It was early evening before Noel's party and the girls were at Alison's getting ready.
"What do you think of this shirt girls?" asked Hanna anxiously.
"I think it looks great Han!" said Aria.
Alison turned around to look at Hanna who was dressed in a tightly clipped but very flattering off the shoulder tee.
"Really?...I think it looks a little too tight clipped, don't you think?" said Alison rudely.
This caused Hanna to run to the bathroom and change.
"You don't have to be so mean Alison!" snapped Emily.
"I'm just trying to look out for her Em! I don't want people making fun of her".
Hanna came back into the room with the shirt she had on originally and a scowled look on her face.
"Oh lighten up buttercup! It's only a shirt!"
"Alison, I think you're being a little too hard on her?" asked Spencer.
"Do you girls wanna go to this party with me tonight or not?! Cause right now I think you're all trying to gang up on me!" replied Alison.
Alison walked over to the mirror and stood in front of it pouting. The girls stared at her, waiting for her to turn around and threaten to kick them out but she didn't. She stood there for a minute until Aria walked over and put her hand on Alison's shoulder.
"We're not trying to gang up on you Ally, we're just trying to ask you politely to be a little less hard on Hanna".
Alison turned around and shot a fake smile towards Hanna.
"I'm sorry for being rude Hanna, it won't happen again".
Hanna looked up from the spot she was staring at on the ground and smiled back.
"I forgive you but can we get going to this party? It's getting late".
The girls gathered their belongings and headed for the car. When they got to the party it was already packed. Noel was a huge douche bag to most people exceptions being Aria but he always knew how to throw a party. The girls scanned the backyard and headed straight for the keg. Alison poured them each a cup of beer and they all sipped on them politely where as Alison practically downed hers.
"I'll see you bitches later! I've got business to take care of" said Alison as she walked away.
The girls stood there looking confused. Noel walked by them and smiled at Aria, motioning her to follow him inside.
"I'll be back" she said as she followed Noel inside.
"I'm going to see what kind of snacks this kid has" said Hanna as she walked away.
"And then there were two of us" said Spencer.
Emily stood there, sipping on her beer, staring around the crowd to see if maybe just maybe Maya might of found out about the party and showed up but there was no sign of her, at least not yet.
"Who you looking for?" asked Spencer.
"Huh?...oh...uh...just seeing if some of the swim team made it out".
"Since when do you talk to any of the girls from the swim team outside of school?"
"I have friends on the team!" snapped Emily.
"Woah! Sorry..."
"Look Spence, I'm gonna go use the bathroom...I'll see you later".
Emily walked away, leaving Spencer alone in a crowd where she knew nobody. She walked over to the nearest empty lawn chair and sat down to text her sister.
Emily made her way inside to scan the crowd in there. She walked through the what seemed to be hundreds of people in Noel's living room but still no sign of Maya. How could she of been invited when she only moved in yesterday and today was Sunday? She shook off the thoughts and moved quickly towards the washroom. She managed to snag the fourth spot in line and waited patiently. Suddenly an anxious Maya came running up to the line, you could tell she was dying to use the bathroom. She ran up to the person in the front of the line.
"Hey! I normally don't do this but I'm dying here!" she said with anxiety in her voice.
"Get to the back of the line" said the person.
Maya started to walk towards the back of the line.
"Bitch..." she said under her breath.
"Hey Maya!" said Emily from in line.
"Emily!" replied Maya.
"You can jump in front of me?"
"Really?"
"Yeah of course!"
Maya got in line in front of Emily and smiled.
"Thank you so much! I broke the seal a little too early".
"I know exactly what you mean" said Emily without knowing a thing.
Emily wasn't much of a drinker but on an occasion like this she'd have a cup of beer.
"So how did you get invited to this anyways?" asked Emily.
"Oh! My mom knows Noel's parents pretty well so she asked his mom if Noel could show me around town and the first thing he asked me was to come to this party tonight. This house is huge!"
"I know! Noel's parents are quite wealthy".
"Yeah I hear they even have a cottage not too far north from here".
"It's the place to be in the summer".
"Well hopefully I'll see you there sometime this summer then".
Emily and Maya both smiled and got distracted by each other.
"Hey! Are you going or not?!" asked one of the other people waiting in line.
"Oh shit...sorry!" yelped Maya as she opened the door.
She grabbed Emily's hand and brought her inside the bathroom with her.
"What are you doing?" asked Emily.
"What too afraid to pee in front of another girl?!" asked Maya.
Emily blushed and looked away from Maya who was now sitting on the toilet.
"So how long have you lived in Rosewood?"
"I've been here most of my life. It's a nice place to grow up in".
Maya finished up and headed for the sink to wash her hands.
"Seems a little boring though, no?"
"It can be but my friends and I seem to find things to do".
"Oh yeah...sorry I couldn't join you girls yesterday".
"It's fine!"
"What did you get up to last night?"
"We went to see Easy A".
"How was it?"
"It was good, it's really funny".
"And that Emma Stone chick is a hottie!"
"Yeah she's alright I guess".
"Alright?! She's gorgeous and funny! That's rare".
Emily giggled just as there was a pounding on the door.
"Hurry up!" they could hear from the other side.
"Give a girl a chance! I gotta put a tampon on here buddy!" yelled Maya from inside as she giggled afterwards.
"Maya!"
"What?!"
Emily laughed.
"Are you going to the bathroom or not?" asked Maya.
"I guess I don't have to go anymore" replied Emily.
The girls made there way out of the bathroom and stared at the kid who was next in line.
"Sorry dude...a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do" said Maya with a smirk across her face.
They made there way back into the backyard where Emily scoped around looking for the other girls. She couldn't find any of them.
"You want another drink?" asked Maya.
"Yeah sure!" replied Emily.
Maya went over to the keg and grabbed them another beer. The second she left, Alison came up behind Emily and grabbed her hips.
"Hey beautiful!" shouted Alison.
Emily jumped at Alison's slight touch across her hips.
"Ally! You scared the shit out of me!"
"Where are the rest of the girls?"
"Beats me, I haven't seen them since we walked into the party".
Maya returned with the cups of beer and handed one to Emily as she stared at Alison.
"May I help you?" asked Alison with a rude tone in her voice.
"Oh Ally! This is Maya St. Germain, the girl who just moved down the street from me".
"Cute name..."
"Thanks?"
Emily nudged Alison in the side which pissed her off.
"Ouch Em! If you wanted alone time with your new girlfriend all you had to do was say something".
"She's not-"
"Forget it! I'm going to find Aria" interrupted Alison as she walked away.
Maya stood there with a puzzled look on her face.
"Sorry about that...she can be really mean sometimes but she means the best".
"I understand...a new girl in town can be all too much to the popular kids".
"What do you mean?"
"I mean sometimes when a new girl arrives to town, the popular girls tend to be jealous. They think we're here to steal all their friends...but I'm not like that at all".
"I never said you were".
"I never said that you said you were".
The girls laughed as they took an awkward sip from their cups.
"So she thinks I'm your new girlfriend huh?"
"She means my new friend that's a girl".
"Whatever you say. I'm just glad I have someone to talk to here".
"Me too".
"Do you wanna go somewhere quiet inside so we can talk without being overheard by hundreds of people?" asked Maya.
"Why? Do you have something to hide?" replied Emily.
"I just want to be able to hear you better that's all".
Emily nodded her head and Maya took the lead. She lead them into the guest room upstairs in Noel's house. Maya walked over to the bed and laid down on her back. Emily slowly and cautiously walked towards the bed as well. Maya patted the other side of the bed for Emily to get on. Emily put down her drink and laid down beside Maya.
"Did you ever used to connect the ceiling dots to try and make pictures on the ceiling as a kid?" asked Maya.
"All the time" replied Emily.
Maya pointed up to the left of them.
"Do you see the dinosaur right there in the ceiling?"
Emily looked really hard but couldn't manage to spot the dinosaur in the ceiling.
"I can't manage to see it".
"Look closely..."
She looked even harder but still couldn't see anything.
"I'm not seeing the dinosaur".
"It's okay! I guess your imagination isn't running at a high right now" said Maya in a smart-ass way.
"I'm creative" piped back Emily.
"Okay...tell me something you see in the ceiling".
Emily stared closely at the ceiling and managed to spot what she thought looked like an angel. She pointed at the ceiling to the right of them.
"There! It's an angel!"
Maya looked closely but couldn't see anything.
"I'm not seeing the angel" she said.
"Right there!" pointed Emily.
"...still not seeing it!"
Emily grabbed Maya's hand in hers and pointed Maya's finger towards the angel she was seeing. Maya's hand was warm and soft as Emily slowly let go of her hand.
"I see it now!" said Maya smiling.
Emily smiled back and turned on her side to face Maya causing Maya to do the same. They were now inches apart, facing each other on Noel's guest room bed.
"Why Rosewood?" asked Emily.
"My mom needed a change".
"A change from what?"
"Just a change of atmosphere".
"You're not like other girls, you know that?"
"And what are other girls like?"
"They always need to know each other's business. With you...there's still some element of surprise".
"I like a little surprise once in a while".
"Like this..." said Emily as she leaned over and kissed Maya.
Maya was taken a back at Emily's confidence to just lean in for a kiss. She cupped her hand onto Emily's cheek and leaned in deeper to the kiss. If Emily could describe the kiss she'd say it felt like she was swimming against the clock but she didn't care what timing was read, she was in the now and that's all she cared about. As the kiss grew more passionate, the door swung open and Emily pushed Maya off of her just as Alison stood in the doorway.
"Am I interrupting something?!" she snapped.
"Nope...just talking..." said Emily suspiciously.
Maya sat up and looked over at Emily.
"I better get going. I don't want to come in too late on my first night out in a new town, my mom will freak".
She smiled at Emily and then left, passing a pissed-off looking Alison.
"Let's go!" shouted Alison from in the doorway.
"What's your problem Ally?!"
"I can't find the girls anywhere and my business is done here so let's go!"
Emily sat up and gathered her things as she walked towards the door where Alison stood.
"So tell me Em...is she a good kisser or what?"
"We didn't kiss Ally!" snarked Emily defensively.
"I know a lie when I hear one" replied Alison who was leading the way out of the party.
They walked to the car where the other girls were already standing.
"Where the hell have you been?!"
"I was with Noel in the basement...did you know he plays guitar?..." asked Aria.
"Nope..." replied Spencer.
"Is he any good?" asked Hanna.
"Stop your gossiping and get in!" said Alison from inside the driver's seat.
They all hopped in and drove away. As the car sped off, Emily saw Maya getting into a car with Noel. She waved and Maya smiled back and nodded her head. All Emily could think about was the kiss. She had never had enough courage to do that for any of her past failed relationships with boys so what made Maya different? There was something about Maya that completely turned Emily on. Was it her laid back attitude? Her witty comments? Or was it simply because she was the most beautiful girl she had ever seen? Either way...Emily couldn't wait to explore the feelings she was having some more.