A/N: Quick announcements. *taps mic* Is this thing on?
I'm hella humbled by the support in the reviews. I saw lots of questions. I see you all (and it makes my heart happy to see so many familiar faces/names). I promise you'll get answers as the story progresses. One thing I can answer definitively is something someone asked on Tumblr about the rating. I forgot to mention it in the first chapter, but the rating of this story is likely to change to M later on. I couldn't put that in the story description, as you're only given so many characters for the summary. So, yes, ya thirsty people askin...this fic isn't all PG. It's just going to be more subtle than my adult Emison fics. More in the vein of "In Her Eyes".
There were some questions about updates as well. I don't have a set schedule right now. I've got a lot happening. But I'll try to stay on top of it.
You may notice the ridiculously high word count for this chapter. It was initially two chapters, but I couldn't find the right place to break it, so it's much longer than the others.
Love hearing from everyone. I hope you're all taking care of yourselves. The world is in a crazy state right now. This thing is global, so I know everyone is feeling it. Stay safe and healthy.
Enjoy some medicine in the form of Pretty Little Liars and Emison. It can't cure anything, but hopefully it brings a little peace of mind for a little while.
Chapter 2:
A New Beginning
Emily spent the rest of her weekend unpacking boxes, which she thought was pointless. She was just going to be moving again after she graduated. Maybe even before. She didn't want to have to pack again.
Sunday night she was exhausted, but she couldn't sleep. She'd been suffering from insomnia since before the move. She couldn't relax. All she could do was stare at her ceiling and stress about her future. She'd really screwed up her shot at college by losing her swimming scholarship. Her mother had been giving her a lot of grief about it.
It's not like Emily didn't already have a lot of stress in her life. She didn't need her mother nagging her at every turn. She was trying really hard to make some semblance of a normal life for herself.
She could hear the distant sound of her parents talking in their room. Her dad was getting ready for his overnight shift. She couldn't hear what they were saying, but she knew they were talking about her. They were always talking about her.
She would have been the talk of the town if they'd stayed in Texas. Her junior year hadn't been easy. She'd been struggling to find a balance in her life, and living in a strict conservative home had made her feel like an outsider to her family. Over the summer she had come tumbling out of the closet to her mom and dad in the worst possible way.
She wasn't ashamed of who she was. But she also didn't go out of her way to tell people. She kept to herself. She had friends, but not in the sense that they were her closest confidants. She was friendly with people, but she wasn't friends with many people.
Not many people knew the real Emily Fields. She had secretly dated girls before she came out. But the first time she'd ever felt like herself was when she'd met Maya St Germain. She'd met her at jazz night at café during freshman year. She hadn't been able to take her eyes off of her during the band's set. The group was on the stage, but Maya was the only person she saw. She was mesmerizing when she played.
Maya had been flirtatious and funny. She'd forced Emily out of her comfort zone. Unfortunately, it wasn't far enough to push her out out. Emily had reservations about telling her parents. Maya understood at first, but became resentful the longer they had to keep it a secret.
Maya had been a bit of a rebel with a dangerous streak. Nothing too crazy at first. She dabbled in drugs and alcohol, and Emily went along for the ride. The highs made every touch seem hotter, every kiss seem more explosive.
But then one day, Maya's parents caught her doing drugs. She had been yanked out of Emily's life. Emily had felt like a rug had been pulled out from under her. Her heart ached in ways she didn't even know were possible. She felt alone even though she was surrounded by people.
She had other friends, but none of them knew about Maya. She kept others at enough distance so that she could keep her private life out of high school. The mysterious element to her personality only made her more popular.
Courtney hadn't liked that Emily had become popular, but instead of lashing out at her in a public setting she'd attacked her in a more intimate way. She'd always known how to hone in on people's weaknesses, and Emily was no exception. She'd earned her trust and then crushed it.
She'd been warm and receptive to her for weeks. She'd danced the line between friendly and flirtatious. It was confusing for Emily, because Courtney was with Nick. But Emily slowly lowered her guard.
Courtney had drawn her into a trap one day in the locker room after swim practice. All the other girls had already changed. Only Emily and Courtney remained.
Courtney had been glancing at Emily over her shoulder and smiling at her. She'd sauntered over to her in her towel and had asked Emily to help her get her bra on.
"It's hard to clasp in the back," she'd dangled the bra in front of Emily, as if she knew her secret, as if she knew everything about her.
She'd slipped it on her shoulders and dropped her towel, staring at Emily the entire time. She'd turned around, exposing her bare back to Emily, waiting for her to do as she was told.
Emily had felt conflicted about her emotions. She had never been attracted to Courtney, but she missed Maya so much. She'd been desperate to feel that feeling again.
She'd gently lifted Courtney's hair away from her back, her fingertips sweeping the hot skin on the back of her neck.
Her hands shook the entire time she fiddled with Courtney's bra. Courtney had turned around once Emily had clasped it. Their faces had been inches apart.
The kiss had happened so quickly that Emily didn't realize their lips were connected until she felt Courtney grasping her cheek. Courtney had initiated it, but Emily couldn't pull away.
Which is exactly what Courtney had wanted.
Courtney had parted her lips and broken the kiss. When Emily looked at her she saw a cold dark gleam in her eyes. Her face was rigid. She'd had a steely gaze and a wicked grin on her face. She'd laughed maniacally.
"Stay in your own lane, bitch."
Then she'd walked away, leaving Emily feeling vulnerable and confused.
The next day at swim practice Courtney had waited for the other girls to finish. She knew that Emily would stay late. Because she always stayed late. So when Emily was finished with rounds Courtney surprised her as she was getting ready to get out of the pool.
She'd grasped Emily's head and shoulders, digging her fingernails into her shoulder as she dunked her under the water. She'd held her there until Emily couldn't breathe. She'd come up sputtering, her lungs burning. She'd glared angrily at Courtney, but Courtney had just laughed at her.
"You're a freak of nature, Fields. Consider this your Baptism."
Courtney had started to walk away, but Emily's temper flared. She'd pulled herself out of the pool and tackled Courtney. She'd pinned her against the ground, slamming her wrists down and holding her in place.
She didn't hit her. She'd just stared at her, both of them breathing heavy. Courtney's gaze was empty. Emily easily could have beat the shit out of her, but she knew that Courtney was trying to get a rise out of her. She knew that Courtney was trying to get her in trouble. She'd wanted to get her thrown off the swim team. She'd wanted to make her a social pariah. Emily wasn't going to give her the satisfaction.
She'd lifted her weight off of Courtney and stood up. Courtney didn't move. She just watched Emily carefully.
Emily had started boxing after that. It had helped with some of her anger. Courtney hadn't messed with her after that day. In a way, Courtney had been impressed that Emily had stood up to her. She had discovered that Emily was just as dangerous as she was.
Emily had been expecting rumors to swirl after her family moved so quickly. They'd practically packed up overnight and shipped out. People liked to talk. She wondered what they were saying.
No one knew the truth.
At least, she didn't think anyone knew. But things took a weird turn when she got a message from an unknown number that night.
The screen of her phone flickered to life around midnight.
New town. Same secrets. You can run, but you can't hide.
There was a picture of her house attached. It had been taken from her front yard.
Emily stumbled out of bed and rushed towards the window. She scanned the yard for movement, but didn't see anything. She opened the window to see if she could hear anything, but the streets were quiet. The only sound she heard was the sound of her pulse in her ears.
After a few minutes she closed the window. She glanced at Alison's house. Her bedroom light was off. Normal people were asleep at this hour.
She walked back over to her bed and plopped down, staring at her phone, staring at the image of her house. She wasn't sure what to make of the message. It felt juvenile. It felt like something Courtney would do.
She refused to be back in that pool, drowning. She refused to play the victim again. She would to do this bully what she'd done to Courtney. She would show them she wasn't afraid.
She hit "delete", taking control of the situation. She wasn't sure who it was, and she didn't care. Because no matter what they claimed to know, there was no way they knew anything about her life.
She put her phone away and laid in bed, fighting to get to sleep.
She woke up a few hours later at 3 AM. She stared at the ceiling for almost an hour before she decided to get up and get ready for her senior year. She threw on a pair of jeans, a black tank top and her leather jacket, which she'd only bought after being assured that it wasn't real leather.
By 5, she was on her way to town. She wasn't sure if anything would be open, but she wanted to find something for breakfast. She rode by a coffee shop called The Brew, which she found ridiculously cliché and bougie. But it looked like it was the only place open. So she pulled up outside, parked, and went inside.
She saw a preppy blonde girl at the counter wearing designer threads. She walked up behind her, thinking that it was Alison. The blonde giggled and said something to the young barista behind the counter. She gripped his work shirt and pulled him in for a kiss.
"Can't you just take a five minute break?" As soon as the girl spoke, Emily realized it wasn't Alison.
But the voice sounded familiar.
"I've got other customers." The shaggy-haired boy nodded his head towards Emily.
"By all means…don't stop on my account," Emily said. "I can wait five minutes for my bagel. Go find a supply closet. Do what you've got to do. Just make sure you wash your hands afterwards."
The girl spun around. Emily recognized her immediately. The blonde didn't look anything like she had when she was a kid. She'd been awkward when she was younger. She'd had braces and had worn woolly kitty sweaters. But she'd outgrown that. She'd lost all of her baby fat and she'd developed a keen sense of fashion.
"Hanna Marin, is that you?"
Hanna Marin was a force to be reckoned with. She had been very shy in kindergarten, but after her father walked out on Hanna and her mother she'd started acting out in class. She was very sweet, but she also demanded a lot of attention from the people around her.
It took Hanna a few seconds to register where she knew her from. Her face brightened in surprise.
"Emily!" She closed the space between them and wrapped her arms around the brunette. "Oh my God, it's so good to see you."
There was something comforting about coming back to Rosewood and seeing old familiar faces. She felt like she still belonged. She felt like she fit in in ways that she hadn't in Texas or California.
Hanna squealed and then faced the boy behind the counter.
"Caleb, this is Emily!"
"I heard." Caleb chuckled.
"This is my boyfriend, Caleb."
"I heard." Emily extended her hand. "Emily Fields."
"Caleb Rivers." He shook her hand. "Can I take your order, Emily Fields?"
"Plain toasted bagel."
"Anything to drink?"
"I'll just take a regular decaf."
"What kind of psycho drinks decaf?" Hanna made a face.
"I don't do caffeine." Emily shrugged. Hanna eyed her suspiciously, like she was going to burst into flames and fall into hell. "I have enough trouble sleeping as it is."
"I don't know how you survive without it." Hanna linked her arm through Emily's, as if they were still best friends in second grade. It was like no time had passed. She walked her towards a booth. "So, tell me everything. Where have you been? What have you been up to?"
"Uh…can I get my coffee first?" Emily yawned.
"Why? It's not like decaf is going to wake you up." Hanna sat down in the booth.
"Fair point." She sat down across from Hanna. "I moved for my dad's job. We were in California for a bit."
"God, I am so jealous. I'd love to go to Cali." She threw her head back and sighed. "What was it like? Was it amazing?"
"It's okay."
"Spoken like a true Californian." Hanna rolled her eyes. "Typical West Coaster. Don't know how good you have it. Beaches and fun."
"Wildfires and earthquakes."
"Well, I mean, every state has its drawbacks, I guess."
"We went to Texas after that."
"Wow, talk about a culture shock. Howdy, pardner."
"Why does everyone always jump right to 'howdy'?" Emily chuckled. "Texas is more than that. I learned more Spanish when I was there than Texan."
"Every state is fair game. People get to make fun of quakers however they feel fit…"
"I have never run into anyone who even remembers that Pennsylvania is a state. Except for during football season when everyone is ranting about the Steelers."
"Steelers are complete trash." Caleb walked up to the table carrying Emily's order.
"Case and point." Emily pointed as Caleb put the bagel and coffee down in front of her. "You must not be from around here. Saying that in this state is liable to get you killed."
"I've bounced around a lot."
"He's dealt with some really bad foster homes." Hanna elaborated. "His case worker is a real piece of shit."
"I only have to deal with her for another eight months. After I age out, I can do my own thing."
"Explains why you're working at the ass crack of dawn at a coffee shop." Emily took a bite of her bagel.
"Keeps me busy. It's better than going back to juvie."
"What did they pinch you for?" Emily asked.
"I'm a hacker. Turns out the government only likes hackers they can control. Go figure." He glanced at Emily's cup. "You want sugar or cream?"
"No, thanks. I'll take it black."
"Ugh, why?" Hanna looked disgusted.
"Just drink your non-fat skinny double frappe-whatever and leave my decaf alone." Emily picked her drink up and took a sip.
Caleb snickered and looked at Hanna.
"I like her."
"Go make yourself useful and clean something." Hanna scowled.
Caleb grinned smugly at his girlfriend and then walked back towards the counter. Emily turned towards Hanna again.
"He seems nice."
"He's an asshole. But I love him."
"How long have you two been together?" Emily asked.
"Three years." They watched as Caleb restocked some of the baked goods behind the glass. "He works hard. He does this and he does some side gigs tech-wise, too. He's saving up. He really wants to get out on his own."
"I know that feeling." Emily faced Hanna again. It was so weird to be sitting across the table from Hanna Marin. She looked so grown up. "I'm staying with my parents through the end of the school year, but then I'm going to get a place of my own. I'm checking out apartments this weekend."
"You and Caleb should look into sharing a place. Could help with the cost."
Emily was surprised by the suggestion. It wasn't usually customary for a girlfriend to push her boyfriend to live with another girl.
"You're not worried about the two of us alone together?" Emily questioned.
"Oh, please. I know you don't bat for his team," Hanna said it so casually, especially given that Emily hadn't been out when she lived in Rosewood before.
Emily was surprised Hanna knew. Then again, maybe she'd always known. Maybe it's why she'd dared her and Alison to kiss when they were kids.
"Besides, I would cut his nuts off for cheating and he knows it. But you can make sure none of the desperate house-sluts try to make a move on him. You look like you can throw a punch." She glanced at Emily's biceps. They were toned from boxing and swimming.
"I can. And as much as I would love being your boyfriend's muscle, I kind of just want a place of my own." Emily's forehead creased in thought. "How did you know I'm not into guys?"
"Because there hasn't ever been one girl in this town who hasn't noticed Caleb. You just looked at him like he was a coffee boy."
"He is a coffee boy."
"Yeah, but he's a hot coffee boy." Hanna waved to Caleb.
"Did you know when we were younger?" Emily questioned curiously.
"What? About the gay thing?" Hanna asked. "I suspected."
"I was that obvious with Alison, huh?"
"Honey, we were all a little gay for Alison DiLaurentis. Bitch or not, she was hot."
"Still is." Emily smiled. It was so refreshing to sit and talk to someone who didn't care that she liked girls. Hanna just rolled with it.
"I guess." Hanna looked like she wanted to say more, but instead she just sipped on her coffee. "Are you out, or should I keep my mouth shut? Because I don't want to push you into the rainbow limelight by accident…"
"It's fine." Emily held her hands up with a laugh. She was picturing Hanna driving a pride float with glitter and flashing rainbows pointing directly at her. "I'm not going to roll up to school in flashy lights or anything, but I'm not hiding it. My parents know. And it's fine if people in town find out." She'd spent too much time hiding in the closet. And she didn't want to go backwards. "Speaking of, tell me what I've missed. What's going on in Rosewood these days?"
"Let's see…" Hanna tapped her coffee cup, pretending that she wasn't dying to share the gossip. "Bridgette Wu is in rehab. She crashed her daddy's very expensive car after getting totally trashed at a party. And Andrew Campbell got caught selling test answers for cash. It was a whole thing. Took Noel Kahn down with him. But Noel is Rosewood's star lacrosse player, so they gave him a slap on the wrist. Cuz that's America for you." She scoffed. "Rumor has it that he has a little 'habit'." She tapped on her arm. "To keep up with the sports demands."
"I bet that makes him pleasant to be around." Emily rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, he's a jerk. Oh, you remember Melissa Hastings, Spencer's big sister? She got married, but her husband turned out to be psycho. They're not together anymore."
"Divorce?" Emily guessed.
"No. He's dead. Got so drunk he passed out in a barn. Fell three stories on to a pitchfork. Fitting for a man who was basically the devil. Turns out he was creeping on Spencer behind Melissa's back. God, the men in this town are such scum."
"Good thing I don't bat for their team."
"I thought about swinging a little myself after what my ex did to me. You remember Sean Ackard from grade school?"
"Yeah."
"He tried to cheat on me with Aria Montgomery."
"Aria?" Aria had been one of the most loyal people in Rosewood as far as Emily could remember. "I thought you two were friends."
"We are. She slapped him and told him never to kiss her again. I couldn't be mad at her. He made the move on her. She told him no. And at the end of the day I trust her more than I trust him. Chicks before dicks, right?"
"Yeah." Or at least a variation of it without dicks. "Wow. So, preacher's boy was a ho, huh?"
"It doesn't bother me. I've got Caleb." She looked across the coffee shop. He was walking towards them with something from the bakery. "I actually met him in the police station. I'd been detained for shoplifting. My mom bribed my way out of it. While she was…bribing…I met Caleb in the lobby. We really hit it off."
"What a cute meet-cute to tell the kids." Emily laughed.
"We are years from that. She's high maintenance enough for the both of us already." Caleb put a scone down in front of Hanna. He had a crooked smile on his face.
"Yo, Rivers!" A shaggy haired kid walked out of the kitchen and up to the counter. "Sabrina and I need some help back here."
"You're needed in the kitchen with the other women. Don't forget to tie your apron up nice and tight." Hanna gave him a hard time.
The kid behind the counter snorted out a laugh.
"I'm going to go get a platter, you know…for your balls to be served on." The kid grinned.
"It was a shot at you, too, Montgomery." Caleb rolled his eyes.
"Make sure there is room on that platter for your dignity, Mike. Aria tells me you still sleep with a nightlight." Hanna defended her boyfriend.
Mike and Caleb walked through a set of swinging doors back into the bakery area.
"That was Aria's little brother?" Emily gawked. The last time she'd seen him he had been running around in diapers.
"He glowed up, right?" Hanna smiled. "He used to be such a dweeb. He moved to Iceland with his family when he was a freshman and came back after a year and he was like…whoa. I didn't even recognize him. Aria either. They both looked so different. The only thing that didn't change is that Mike is still a dork at heart. He's all puppy-dog in love with Mona Vanderwaal." She picked up the scone Caleb had brought her. "So, are you seeing anyone?"
"I literally just got back to town. I'm good, but I'm not that good."
"What about back in Texas?"
Emily felt her body tense up at the mention of it. Her toes curled inside her combat boots.
"Well, that's not a good look." Hanna didn't miss the discomfort on her face. "I guess it ended badly?"
It had been years and Hanna could still call her out. It was a talent.
"Sort of." Emily nodded. "But that's in my past. I'm more interested in catching up with everyone here in town." She played with the stirring stick in her coffee and then glanced at Hanna, trying to remain casual. "Do you still hang out with Alison?"
"And risk burning myself when she bursts into flames?" Hanna snorted. "That girl would devour my head and feed my carcass to her legion of demons. The devil doesn't wear Prada. She wears Gucci."
Emily wasn't surprised at Hanna's hostility, especially considering Toby had warned her about Alison. But the blonde seemed to be different with her. Maybe that elementary school kiss had meant something to her.
"She can't be that bad."
"I've heard if you say her name seven times while looking in a mirror she appears and insults your whole family." Hanna took a sip of her coffee.
"I thought you two might be friends since you were at her birthday sleepover. It's the last big party I really remember before I moved away."
"We were never friends. She only invited me to that so she could leave out my 'loser friends'…her words, not mine. It made them feel like crap. I mean, it was all typical mean girl bullshit. And I'm an asshole for playing into it, but I was so lost after my dad left. I was so desperate to be seen that I would have sold my soul to be her friend. When you're young being popular seems like such a fairytale. But I've grown."
"So…you're not popular?"
"Bitch, I made my own popularity. People may not worship me like they worship Alison, but they still kneel in my presence."
"I see you're still as humble as ever."
"I own who I am." Hanna didn't apologize.
Emily respected that.
"I can see that."
They chatted and ate their breakfast. After about ten minutes Caleb poked his head out from the kitchen.
"Han, c'mon."
"He's about to go on break." Hanna put her napkin on the table. "I've got to…"
"Yeah. Go do your thing. I'll see you at school." She stood up. "Be safe." She teased.
"I've been on the pill for like two years." Hanna reached in her pocket and pulled out a vial of lip gloss.
"I meant tell Caleb to wash his hands before he starts serving customers again, but that's good, too." Emily laughed.
"It was so great to see you, Em." Hanna smiled. "I'm really glad you're back."
"It's good to see you, too."
Hanna waved as she skipped towards her boyfriend. She seemed genuinely happy, and Emily loved seeing that. She finished up her breakfast.
Emily looked around at the empty café and wondered if it was customary for the workers to just disappear and give the customers a chance to dine and dash. Or maybe Rosewood was more wholesome than she remembered.
Then she thought about the deviant preacher's kid and the creepy guy who got drunk and died in a barn and she decided that no matter how innocent the place looked…there were still clearly some deep dark secrets circulating the town. Maybe even dark enough to spawn some creep to send her threatening text messages.
She left cash on the table to cover for her breakfast and for Caleb's tip. She took a quick pit stop to the bathroom and then headed towards the front door.
"Excuse me?" She felt someone's hand on her shoulder.
She turned around and saw a pretty young blonde smiling at her. She looked at her nametag.
Sabrina.
What was it about blondes in this town gravitating towards her? Was she emitting a certain pheromone?
"About your bill…"
"Oh, I left cash on the table." Emily pointed, but when she looked it was gone.
She looked at Sabrina again and noticed that she had the cash in her hand.
"It's taken care of." Sabrina tried to hand the money back to Emily.
"That's…um…" Was Sabrina trying to flirt with her? "You don't have to do that…"
"Wish I could take credit, but this was all Hanna. She said she felt bad about bailing on you."
Emily politely smiled, taking the money back. She pulled a five out.
"I still want to leave something for Caleb."
She knew what it felt like to desperately want to get away from home. And it sounded like he had it way worse than she did.
"Cool. I'll put it in his tip jar."
"Thanks."
"Hey, I overheard you talking to Hanna about finding an apartment. What exactly are you looking for?"
"I don't know yet. Something quiet. Easily accessible. Safe."
"My building is getting ready to shift some tenants." She grabbed a card from the counter and wrote her address down. "Pricing is pretty fair."
"Appreciate the help." She put the card in her back pocket. "I'll see you around."
She felt better after she walked out of the café. She felt like she could at least try to get a plan in motion for the upcoming year. She just needed a steady income. She was going to go by the gym and talk to Toby about getting a job there.
It was overwhelming to have so many changes happening at once. But at the same time, she had a fresh start.
o ~ O ~ o
When Emily pulled into the school parking lot she realized how small the school was in comparison to her high school in Texas.
There were already several cars in the parking lot, so as she was walking in she didn't see the car that had been on her street last night. She didn't see the person behind the wheel watching her as she disappeared into the building.
Emily stopped by the front office to get her schedule. She had to survive a tour by a student who looked like he would rather be anywhere else. He wasn't very enthusiastic about the school. But she thanked him for his time anyway.
She hurried off to homeroom.
The bell went off the second she opened the door. She was afraid that the teacher was going to give her hell. But the raven-haired woman behind the desk just smiled at her and told her to find a seat. Emily saw the name "Mrs. Montgomery" written in neat handwriting on the board. And it dawned on her that she knew the woman. It was Aria's mother, Ella.
The town just seemed to get smaller and smaller. It's like she already knew everyone. She wondered if they would remember her as the sweet little girl who had never gotten in trouble. She wasn't that little girl anymore.
She spent her first class trying to lie low. She saw a few familiar faces, but there wasn't much time for them to chat during class.
She saw Alison in her second period Econ class and they smiled at one another. Alison pointed to her phone. Emily looked at the front of the classroom, where the teacher was writing "Coach Wilden" on the board.
Emily frowned. She'd had coaches as teachers before, and most of the time they phoned it in.
She pulled out her phone. She saw a new message from Alison.
Hey Purple-Hair-Don't-Care. You stalking me?
Emily smiled as she typed her reply.
It's only stalking if you don't know I'm doing it. Besides, you're the one who followed me into town this weekend.
She saw Alison look at her phone and smirk. She glanced at Emily and then looked at her phone again and started swiping on her keyboard,
Nice jacket. The washed up rock stars from the 70s called. They want their style back.
Emily didn't miss a beat,
The movie Mean Girls called. They want their insults back.
Alison started to laugh, but quickly stifled it. A few of the kids sitting around her heard it and looked up at her. She shot them all dirty looks and they quickly went back to minding their own business.
Wilden started talking about something business related that no one was paying attention to. Alison rolled her eyes and looked at her phone again.
God, this is going to be the loooongest semester ever. So glad you're here to help pass the time.
Haha, you like me.
Shut up.
Alison stared at her screen and waited for Emily to respond. She didn't see the teacher glaring at her. He cleared his throat.
"Miss DiLaurentis, don't make me confiscate it. Put it up."
"That's what his girlfriend said before she left him." Alison snickered underneath her breath.
Some of the students laughed. Emily wasn't one of them. The cheap shot had made her think about what Hanna had told her in the café. But Emily still believed there was more to Alison than what was on the surface.
Wilden narrowed his eyes and shot Alison an angry look. Emily saw her shrink into her seat. She saw a subtle change in Alison's body language.
He looked at Emily, staring her down. He looked at her hair and shook his head to himself, like "what self-respecting parent would let their kid do that?"
Apparently punk rock hair was something worth talking about in Rosewood. It was all people saw when they looked at Emily. She didn't mind. She knew she was going to have to get used to the stares and the judgment.
When the bell rang she was going to walk out with Alison, but Wilden insisted that Alison stay after class. He loudly announced that they needed to talk about her behavior and told the other students they were free to go. Alison did not look happy. Emily felt strange about leaving her behind.
She dashed through the hallway, trying to navigate all the other students doing the same. Several kids were digging through their lockers trying to switch out their books before the warning bell rang. Others were just gunning it for their next class. Emily got to her third period with two minutes to spare.
She grabbed her phone to see if Alison had texted her after she got out of the doghouse. But she only had one message. It wasn't from Alison.
She stared at the familiar number she'd deleted a few months ago.
How are you? How was the move?
She still felt terrible about the way she'd ended things. She knew it was shitty to become a ghost, but it's what she had to do.
She didn't have it in her heart to hit 'block'. Instead she just closed out of the message and put her phone away. She tried to bury herself in her schoolwork.
When she walked into the cafeteria at lunchtime the first thing she did was look around for familiar faces. There was one face in particular she wanted to see.
Fortunately, fate was in her favor. As she was checking out with her food she saw the blonde sitting on a tabletop talking to two girls with dark hair. At second glance Emily realized they were twins. There were people sitting in chairs around the table hanging on her every word. Alison was carrying herself completely differently than she had been in Econ.
Alison saw her and waved her over. Emily maneuvered through the crowded lunchroom.
"This is the girl I was telling you about." Alison motioned to Emily.
"She doesn't look that hard knock." One of the twins wasn't impressed.
"Are you really in a biker gang?" The other one was skeptical, too.
Emily could see that the girls were clinging to Alison's popularity and didn't like the new challenger in their midst.
"Ignore Cindy and Mindy. They share one brain cell that was split at birth." Alison shot the girls dirty looks. "I was just telling them about how fearless you are."
"Yeah, but you haven't asked her to prove it yet." The first twin frowned.
"I'm getting to that." Alison waved at her to be quiet.
"To what?" Emily asked in confusion.
"You look cool, but can you prove it?" The second twin asked.
"What exactly do you want me to do? Walk up to the biggest person in the joint and punch them in the face?" Emily bit sarcastically.
"Even better." Alison lifted her brows as she reached into her bookbag. She pulled out three tiny realistic looking fake spiders. "You see those two losers over there?"
She motioned to a petite brunette in glasses sitting with Mike Montgomery. Emily didn't like where this was going. She didn't like this side of Alison. Hanna had warned her. She just didn't want to believe it. She didn't want to deal with another Courtney.
"Loser Mona is terrified of spiders. And Skidmark will live up to his name if he sees them." Alison handed the spiders to Emily.
Emily looked at Mona and Mike and then she looked back at Alison. She had too much integrity to do something like that. It made her wonder what Alison would say about her if she knew her secrets.
"Why would I do that?" It was stupid and juvenile and mean.
The twins laughed, tiny creepy lilting giggles that sounded like something out of a horror film. That's what they reminded her of. The twins in The Shining.
"Told you she was poser." The second twin said. "The hair is trying too hard."
"Shut it, Mindy." Alison spun towards her in anger.
"I'm not trying to be anything." Emily tossed the fake spiders back at Alison. "And I'm not going to play these dumb games."
Alison looked panicked that she'd said no.
"Come on. Just do it." There was a hidden desperation in her expression, like if Emily didn't pass this "test" she couldn't be her friend. And it felt really immature.
Emily felt a connection to the blonde, and she couldn't ignore it. But she wasn't going to stoop to her level. If Alison wanted to be a part of her life she would rise above her petty bullshit.
Emily looked over at Mona and Mike. She felt a strong urge to protect the defenseless. Not that Mike and Mona were defenseless. She just didn't like to see anyone being picked on. She flippantly waved to the group of catty bitches and turned to walk away.
"I'll catch you later, Ali."
Alison watched, completely stunned that Emily had just ditched her. No one ditched Alison DiLaurentis.
Emily walked over to the table where Mike and Mona were sitting. Mike's face was buried in his phone.
"This seat taken?" she asked.
Mona looked up and rolled her eyes.
"Does she have you throwing spiders at me or dumping a smoothie on Mike's head?" she asked.
"Neither." Emily shrugged.
Mona sized Emily up. She wasn't sure she trusted her. She didn't know her. But she knew Alison.
"You might want to keep walking. If Alison and her goonies see you with me your life is going to be a living hell."
"Alison DiLaurentis doesn't scare me." Emily put her tray down. She looked at Aria's brother. "Hey, Mike."
"Hey." He recognized her from the café.
Mona watched the exchange curiously. There was a hint of jealousy in her eyes.
"Mike and I ran into each other this morning. I used to hang out with his sister when we were kids," Emily said.
"She's the girl I was telling you about. The one who came by The Brew." Mike took a bite of his pizza.
"Oh, the girl with the bike." Mona nodded. She relaxed into her seat. "Yeah, Hanna texted that there was a new girl in town."
Emily extended her hand. She smiled to let Mona know she was just being friendly.
"Emily." She kept her gaze fixed on Alison, who looked both pissed off and impressed.
"Mona." Mona shook her hand. "Hanna said you were kind of a badass, but I didn't think you'd commit social suicide on the first day of school for us."
"Nothing is going to come of it."
"You don't know Alison."
"Maybe. Maybe not."
"Hanna will be mad she missed this. She loves seeing Alison stewing in her own rage." Mike snickered.
"She skipped lunch today to hang with Caleb in study hall. They like to spend as much time alone as they possibly can." Mona poured a blended juice into a disposable cup.
"I think it's kind of cute." Mike grinned with a stupid look on his face. He looked like a dopey puppy. When he smiled it reminded Emily of Aria.
"Yeah, it would be…" Mona stirred her drink with her straw, "…if they weren't still in the honeymoon phase after two years."
"So, Mike, how is Aria?" Emily asked. "I haven't seen her yet."
"She's good. I think she paid someone off so she wouldn't have the same lunch as I do. Don't blame her though. I was kind of attached to her at the hip when we did our year abroad. She's sick of me now." Mike leaned back in his chair. He looked comfortable despite the fact that he knew others thought he was a loser.
"What about Spencer Hastings? Haven't seen her either," Emily said.
"Spencer and I are on the debate team together. She's…Spencer." Mona clearly wanted to say more, but she didn't have to. Her tone said it all.
"She's intense." Mike uttered under his breath.
Emily smiled. That sounded like the Spencer she remembered.
Alison watched them from across the cafeteria, her face hot in rage. It wasn't that Emily had defied her, or that she'd defied her in front of a crowd. It was that Emily was talking to another girl…a girl who wasn't her. And it was Mona "Loser" Vanderwaal.
She'd never been jealous before. She'd never cared enough to be jealous.
It pissed her off that she couldn't break through her walls. She'd looked at Emily's social media, but her accounts were private. And she didn't want to seem desperate, so she hadn't sent her a request.
Now she'd screwed it up before she even had a chance to get to know her.
She had to fix it. But she didn't know how. What did people do when they were sorry for things? Send flowers? Candy? An "I'm sorry I was an insensitive jerk" card? Did those even exist?
When lunch was over Alison tried to follow Emily into the hallway, but she lost her in a sea of students.
Emily and Mona had the same Trig class, so they walked together. Hanna, Spencer, and Aria were in the class, too.
Aria squealed when she saw Emily. She leaped up out of her chair and ran over and wrapped her arms around her.
"It's so good to have you back!"
Aria looked exactly the same as Emily remembered, down to her height. She had always been on the small side, but her personality and her heart were huge. Her jet black hair was cut into choppy layers with a single pink streak tucked behind her right ear. Aria's parents were probably the kind of parents that celebrated and encouraged her differences. They had, after all, upended their lives and up and moved to Iceland with them for a year.
"You look great, Aria." Emily smiled. "How was Iceland?"
"It was amazing. I can't wait to tell you all about it."
Spencer walked up behind Aria. She still looked like Spencer, but taller and with longer hair. She'd grown into her limbs. She was pretty in a very natural way. She would be the kind of girl Emily would be into if it wasn't for the fact that she was painfully straight.
"Hey, Em." They moved in for an awkward 'I know we haven't seen each other in years, but I've been taught that it's polite to hug your friends' kind of motion. "How have you been?"
"You know. Same old." Emily shrugged as they pulled away from their hug. "You?"
"Same."
"I'm glad you're in this class. I'm not always great with equations and I hear you're kind of a genius in this stuff."
"And in every other subject known to man." Hanna snorted.
"Yeah, Spence could probably teach Trig to you in French." Aria smiled.
"That sounds like actual torture." Emily laughed.
"School is actual torture." Hanna reminded her.
Emily smiled. She felt her circle of friends getting larger by the minute. But she felt like someone was missing. She knew none of the girls liked Alison, but she liked her, despite her display in the cafeteria.
She didn't see Alison again until her last class of the day. Alison raised her hand and waved, a small wave that looked like the hopeful beginnings of a truce.
Emily smiled back, but didn't say anything to her. She buried herself in getting to know the fundamentals of English Literature.
When the class was over students couldn't bolt out of the room fast enough.
The first day of school was officially over.
Emily packed up her things and started to walk out of the classroom. Alison quickly followed her into the hallway.
"Hey, Emily…can I talk to you?"
"Depends. Are you going to ask me to put Nair in Mike's shampoo bottle?"
"Look, back there at lunch…that was…I'm sorry. Sometimes I take things too far. And I'm sorry."
"What do you like about me?" Emily asked. "That I'm new? You think I'm impressionable? You want another minion?"
"No!" Alison huffed defensively. "Look, I said I was sorry, okay? I was just…" She seemed genuinely flustered, "I had a really crappy morning. Wilden was…" Her face hardened. "He was just a real dick about me using my phone in class. And it put me in a bad mood."
Emily saw a sincere look of uneasiness on her face. And it made her feel sorry for Alison.
"Sorry you got in trouble."
"Yeah." Something in her tone shifted. "He's a real piece of work. Always has been. He used to come around with my brother and he was a jackass back then, too. He's a real macho jerk. I think he's trying to recapture his youth vicariously through his lacrosse team. He doesn't give a shit about anyone who doesn't wear a jersey."
"I get it. I had a few coaches as teachers back in Texas. Some were okay, but most of them were only on the payroll to scream at athletes on the field."
"He really hates me. I had him last year, too. I wanted to transfer out, but then I saw that you were in the class…" She looked at Emily, her cheeks reddening. It was hard for Emily not to smile when she saw her let her guard down. "I know it's no excuse for the way I behaved."
"It's not me you should be apologizing to." Emily stopped at the doorway that led to the parking lot. She opened it for Alison.
"I know, but I still feel like a bitch for putting you in that position. Give me a chance to make it up to you?" Alison asked. "Please?"
They walked a few feet. Emily stopped at the curb.
"All right." Emily reached into her pocket for her keys. "Text me later."
"You heading home?"
"Nope. I've got to see a man about a job." She waved to Alison.
"Is that a metaphor?" Alison asked in confusion.
"Goodbye, Ali." Emily smiled.
Alison watched her walk away. She couldn't help but stare at her ass. Emily knew she was looking, but she didn't give her the satisfaction of turning around and catching her in the act.
o ~ O ~ o
Emily hadn't seen Toby in school, so she rode over to the gym to see if maybe he had gone straight there after classes let out. She found him at the front desk.
"Hey." Emily waved. "Missed you at school today."
"Yeah, I only do half days. I'm doing an independent work study that counts towards my credits. Don't want to spend any more time there than I have to." Toby pushed an accounting book aside. "So, how was your first day back?"
"It's high school." Emily put her helmet down. "Got a favor to ask."
"Shoot."
"I want to renegotiate our bet." Emily leaned against the counter.
"All sales final." Toby leaned forward, resting his elbows against the counter.
"Just hear me out. Instead of a free membership for six months, what if I earn that membership by working here…for a small fee of course."
"You want a job?"
"If you want to call it that. I assume employees get a pretty good discount." She smiled.
When she smiled the whole world usually succumbed to her whim. But Toby just gave her a hard time. Because he was Toby. And she was Emily. And even though they hadn't seen each other in years, it was who they were.
"So…you now not only want me to give you free access, but you want to get paid for this free access?"
"Please, Toby? I really need a job. I'm trying to save up for my own place. I've got enough for rent for a while, but I need to make sure that I have a steady income."
"Didn't you just move here with your parents? And you're already looking to move again?" He asked. "What's the matter, new kid? Not fitting in on the block? Is Alison already chasing you out of town?"
"Actually, I had a really good talk with her Saturday. Ran into her at school today. She's a little prickly, but she seems nice."
"Yeah, so does a hyena before it rips off your arm." Toby scoffed. "She's not a good person, Em. She uses people. And she's mean." He frowned. "You remember when my mom was starting to get sick and she was forgetting things and sleeping all the time?"
"Yeah."
"Alison made fun of her. Said she was lazy and dumb."
"That's a crappy thing to do." Emily frowned. It didn't surprise her, not after what she'd seen today.
"The worst part is that she was so friendly before that happened. She acted like she really liked me. Then she saw my mom during one of her lows and she was a real bitch about it." He cringed and then added, "Sorry, I know it's not PC, and it's anti-feminist to call women that word, but…"
"No, it's totally justified in this case." Emily wasn't going to call him on it. "How is your mom?"
The second she asked she saw his stature change. She knew the answer to the question before he responded. She regretted asking.
He leaned back and folded his arms across his chest.
"She…uh…she died a few years ago." He swallowed hard. "Threw herself off of a balcony when she was in the mental hospital."
"I'm so sorry." Emily wanted to say more, but she could tell that it was making Toby uncomfortable.
The pain was still very fresh, and Emily could see it.
"It's okay." Toby saw a guy walking up behind Emily. He waved.
Emily turned around and saw a dark haired teen lugging a gym bag. He was tall and brawny. He waved to Toby and then turned to Emily with a charming smile on his face that would probably get him away with murder one day.
"Hey, sweetheart. Come to play with the boys?"
Emily decided in that instant that she hated him. She rolled her eyes and scoffed.
"What do you need, Noel?" Toby asked.
"Need to re-up my membership. You should have my card on file," Noel said.
"Sign the log." Toby pointed to a sign-up sheet. "I'll run it through today."
"Sweet." Noel scribbled his name down and then faced Emily again. "Love the hair."
"I grew it myself." Emily retorted.
"You're funny." Noel laughed. He faced Toby. "She's funny."
"Can I help you with anything else?" Toby managed to remain professional.
"Nah, I'm good." He flashed one last smile at Emily before he walked off.
"That's Noel Kahn." Toby watched him walk over to the weight lifting area. He gave a bunch of the guys there fist bumps before taking a seat. He was still staring at Emily. "He's a real prick."
"Yeah, I got that." Emily glanced at him. "What's his problem? Little stick, big ego?" That was usually the way it was when guys overcompensated.
"Wouldn't know about that. But I do know he juices. Probably dabbles in other stuff, too. Makes him really unpredictable." Toby looked at her with a serious expression on his face. "Stay away from him."
"You don't have to tell me twice." Emily didn't argue.
"So, about this job…" Toby reached for a folder.
"Yo, Cavanaugh! Can I get her as a spotter?" Noel lifted his brows.
Toby flipped him the bird. Noel laughed.
"You sure you want to work here? You'll have to deal with guys like him all the time."
"I can handle myself." Emily glanced at him. "Or I'll just let a barbell fall on his neck."
"You're hired." Toby laughed boisterously. "Want to double as a bouncer?"
"Does that come with extra compensation?"
"I'll negotiate it for you." He pulled out a job application. He slipped it over to her.
Emily took a few minutes to fill it out. When she was done she gave it back to Toby. He stared at the paper for a few seconds and then looked at Emily.
"Anything else I should know?"
Emily felt like he was looking right through her, but there was no way he could know. She knew she was being paranoid. Her records were sealed. She shook her head.
"Nope. My record is squeaky clean. Trust me, I've been running all kinds of checks on myself to make sure there is nothing that can come back on me when I go apartment hunting."
"What's the deal with your parents? Why are you so anxious to get away?"
"I'm not. My mom and dad are old fashioned. Eighteen and a high school graduate means adulthood. They want me to stand on my own two feet." She smiled nervously. "So, what do you say? Can you get me on the payroll or do I need to start selling myself on the street corner?"
"Not much of a market for prostitution in Rosewood."
"There's a market for being a whore everywhere."
"I can't let you do that. Let me talk to the manager. I'm good friends with him. Name's Ezra. He's a good dude. I'll see what I can do." He put the application down. "But…there's one stipulation."
"What?"
"Go out on a date with me." He was so nervous that it came out as one breath. It surprised Emily. She could see the immediate regret on his face. "Sorry. That was kind of forward, and I'm not trying to be some bro-jerk like Noel. It's just…when you walked in here last weekend it kind of felt like fate. When I was younger I always had a crush on you, and when you moved away I never thought I'd get a chance to see you again." His face reddened. He was starting to get flustered. "I feel like I'm talking too much. I'm talking way too much…"
"No, it's fine." Emily assured him. "But I can't go out with you…"
"You're seeing someone, aren't you?" Toby looked embarrassed. "I should have known. You're so pretty. No way you'd be single…" He was blathering again.
"I am single. I mean, there was someone...back in Texas. But we're not together anymore. That's not the reason. I like girls. I'm gay, Toby."
"Oh." He pulled back. He didn't want to make her uncomfortable. "I didn't know. Sorry if I put you in a weird position."
"Nothing weird about it. I get hit on a lot. I'm thinking about getting a tattoo on my forehead that says 'Girls only'." She joked.
His embarrassment morphed into genuine curiosity.
"Did you always know?"
"I think so." Emily thought about her childhood. She remembered looking at girls the way her friends looked at boys. "That doesn't mean we can't hang out though. We can still go on a date, but it would be more of a 'friend date'."
"I know you're throwing me a bone, but I'll take it. It would be cool to catch up. My treat. How does next Friday look?"
"It's a non-date date."
"Good. So I don't have to wear a tux." He winked.
"Like you own a tux?" Emily laughed.
"Hey, Toby, the new equipment is in! Truck just pulled in!" Jake called out from an aerobics area.
"Got it!" He looked at Emily. "I gotta run. Work beckons."
"Hopefully it will beckon for me soon, too."
"I'll call you." He motioned to the application. "In the meantime feel free to use that free membership to your advantage."
The first place Emily went to was the boxing area. She wasn't wearing the ideal attire to work out, but she figured a few minutes couldn't hurt, so she grabbed some rental equipment and took a few turns practicing on the heavy bag. She would have stayed longer, but Noel was creeping around and asking her all kinds of questions.
When he started hitting on her with cheesy pick-up lines like, "I'd take blows to the head from you any day" she bailed.
Toby was right. He was total slime. She could just feel the steroid testosterone dripping off of him.
She dipped out on him and walked out front where her bike was parked. When she got closer she saw a fortune cookie wrapped in plastic taped to the leather seat.
She reached for the cookie and peeled the plastic wrap off. She broke it open and pulled out the slip of paper inside.
"Don't bother planning for a future. You don't have one."
Emily whipped her head around looking to see if anyone was watching her. She started to take a step back towards the gym and ran headfirst into Toby. He was carrying some equipment inside. He nearly dropped the box, but he managed to stay upright with it in his arms.
"Whoa, hey…you okay?" He saw the look on her face.
"Did you see who left this?" She held up the fortune cookie.
"A fortune cookie? No. Why?" He looked confused. "Wait…" He tried to piece it together. She seemed upset, but he couldn't figure out why a fortune cookie would bother her. Suddenly, it clicked. "Is someone pulling like…a race thing? Like they're saying just because you're Asian or something…"
"No." Emily stuffed the message in her pocket and tossed the cookie into a garbage can. "It was probably just a stupid prank. Hazing the new girl."
Toby made a face that Emily didn't like.
"Feels like classic Alison." He frowned.
"No. I don't think this was her."
"I'm telling you, Em. Those dimples and that smile is the devil in disguise." He clucked his tongue. "Besides, Mike says you pissed her off at lunch today."
"She actually apologized to me for being a bitch."
"That's new. I didn't realize the word 'sorry' was in her vocabulary."
"Yeah." Emily nodded. She glanced at the box in his hands. It looked heavy. "I'll let you get back to work."
"See you on our date."
"Make sure to bring me a dress corsage." She joked.
He laughed. She watched him walk back inside. She looked around one more time, trying to determine if anyone wandering around could have left the message for her. She frowned. She was being paranoid. Someone was just messing with her because she was the new girl in town. It was probably those freaky twins Alison hung out with.
Emily hopped on her bike and left the gym.
When she got home neither one of her parents were there. Her mother had a job interview and her father had some business in town.
She threw her things down. She reached for her phone and plopped down on her bed. She glanced at the screen. There was another message with a Texas area code.
Come on, Em. I miss talking to my best friend.
It was almost enough to get her to respond. But she'd made a promise before she left town. And she had to stick to her word, no matter how much it killed her.
She really wanted to get on Instagram and Snapchat to see what everyone back in San Antonio was up to, but she knew it would lead her down a rabbit hole that she didn't want to go down.
She heard something hit her window and she looked up. Her phone chimed. She had a new message from Alison.
Look outside.
She pushed herself off of the bed and looked out the window. Alison was standing in her yard. She waved up at her and held her phone out for Emily to see.
Emily texted her,
The stalk-ee has become the stalker.
Heard your bike. WYD?
Nothing.
Good. My backyard. 5 mins.
Emily couldn't help but smile. Despite all of the warnings her friends had given her about Alison, Emily still felt a pull towards her.
Emily glanced down at Alison and messaged her back,
How do I know you're not planning on mugging me?
You don't. Isn't that the fun of it? Thought you were a badass.
Emily made her wait ten minutes. She was letting her sweat it out.
It worked.
When she walked into Alison's backyard she saw the blonde nervously fidgeting on a bench. When Alison saw her she breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thought you were going to stand me up." Alison moved to her feet. She walked over to Emily. "So, how was your first day of school?"
"Ran into a bitch a school."
"I deserved that." Alison couldn't argue.
There was an awkward beat of silence between them.
"Hey, did you leave me a fortune cookie earlier?" Emily asked.
"Uh…no." She was caught off-guard. "Why? Is that like…is it customary or…should I do that?"
"No. Forget it." Emily shook her head. "So, what do you have planned? Are you going to throw a real spider at me? Because I'm just going to warn you right now, it won't work. I had a pet tarantula for a while."
"Seriously?"
"They're actually very docile." Emily nodded.
"I never knew that."
"Most people don't. They just see 'spider' and think 'kill it with fire'. But a lot of spiders are pretty chill. They just want to hang out and eat bugs."
"You have a pretty strong hard-on for spiders." Alison laughed. "What's next? You going to tell me that black widows are an endangered species and need to be saved?"
"Oh, no, I would totally kill one of those with fire."
Alison laughed. She grabbed Emily's hands and pulled her towards the woods. She dragged her along a trail.
Emily couldn't help but look at the leaves on the trees around them. They were slowly changing colors. She also couldn't help but pay very close attention to Alison's hand in hers as they walked together.
Alison came to an abrupt halt when they reached a clearing. Emily looked at the patchy area. Leaves were scattered everywhere. In the center of the clearing there was an old watering well. The cement cinder blocks around the base were crumbling and it was overgrown with moss. It looked like something out of a travel magazine. Alison tugged her over towards it.
"I've seen a lot of horror movies that start out like this." Emily peered at the well. She faced Alison with a crooked smile. "You're a serial killer, aren't you?"
"Haven't reached serial status yet." Alison lifted her brows mischievously.
"Okay, Ted Bundy, wanna tell me why you brought me out here?"
"It's proof," Alison said.
"Of what? The industrial revolution?"
"That I wasn't always that girl you saw today at school." Alison reached into her pocket. She pulled out two coins. "I used to come out here when I was a little girl. I'd fantasize about everything I ever wanted. It was back when I still had this dream that there was good in the world."
"What made you stop believing?" Emily looked at her curiously.
"I don't know. But…I'm ready to start believing again." She handed a coin to Emily. "Make a wish."
Emily was baffled. The girl standing in front of her seemed so different than the girl she'd seen in the cafeteria.
"What is this?" Emily asked.
"It's a quarter."
"No. I mean…" She wasn't sure what she meant. She had been warned by three people in the same day to steer clear of her, but she couldn't, "…I don't know what your deal is, but I've got too much going on in my life to play games. So, I just want to know…why am I here? Is there an endgame to this? Are you just trying to get back at me for what I said in the cafeteria?"
Alison sighed, leaning against the wishing well.
"I like you. I was just trying to impress you."
"Pulling stupid pranks and hurting other people is really immature. And I thought you were above that." Emily looked at the bottomless well. Her voice was carrying because of the echo. "I don't want to be around someone who puts others down."
Mean girls like her were a dime a dozen. Every school had one. San Antonio was no exception. Courtney always acted like she was better than the other girls, because she was a year older. No one was daring enough to point out that the reason Courtney was the oldest in her class was because she'd been held back a grade in elementary school.
Emily tried to stay off of Courtney's crew's radar back in Texas. If she had stayed for her senior year they would have had a ton of ammo to use against her. Emily didn't like to think of other kids in that position. She felt the urge to stand up for the Mikes and the Monas of the world. Because given the right circumstances, she'd be on the receiving end of that hate.
"I thought you would think it was cool." Alison bit back defensively. "I just wanted you to like me."
"I don't want you to be who you think I want. I want you to be you. And I know you're better than Cindy and Mindy."
"How could you possibly know that? You've been here…what…three days?"
"Call it a hunch." Emily glanced at the quarter in her hand. She rolled it around in her fingers and then tossed it into the well. After what felt like an eternity of silence she heard it plop into the water. "And I really hope I'm right." She looked up at Alison. "Because I like you, too."
Emily smiled at her. Alison felt a warmth in her chest when Emily looked at her. She peered at the well and tossed her coin in, too.
"Sit with me at lunch tomorrow." Alison leaned up against the edge of the well.
It made Emily nervous to see Alison so close to the edge. If her foot slipped she could fall in.
"Why don't you sit with me?" Emily moved next to her, their arms brushing.
"If I sit with Skidmark and Loser Mo…" Alison stopped herself, a look of remorse on her face. "Sorry. Old habits. If I sit with Mike and Mona I'll be the laughingstock of the whole school. No one will respect me anymore."
"Then I guess we're not sitting together." Her knuckles bumped into Alison's.
Alison looked down and saw their fingers touching. She felt a spark between them, and she hated it. She hated that Emily had this kind of power of her. She swallowed a knot in her throat.
"Whose respect would you rather have? A bunch of vapid teenagers you're going to leave behind some day…or me…and my punk ass hair?" Emily asked. "Show me who you really are, Ali."
Alison couldn't stop herself from staring at Emily's lips. They looked soft and warm and velvety. She wanted to see what they felt like. She wanted to touch them. To kiss them. She wanted to know what Emily tasted like.
Emily's phone buzzed from her pocket. She pulled it out and saw a message from her dad.
"I've gotta go. My parents need some help around the house." She looked at their surroundings. "Thanks for showing me this."
She started to walk back towards the trail.
"Hey, wait." Alison called out after her. Emily turned around to face her. "What did you wish for?"
Emily's lips curved into a smile.
"If I told you it wouldn't come true."
Alison watched her walk away. And she quietly hoped that they'd wished for the same thing.
Once upon a time she had believed there was good in the world. And that good just so happened to be a punk with purple hair and a motorcycle. So she wanted to believe in magic. She wanted to believe in wishes. She wanted to believe that the impossible was possible. She wanted to believe in anything that would get her closer to Emily Fields.
Alison DiLaurentis had been running Rosewood for years on her own terms. She had a set of rules and the people followed them. But Emily didn't believe in her rules. It was quite clear that in order to be with Emily she was going to have to play by Emily's rules.
So all she had was the notion of a wish.
A/N: Two head-strong opinionated sassy bitches. What could possibly go wrong?
Side note: As you can see, Hanna is still pretty much Hanna in ALL of my stories. Mike has been fun to write, too. Book Mike was so much more nuanced.