EMILY'S P. O. V
"Have you seen the news?" asked my mother after breakfast.
"No, I had breakfast next to my desk checking my mail." I replied; concerned.
"Why, did something happen?"
"One of your best friends appeared. Hanna Marin." said my mother.
My blood started boiling at the sound of those weird words and I just froze. I
stood there like a statue buried deep into the hard soil not being able to move.
But then it came to me, Hanna is dead. It's impossible that she's alive; I heard her
pain and her screaming that night.
"That's funny, she died in Spain." I said with a chuckle.
"Apparently she didn't, she is back. Go find her." exclaimed my mom.
"You're making my head explode, I'll be upstairs." I told my mom.
I raced upstairs and fell onto my bed. Is this really happening? Maybe my mom
just misunderstood the report. That is very possible right? Ugh, my life is weird.
I climbed into my thin blanket and threw myself into my stuffed animals. It's as
if it was a dream; hearing my own mother saying my dead friend is alive.
Ding dong! The doorbell sounded. A few moments later I heard my mom say,
"Em, it's for you!"
Slowly, I grabbed the edge of my violet blanket as if it was acid about to hook
onto my skin and suck up my flesh as if it was a flytrap. Just thinking about Hanna
and the fact of her being alive made me more anxious than I was after Alison
went missing over a year ago. I threw the blanket over itself and rolled off my
double bed, thinking that maybe it's just Aria or Spencer trying to invite me
over. I made my way downstairs to find my mom looking at me with wide open
eyes; looking incredibly happy. Beside her stood a person that I thought I would
never in my life see again: Hanna. My eyes widened so wide as if I just saw a
decayed body or someone announced that I was dying. Before I noticed it,
I screamed on top of my lungs in happiness and ran over to give her a hug.
"Hanna! You're alive! Am I dreaming?" I shouted out.
"I am almost positive that you're not." said Hanna with a wide-open smile.
"Oh my god, how did you get back?" I asked as I gave her another hug.
"Long story, let's just say that I am glad to be back." answered Hanna.
-20 minutes later-
"And you stayed hidden this whole time?" I asked her.
I begged Hanna to tell me what happened and how she got back to Rosewood
without any money. She explained how she survived in Spain and she stayed in
the barn house for over 2 months.
"Yeah. I thought it would be the right thing to do." said Hanna.
"But then last night Aria and Spencer trapped me so I had to reveal myself. This
is the Hanna that fought a lot the past 3 months. I am so proud of not giving
up on myself. After I realized my mom died, it made me even more confused on
whether I should go back. But I did last night, because Aria and Spencer convinced
me to."
"You're going back to Rosewood High in September right?" I asked her.
"Of course. It'll be hard because I will be getting a lot of stares and questioning
but it's 12th grade; I need to graduate." replied Hanna.
"You're strong Hanna. Even after Caleb went missing you-" I started.
"Hold on, Caleb is missing?" asked Hanna with widened eyes.
"Yeah, I thought you knew." I answered.
"No, I had no idea. Oh my god, how long?" she asked as she stood up from my
cheap 5 year old office chair.
"He was missing for about 2 weeks now." I replied.
"Why? I cannot believe it. Not only is my mom dead but my boyfriend is missing.
What the hell am I supposed to do now?" cried out Hanna.
"Hanna, something happened about a month ago." I started.
"It was still school and um, I asked Caleb how he's been doing after your accident.
Since everyone thought you were dead, he stormed out of the cafeteria saying
the phrase 'All I want to do is die. So I could be with her once again. I am done.'
I honestly don't know what that meant and I don't want to know."
"I can't believe this." said Hanna; burying her face into her shaky palms.
After a couple minutes in dead silence I dove onto my window seat, and sat
there looking out the window. Sometimes I wish I could just be free again, that
I would never had met Alison. 'A' wouldn't exist and Hanna wouldn't be
suffering. I wanted to plunge through the window and run away. No one would
mind for that except 'A'. A loud noise stopped my thoughts and made me look
up from the window; it was just Hanna falling onto my bed with grey tears all
over her face.
"Hanna, you don't deserve to be like this." I told her as I stood up.
"Yeah well, I am. I guess it was meant to be." replied Hanna.
"How about we go out to Taco Bell? You like it there." I exclaimed.
"Ew no, I don't need to gain any more. I'm already fat." answered Hanna.
I stood there staring at her; as if it was my fault she was in this condition. But I
had to do something and I have to do it right now.
"I am going to search for Caleb. Want to come?" I asked her.
"Why would you want to do that?" asked Hanna; sitting up.
"Because you're my best friend. I can't see you like this." I answered.
I grabbed my phone and stuck it into my back pocket. I lost 3 pounds in the last
month and I think this was because of stress. So that made my jeans pretty
loose. I looked through my full-length mirror, I saw a teenager with a pretty face
and athletic body. She seemed happy and straight which she was before she
met Alison. But inside, she felt like dump. Someone that people wish she was
gone, atleast forever. I kept staring at my eyes which were wide and warm brown
but I also saw sorrow and worry in them as if I just heard of my friend's murder.
Oh wait, I've experienced that twice; even if one of them wasn't true.
"You ready to go Em?" asked Hanna behind me.
I swirled around and faked a wide smile but inside I felt like crumbling into a
million pieces, melting and being absorbed into my hardwood floor.
"Um, yeah. Let's start with the Rosewood Park forest." I replied.
-10 minutes later-
I climbed out of my shiny Honda, and faced the forest. As soon as I was standing
up, a gush of cold wind attacked me. Wow so dramatic, I felt like I was being
watched; it might have been a hawk soaring through the summer air not minding
a thing or it could be someone. 'A'; I thought. Even if it's summer and it's
extremely warm out, the forest is always freezing. No matter what temperature it
is outside, it's always cold and dark as if some ghost is controlling it. Wow Em,
great job. Your own best friend died in there; of course it's not normal.
"Em, you okay?" asked Hanna behind me.
"Yeah, I just um. Never mind. Let's go." I told her, locking the car.
We walked through the playground which was completely empty. Before Alison's
murder, this playground was packed with elementary school kids screaming and
crying if they hurt their knee. But now it's different; probably because their own
parents don't let them come here. As Hanna and I approached the forest, my
phone sounded so suddenly I jumped up. I flipped my Nokia open and looked
through it.
"Is it A?" asked Hanna; biting her lip.
'Oh Em, silly little girl. Trying to make Hanna feel better by trying to search for her
boyfriend? Oh how sweet Fields. Speaking about relationships, Hanna still doesn't
know about your secret relationship with Paige or Zoey. She will totally freak out
when she finds out. Might as well tell her before I do bitch. –A'.
"Actually no. It's my mom." I lied; adding in a slight smile.
"Okay. Let's keep going." said Hanna.
Soon after, we arrived at the barn. I looked through it anxiously; hoping to find
something of Caleb's or anything else concerning. But there was nothing, typical.
"Em, is this yours?" asked Hanna; holding up an item with her hand.
It was glistening and it was very small, unusually small. I walked closer to Hanna
half hoping that it would be mine. But it wasn't; it was just a small little ring with
the letter 'C' on it.
"No, it isn't mine. Can it be Caleb's?" I asked Hanna; getting a closer look.
"No, it's a girl's ring. It can't be his." Hanna replied anxiously.
"And I am pretty sure Caleb's finger won't fit into this."
"I didn't see it a week ago. And I don't know anyone whose name begins with a
C." I told Hanna.
"I didn't see this last night. I guess someone was here after I left." said Hanna.
"Can it be A?" I asked her.
"Do we know anyone whose name begins with a C?" asked Hanna with a smirk.
"No. I don't think so." I answered.
"Atleast I don't know. It can be anyone that hated Alison."
"I'll take this to Spencer; she might be able to figure it out." said Hanna and
stuffed the ring into her clutch.
"Anyways, do you know where Caleb might have went?" I asked her.
Hanna took a while to reply. She walked around the barn house making the
floor creak. Finally she replied,
"He still lived with his foster parents and his mom lives in Arizona. There is a
chance that he went there."
"To Arizona? I'm sorry Hanna but I can't go all the way there." I told her.
"Oh I know, I wouldn't either." Hanna exclaimed.
"I think we should go back now. It's not safe here." I said.
Hanna nodded and we walked out of the barn house. It takes me a lot of courage
to go the barn because this was the last place I have ever seen Alison. Honestly,
it's sort of hard for me to come here because it reminds me of her. Back in 10th
grade when we came here, we were all scared to come out here except for Alison.
But that was not surprising since she was a risk-taker. Actually most of the things
she ever did were risky; in many ways. Throwing a stink bomb into a garage
making Jenna lose her sight, hang out with Ian the night she went missing and
other things she shouldn't have done. But even though we were all scared of
her doing those things, we never got the courage to tell her. Spencer was the only
one that could have but she didn't because she didn't want to interfere with
Alison's decisions. But I wish I could go back in time and force Alison to admit
about 'A' so the police would have kept her safe. But for now it's way too late
so I will have to wait for another chance to save a life. It could be tomorrow or
in a year. Or possibly before my deathbed, but I don't want to know because I am
always up for surprises. As Hanna and I walked out of the forest, there was
a note attached to driver's door of my car. I ran up to it and read:
'Dear Hanna, Caleb isn't coming back. So just release your emotions and move on.
You can try but you all know that I always succeed. Karma is a bitch ladies, so stop
being liars. Love, -A'.