3
EMILY'S MET HER MATCH
Across town, downtown Rosewood, Emily Fields put her bike up against a dark tree and sat down on the frozen ground.
Technically, it wasn't riding weather, snow was still on the ground, but Emily's car needed repairs so she had to take her bike.
Emily gazed out at the iced, glistening lake before her, shining with the help of the sun, gently peeking through the clouds.
She took in a deep breath of fresh, cold air.
Suddenly, Emily's ringtone, Pocketful of Sunshine by Natasha Beddingfield went off, setting the peaceful winter scene off balance.
Groaning, she pulled it out of her Abercrombie & Fitch bag, turning the sound down.
It was a call.
Emily clicked the green CALL button and listened for the caller on the other end.
"Hello?"
"Emily!" It was her mother. "Where are you?
"Um...at the park..why?" Shouldn't her mom be at work?
Her mother let out a deep, annoyed sigh. "Emily, I've been looking everywhere for you! Did you know how much you worried me? Did you? I was so terrified that something happened to you! You could be stalked again and that person could really kill you this time! God, Emily! Are you alright?"
She let it all out. Then, she breathed in again and was silent.
Why was her mother always worrying about her? It wasn't like she'd done something wrong that made her mom not want to trust her.
"Were you planning on telling me where you were going after school? Or were you just going to worry me and make me almost call the police searching for you? Huh?"
Emily was silent for a minute. "Mom, I'm fine. I'm at the park. By the lake. I always come here after school..you're just never home to see me at 3...because you're usually still at work. I come to the park everyday after school. It's nothing new." she explained. "I didn't think you were coming home early today."
Mrs. Fields was quiet. "Oh." she muttered. "Well, okay...in the future, I'll let you know when I'll be at home earlier than usual so that you can text me and say you're okay."
"Yeah..that'd be nice." Emily replied, rocking back and forth on her checkered Rocket Dogs. "I gotta go...but I'll see you when I get home, Mom."
"Oh okay, sweetie. That's fine. Go have fun...don't forget about practice tonight, though..okay? I love you."
Emily nodded. "Yeah, I won't forget..I love you, too, Mom."
"Okay, Em. Bye!" her mother cheerfully hung up.
"Bye.." Emily whispered even though the line went dead.
Crack.
Emily spun around, doing at double take as a strange girl walked towards her.
She had long, wavy blonde hair that hung perfectly at her shoulders, just above her boobs. Her lips were pink, wet and heart-shaped, her eyes a deep, powerful blue. Everything about her was perfect, from head-to-toe.
Her cute, floral sweater laid perfectly on her shimmery blouse. Her slightly ripped jeans hugged her curves in all the right places. And her sweet, fashionable Mary-Janes made her look innocent.
"Ali?" Emily sputtered, not believing her own words.
The girl raised an eyebrow and walked over to the other side of the tree. She gestured towards Emily's bike. "Is that bike yours?"
Emily nodded, afraid that if she spoke, she might choke on her words.
"Did you realize that you put your bike up against the oldest tree in Rosewood?"
The girl pointed to a gold-plated sign, which stated that the tree in front of them was the oldest tree in Rosewood, almost 200 years old, and that it was a local landmark.
"See?" the girl said. "Your bike's sitting on history."
Emily nodded, still mesmerized by this girl's familiar beauty. "Yeah.." she slurred.
"Sooo..." the girl started. "Move it!"
Emily jumped, surprised by this stranger's sudden rudeness.
She bent down and picked up her bike, settling it at her side, her hands on the handles bars.
"So, what did you say your name was?" she asked, curious.
The girl flipped a lock of golden hair over her shoulder. "I didn't. But it's Addison."
For a second, Emily choked on her air, thinking this girl said her name was Alison.
"I'm sorry," Emily said. "Did you say your name was Alison?"
"No." Addison said. "It's Addison."
"Oh."
Okay, so maybe when she saw the girl that looked just like Ali and had a name that sounded like Alison, she'd gotten a little exicted.
Maybe Emily was still not over old Ali, her Ali. But her Ali was Courtney. The real Ali was a maniac-crazy stuck up bitch who almost killed all of them.
Emily and her old friends, anyway. It was sad for the people she did kill, but at least she and her friends were still alive.
Still, though, she couldn't get the thought of poor blind Jenna Cavanaugh dead. It was too much to handle all at once. And Jenna's death was over a year ago.
"Um...hello?" Addison waved her manicured hand in front of Emily's zoned face. "You there? Seems like you were daydreaming a little."
Now the girl suddenly seemed friendly, like she wanted to open up to Emily all of a sudden.
"Oh!" Emily cried. She put her bike up against a bench and sat next to it. "Sorry, just thinking."
She didn't like this girl's two-faced attitude; totally supportive of a 200 year old tree with a bitchy tone one minute, kind of sweet wanting to get to know you better act the next.
Addison sat next to Emily. But Emily took out her phone, hoping if she looked like she was busy, Addison might get the message and go away.
But she didn't. Of course.
"You look familiar." Addison said. "Have we met before?"
Emily looked up from her phone. "No, I don't think so."
Addison began to study Emily's face, hair, body, everything. "I've seen you somewhere."
Oh great, Emily thought. She could practically hear herself saying it now, Yes, you've seen me before because I'm one of the pretty little liars. Yep, that's me. Emily Fields. Pretty little liar.
"Are you-
"Oh, I know!" Addison interupted. "Aren't you like, a Beautiful Tiny Liar or something?"
Really? A beautiful tiny liar? What was that?
"No." Emily said non-chalantly. Then she decided to just let it out. "I am a pretty little liar, though. Alison DiLaurentis was my best friend."
Addison's mouth hung agape. "Really?" she breathed. "Wow, that's so cool."
So cool? So not cool. As far as Emily was concerned, the whole Ali incident was terrifying. Terrifying that Ali tried to kill them all, and terrifying that Ali had pretended to like/love Emily to get her to trust her.
Those were the moments that she felt the stupid-est.
"Um.." Emily started. "I wouldn't say that. Alison stalked me and my friends for over a year. Then she tried to kill us. She even made me think she loved me."
Whoa. Where had that come from?
Addison's shocking blue eyes widened. "You're a...lesbian?" she practically shouted.
She said the word like it was bacon and she was a vegetarian.
Emily reluctantly nodded.
"That's great!" Addison cried, seeming almost excited.
That was the opposite of what she thought Addison would say.
"Why's that great?" Emily asked. She didn't want to sound redundant.
"It's great because I'm a lesbian, too!" she squealed.
Then, right then and there, Addison hugged Emily tightly, Emily's eyeballs almost popping out of her head.
Emily definetly didn't see that coming. "Well, I-
She was about to say she had to go when Addison swooped in and planted a big kiss on Emily's surprised lips. Addison's lips were soft and tasted like Burt's Bees Pomergranate Oil Lip Balm. Then she got a whiff of Addison's minty Trident gum.
As they continued the kiss, Emily felt the gum inside of her own mouth. She had never shared gum with anyone while kissing, not Ben and certainly not Maya.
Then she thought, Why am I kissing this random girl?
Addison wrapped her arms around Emily's waist and they kissed deeper.
They finally broke away, both dazed and looking pleased.
"Whoa." Addison said. "That was intense, huh?"
Emily nodded.
Then Addison started talking again. "So what's your name? I didn't catch it."
Wow, Emily thought. You just made out with me and you don't even know my name.
"Emily." Emily said. "Nice to meet you."
She stuck out her hand and watched as Addison cheerfully took it and shook it warmly. Addison's hands smelled like vanilla soap.
Vanilla soap? Ali.
She couldn't think of Ali right now. Emily focused her mind on Addison and their intense make-out session.
"So, I have to go." Addison got up, taking her phone from her jean pocket. "Here." She handed Emily her phone and Emily gave her her Treo, so that they could exchange information.
"I'll text you later, okay?" Addison called as she walked away. "Maybe we can meet up sometime soon?"
Emily nodded, as excited as ever.
She looked up Addison in her contacts list.
Addison Mariann Dean
Wait.
Addison had the same initials as Ali.
Alison Marie DiLaurentis.
That had to be some kind of sign, right?
Beep.
It was a text from Spencer:
FWD:Aria MontgomeryFWD:Hanna MarinFWD:
GOT A NEW TEXT FROM A! ME-
Beep.
A new message interrupted Emily.
ONE NEW MESSAGE:RESTRICTED, it said.
"No," Emily grimaced. "No!"
But she read it anyway:
Killer,
A little desperate are we? Yeah, I could tell. Better watch out for yourself, though, Addison's a little how you say...devilish. Don't say I didn't warn you. Oh, did you hear? I'm back.
-A