"Because my life was hell in Ravenswood, Em." I confess, unable to make eye contact with her. "And when I became popular here, I finally felt like everything was going to be okay again, but then I began getting texts." I can sense her tensing up as I say that, and I immediately regret admitting that I too am being targeted. "I've been so scared but I thought that if I did what they asked that it'd all be okay. I didn't think that they'd message you, but now they are and I'm so sorry Emily. I didn't want you to get hurt."
"Don't apologise, Alison." She orders, her voice seemingly angry as I look up into her big brown eyes. "What have they been saying to you? You need to tell me what's happening so we can stop this bitch together."
"You'd really help me?" I ask, choking back more tears. Fucking hell, this stalker is turning me into an emotional mess.
"Of course." Emily assures me, frowning as if unable to comprehend why I'd ever doubt that she would help me. She's so lucky that her trust has never been betrayed like mine, something that makes me feel even worse for getting her involved in this whole situation. "I would do anything for you, Ali, and-"
She stops talking when the bathroom door swings open and Mona walks in, smiling demurely.
"Mr Fitz wanted me to check on you." She tells us, awkwardly pulling down the hem of her skirt. "And also to tell you that this behaviour won't be accepted in any future lessons."
I roll my eyes and take a step back from Emily as I fiercely wipe my almost dry eyes with my shirt's sleeve.
"Thanks Mona." I sigh, motioning to Em to follow me as we leave the dork in the bathroom before she brings the picture up again; I want to forget the fact that she's seen it. That she's seen me like that.
We walk back into the lesson almost unnoticed; Ezra has the class debating over which Tender is the Night character is the least realistic or something when Mona walks in and the bell rings, signalling mid- morning break. We're all packing up and I go to leave with the girls when Mr Fitz calls out my name.
"Miss DiLaurentis." He repeats, provoking me to pause and turn around, my arms folded across my folder that I'm holding close to my chest. "I'd just like to talk to you for a moment."
I tell the girls that I'll meet them in our usual spot when I'm finished, and Mr Fitz steps closer towards me as soon as they've left the room.
"Listen here Alison" he sneers, a direct contrast to the gentle tone he'd adopted in front of the others. "You know what I can do, so you don't want to piss me off. My guess is that you don't want your little classmates to find out who you really are, so you better keep your whore mouth shut about what happened in Ravenswood; if you tell anyone about me then your pictures will go viral once again. "
"I won't tell anyone." I spit out bitterly, trying to disguise the fear that he produces in me. "You don't need to admit you're a sex offender just yet, don't worry."
He scoffs at me and turns away before shuffling through some papers on his desk.
"Have you spoken to CeCe yet?" this question catches me off guard so I don't manage to hide how puzzled I am by it, causing him to chuckle and smirk. "Of course not. You act like I'm some fucking monster, and sex offender my ass by the way; you're the one who threw yourself at me, but you don't even know the part she's played in your story."
I'm about to question what he means by this, remembering the brunette girl that CeCe told me entered her boutique, when our principal enters and asks to talk to Mr Fitz alone to see how his first lesson went. I've just started to walk outside to meet the girls, my head swimming with this new information and threat, when I feel my phone vibrating in my pocket. I pull it out and am met with a new -A threat:
Tut tut Alison. I guess you won't be the teacher's pet this year. -A
Sighing, I go to put it back in my pocket just as I receive another text.
Oh also, you shouldn't have told Emily that I've been talking to you too. Bad move, Alison. If you don't convince her to break up with Ben, then your pictures get sent to everyone. -A
Oh my God. As if I hadn't messed Emily around enough, now I have to act like a psychotic jealous cow. I force myself to walk over to our usual spot outside the cafeteria and, sure enough, the girls are already there. Spencer is sat by Aria and braiding one of the pink stripes in her hair and Hanna is picking at a little bowl of dried fruit, something that hugely contrasts the chocolate cookies she usually has for a morning snack, but Emily is sat bolt upright, biting her nails with her eyes darting around nervously. I walk over and sit down next to her, hoping blindly that she wasn't looking around for me; I hate the feeling that I'm making her feel on edge.
"Are you okay Alison?" Aria asks, sitting more upright, and I notice that she's wearing more eyeliner than she was this morning and that she's put on some red lipstick. "What did Mr Fitz want?"
"Um, just to tell me what I'd missed in the lesson." I lie, trying not to stutter. "Em, can I just talk to you for a minute please, sorry guys it's just private." As Emily nods and stands up, I notice the others exchanging confused glances but take Emily's hand and walk a few steps away from them. I lean against the building and try to muster up the strength to carry out the text's orders.
"Emily." I begin, heaving a huge sigh and trying to convince myself that this will benefit her in the long run, somehow. "You know you said you'd do anything for me?"
"Yeah?" I can tell that she knows something is wrong; she's leaning in towards me and looking around to check that nobody else is listening. "I love you Ali."
"I need you to break up with Ben." I blurt out, faster than I meant to, and I can feel my face going red.
I'm sorry this is shorter than usual but I have so much homework that it's all I have time for! :( I promise I'll make next week's a lot longer though (I'll aim for 2000 words?!) but I just really wanted to give you an update now instead of making you wait for another week. Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed last week and please comment if you liked this chapter or want some more/ you have any ideas about what should happen next! X
(Also it didn't post last week but my blog is myfavouriteobsessions/wordpress/com with . not / so please follow if you have time!)