"Okay, goodnight, Emily."
Emily swallowed hard and shifted in her bed, laying on her back and feeling an unease wash over her, "goodnight Alison," she breathe out heavily.
x-x-x-x
No One's POV
Emily tried to sleep that night, she really did. But she was too perplexed by the blonde who lay only 5 feet from her to let sleep come and take her away.
Her thoughts ran rampant of the past 48 hours and she never would've imagined this is where she would be at this point in her life. How could she have seen this?
What was bugging Emily more however, was the collectedness of her new roommate. Alison was, after all, the one to barge into the bathroom and save her...right? That was no figment of her imagination. Knowing that, Emily wondered what could have made Alison seem so smug yesterday. Was that the right word? The odd look she had thrown Emily's way, plus the way she was speaking. Em only just met the girl but it did seem out of character.
So Emily tossed and turned within the narrow frame of the bed and kept thinking about how she was going to handle this. She wanted to say thank you, that much she knew for sure, but she didn't know how or when and what Alison's reaction would be.
Sleep didn't come but morning did and when the natural light started to illuminate the small living space Emily now occupied and shared, she sat up, rubbed her eyes and waited. For what she wasn't sure. Was there supposed to an alarm clock to start the day? Would someone come in and yell for them to wake?
Emily stared ahead of her and made the mistake of letting her eyes wander over to Alison. What was her deal? She heard things her first day hear, from other passerby inmates, even the guards and her counselor. They all had this tone in her voice, like fear and disgust combined, but from what Emily encountered, the traces of either of those were gone.
The blonde seemed to be sleeping soundly. She looked actually peaceful despite the thin mattress, the even thinner and itchy blanket over her and the flattened pillow beneath her head. Emily tilted her head and wondered if Ali was used to it by now. She wondered just how long Ali had been here.
Em kept her eyes trained on the hand that had fell sometime during the night out of the blanket, hanging out over the edge of the bed. Her fingernails were painted blue and Emily smiled. Blue was her favorite color and it looked nice paired beside the paler tone of Alison's skin.
"Ehem," Emily's observation was cut short when the blonde cleared her throat and waved the same hand Emily was staring at, "hello, you okay there? Oh do you want to stare some more?"
Emily looked up, slightly horrified, her mouth literally fell open in surprise and she was without anything to say.
Ali's face eased and she actually smiled lightly, "it's okay Emily, I'm only kidding."
Her roommate laughed mildly at the expression on her face and Emily smiled nervously, "yeah I- uh, I was just looking...um, that's a nice color." Smooth Em, she thought, real smooth.
Ali smiled in amusement and held her hand out in front of her, examining her own nails, "yeah I see you have a thing for blue don't you?"
Emily's brows knitted in confusion and she wondered what Ali meant. She looked up and she was met with the bright blue of Alison's eyes and she swallowed, Ali didn't think-
"The pictures Emily, don't look so freaked out." Alison got up from her bed, walking towards Emily and pointed at the pictures she had retaped to her new wall.
"You're wearing a blue top in both of these," she paused to tap them both, "you have a blue necklace in this," Ali glided her fingers over another, "and I'm assuming the car you and blondie here are leaning against is yours."
Emily turned her head to look at the pictures and she laughed lightly, maybe she liked the color a little too much?
"And what color is it?" Ali asked, backing away from Emily's personal space, clearly amused with herself, "it's blue."
Emily laughed and nodded, "touché Sherlock Holmes."
Ali shrugged and sat herself back on the bed, her back against the cold wall, eyes trained on the brown ones across from her, "actually you might be just a little bit easier to read."
The brunette raised her eyebrow, "read? You think I'm like a book to you or something?" Emily smiled and waited for a response.
"I think all people are like books. They have covers...and we all judge them regardless of the stupid saying. Some people, like books, are dense and dry. Some are colorful. Some are deep. Childish even or filled with drama and all that crap. I could go on because the parallels are almost endless. But it all depends. We are simultaneously the author and the contents of the book itself, after all we all have some story to tell right?"
Emily was taken aback by the sincerity and tone reflected in Alison's voice and she felt at little uneasy with how heavy the air became between them.
"What's yours?" Emily blurted out before she even realized it.
Alison quirked an eyebrow and feigned a look of confusion, forcing Emily to ask again.
"Um, your story you know? What's yours?" Her voice was quiet and smaller than she had hoped and she cursed herself internally for crumbling slightly under the eyes across from her.
"Emily, I don't think you should concern yourself with stories like mine."
Emily opened her mouth to protest but was cut off, "if you want to get any warm water, I suggest we take an early shower.
Brown eyes widened in shock and Ali almost choked on laughter, "relax, there are these things called stalls Fields." Ali laughed and grabbed her towel from the little hanger on the wall.
Staring dumbfounded in the direction Alison left in, Emily scrambled to find her towel stored in the little gray cabinet at the head of her bed and follow after the blonde. There were a few other women waking early automatically and heading towards the showers.
Emily walked in to the new showering quarters and swallowed, she remembered doing the same thing yesterday and now she had the little cut above her eye to show for it. Her eyes unknowingly searched out for someone and when they found her, Emily's legs seemed to move on their own accord.
She looked sideways and stared at the door for longer than she expected.
"Hey," Ali scared the living shit out of her when she appeared right behind Em in nothing but her white towel.
"You're in a new wing; this side doesn't share a bathroom with them."
Emily swallowed hard, "them?"
Ali nodded, "those bitches who attacked you."
"Oh, right."
Ali sighed, "plus they added two guards to every shower round, you didn't see Callahan at the door?"
Emily looked at the entrance to bathroom and looked at Ali puzzlingly, "Callahan?"
Ali laughed softly, "yeah, she's a guard. She usually patrols the grounds while we're outside, they brought her in so we can have more lady guards on standby."
"Oh."
"Yeah." Ali nodded and started to back away from the stall.
Em's eyes found hers and she instinctively reached out to grab Ali's hand, "Alison wait."
Ali looked down and at the contact and Emily withdrew her hand, cheeks reddening, "s-sorry."
"It's okay Emily; you won't erupt into flames just because you touched me, you know?" Ali laughed half-heartedly and stood a step back, "I uh-I'll let you shower."
"Thank you."
Ali nodded, "what for, this is where we shower."
It was Em's turn to laugh, "no, thank you for yesterday. I um- I can't imagine what would happen if you didn't-,"
"Then don't."
"What?"
"Don't imagine that, those girls were stupid and there's no excuse for what they did, so don't imagine what would have happened, they're disgusting."
Emily nodded, "Yeah but I- yeah, okay, I won't. Thank you, again. I don't know how you knew or why you were-"
"Emily, I would love to talk, but now's not the time nor the place, wouldn't you think?"
The brunette felt incredibly stupid and her cheeks got hot with embarrassment.
"Remember that hot water I was talking about?" Ali smiled and walked into the covered shower stall next to Emily's.
Em nodded, "yeah."
"Well then what are you waiting for, everyone is bound to up now and rushing to shower."
Emily didn't say a word, she just closed the curtain, awkwardly undressed and took the shower she needed. Ali was right, the water was much more pleasant than before and Emily relaxed, letting the hot water soothe her muscles and rinse away the pent up tension she didn't know was building in her neck.
Em groaned and she sighed loudly, this would be her life for the next few months.
The hot water was short lived as Em heard more and more women come in and turn the water on, so Emily hurried to rinse the soap from her skin and wrap her body in her towel.
She hadn't noticed Alison was done long before her, causing an awkward glance to an unsuspecting woman who was undressing in the stall next to hers. She shivered from the image and tried to shake it from her mind, but she efforts thwarted as she clumsily bumped into a woman in front of her.
"Shit." This woman was small and had short brown hair and big pale green and hazelish eyes.
Emily held her hands out, "Oh my gosh I am so sorry, I didn't mean to bump into you, I didn't even see you-,"
"Woah calm down, it's okay, I think you just bruised my toe...not to mention my ego."
Emily tilted her head in confusion at that last statement.
"You didn't even see me? It's because I'm like 5'2" right, and you're what? Like 5'8", 5'9"? It's okay, I got the short jokes a lot, you're going to have to do better than that."
Emily face relaxed and she actually laughed a little, "no, that's not what I meant, I'm so sorry, I just-,"
"Stop, I already said it's okay, I'm not gonna go and gather my other little people and hunt you down."
Emily's eyes widened and it was the shorter girl's turn to laugh, "relax, I don't actually have a gang of short people ready to chop you all down to size."
An awkward laugh fell from Emily's mouth and she realized just how paranoid she was. She also bumped into the girl a second time when a bigger more robust woman walked past, bumping Em's shoulder.
The smaller girl laughed again and took many steps away from Em, "look you seem nice but also a little accident prone, I suggest to leave before you break something, or get another one of those." She pointed to the cut above Em's eye and realized when Emily cringed, where she got that cut, "oh shit, wait you're Fields aren't you?"
Emily looked up, shocked that someone knew her name and nodded slowly.
"Oh my gosh, sorry, I was friends with your old roommate, Rojas, we used to steal paper and pens from the activity room to write, she was a great writer, I'm so sorry I uh- heard about what happened, yesterday, I didn't mean-,"
"It's fine." Em hung her head low and shook her head, reiterating, "It's fine, really."
More women started to pile in and the small girl peered over Emily's shoulders on her tiptoes, "I should probably grab a stall before I'm standing out here waiting, but let me make it up to you. Find me at breakfast."
The small unnamed girl gripped Em's arm in a friend like fashion and walked past her.
Em was stuck standing there before a guard leaned her head in and said loudly, "breakfast in 20 people, let's get a move on."
Emily looked up and assumed this woman was Callahan even before she looked for a nametag.
"You, legs, what are you waiting for?"
Emily looked down dumbly, confirming that yes, she had legs before making them move and bring her to her 'room.'
When she got there, she realized she was less than surprised to find that Alison wasn't there. It seemed that as much as people wanted to stay away from her, Alison wanted just the same.
Emily dressed quickly, telling herself not to think of the short walls, no doors and utter lack of privacy. She laughed when she pulled her shirt over her head, thinking of all the things Hanna would say if she were here with Em, putting on the same clothes.
She allowed herself to think of her best friend, who would probably complain about the undergarments first. She let her hear Hanna's voice in her head, "ew Em no, I will not wear these long granny panties, and there's no way in hell I'm wearing that bra, they don't even hold up the girls. Oh that shit? Those pants, ew no Em, you know orange is not my color. I'd rather die than be seen in this."
Emily laughed and shook her head, she couldn't wait to call Hanna. Especially to see how the search for Caleb was coming and if Hanna told the Hastings lawyer anything.
Generic white slip on shoes slid over her feet and after brushing through her hair lazily with her hands, Emily wandered slowly from the confines of her block and out towards wherever breakfast was.
It wasn't too hard to find, she walked past a guard who pointed her in the right direction and soon enough there she was, amidst the two doors that reminded her of Rosewood High's. She laughed at feeling like she was in high school again and cringed when many eyes fell on her.
Some stayed fixed on her as she walked towards the end of the line, some were menacing, curious, some were definitely judging and Em imagined this is what it must feel like to be the new kid.
She kept her head low and made it to the line, bringing a tray with her as she walked. She looked ahead to see what was being served, stomach growling in response. It didn't smell as pleasant as the Brew and Emily wished for nothing more than one of her famous Go-Go Morning wraps. It had chicken and egg, avocado bacon-
"Hey!" A strangely familiar voice was at her side and Emily smiled at the same short brunette who she bumped into earlier in the showers.
"Hey." Emily forced a smile and turned her attention back to the girl, "you sure you want to be this close?"
The girl looked puzzled and Em laughed, "'accident prone' rememeber?"
The girl laughed and looked around, nodding her head, "right, well there's not much to break or ruin here, just try not to step on my toes again?"
Emily shrugged, and smiled "apparently I can't promise that."
The smaller one laughed and held her hand out, "hi I'm Aria."
Emily smiled and returned the hand shake, "Fields, Emily Fields," she said in a James Bond fashion.
Aria laughed and nodded, "not bad Fields, I'm Montgomery."
"Nice to meet you again."
Aria smiled and pointed ahead, "hey you're next."
Emily turned back around and pointed around at the food being served, she asked for eggs, sausages, toast and some hash browns and got some yellow stuff, grey mystery meat links, cardboard and mashed potatoes.
She walked and way and grimaced, "close enough."
Aria was soon behind her, "hey come sit with me, I think I can help with your first breakfast."
Emily shrugged in a why not fashion and let the small brunette lead her towards a table near the back of the 'cafeteria'.
She sat next to Aria and was met with three other faces. They all had to be about the same age as her and when Aria said hey to all of them, Em lifted a hand and waved timidly.
"Hey guys this is Emily or Fields, what do you prefer?"
"Emily is fine."
"Alright so this is Emily, Emily this is Bubbles, Aryn and Val."
Emily nodded at each of them, "Bubbles?"
The said girl waved and nodded, "yeah that's me, I just like gum." And on queue she blew and pink bubble and let it pop, pulling it back in her mouth and chewing it again.
Emily laughed, "and I like real food."
Val, the girl with real short black hair nodded, it was swept over to one side and the other side was shaved. It looked good and surprisingly not intimidating at all, "it gets better believe me. First week or two is kinda hard though, after that, you just eat it for substance."
Emily nodded, "ah I see."
Bubbles as she liked to be called got up and excused herself from the table, "I have to make a trip to the ladies' room."
The girls waved her away, "Bubbles sits with us during breakfast and that's about it," Aryn shrugged, "but she's nice and we don't mind."
Aria elbowed Emily and handed her a few small packets, "here, I owe you for the comment I made earlier."
Emily looked down and looked confused.
Aryn, the slender, taller brunette friend laughed, "it's salt and pepper."
Emily laughed, "okay and why will this help?"
"The food is bland, but the cheap asses running this place don't let us have our own seasoning or condiments," Aryn added.
"Then how did you get this?" Emily looked over at Aria.
Aria smiled and bit her lower lip, reaching in her pocket and giving Em some ketchup too.
Val rolled her eyes, "Emily, see that guard over there?"
Emily subtly followed Val's finger and found a tall guard with dark hair and blue eyes standing near the door. She hadn't seen him before but she seen him now so she nodded.
"That's Pitz, Aria is all hot for him and he's all hot for her, he slips in some stuff to this little one sometimes," pointing at Aria.
Aria shrugged, "I'm not like obsessed with him though, so calm down Val, you act like it's a big deal."
"It is a big deal when you two start sneaking around to suck face."
Emily laughed at the tone of them and thought back to her times with friends in college where it sounded just like this. Okay maybe not JUST like it but close enough. She really wanted to call Hanna now.
"Admit Aria, you're in love with stinky ole Pitz."
"Val, it's Fitz okay, stop calling him that."
Aryn laughed and waved at both of them, "hey would you too stop staring? Gosh people will start to catch on."
They all turned back around and Emily made the mistake of taking a bite of the unseasoned food.
"Oh god," she gagged, "I see why to need these."
Em ripped the packets with her teeth and spread the contents as easily as she could over her 'food.'
The second bite wasn't good either, but it wasn't as bad.
She elbowed Aria playfully and said with a mouthful, "tell Pitz I said thank you."
Aria groaned and palmed her forhead, "Emily, I hate you already."
Aryn and Val laughed and shrugged, "Well it's official Emily, welcome to the club."
Emily smiled and nodded, swallowing her food, and washing it down with some water.
She felt a little at ease, there was nothing here that she should've been worried about. Aria wasn't going to gather a army of short women against her after all.
Emily continued to eat her food, unaware of the blue eyes that hadn't left her since she walked in.
After talking aimlessly about missing the boys back at home, Reyes name came up.
Aryn groaned and squeezed her fists together, "oh my god, and he's not just guard, he's an actual cop too. Ugh, I'd let him handcuff me and do whatever he wants with my body."
Val laughed and made puking noises.
"What about you Em? You think that Reyes cop has a cute butt?" Aria asked.
Emily felt the heat rise to her cheeks and she shrugged, "Um, I don't know, I guess."
She didn't know why, but she didn't want to just flat out tell them that she was gay. She stopped being ashamed of it when senior year started and Hanna convinced her to come out and accept who she was. Hanna was the first to accept Emily like that, even before she did, so she didn't understand why she didn't just tell these girls that he definitely wasn't her type. Not to mention she knew him and he actually tried hitting on her.
So she shrugged and agreed and let the girls keep gushing over the men there. Aryn looked quizzically at Emily and chewed on her lip in thought.
Emily sensed that there were eyes on her and she looked up at Aryn, really looking at the girls face. She was pretty, she had nicely shaped eyes, they were light brown, she had long wavy hazel to chestnut colored hair, and even sitting down Em could tell she was tall. She kind of had broad shoulders for her smaller frame and Emily cleared her throat to stop the awkward look she was good.
"Emily did you used to swim in high school?"
Em choked a little on her grey food and nodded hesitantly, "yeah, I did."
Aryn narrowed her eyes, "you're that girl from Rosewood. You're the Emily Fields."
Emily's eyes widened and she nodded, "yeah, I already told you my name, but how did you know what high school I went to?"
"I was a freshman at Brentswood when you were a senior, I didn't really know what you looked like, but your name was everywhere. I swam for the Dolphins and I remember our coach always saying how Rosewood's captain was always breaking records and killing everyone else's time. You were the best anchor he's ever seen he said."
Emily's cheeks reddened and she didn't know how to feel about someone knowing so much about her past.
"Um, yeah, that's me."
Aryn shook her head, "holy shit, you're a living legend for anyone who's ever swam around here. I'm surprised you never went to the Olympics."
Emily swallowed and met the eyes of Aria and Val.
"It's true, were you really that good?"
"I mean I guess."
"Guess? Stop being modest," Aryn argued, "guys she was the best ever, our school never got a chance to compete against you in league but we read all the papers and I know all your times, you helped Rosewood win 6 consecutive titles while you were there."
Aryn seemed to now be focusing the gushing on Emily and Em squirmed in her seat.
"Yeah, well it seems you know all about me."
Em froze, suddenly wondering if she also knew about Em's sexuality.
Aryn shot her a quick wink, "not everything."
The other two didn't catch it, but added, "wait so you went to Rosewood and the three of us are from Brentswood, why have I never seen you Emily? We share the same mall."
Emily shrugged, "I dunno."
"Hmphf, weird."
Emily did everything to avoid Aryn's gaze and she focused on finishing her water.
Val was the next to speak, "Hey Emily?"
"Uh, yeah?"
"What's with DiLaurentis?"
Val jutted her chin and Emily turned her head around to follow her line of sight.
There she was, Emily didn't even think to look for her when she got there. She swallowed and gave a small timid wave at the blonde. Alison didn't acknowledge the gesture and went back to sitting alone and staring out the window. She looked absolutely brooding and Emily waved. The brunette turned back around, wondering why the blonde seemed to have too many moods to keep up with.
"Did you just wave?" Aryn asked, sounding shocked, nervous laughter also in her thorat.
"Yeah, she's um, she's my new roommate."
Jaws dropped and Emily shrugged, "what?"
Aria swallowed, realizing the look on her friends faces meant she would have to tell Emily.
"You got assaulted in the bathroom and they gave you the same bunk room as DiLaurentis?"
"Yeah, she's not that bad."
"Not that bad?!" Val asked incredulously, "haven't you heard what people say about her? How can you say she's not that bad?"
"Because she's not. Also I like to have my own opinion about people, I dint just swallow the ones people are feeding me."
"Fair enough Emily, but I'd be careful if I were you, no one even knows why she's really in here."
"And? I don't know why either of you are, and you don't know why I am. Who's to say were not the ones people should look out for?"
Aryn raised a brow, "should we be watching out for you?"
"God no, I couldn't hurt a fly."
Aria laughed to break the tension, "not intentionally anyways, she's too clumsy."
"Hmm, well then Fields, just why are you in here?"
Emily swallowed, dammit she hated saying this over and over, "I um, I tried to steal this necklace from a jeweler's at the mall."
The table exchanged looks and laughed, "omg guys, she's like us."
"Like us? What do you mean? You guys- you tried to steal too?"
"Um," Aria began, "not exactly."
"Well, then what exactly?"
Val laughed, as she began to start the story, "okay so the three of us have been friends since high school. We started hanging out when we all joined some community service program. So one day, I think it was junior year, we went to this event near Newsborough in Philly to listen to some square talk about his company, EchoTech or something."
"EcoTech," Aryn corrected.
"Yeah that, so we went and this guy was talking on and on about how he did community service in high school and college and that's what made him start his company. Ecotech basically provides companies with clean energy and what not, without hurting the surrounding areas of wildlife around them."
Aria butted in, decided Val was taking too long, "so the three of us are really excited about this guy and his company and later that week when our teacher tells us their having open internships for students in their senior year, we decided we'd do some research and find out what they're about, you know get to know them beforehand."
Emily nodded.
"Well," Aria finished, "turns out EcoTech didn't give a shit about where they drew their energy from. We found out that they had built a dam to harness freshwater and uses the natural water flow to create the energy that powered the systems running in the dam. Well that clean water filter was killing the fish around it, yeah they're freshwater dams, but when all those chemicals were released for filtration, they didn't even bother to keep everything in containment."
Val nodded vigorously, "they were basically poisoning everything and passing it off as clean and safe to make their money."
Aryn rolled her eyes, "greedy bastards got what was coming to them. So we made plans and when we were in college at UPenn, we went back to Philly with of bunch of other kids we told and totally trashed the place, we spray painted the walls and tore down all the shit hanging from the walls."
Emily found herself nodding again, "so that's why you're here?"
"No, we're here because the three of us broke into the server and I downloaded their data and then uploaded a virus."
"You're a tech head?" Emily asked amused.
Val grinned, "the best in the county."
"Really, I think I know someone back home who would have to disagree."
"We'll see."
"Anyways," Aryn interjected, gaining Emily's attention, we broke in and did all that and Val over here didn't remember to take down the security cameras."
"No way?" Emily asked, laughing, "but you're the best."
"Hey, that's the last time I try to commit a crime with these two, Aria got cold feet half way and all Aryn wanted to do was set the place on fire."
Aryn shrugged, "I still think we should've."
"So you guys got caught? When?"
Val shrugged, "um, shit, I don't know, it took a lot of planning, but it was definitely after freshman year, we kind of forgot about it, so sometime when we were sophomores."
"Damn," Emily nodded, "so you've all been-"
"Stuck in this boring hell-hole for over 5 years now? Yup."
"Sheesh."
"But don't worry, we got caught in February, trial took a few months, we were sentenced so it will it'll be 6 years in May, then we're home free."
"Really? Woah, because I only got sentenced to 4 months, 3 with good behavior so-,"
"Well probably get out at the same time?" Aryn suggested.
"Yeah, probably, then you guys can head over to Rosewood and eat at The Brew. I'm the co-owner with my best friend?"
"Really? That's so cool, yeah we'll definitely have to stop by."
Emily nodded, "so when is breakfast over?"
"Eager to get to work?"
Em realized who else would be where she worked and she shook her head, "no not really, but I work in the library so you know, it's kinda nice in there, I can read whenever I want because there's not much to do."
"Won't you be scared for your life," Aria asked in a mocking tone, "DiLaurentis works in there."
Aryn imitated the tone, "yeah you already have to sleep in the same 'room' and now you have to spend hours out of your day working with her. Won't you be tortured?"
"No," Emily deadpans, "I won't." She was starting to get sick of everything thinking Alison was some sort of monster or disease, "Alison was actually the one who stopped those women yesterday."
The three others' jaws dropped again and Emily stood, "yeah, so why don't you judge her based on that, and not what everyone seems to think. You don't know her whole story."
Emily could see she wasn't going to get a response so she grabbed her tray, "It was nice meeting all of you, I hope we can sit together again, but I should go."
It was just in time to because Officer Fits announced that breakfast was over and Emily sighed in relief. She had told the girls they didn't know Alison's whole story, but neither did she. In fact, she hardly knew anything about her roommate except for how scared everyone was of her. But that would change, somehow Emily was going to get Alison to tell her what her story was, the real one.
x-x-x-x
"Fields, you're late."
"What? I just checked in, I told I was leaving to use the restroom," Emily defended.
"You talking back? Should I write you a shot?"
"A what?"
"Hey, hey, back off dipshit, leave her alone, you act like there's an actual punishment you can dish out, she checked in early okay, why don't you go back to fantasizing over your porno comic books?"
The guard rolled his eyes but the red in his cheeks betrayed him and he cleared his throat, "watch it DiLaurentis, I can still write you up."
Alison rolled her eyes, "oh bite me."
She turned around and motioned with her finger for Emily to follow her.
"C'mon Emily, we have three boxes to sort out. Then we're supposed to head to the basement and put some old books in the archives."
Emily simply nodded and followed the blonde to the stack of boxes filled with donated books from around the area.
She waited by one of the shelves until Alison instructed her to do something.
"Here, you can get that box, I think it came from a church, there's at least 8 bibles in them."
Emily nodded and quietly began to take the books out. She looked around and noticed bare shelves and twice as many boxes as before.
"What happened to the other books?"
Alison looked over at all the empty shelves, "they're being replaced, we're getting new ones."
"Why?"
"I don't know, I mean I know some of them had these little bugs in them, so they might be taking them to get burned. But for now we're just supposed to take out the old, bring them to the basement and restock them with these."
Alison dropped her hands atop the boxes and smiled comically, "should be loads of fun," she said in a mocking tone.
"You know, for someone that seems so quiet and reserved, you-"
"Talk a lot?"
"No not a lot...just a normal amount I guess."
"Hmm." Alison looked over the brunette and took her stack and headed to the other side of the shelf, only being able to see Emily through the spaces.
Em kept her head down and started sorting the books alphabetically. She passed classics like Beowolf and Pride and Prejudice, Moby Dick, she laughed when she seen copies of How-To books and even a Twilight Saga book. Some of them were in pretty good shape and Emily found herself thinking of all the previous owners. She wondered what their lives were like and if they knew that one day the books they held might one day be in the hands of a woman in jail? Probably not.
The day was slow and it was quite, Emily not forgetting that she still wanted to get it out of Ali what her story was.
"Hey uh, Alison?"
Alison looked up and nodded in acknowledgement.
Emily understood and grabbed more books to distract her hands, "um I wanted to ask you something."
Alison kept stacking the books and Emily was getting...frustrated. How was Alison, this stranger she barely knew getting under her skin like this? One minute she was giving Emily tips about getting the hot water in the morning, the next she was brooding alone in the cafeteria and then now, she went from being talkative and protective of Emily to the silent treatment.
It was like Alison was playing a game!
Emily huffed and put a pile of books in her line of sight to block out the blonde. The books weren't in order but she didn't care.
Ali looked up and found her vision blocked, she cleared her throat but Emily didn't notice. Or she did, but didn't care.
Alison huffed back and started stacking the books a little too loud.
Minutes passed like this and strangely enough the girls grew a bit irritated with the other.
Emily didn't think she had it in her but she wanted to shout at the girl on the other side of the divide and get rid of the awkward air she was practically choking on.
More time passed and Emily found her breathing a little labored, "Alison?"
Alison looked up, trying to look casual and she walked over to the other side of the shelf, crossing her arms over her chest, "change your mind?"
Em tried her best glare and scoffed, "yeah sure, I changed my mind. I want to ask you something."
"Why do you want to know so much about me Emily?"
"What? You're getting mad because I just want to talk to you? My bad for trying to get to know the person I sleep next to and am stuck in this library with!"
Why was Emily yelling?
"If you feel so stuck here ask for a transfer, I was fine in here myself anyways."
Emily was stuck in utter confusion, "what is your deal? First, you seem nice when I first come in here, then you stop me from being beat up and raped by some crazy bitches and now you're like this? What is wrong with you?"
"Wrong with me? You're the one trying to make everyone you're friend. Shouldn't you try to be flying under the radar so you can get out early?"
How the hell did she know about my sentence, Emily thought.
"Ugh I can't believe I defended you to those girls, maybe they were right." Emily rolled her eyes and kept stacking the books.
She was surprised when Ali came closer, grabbed them from her hand and put them on the table behind them, "would you stop with that? Why would you defend me? You don't even know me."
Emily raked her hands angrily through her hair, "Exactly why I'm just trying to get to know you, I don't fucking know why I would want that anymore now! Geez, you're like bipolar or something."
Alison started laughing and when she kept laughing Emily looked at her, "are you fucking crazy?"
The blonde shook her head, "no I'm not fucking crazy Emily, I'm just laughing because I know exactly what it looks like when someone is bipolar, and I am definitely not bipolar."
Emily stared at the girl and her brows relaxed. "I don't get you Alison."
The brown eyed girl huffed and starting walking away.
"Where are you going?"
Emily rolled her eyes, she didn't want to give an answer but did, "I'm going to ask for a transfer."
"No, wait, don't do that."
It was Emily's turn to laugh now, "excuse me? You don't get to tell me what to do."
"I'm not, I'm sorry, I'm just, I guess I'm just asking you not to."
"Not to what?"
"Not to leave?" Ali looked up and Emily hinted a trace of nerves. Alison was surely not as easy a read and Ali thought Emily was.
"Please," the blonde asked quieter and softer.
"Maybe, but if you want me stay, god I don't know why, you have to answer my question."
Alison looked almost frightened of what that might be but she nodded, "just one."
"Okay, then I want to know...you've been in the same bunk since you got here, whenever that was, and was originally somewhere else, like on the other side, and this morning you said that we have our own different bathrooms, so I guess my question is how in the hell were you close enough to hear me, or be there when you know...?"
Alison took a deep breath and she sighed. She turned around and looked into the box of books for something. She pulled out a blue book, a battered notebook, it was leather bound and seemed old, but a good kind of old that you would appreciate in a book, and she handed it to Emily.
"What the hell am I supposed to do with this?"
Alison sighed and reached into the box for a pen, handing that over as well.
"I um I got a guard to tell me where you were bunked and I just wanted to give you something to help you out. I started writing when I got here, I know you're old roommate did, and I just thought it would help with the process. I went to find you during the free period we have and when I was passing the bathroom to your block, well that's when I seen those girls go in and talk about fresh meat."
Emily's eyes widened at the book and she felt guilty for her outburst, but it still didn't explain Alison's weird behavior.
"I went to look for you but you weren't at your bed so when I was leaving, that's when I...yeah."
The book in Emily's hand felt heavier than book should and she forced a smile that was closer to a grimace onto her face, "oh, um, thank you, that's um, really thoughtful."
Alison's shoulders dropped as she let go of a breath she didn't know she was holding.
"You're welcome."
"Yeah, sooo..."
"So," Ali rocked on her heels and smiled awkwardly, "ah, I didn't even notice."
"What?"
Alison laughed gently, "its blue," she pointed to the notebook and Emily smiled, "yeah I guess it is."
The brunette set it down on the table and grabbed her stack again, "I'm sorry for my outburst, I just, I was frustrated."
"It's okay, I seem to have that effect on people." Alison's voice was quiet and timid and Emily could almost find it comical how scary everyone else seen her. But then again, she still had much to learn about the blonde.
"I was just, trying to figure you out I guess."
Alison looked up, raising a single brow, "why?," she teased, "to see if you were right to defend me to your friends?"
Emily scoffed, "I barely know them either, I was just telling them not to be so quick to judge."
"Why?"
"Because they don't know you."
"You don't either."
"Then I guess that means I can't transfer just yet."
Alison looked quizzically at the girl.
"Emily why are you talking to me? Why don't you just listen to what everyone tells you and stay away?"
"If I'm so easy to read, why don't you tell me?" Emily asked sarcastically and Alison nodded, amused, "besides Alison, just because people have their own stories about you doesn't mean I have to believe that they're yours."
"Okay, maybe you're not as transparent as I thought."
"So now I'm a dense book?"
"No," Alison laughed genuinely, "just...different."
"Is that good or bad?"
"I'm not sure yet, you're actually the first person to talk to me since I've been here. And I'm just, I don't know how to feel about that yet."
Emily shrugged, "I guess you'll just have to trust me."
Alison wanted to agree but she had issues with trust and she knew the closer people got to her, even if she trusted them, the easier it was for them to hurt her.
"Maybe."
The taller girl sighed, she just wanted to know why the girl in front of her seemed to be so conflicted with her own thoughts, changing moods every so often as if she was afraid to let her guard down "one of these days you'll have to answer me."
"I did answer you."
"No, I mean answer a different question."
Alison was confused but equally curious, "yeah, and what question would that be?"
Emily smiled and met the blue eyes with her brown ones, "what's your story?"
Alison froze and she shook her head.
Shrugging Emily added, "I know you said I shouldn't concern myself, but I'm not, I'm just curious."
"Well you shouldn't be. You know they say curiosity killed the cat."
"Yeah and you're forgetting the other half."
"And what's that?"
"That satisfaction brought him back."
"Touché, Fields, touché."
Emily smiled proudly and shrugged thinking to herself that one day would come soon enough.
Alison walked to her side, knowing that she was 'beat' and continued to stack the books. She sighed almost sadly, thinking to herself that even if she told Emily her story, she wouldn't be satisfied at all.
Emily seemed like the type of girl who liked the happily ever afters and always rooted for the underdog to win, like she cried even for the happy things and well, those weren't the kinds of chapters that filled Alison's story.
x-x-x-x
AN: I won't be home at all these weekend so I decided to update this a bit early, and I will most probably do the same for ISIKYW and YSM.
Tell me what you thought about this! Please? Lol, the next chapter is a big flashback from Ali's past, ooooh I'm so excited.
- Lina xo