a teddy bear. She clutched it to her chest, gently brushing it with her fingertips, in a small reverie. It was practically agonizing to take her clothes off and slip into the swimsuit, but she gritted her teeth and continued.
When she was done, she felt more tired than ever, and swayed a little, closing her eyes. The energy she had left was barely enough to keep her going. She was just about to fully fall asleep on the back seat of the car when Spencer appeared. She'd gotten changed into her swimsuit too, and gently eased Emily out of the car, helping her stumble towards the water.
"This is where I used to come all the time as a kid." Spencer informed the dozy girl. "It's a couple of miles away from my parent's lakehouse, so we used to drive here. It's always been a special place for me, we had picnics here a lot, and I remembered it to be a great swimming area."
Emily staggered fully, but Spencer's arms caught her and righted her. She peered worriedly at her. "Are you okay? Do you just want to sleep?"
Emily blinked three times, and put one foot in front of the other, a sign she wanted to continue. Spencer shrugged to herself, and the two made their shambolic way down to the lake. Their feet entered the water, Emily's first, and the girl made a murmured sound of pleasure as it swirled around and sucked at her.
Emily POV
I'd missed the feeling so much. The gentle tug of the water against my toes, the chill rising on my shoulders under my swimsuit, the slow descent into the silky depths. Spencer held my shoulders all the way until we were both above our heads, and then gently let go, allowing me to plunge. I opened my eyes, staring at how the sun radiated down onto the water, casting golden patterns onto the underneath. Lying underneath, floating, felt so good. The feeling of weightlessness, of gliding through an infinite space, of not being confined to the rules of gravity, was just so thrilling... I couldn't even describe it. I resurfaced with a gasp, flicking my hair back, gazing at the droplets which cacaded off in a shimmering arc.
More than anything, I felt like a small part of me had flared back into life. Adrenalin began to surge back into my veins. I was energized, something I wasn't used to. As I dropped underneath the glossy surface and prepared to set off, I saw Spencer's pale legs kicking away madly next to me, her body disappearing above. I tutted at her technique, and bobbed up again. "When you're treading water." I said calmly, "you need to relax. You're thrashing away, it's only going to use up energy."
Spencer looked surprised, and then smiled gingerly. "But if I don't thrash, I'll sink."
"No." I disagreed. "You'll sink because you're not using your arms. See. Breast stroke arms. Wide circles."
I demonstrated, loving how my hands pulled smoothly through the water, spreading my fingers wide. Spencer doubtfully copied me, paddling childishly in the water. "I don't like feeling nothing beneath me." She frowned.
"I think it's the best feeling in the world." I replied, and ducked underneath again, allowing my knees to kick above, causing silvery splashes.
I soared down to the bottom of the lake, allowing my hands to trail along the rocky surface. I felt so free, so weightless, like I'd left all my worries on the shore. The imagined image of the raven sitting on the shore, soaked, made me laugh, bubbles streaming from my mouth. I shot back up, barelling out of the water to raise my head to a cloudless sky, and smashing back down again effortlessly. Skimming against the surface, I eased into freestyle, zooming along. I glimpsed Spencer's impressed face.
She paddled aimlessly along the shore, grinning at me, standing up and allowing the water to trickle from her hair down her back. "I knew you'd love it."
I rolled my eyes, but allowed her to have her satisfaction. There was the hint of smugness on her face, much as she tried to hide it. I dipped underwater again, setting off on another lap, determined to finish a set.
When I finished, chest heaving, I swam to the shore and sat on a large rock, wringing the water out of my hair. As soon as I left the lake, I'd been overwhelmed by a feeling of exhaustion, my weight returning back to me with a dull thump. I closed my eyes and thrust my head into my hands.
Spencer carefully wrapped a towel around me, and sat down, propping her head on her hands. "Did that make you feel better, then?"
"Yes." I said simply.
"I'm glad."
I knew she meant it. I gazed at her out the corner of my eye. She stared straight ahead, in profile against the bowed trees and swirling lake behind her. Water dripped from her hair down her cheeks, but she didn't seem to care. "What are you thinking about?"
"Toby." She admitted, with a dejected face.
"Get your mind off him."
"How?" She asked, spreading her arms wide, indignant.
"Talk to me." I told her.
"About what?"
"Anything."
She sighed irritatedly, and looked down at the water, picking up a rock and chucking it down. I decided to take the initiative. "Do you remember how the five of us all met?"
Her head twitched up, and she met my eye. "No..." She said slowly. "I met you first, then Aria, then Hanna, then Ali. I don't remember all five of us meeting together."
"Well, do you remember how we met?" I asked, pointless and cheesy as it seemed.
I needed to take her mind off the boy, otherwise she'd mope around until she did something she'd regret. Wading in the memories were peaceful to me. They distracted me from reality for a little while. And I needed distraction.
She nodded, a small smile, a spark of something. Her eyes became far away. "You and your whiteout."
Spencer POV
She was the girl who sat two rows to the right behind me in English, the girl with the pretty ribbon in her hair on first day, the shy girl with the wide eyes and hesitant smile. She was the girl who was too polite to say anything to me. So I took it upon myself to say things to her.
We were using laptops the lesson we finally got to know each other. I told the teacher mine needed charging so I needed to sit next to the wall, where the power sockets were. She let me go, and I hovered above Emily, who gave me a nervous look. "Spencer Hastings."
"Emily Fields." She smiled, accepting my hand I extended to shake politely.
"Nice to meet you. Let's get this introduction started. I'm Spencer, I love field hockey and tennis, I'm aiming for a perfect GPA, and if anything gets in my way so help me God. Also, I'm planning to be class president next year. Vote for me?"
Emily was taken aback. "You're asking votes for something that's going to happen next year? Already?"
"Yep." I affirmed. "As you can tell, I am serious about winning."
"Yeah, you are." She agreed with an embarassed laugh.
I slid in neatly next to her, plugging my laptop in for charging. Emily attempted to help me, and our hands bumped, resulting in more awkward laughter. "How about you?" I asked, once we had quietened.
"Huh?"
"I've introduced myself." I explained, and gestured to her. "Now your turn."
"Okay. I love swimming, I'm aiming to get decent grades this year and, um, I also love zombies movies."
"Zombie movies?"
"I couldn't think of anything else." She said self-consciously.
"No, no they're interesting and all. Did you know there's a species of baculovirus that infects gypsy moth catepillars and essentialy turns them into zombies? It apparently takes over their brain and forces them to climb trees, where the virus eventually liquifies the body into dripping goo which rains down below the tree, so that new gypsy moth catepillars can be exposed to the virus still living in the goo. So, basically, zombies do exist in catepillars."
Emily's eyes were wide. "So you're saying there's zombie insects? Brain-eating and all."
"Zombie gypsy moth catepillars." I corrected. "It's yet to be discovered whether the virus can infect other insects, or if the moths have a desire to eat brains. But if it can infect other things, we could be facing a real-life zombie movie."
"That's so cool." Emily grinned, actually interested.
I smiled like I was the creator of gypsy moths themselves. We would have talked further, but the teacher began ranting about the project they were meant to do. We apparently had to create an imaginary setting and write about it. "What are you doing?" I asked once the teacher had finished lecturing.
"Hmm. Well, I had this idea while she was talking. You know Roman history, like the gladiators who fought in the Colosseum?"
"Do I know Roman history." I said sarcastically. She smirked. "Yes, go on."
"Well, I'm thinking of the house of a gladiator. Like, one of the really big ones who kept on winning. I could see it in my mind's eye really well. See, he's a famous gladiator. He fights with so many others, and always survives to live another day. But at the end of it all, when he's stepped out of the arena, covered in blood and dirt, with the crowd going wild for him, he's got this house to come back to."
I listened, enthralled. "And in that house, it's the nicest house you can imagine. In the front yard, there's neat rose bushes and two big old trees. It has a huge porch, where all the Romans come and take their sandals off, and as you go inside the door, there's beautiful paintings all along the walls and a warm wooden floor. And as you go into the living room, the gladiator's wife and daughter are sitting there, to welcome him back home after another long day of fighting. The wife's got the fire on, and the daughter's just come out of the pool outside, and it's just... just..."
She trailed off then, and I glanced at her, noting how she was flushing red. "Um, it's kind of dumb." She muttered, and went rifling through her notes, avoiding my eye.
"I think it's great."
She smiled, still embarassed, but popped her head up to look at me again. "Thanks." She said sincerely. "What's yours about?"
"I'm thinking of an abandoned ski chalet in the Bordeaux mountains, left alone to rot, because the people who were last in it had a massive argument and all killed each other."
I'd gotten the idea from a skiing holiday my family and I had gone on last year. I had been excited for the trip for many months, but when the time came, my parents could barely look at each other in the eye without sparking an argument. So I had sat miserably inside the chalet, not allowed to go out on the slopes without adult supervision, while Melissa skied to her heart's content.
"That's a really good idea." Emily complimented. "What was the argument about?"
"I honestly don't know." I murmured miserably.
She blinked at me, and I shrugged. "Guess I'll have to make it up!"
We went about our work merrily for about ten minutes more, until I screwed up. The first requirement for the setting was that we first had to sketch it. I'd gotten a particular angle of the roof wrong- of course, I was drawing it in architectural style- and turned to Emily. "Do you have any whiteout?"
"Whiteout?"
"You know, Twink, liquid paper, correction fluid."
"Oh! Yeah, I do." She said, passing a small bottle of it.
I twisted the stubborn cap to open it, surprised at how stiff it seemed. I tried again and again to pop the thing open, straining my arm muscles. Emily eventually leant forward to help. "Here." She said kindly, and was about to try twist it when the cap popped open, and the white fluid poured over me.
"Oh my god!" I yelled, pulling the leaking bottle away, as Emily gaped at how the mess had spread over the cute skirt I'd been wearing that day. "Oh... My... God!" I said again.
She seized the bottle and twisted the cap firmly on, before assessing the damage. "I'm sorry!" She said quickly. "Is it okay?"
"Why are you sorry? Wasn't your fault." I asked, grabbing a tissue out of my pocket and dabbing at the mess. "Think it's gonna mess up my skirt a bit though."
She peered down at it, and seeing the giant, white, if now slightly faded blob, she made a choked sound. "It looks like pigeon poop."
I grinned, laughing. "It does, actually!"
She coughed abruptly as I continued mopping at it, and I glanced at her. "You're trying not to laugh."
"Yep." She admitted, giggling.
We looked at the stain, and kept laughing together, for no apparent reason. I should have been grumpy. It was an expensive preppy skirt. I'd effectively ruined it. Yet the way she was trying to disguise the fact that she found it amusing made me laugh, as if she really cared enough to try not to hurt my feelings but still found it really funny. We laughed so hard the teacher told us to be quiet, a new experience for me.
The bell rang, and we stood up, tidying our books and laptops away. I smiled. "See you at lunch?"
She met my eye, and gratefulness shone deep in her face, before it was quickly masked. "That'd be great." She said warmly.
"See ya, Emily." I said brightly, and wandered away, with the bright fuzzy feeling you get when you make a new friend.
"That stain's still on the skirt." I informed her.
"What, you didn't throw it away?"
"No. I don't know why I haven't thrown it, I haven't worn it since that day."
She nodded, yawning, and pulled the towel tighter around her. "Are you cold?" I asked.
"A little. And tired, but that's nothing new."
Our eyes met with understanding. I put a hand onto her back. "Do you want to go home?"
"No." She said vehemently. "Anywhere but there."
"Okay." I agreed. "We can go chill in the car for a bit, get changed. It's warmer in there."
She slipped her legs off the rock, and stumbled towards the car, me following close behind with a careful arm propping and guiding her. She turned to me just as we reached it. "Remember the Lantern Festival?"
"Of course." I smiled. "Why?"
"Just thought of it now. On the subject of memories."
I helped her into the car, and found her clothes. "We had a good time then. The fireworks were amazing."
We'd wandered away from Hanna and Aria, who were busy cooing over a tree adorned with paper lanterns that fluttered in the breeze. The entire point of the festival was that it took place at night, and everyone had to bring a lantern. I was amazed at how familiar faces turned alien under the flickering lights, how colourful a dismal night could become. Emily and I had headed for the food stores, being starving teenage girls.
As we emerged from a stand, Emily chowing down on noodles, I pointed to the hill that soared far above the park that the festival was in. "Look, up there will be the perfect view for the fireworks. I'll text Hanna and Aria, they can meet us there."
Emily nodded, and grinning, grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the hill. We weaved our way through the crowds, with the occasional alarmed shout from annoyed people, plunging into the darkness above. We ducked behind a stand, leaping over electrical cords, feet scrabbling against the grass, running for no reason at all and loving every minute of it.
I could hear her laugh loudly, with the madness of it all, and I joined in, even as I tripped again and again in the dark. We fought our way up the hill, gripping at tussocks of grass and gasping for breath. Somehow her hand was still firmly holding mine. We finally arrived at the top, and I threw myself down, exhausted.
She followed, pulled down by me, still laughing. I poked her. "What's so funny?"
"We're crazy." She gasped.
"Crazy doesn't even begin to describe it." I smiled. "Why were we running?"
"I was running cause you were running."
"Well, that makes perfect sense, cause I was running cause you were running."
She chuckled again, even as she panted. "Okay, so we're also idiots."
"That is true." I smiled. "Despite the 3.7 GPA I recently-"
"Spencer." Emily said sharply, yet jokingly.
"Okay." I said mock-crying. "I guess you just don't appreciate my joy."
"Not when it's all you ever talk about."
"Hey!" I replied, slightly offended. "I talk about other things!"
"Oh, sorry, 3.7 GPA and Toby's penis size."
I gasped. "Emily!"
"By your obviously bais estimations, it should be the size of your average salami." She smirked.
I couldn't see in the dim light, so it was hard to find her cheek to slap it in retort. I ended up hitting her nose and she pushed me away, laughing loudly. I growled warningly at her. "Do that again and I'm chucking you off this hill, face-first."
"Rude." She sat up, jokingly shoving me. "Where are Hanna and Aria?"
I pulled out my phone, the light glowing underneath my face and illuminating Emily's. She looked spectral in the blue light, and she pulled a face dorkishly. "You look like a ghost."
"Can we not talk about ghosts right here on this creepy old hill?" I asked, opening the message.
Half-price at Hollister. We're very sorry but this kind of opportunity comes once in a lifetime.
-Hanna
"Don't tell me you're scared." Emily laughed. "I thought you were too scientific to believe in ghosts."
"It's a deep fear of all things supernatural ever since Melissa forced me to watch an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer when I was five. I've never been the same."
"Because Buffy is well known for being one of the scariest TV shows out there."
"The hill-chuck threat still stands, Fields." I retorted. "Hanna and Aria ditched to go shopping."
Emily looked incredulous. "At 9:30 at night?"
"The magnetic pull of Hollister on Hanna Marin does not weaken at night, evidently."
"Ugh!" Emily proclaimed. "She'll miss the fireworks."
"Who needs fireworks when you can have designer polos from a ridiculously over priced store, right?" I asked sarcastically.
"Hmph. You wanna light the lanterns?"
"Sure."
We'd agreed, Hanna, Aria, Emily and I, that we'd all buy lanterns and set them off to fly free at one particular place. The lanterns represented two things- a wish we desperately wanted to come true this year, and a worry. Our worries were all the same. Our wishes were completely different.
Emily pulled a lighter out of her bag. My eyes boggled. "You carrying that around with you normally?"
"You never know when you might need a lighter."
"If you're a pothead."
"Spencer, there have been emergencies where the lighter's come in handy."
"What's this? I seem to be trapped in a cage made up of marijuana! Lighter to the rescuuuue!"
"If you're gonna chuck me off the hill, I will burn you with this damn thing." She warned, and pulled the lantern out of her bag, admiring it.
Ours were both the same shades of bright orange, but we'd all added personal touches to it. Em's wish was to break her record at swimming. She'd carefully illustrated waves lapping around the lantern. Mine was to try and get excellent grades. I'd written words along the orange paper surface, all ones I'd tried to learn throughout the year for extra credit vocab. Hanna's had different clothing items drawn on it- her wish to stop shoplifting- and Aria's had copied versions of her sketches, as her wish was for her art to get recognized.
Emily flicked the lighter on, held it to her candle, and it sparked into life. I handed her mine and she did the same. We stood, gazing at the lights we held in our hands. "Let's hope these wishes come true." Emily said solemnly.
"And that the worry ends." I said grimly. "3, 2, 1..."
We lifted them into the air and watched them float up into the sky, until all we could see were two pinpricks of light. "That felt nice." Emily smiled. "Kind of liberating."
"Who'da thought it, lanterns make Emily Fields turn sappy."
"Shut up." Emily demanded, but as the fireworks began to peal and burn above our heads, she quietly leant her head onto my shoulder. "I hope this year is better than the last."
"Me too, Em." I whispered, finding her hand and squeezing it. "Me too."
By the time the memory had ended, and I'd been zapped back to reality, Em was changed and lying on my back seat comfortably. I returned to the car, smiling at her. "You can sleep there if you want. I'll drive somewhere nice."
She didn't reply, curled up with her eyes shut, so I swung myself into the front seat and headed off. I was hungry, so decided to drive back into town to go to a cafe. Emily didn't utter a word the entire trip. I tried to make conversation, but she simply didn't respond. I reasoned she was too tired, and so drove in silence.
Guilt was gnawing at my insides over the picture Toby had received. I hated that I'd kissed Wren, and I hated the memory of enjoying it. I hated that he wasn't replying to my calls, I hated that I couldn't stop thinking about him, I hated that it was all my fault. The entire situation was just shit.
I thought dark, angry thoughts as I drove, and I suppose that's why I didn't realize my phone was buzzing in the back seat. My mind was too preoccupied by the teenage angst that I didn't even notice it. Yet it must have woken Emily up. When I pulled over next to a cafe, I felt a hand tap my back. I twisted around and smiled at her. "Good nap?"
She didn't say anything, just handed me my phone. It had been unlocked- she knew my password. I frowned at her, then peered at the image on the screen.
It was A. It was always going to be A. "Just to replace that picture you lost... Tick tock, Spence. -A"
"It's an empty threat." I informed her. "They're trying to make me hurry up to get your diary. Whatever."
"How about you look at the attachment?" Emily whispered, ice cold.
I did. And my stomach dropped. It was the same photoshopped picture I'd found in my locker. I felt nauseous again, as I did every time I looked at it. "Ugh." I groaned. "A's sick sense of humour, Em, even though that one's particularly weird."
Emily said nothing, just watched me through her hooded eyes, giving me the chilling idea she was trying to see inside my head. "Why are you glaring at me? I didn't sit down with A and say 'hey, can you send that really creepy photoshopped picture of Em and I kissing, k thanks love you so much!'."
Still nothing. "Em, come on."
Tightened lips. "Look, I know it's bad and I'm sorry you had to see it."
A blink. "It's just A being creepy. Can we please ignore it?"
Swallow. "At least it's not a death threat."
Inhale. "Talk to me."
Exhale. "Em, it's not my fault."
Clenched jaw. "Why are you even... being like that?"
Another blink. I'd had enough. "Look, I'm going to go and grab something from the cafe. Stay here. I'll get you something."
No reply, but I knew that was going to happen. I stormed out of the car, slammed the door shut, and stomped into the cafe, ordering two massive Danishes and a decent coffee. I was so angry I couldn't think straight. My hands continually curled into fists. It wasn't my goddamn fault. I was embarassed enough about the photo as it was, and of course I'd be sensitive to whatever comment she made about it. The fact she seemed so outraged yet blank about in infuriated me. Why is she being that way?
Eventually, my temper cooled enough to go and collect the Danishes and coffee with a grim expression. If she was going to ignore me, I'd ignore her too. With set resolve, I set back to the car, popping open the door and looking into the back grumpily.
She wasn't there.
The door was shut, and she wasn't in the car.
Oh my God.
No, no, no Emily, please no...
Thank you all so much for reviewing! 117? :O absolutely amazing. I feel so popular. Lol JK only on the internet. Love you all, hope you appreciate the cliffhanger ;) -Elmo xx
