6:00 a.m
The sun shines through the window in Ali's pink bedroom, hitting her right in the eyes. Her head pounds, feeling the night's weight right in the middle of her forehead. I shouldn't have drank that last shot, she thinks. She feels warm skin against her and nuzzles closer, still half asleep. She moves her hand against Emily's and grabs hold of her wrist, her thumb stroking the smooth skin of her arm. Feeling Emily's pulse puts her right back to sleep.
xxx
In the morning, it's Emily who wakes first this time. She feels a hand on her arm and doesn't move, not wanting to wake Ali and end this feeling. Her touch is soothing and delicate, and Emily thinks how to Ali it's just friendly, without thought, but to her Ali's touch feels like the safest she could be.
Ali's eyes flutter open slowly. Emily is facing away from her so she can't see if she's awake yet. Her bladder is pressing and she slowly moves her arm away from Emily, careful not to wake her.
"You up?" Emily asks.
"Yeah I have to pee, I'll be right back we'll make breakfast."
Alison walks towards the bathroom and Emily calls out, "Hey, you wanna go out for breakfast instead?"
Alison calls out from inside the half-open door, "Yeah sure, we just have to clean up all the bottles, Jason said he'd do the rest."
Emily gets a head start on the cleanup while Ali gets dressed upstairs, gathering all the empty alcohol bottles and placing the ones with some booze left in one of Ali's secret hiding spots, her treehouse in her backyard. She takes the bag of bottles to the recycling and sees moving trucks next door, and then hears the sound of glass shattering.
"Shit. I'm so sorry." says the driver, his head sticking out the window.
One of the moving trucks had backed into the recycling bin, shattering all the bottles inside.
"Is everything ok?"
A beautiful girl with glowing skin and dark hair walks over to Emily. She wears plain denim shorts and a gray tank, a long black necklace hanging down to her stomach.
"I'm so sorry about that, I'll get you a broom."
Emily tries to protest but the girl is already running towards her house. After a minute, she runs back out and starts scooping up the glass.
"It wasn't your fault, let me."
"Alright." the girl says, handing the broom to Emily.
"I'm Maya, I just moved in next door. You live here?"
"Nice to meet you Maya, I'm Emily. No, this is my friend Alison's house, I just spent the night."
"Some party you must have had last night."
"It's that obvious huh?"
"You're cleaning up broken alcohol bottles."
Emily laughs a little and smiles. "Right."
"Where'd you move from?" Emily asks.
"California. Big change."
"I'm sure. But it's not so bad here, you'll like it."
"I already do."
Emily scoops up the last of the glass back into the recycling bin and closes the top.
"Well it was nice meeting you, are you going to school here?"
"Yeah, Rosewood High."
"That's where I go. I'll be seeing you around."
"I hope." Maya answers, staring Emily in the eyes. "It was nice meeting you too Emily."
Emily walks towards the Dilaurentis house, her heart hammering a little. She stops her thoughts in their tracks 'what if she's into girls?' 'was I imagining the signals?'
xxx
At the Brew, Ali and Emily are sipping their coffees, eating, and talking about all the best party moments.
"Did you see how cute Toby and Spencer were? I think he drove her home." Emily says.
"I wasn't really paying attention to them."
"What were you paying attention to then?" Emily asks.
Ali takes a bite of her pancakes and ignores Emily's question.
"A new girl moved in next door to you. Her name is Maya." Emily says.
"How is she?"
"She's really nice. She's coming to our school."
Emily smiles while she talks about Maya, and Ali's mood shifts.
"I gotta go Em."
"What? You didn't even finish your pancakes."
"I know I just remembered I have this project I need to start."
"School just started you already have projects?"
"Yeah I just want to get a head start. I'll call you later okay?"
Ali leaves a 20$ bill on the table, grabs her purse and leaves. Emily sits there, wondering what Ali's hiding from her, or what she did wrong, and she can't understand.
xxx
Monday at school, Emily shows up her usual half hour early to get her alone time with Ali. She sits at their usual table when someone pulls up a chair.
"Hey, you were easy to find."
"Hey, yeah I'm always here early in the mornings." Emily wonders if she should've said that, this time was always hers and Ali's.
Just then Ali shows up and sets down a yogurt for Emily.
"Hi, we haven't met. I'm Alison."
"Hi, I'm Maya, I just moved in next door."
"Great to meet you. Hey Em, want to walk me to first period?"
"Actually Maya and I have gym together first period, since she's knew I'm going to walk her."
"No problem, we'll catch up later." Ali walks off and goes outside. She pulls out a cigarette from her emergency pack and lights one, inhaling deeply on each drag. She doesn't even know why she's so stressed, she just has an uneasiness she can't shake.
xxx
After first period gym, Emily has a free period, so she's the last one left in the showers. She wraps the towel around her and steps out, and finds Maya changing by one of the lockers. She's wearing a cute pink thong and a matching bra.
"Hey! Feeling refreshed?" Maya asks.
"Yeah." Emily smiles and puts on her clothes.
"So do you have a boyfriend?"
"No, well I did. We broke up a little while ago."
"I'm sorry. That sucks."
"No it's alright. How about you?"
"No boyfriend. I just broke up with my girlfriend."
Emily stares at her a little wide-eyed, not expecting this much honesty from a practical stranger. This is what's really refreshing.
"That sucks." Emily says, trying not to appear too phased by Maya's confession.
"So how is it being out?" Emily asks casually.
"It's great, everyone in San Fran was really accepting. No one's seemed to really care here either."
"Really? I've thought about it..." Emily stops herself, surprised by her own willingness to disclose.
"You've thought about coming out?" Maya asks, one eyebrow a little raised.
"Yeah."
"It'll be hard, but it's worth it. You shouldn't have to hide from who you are."
Emily smiles and hugs Maya, her hand in the shorter girl's hair. She pulls away slowly and Maya gives her a kiss on the cheek, a little too close to her lips.
"I gotta go." Maya says. She picks up her stuff and leaves the locker room, leaving Emily with way too many thoughts and nowhere to put them.
xxx
Ali finds Emily in the hallway and runs up behind her. "Let's skip the rest of the day."
"And go where?"
"It's a surprise."
"Ali it's the first week of school."
"So what? It's one day, we won't do it all the time, let's go. I'm driving."
They get into Ali's white Mercedes and drive towards the edge of town. "We're going out of Rosewood?" Emily asks.
"Just a little."
Right outside the edge of the city, there is a mountain lookout hidden beyond a forest path.
"How'd you find this place?" Emily asks. "There are no signs for it or anything."
"I used to come here when I was a kid." Ali says, closing the car door. "I've always loved the view of Rosewood from above."
Emily looks at Ali's eyes, seeing her lost in the memory of being in this spot.
"Ali I want to talk to you about something."
"What is it?" Ali's heart races a little, anticipating her answer.
"I want to come out. Like actually come out, to my parents, to everyone."
Ali relaxes a little. "What made you think about doing it now?"
"Well you know that new girl? Maya? She told me she came out and it's been great not having to hide anymore."
"She's gay?"
"Yeah."
"Oh." Ali looks onwards toward the mountains surrounding the city. "So do you like her?"
"I don't know her well enough yet...but yeah I do like her."
"You should go for it."
Ali smiles, although not fully. It's not her trademark Ali D smirk, it's more sad somehow. Fuck. She thinks to herself. What is wrong with me?