ALL RIGHTS GO TO MARLENE KING
You have to decide wether you're going to let your past destroy you or wether you're going to let it build you into the strongest person you've ever met. - Sonya Parker
Chapter 15: Fresh Start
Alison's POV:
Confused can't even begin to describe the feelings inside of me right now, I don't even know how I'm supposed to react to this. I have completely forgotten the past three years of my life, did anything important happen?
We drove up to my house and I quickly got out of the car. The girls were walking quietly behind me and I glanced back at them.
It's weird, looking at how much they've grown. Spencer no longer has that field hockey skirt that was practically sown on to her hip, Hanna wasn't fat anymore, Aria didn't have her weird fetish for colored hair and Emily had really improved her clothing style.
Did Emily finally openly admit to herself that she was gay?
"Are my parents home?" I ask, looking through the dark windows.
"Ali, I'm sorry." Aria says, gently touching my arm. What is going on?
"Where are my parents?" I say, panic rising in my voice. Did anything happen to them?
Emily grabs my hand and I let her hold it, it feels nice being comforted by someone that I know actually cares. Emily's soft fingers trace small circles on my palm and I brace myself mentally for what ever they are about to say, clearly it's something that you wouldn't put under the 'pleasant' category.
"You're mother's dead." Emily whispers and I feel my blood run cold. My mother is dead. I feel like fainting, as if my body weight is to much for me to carry. I stumble back a few steps in shock and I almost fall but Emily places her arm by my waist, saving me from getting dirt all over my ass.
I feel tears prickling in the depths of my eyes but I force them to disappear, I can't let these girls see me cry, they'll think I'm weak. I turn around so that my back is turned towards them incase any tears start to show. My mom is dead.
Sure, we didn't exactly have the 'usual' mother-daughter relationship but even after all our fights she is- was, still my mother.
Was my mother.
"Ali, I'm sorry." Emily says and pulls me into a hug. I debate wether or not to hug her back but honestly I don't care what the other girls thinks right now, I'm in pain and being with Emily helps ease it.
"What happened?" I whisper into her shoulder, barely being able to utter the words.
"She was found in Spencer's backyard." Emily answers and I fight back even more tears. If it was in Spencer's backyard does that mean her rotten family had anything to do with my mother's passing?
I turn my head and glare at Spencer coldly but instead of being intimidated by my stare she just rolled her eyes at me and glared right back. Why does this keep on happening? First Hanna and Emily, and now Spencer?
Did I somehow lose power over them over these past three years? I hope not.
"It wasn't my family." Spencer says defensively.
"It always is, isn't it?" I snap back, trying to pry myself out of Emily's grip but she just held me tighter. Since when did she become so demanding? I'm not hers.
"Ali stop." Aria says and I close my eyes. This is so irritating, they are treating me like some broken little child.
I writher myself out of Emily's grasp and I quickly walk over towards my front door but of course it was locked. It doesn't look like anyone's home.
"Where's my dad?" I ask. If he's dead too I'm going to lose it. I will not be put in some idiotic foster home with morons as parents.
"He's fine but he's out of town." Aria says, walking up behind me. Typical him.
"Do I have a key?" I check for my pockets but to only find ripples of shredded fabric.
"Uh, here." Emily hands me a key that she pulled out of her purse.
"Thanks." I mutter, skeptically looking her over. Why did she have a key to my house?
We walked into my house and up towards my room.
Emily's POV:
"What day is it?" Ali asks, twirling with the tip of her golden lock.
"It's Sunday, we have school tomorrow." Spencer says and Ali lets out a loud groan.
"Can't we ditch." Ali says, throwing her head down on her pillows.
"No, we've missed way to much." Spencer argues.
"What am I supposed to do? I can't exactly go to school." Ali argues back, lifting her head up from the bed.
"I can stay." I say, and the girls all raise their eyebrows questionably at me.
"Sure, Em." Ali says, smirking her old smirk at me. In all honesty, that smirk made my insides melt up but I wasn't going to give her the pleasure of showing it.
"Okay, I'm going to head home now." Hanna says, quickly leaving my room.
"Yeah, I've got to help my mom with some things." Aria says, hurrying after Hanna.
"I've got homework." Spencer says and rushes after Aria.
Ali and I stare confusedly at each other for a couple of seconds before slumping down on her bed.
"Can you tell me what happened those three years?" Ali pleads. My heart physically hurts when I hear her pleading voice, I want to tell her but I don't want her to get worried anymore than she already is.
"Nothing happened. Nothing at all." I lie lamely. Ali raises her eyebrows and I can tell she caught on my lie, she is practically a human lie detector.
"Em, please not you too. I can stand the others lying to me but not you." Ali sincerely says and my heart hurts even more. I can't take this, we promised each other to never lie to each other again and I don't want to break that promise.
I pull out my phone and text the girls. They need to know that I'm going to tell Ali.
I have to tell Ali, it might be stressful for her but it might help her re-boost her memory. - Emily
"Okay I'm going to tell you but it might be too stressful or complicated for you to understand, but I'm going to try my best." I say, sitting down on her bed next to her.
Ali nods at me and waits patiently for me to start. I inhale a deep breath and open my mouth.
"It started a couple of weeks after the day at the pool, you were getting threats from an anonymous person called A." I pause to see her reaction, she was closing her eyes and re-opening them, forcing herself to remember.
"Then what happened?" Ali asks.
"After another couple of weeks we were having our end of the summer sleepover and you had a plan to stop A but it didn't end in the way you thought, you meet a lot of people that night but when you got home to your house, you got hit in the head." Ali frowns and lightly touches the tip of her head with her fingers.
"Someone buried you alive but you managed to get out and you ran away for two years, trying to make A believe that you were dead." I left out the part with her mom burying her, I don't know if she can take that kind of news.
"Who buried me." Ali asks shakily. Fuck. I grab her hand gently and look into her scared blue eyes, how much I wished that I could take away her pain.
"It was your mother." I whisper. Ali lets go of my hand drastically and stares blankly at the ground, her eyes glistering in tears and her lips quivering. I grab Ali by her arm and pull her into a tight hug, placing a hand on her head and one around her waist, bringing her closer.
Ali lets out a small sniffle and she weakly wraps her arms around my waist.
"Why would she-" Ali says but her voice is cut off by her own sobs. I kiss her forehead and rock her gently in my arms, letting her get soaked with my warmth.
"I don't know sweetie." I say honestly. We stay in our position for a good five minutes before Ali clears her throat and I loosen my grip on her but she continues to lean into me.
"What did you guys do those two years?" She asks, resting her head on my shoulder.
I know that I promised her no more lying but if I tell her now, she might blame herself for A's causes all over again, and I will not have that.
"Nothing really, we morned your 'death' until the police found you and brought you home." I lie, immediately regretting it. Shockingly it seemed like Ali actually believed me because she just nodded her head and let out a deep yawn.
"We should get to bed, you look tired." I say, gently pushing her head back down on the pillows and the second her head hit the soft fabric she was out.
I stand awkwardly by the corner of her bed for a couple of minutes, just watching her chest rise and fall every time she inhaled a breath. Eventually I softly crawl into the sheets next to her and Ali immediately sits up, scaring me half to death.
"What are you doing?" She asks, smirking. I know this look.
"Going to bed." I say shyly, pulling the covers tightly above my shoulders and turning around so that my back is turned towards her.
I feel Ali shift her weight slightly and she rolls closer towards me, heavily breathing on the back of my neck. I feel her presence move closer as her mouth moves towards my ear.
"Just don't try anything." She whispers seducivly and I feel blush sweep upon my cheeks. Before I could respond Ali rolls over to her side and closes her eyes.
Damn.
Alison's POV:
Blurry images dance across my eyes, blurry images of strange faces or places. I couldn't recall where my surroundings were or who was with me but a voice kept echoing inside my head over and over again.
"Did you miss me." A woman, that I think was my mother, repeated and I placed my hands over my ears, tired of hearing the same thing over and over again.
"Did you miss me." The woman turned into someone with all black close and a hoodie pulled over their face. The voice was now dark and raspy.
"Did you miss me." The man morphed into a little girl with blonde curls and blue eyes.
"STOP!" I yell, clapping my hands harder over my ears. My vision disappeared for a second and in the next I was standing in a grave yard, the world spinning slightly as I screamed in order to tune out the voices.
I wake up startled, what kind of dream was that?
I look around my room, and my eyes land on a brunette head, Emily's head. Wait, Emily? Why is Emily in my bed?
Oh right, the accident.
I get out of my bed and head towards my bathroom, I really want to take a shower I still stink hospital. I turn the refreshing hot water on and I let the drops beam down on my cold body.
When I'm done rinsing the soap from my hair I get out of the shower and dry off. When I get back to my room Emily's still sleeping, what time is it?
I look over at the clock hanging in my room, it's 7 AM. I notice my school bag hanging on the door and I crack a small smile.
"Emily." I say, shaking her shoulder. Emily stirs a little but eventually wakes up, she rubs her eyes tiredly and looks at me confusedly.
"Why are you up?" She asks, her voice has a morning raspiness to it. It's quite adorable actually.
"We are going to school." I state, placing my hands on my hips.
"No, you're supposed to stay home today Ali." Emily says, rolling over in bed.
"Well I don't want to. Plus, I need to catch up on the gossip." I wink at her and Emily lets out a short giggle before getting out of bed.
"Of course you do." She mutters and walks into my bathroom. What the hell is with her talking back?
Emily and I finally got in the car and honestly I'm itching with excitement. In order to get the girls to start listening to me again I have to get the school to do the same.
We arrive at the parking lot but the school hasn't changed a bit, at least not on the outside.
"Hey guys!" Aria calls and they walk over towards us.
We walk into the boring building and I make sure that I'm in the front, if this is the first time I've been in school since I disappeared then I have to make it good.
When I walk towards my locker I'm quite shocked, I was expecting people to practically make a path for me in the hallway but it seems like that has changed too.
"What class do I have?" I ask Emily, who was patiently standing by my locker.
"We all have english together with Mr. Fitz." Emily says and I crack a small smile, english has always been my favorite class.
We walk into Mr. Fitz class and I take my seat behind Emily in the back, starring at the back of her head. Her soft brown curls waving down the back of her neck, her flower like perfume taking over the room.
Get a grip Alison, you don't like Emily like that.
"Ms. DiLaurentis, are you paying attention?" Mr. Fitz asks and I glare coldly at him, what I'm doing isn't his business anymore, that ended a long time ago.
"Obviously." I snap back. Hermie turns around towards me, raising his eyebrows in shock. What the hell does this creep want?
"How dare you look at me Hermie." I snarl, smirking deviously at him. Emily turns around towards me and glares at me disappointedly. I can't help but feel a pit of regret in the bottom of my stomach.
The school day ended pretty quickly and I was completely disappointed, what the hell happened with everyone falling to my needs?
Emily and I got into her car, driving home to my house. I sat down in the passenger seat next to her, cautiously sneaking glances in her direction every passing minute. I can't help it, you would have to be as blind as Jenna to not admit that she's gorges.
Gorges? Really Alison?
"What's wrong?" Emily asks, noticing my eyes lingering on her.
"No- Nothing." I stutter. Great, now you're stuttering.
Emily cracked a smile at my stuttering and I feel myself blushing furiously. Why is she having this affect on me?
We pull up at my house and we get out of her car. I notice a unfamiliar car parked in the driveway.
"Em?" I call, starring at the black car.
"What's wrong?" She asks, walking up towards me.
"Who's car is that?"
"I think that's your dad's car." Emily says and my heart immediately lifts. My dad's home. I run towards the door and slam it open, rushing towards the kitchen where I hear the water running.
"Dad!" I yell out when I see his lanky figure leaning over the kitchen table. I run up towards him and hug him from behind but he doesn't respond he just puts down a bottle of vodka that he was furiously chugging.
"Dad?" I ask again, slowly removing my arms from his waist. What's wrong with him?
He sloppily spins around and wipes away a few drops of alcohol away from the corner of his mouth. His hair was all tangled up in a mess and by the look of the dark circles under his eyes, it seems like he hasn't slept for days.
"What are you doing here!" He booms and I immediately take a few steps back, cringing at the sound of his harsh voice.
"I'm home." I state slowly, searching his eyes for anything but they are completely dark; emotionless.
"You killer her." He says, pointing a shaky finger in my direction.
"What are you taking about." I ask shakily. I've never seen my father like this drunk. Where the hell is Emily, I could really use her help right now.
"You killed your mother!" He spats and I flinch back. I feel tears prickling in my eyes when he mentions mom but I feel even stronger anger directed towards him. How dare he accuse me of my own mothers death!
"Shut up!" I yell back, fighting away the tears in my eyes.
He picks up the bottle of vodka and raises it high in the air, his fingers clenching the bottle neck tightly, ready to strike it down on me.
I quickly run out of the door before he has time to swing it and outside to where Emily's car was and surprisingly she's still there. I quickly swing the car door open and Emily looks at me in surprise.
"What's wrong?" She asks worriedly but I just shove her car keys in and force her to drive. Right when Emily backs out from my drive way I see my dad running out of my house with the bottle raised highly above his head.
Emily notices my reaction and immediately drives off quickly. I hear his angry shouts echoing in the background as we drive off.
"What the hell happened?" Emily asks worriedly.
"I- I think he was drunk." I whisper, staring down at my feet. I have never seen my father act like that. Sure, he was drunk sometimes but he has never been an aggressive drunk.
"Are you alright?" Emily asks again, her voice softer this time.
"He almost hit me. He said-" I couldn't fight the tears off any longer, they starter running down my cheeks and once they started I couldn't stop. Emily pulls over by a curve and turns towards me, placing my hands in her soft ones.
"What did he say, Ali." She asks, tracing small patterns on my cold hands.
"He said that I killed her." I whisper, barely being able to make out the words without breaking down.
"Oh my god, Ali." Emily reaches forward and pulls me into a warm hug and I for once hug her back. It feels nice, being loved by someone I care about.
"Can I stay at your house tonight?" I mumble into her shirt. Please say yes.
"Of course, lets go." I let go of her embrace and she starts the car up, driving home.
We walk up to Emily's room and it's first then when I realize how exhausted I really am. I immediately fall down on her bed, the soft silk from her pillows wrapping around my body.
Emily climbs in next to me and I automatically grab her wrist gently, pulling her closer towards me and then I close my eyes.