Chapter 16 - Not What You Think
AN: ugh my baby, i miss this damn story...I'm pissed at myself for taking TWO MONTHS to post a damn update. Anyways, I hope I don't disappoint. Love you all, this is kind of a shorter update because of some storyline changes I made, so if it seems flat, I apologize, the pace will be back up in the next update, anyways, I'm looking forward to what you guys have to say about what you think is going to unfold.
x-x-x-x-x
No One's POV
"Batman and Robin? And you thought that was a good idea?"
"Hanna, calm down, it's just a nickname, but I don't know, I thought it was kind of-,"
"What? Oh god, Em. No, please. Please don't say 'cute'."
"Why not," Em pulled the phone away and looked at it as if she was looking directly at her best friend.
"I was just thinking-,"
"That sounds dangerous," Em cracked.
"Ha ha," Hanna retorted full of sarcasm, "I'm serious Em, I was."
"Okay," Emily sighed, "and what did you come up with in that mighty mind of yours?"
"I'm worried," Hanna let out into the phone.
Emily looked around and leaned closer to the wall, "worried? What are you worried about?"
"This, all of this. Look, I know I basically just gave you and Alison the best friend seal of approval, but things are starting to get too complicated and coincidental at the same time, I don't know, but I just don't want to see you get stuck in the cross-hairs of all of this."
"You've been hanging out with our lawyer too much," Emily tried to joke, hearing the way Hanna was talking about this.
"I'm not laughing at this one Em, I'm serious, okay? I don't know what we're going to find but I know I'm not going to like it if anything points to Alis-,"
"It won't."
"How do you know that?" Emily dropped her head and took a deep breath, Hanna picturing the look on Em's face right now.
"You still don't trust her?"
"I don't know yet, she's at the center of everything and I don't-,"
"Do you trust me," Emily cut her off.
Hanna didn't have to waste another second thinking about how to answer, "yes. Of course, with my life, Em."
"Okay, then trust me when I say that I know that I can trust her. Have I been wrong about trusting someone before?"
Hanna tried to think...well there was the time with Ben in high school, but Emily used him to see if she could see if she really was-
"Hanna," as if Emily could read her best friend's mind from miles away, "Ben and Paige didn't count. We all knew Ben was an asshole and you know why I put up with his shit and dated him. And Paige...well she was the one wrong about me."
"Okay."
"Okay?"
"Yeah, I said okay. I've known you for too long to start questioning your judgments now. If you trust her, then I will too, because I trust you."
"Just like that?" Emily was happy. Surprised, yet happy. But she was still expecting some resistance from her best friend.
"Just like that Em, I feel like I've known you my whole life, and I need your ass out here again. You're going to be my maid of honor and plan my wedding when we get Caleb back too."
"Is this you asking?"
"Um, I don't know...is it? I didn't think I had to."
"You didn't...I mean you don't have to," Emily laughed, too happy at the proposition to remember their little 'argument'. "So, have you told your mom yet?"
"No."
"What? Why not? C'mon you two have been hiding the engagement for months, you know how confusing it's been for me? I was calling you boyfriend-girlfriend, fiances, I need to be concrete now, and I can't be slipping up around your mom."
"Well good thing you're getting out soon, I know you suck at keeping secrets."
Emily closed her eyes, "when I get out," she repeated more for herself than for Hanna's ears.
"It's going to be okay Em, I don't know why I was freaking out, I just really want Caleb home, I want you both home."
"Well it's been two weeks for him, and just over a week for me...I can't even imagine if-,"
"Then don't."
"You're right," Emily looked around. The real reason she called Hanna was to find out if Spencer had any details on Reyes again, there was still a chance that he could've switched shifts or just up and left altogether.
"So Spencer just got here."
"Okay, what did she get?"
"Hold on," Hanna put the phone down and called Spencer over.
"Hello, Emily?"
"Yeah?"
"Okay, we don't have a lot of time, I called and asked about Reyes, I pretended to be his girlfriend and asked when his lunch break was so I could drop off food. Apparently he's coming in today at 11."
"That's late...isn't it?"
"Yes, very. I have a team of my grad students from UPenn checking out his activity for the past few days."
"What? How is that?"
"I help teach a post grad student immersion program where they basically get on paid internships to do the grunt work, get their hands dirty and do what I say."
"How is that legal?"
Spencer scoffed, "have you seen How to Get Away With Murder? Shonda knows her stuff, it isn't all made up."
"What?" Emily had no clue what she was talking about.
"Ok well anyways, they think Joshua Reyes is a case study. They're not allowed to look where I don't tell them and they'll fail if they try to contact him."
"Spencer, that sounds dangerous and you still didn't tell me if it was legal or not? How do we know that they won't go and tell him?"
"Any breach of contract results in their automatic failure and all those years studying will have gone down the drain, no school or employer would want them...believe me, they are highly motivated to do as I say."
"So if you say to jump-,"
"They will ask me how high." There was a know-it-all quality in the tone of the lawyer's voice and although it was concerning a bit to Emily, she was just glad that it was working in her favor. She couldn't imagine being on the opposing side in a courtroom.
But still, Emily didn't like the idea of even more people getting involved with this mess.
"What happened to keeping a lid on it?"
"Emily, I'm sorry, but if Michael Richards is behind all of this, then he opened for a can of pain and tossed the lid, he's going to get what's coming to him. I will use all the resources I have to get him behind bars for a very long time."
"Okay," Emily sighed after what seemed like minutes, "if Hanna trusts you with this, then so do I."
"Good, and don't worry about the legality of the situation okay, I'm the lawyer and the less you and these kids know, the better."
"Whatever you say."
"See, you're already sounding like my interns," the lawyer joked successfully.
"Okay, okay, thank you for doing this."
"Well remember that I am charging you," she laughed, "not as much as I normally would, but nonetheless, you're welcome."
"Speaking of charge," Em laughed back, "did you put money on Ali's books?"
"Yes, I will transfer the amount you asked for after this phone call. You sure you want to do this, you know there's no going back. I don't have the resources to break the digital trail if you decide to do a direct wire transfer."
"I'm sure. Unless you have an alternative option that gets it to her the fastest?" Emily proposed, knowing that she had already thought of ways to get the money from her account to Alison's.
"I could take out the deposit as cash and mail it or take it into there directly and put it in her account but that will take me some time, I have a meeting with my class tonight."
"No, it's okay, just do what I said the first time unless like I said, you can find something faster."
"Well, your personal accounts were frozen until you get out, but the account your dad opened for you in case of emergencies is open and the revenue from your's and Hanna's business is also open. It would be even more clear as day to see where that money goes though, so in case this doesn't work out, it's not going to look good but on the other hand, it's the fastest."
"No, leave that money in our business accounts there, half is Hanna's and we need that to keep everything up and running. And if I pull money from my dad's account, he'll come home beyond worried with the cavalry right behind him."
"Ok, note taken, leave the the daddy bucks alone, I got it, but with the success of the expansion-,"
"I said no," Emily declared firmly. She didn't want to sound so forceful, but it was important that the money that her and Hanna both worked for remained untouched for any other reason than to keep their business running.
"Okay," Spencer conceded, "a no it is. I won't bring it up again, and I'm sorry if I overstepped-,"
"You didn't," Emily took a breath to get her emotions in check. "This man has taken enough away from Hanna, I would never even for once think of taking from what we worked so hard for, even if half is mine, he doesn't get to do that."
"Understood. You're a good person Emily."
"Thank you Spencer, I think I need to 'reload my minutes' again and I've heard it can take a day or two, hopefully sooner though. If not, I think Ali can call on her account."
"Okay, well Hanna is calling Caleb's ex-employers again so I'll tell her you said goodbye."
"Alright, thank you."
"Was there anything else?"
Emily thought for a moment and then nodded, taking a moment to realize that Spencer couldn't see her, "actually yes, what time is Reyes' lunch break?"
"Oh, right. Of course. Um, the man I spoke to told me he'll have two, one at 3:30 and another for dinner at 8:00. He's been cut on hours for overnight stays, so he should be off at midnight. That's all I was able to get before they really started to ask questions."
"Okay, I think we can work around that, we have 'work' at 2 to 6 and then dinner is at 7:30 to 8:45, we'll be cutting it close no matter what window we decide to take..."
"What about when he's getting off?"
"No, it'll be too hard for us to sneak out."
"Shit, you're right. Well, whatever you decide, I hope it works, contact us when you can."
"Will do. Take care of Hanna for me."
"Hanna is doing a fine job of that on her own, but I'll do my best."
"Okay, wish us luck."
"Good luck and it's barely 8:30, so you have 2 and a half hours to find some more luck."
"I better go then."
"Bye Emily, take care, I hope you find out if this bastard is lying or not."
"So do I, I have a date I need to get to soon."
And before Spencer could ask, Emily hung up with a smirk on her face.
"What did you just say?" Ali came around the corner, eyebrows knitted.
"Nothing," Emily chuckled, "let's just get ready."
x-x-x-x-x
"So we have two opportunities?" Alison rubbed the sweat on her palms against the thick cotton pants she had no choice but to wear everyday.
"Well no, we have one...all we have is two options for when we want this to all go down."
"So what do you want to do?"
"I don't know, I already blew off that 'meeting' with Val and the others yesterday. I say the sooner the better?"
"Okay," Ali nodded, looking around them, "so what's the plan?"
"I'm not sure, I was just hoping something would come to me by now."
"And?"
"Nothing," Emily shook her head.
"Okay," Ali breathed, "well maybe after we eat something, then we can figure it out."
"Yeah," Em shuffled the rest of the way to the cafeteria. It was much like the cafeteria in high school, -even in college - and there were still all of the same distinguishable cliques: the all-stars, the know-it alls, the jocks, the outcasts, the loners, and then there was Emily, with her...
"Em?"
"Yeah Alison?"
Ali giggled a shy laugh into her shoulder and pointed, "you want toast or a biscuit?"
"Oh," Emily looked at her tray and then the angry inmate working in the kitchen as a server, "um, I'll take the toast."
The woman, about 55 with red hair grunted and rolled her eyes, flipping a piece of toast on Em's tray.
"You're cheeks are red," Ali said without meaning to.
"Ugh, I can feel it, sorry, I was just thinking."
"I know, I could tell, hence me calling your name a few times before you jumped off your train of thoughts."
"Yeah," Emily scratched behind her head with one hand, "thanks."
"It's nothing...so you sitting with me today?"
The question startled them both. Neither knew why Ali asked. Alison found herself feeling how she always imagined she would feel when she-
"Of course, why wouldn't I?" Emily looked at Ali like it was such a bizarre question, like she asked what color the sky was. Well blue of course, just like yours, Em thought to the Alison in her subconscious.
"Well because," Ali said with a pink tint in her cheeks, "your posse over there gave me the crazy eye."
"Who?" Emily turned around and was instantly met with 3 sets of eyes: Aryn, Aria and Val. Even Bubbles was with them today, looking Emily and Alison's way too. Where Bubbles was curious, everyone else looked scornful...and disapproving.
"Oh, them."
"Yeah," Ali pursed her lips and stopped at her table. It was only hers, because after a while, no one sat with her, she didn't even know why.
"Well, no, I'm not sitting with them today," Emily waved and smiled like it was nothing and then sat down right across from Alison, "I'm sitting with you, and I don't care who's looking or judging."
Alison swallowed and allowed this feeling to bloom in her stomach, she wasn't even sure that it was really even there. She hasn't this in a long time, she was...happy? Yes, that was it, she was happy. In all places.
She turned to Emily and a grin spread across her face. If there wasn't this table between us I would-
"You'd what?" Emily looked up from her almost colorless food and raised an eyebrow.
"What," Alison spat. Again? Shit.
"I don't know, that's why I'm asking, it sounded like you said-"
"No, no I didn't."
"But I didn't even say anything." Emily was confused now. Picking up her toast and then putting it back down.
"What?" Alison asked defensively when she seen Emily looking at her carefully.
"Nothing, it's just...that your cheeks are red now."
Alison coughed and cleared her throat, "well um, that's because I swallowed some food and it went down the wrong way."
Emily looked down at Alison's tray and smiled smugly, "but you haven't touched your food."
Alison didn't want to panic, why did it feel like she was panicking, was it getting hotter in here or what?
"It only appears that way because this oatmeal is all one mush, so taking a small scoop didn't leave an indent, it's too watery to-,"
"It's okay Ali, I'm only teasing."
Relieved, Alison emptied her lungs, "teasing, right, of course. I knew that."
"Uh huh." Emily flicked some crumbs from the table in Alison's direction and picked up her toast again, this time successfully able to take a bite out of it. "Hmm, good call on the toast, I just seen someone bite into the biscuit."
Alison scoffed, "bite? Wait, you mean their teeth made it all the way through?" The blonde turned around dramatically to see the kitchen food's newest victim.
"Alison, stop." Emily reached across the table and instinctively grabbed her hand.
Alison stopped instantly and whipped her head to look at their hands, her body following suit.
"Oh, um," Emily stammered as she quickly drew her hand away and back into her lap.
Her other hand rubbed the back of her neck and without making eye contact, she apologized, "uh, sorry about that."
But Alison didn't like that Emily was apologizing for grabbing her hand, everything felt...natural, it wasn't forced and the only reason Emily didn't hold back was because she wasn't worried about doing something wrong.
"No," Ali took a pause before standing slightly to grab Emily's hand that was now back on the table, "it's okay."
Emily's mouth opened and shut but nothing came out. She shook her head and then half smiled, letting an exasperated breath release, "oh."
"Oh?"
"Um," Emily laughed, "yes, oh."
"Is that a good oh?" Alison raised an eyebrow and experimentally started to draw her hand away.
Emily placed her other hand over Alison's making a sandwich and smiled a full smile this time, "it is a good oh. It's a great oh."
"Oh," Ali replied, laughing because now neither of them could stop it.
Emily noted the way Alison's eyes literally seemed to light up. They seemed a new shade of blue: bright and calm, clear and deep. Serene, peaceful. It was the first time in the short amount of time that she'd known the woman that she truly looked happy.
Emily told herself that she wants to see this same very look more often.
Alison swallowed and her hand twitched between the warmth of Emily's. They looked down, then at each other and slowly drew there hands away, looking around. Some people were looking but mostly everyone was minding their own business.
When they looked at each other again, they giggled...like little school girls. An impossible juxtaposition between the harsh reality of where they were to the pure and soft innocence they felt in each other's presence.
No one was there to call them both out this time...both of their cheeks were burning bright red now.
"Um," Ali said breaking the silence, "so you should eat. We need a plan before Reyes gets here."
"Right," Emily held a fork up of supposed egg and tilted her head, "you should eat too."
"Yeah, right, eat." Ali mimicked Emily and held up her spoon with a grey glob of supposed oatmeal.
"A toast," Emily said, "to us. May we find everyone who is involved with the shit we've all been through and bring them to justice."
"To us," Ali repeated in agreement, "may we get the fuck out of here and get some real food."
"Mmm, agreed, some pizza."
"Yes, pizza."
And then breathing it in together, "pepperoni."
Laughs came and went and when it was quiet between them again, Emily held up her food once more, "haha maybe I should've used this for our...toast."
She waited for the effect and Ali looked up with her spoon still in her mouth and started coughing, literally choking on her food, seriously this time.
"Oh god, Alison, breathe." Emily stood to help but Ali held her hand out and pointed her finger down.
"Sit," she rasped, rubbing her throat.
Emily looked guiltily at the blonde and bit her lower lip, "are you okay? I'm so sorry."
Ali scowled playfully, "yeah I'll be fine. Are you sure you wanted to open a bakery next to your shop?"
"Yes," Em tread, "why?"
"Why? Well," Ali said mockingly, "you should get into stand-up."
Emily rolled her eyes, "ha ha, sarcasm, cute. I said I was sorry didn't I?"
"I guess."
"Ali, really, are you okay?" Past the jokes and laughter, Ali could see that Emily was actually really worried about her.
"Yes," she answered confidently to ease the brunette, "I'm fine."
"Okay, I'm sorry, it was just a stupid pun, I honestly didn't think you'd laugh, let alone choke."
"It's okay, it was...," does she dare herself? Yes, "punny."
Emily dropped her toast and covered her mouth to keep from roaring into a stupid laughter.
"Wow totally original."
"What? Are you kidding me? You're laughing at me?"
"Yes, and the fact that you tried to make a joke...again."
"Tried? I did make the joke, it was funny."
"Not as much as you think," Emily winked. "Besides you said that one already."
Ali rolled her eyes because Em was right, she did say that before, but Emily had laughed the first time.
"Ugh, you're mean."
"Am not," Em shrugged.
"Ew and I thought you said your friend Hanna could be childish."
"She can be."
"Okay, we'll see. Are we going to eat or what?" Ali checked the clock, "it'll be time to go before I actually get to swallow any of this, so I don't think we can afford to play with our food any longer."
"Yes, yes we'll eat, mom."
Ali nudged Emily with her foot under the table and shook her head as to say don't call me that again.
The playful banter ended when Emily bit into her toast, chewed for a second and spit it out in her napkin, "I've actually fallen off my bike and had gravel in my mouth with less of a grainy texture."
Alison chuckled and nodded, "when I had the toast I said to myself that cardboard had more flavor."
"Cardboard?"
"Yeah."
"You've eaten cardboard."
"What? No!"
"Sure, I think you just admitted that you did though."
"I did not! I was just saying-"
"It's okay, I'm not judging," Emily teased with a knowing grin on her face, "just promise me you'll let me cook for you when we get out."
"Deal," they shook on it, "and I've never eaten cardboard, "Ali defended, crossing her arms stubbornly.
"It's okay, sriracha goes with everything, I can get you the finest slices of cardboard you have ever had."
"Emily!"
x-x-x-x-x
"So that's the plan? That's what we're sticking with?"
Emily shrugged at Alison, "it's all I could think of, do you have something else in mind?"
"No, I don't but-,"
"We don't have the luxury of time here Alison."
"I know, I know. You're right."
Emily placed her hand on Alison's shoulder, "it's going to be alright."
"Okay," Ali said, but she was far from it.
Em noticed the worry in her eyes, "do you want to hear it again?"
Alison looked up at brown eyes with a little plea, "please?"
"Sure." Emily walked a few paces ahead into their 'cubicle' turned bedroom and sat down, patting the space beside her, "c'mere."
Ali looked around, still wary about showing anyone in this place that she had something good...someone good. She felt a cross between protective and possessive that in spite of her situation, there was still some light at the end of her tunnel.
She walked towards Emily and made sure no one was close enough, just in case there were eavesdroppers.
"Okay," Emily started, "we'll try to get Val and Reyes at dinner."
"Right," Ali was still looking around, "he should be here now."
"It's okay, as long as he doesn't try to get you alone again."
Alison's eyes darted back and forth frantically still and she told herself to relax when Em's squeezed the top of her knee.
"It's going to be okay."
"You don't know that."
"Okay, no...I don't," Emily admitted honestly, "but that doesn't mean it's not worth a shot okay? I get to Val, get her to see me alone and I ask her."
"Just ask her? What if she is involved, then what? You ask her nicely to tell you everything she knows?"
"No, I'll kick her ass."
Ali cracked a smile and realized that she was in fact, being ridiculous. Anything was worth trying to clear her name and take down Michael.
"And if we're both wrong, I guess you'll have to put up with me longer than expected."
"I'll have no regrets," Em answered smoothly.
"Keep going."
Emily nodded, "I confront Val while you're getting to Reyes, I suggest you set something up beforehand and maybe plan to meet in the same supply closet, I know where that is, so if we just time it, I will get there just after you."
"Right, no worries about watching my back, because if he is helping Michael...there won't be anyone else in there still breathing beside me."
The dark tone startled Emily but she thought about what she would do if somehow Valerie was also connected. If it was true...it would be the reason Emily serves more than just a few months locked up.
"What are we supposed to do though if we find out that either of them is actually helping Michael, it's not like we can tell the cops, we're convicted criminals in their eyes, our truth won't matter."
"You're right, but that's why we have Spencer. She'll find a way. She has people looking into Reyes and I'm sure she can do the same about Val. From there, I don't know."
"I don't know Emily, this doesn't really sound like a plan. It just sounds like a bad idea now."
"Maybe it is, but maybe it's not. We won't know unless we try, but we have to do something. I can't just sit here and not do anything when I think that there's something to be done."
"I can't either, I've been sitting back this whole time, and then you come, and now I can't even stand the thought of waiting another second."
Emily smiled, proud she would say, of the woman in front of her. It was crazy, it had only been what? Days? A little over a week and some change, yet she could feel something so raw and comforting, new but welcomed settle inside her very being and she knew, without any doubt that Alison was-
Waving her hands in front of her face.
"What?"
"Em, I'm going to start calling you spaceman."
"What?" She repeated, genuinely lost.
"Spaceman, because you keep spacing out, or looking right through things like when you stare up at the sky and just try to see past the blankets of black and pick out all of the stars and galaxies that you think are stars hat you can.
"Spaceman."
"Yep, spaceman."
"Shouldn't it be spacewoman?"
"Nope, spaceman has a nicer ring to it."
Emily grinned and shook her head, "remind me to get a blank sheet of paper so that you can keep the list of my nicknames on it for me, I'd hate to forget."
"You'd forget periodically, because you'd just space out and forget that there was even a list to remember."
Em shook her head again, why did it have to be here, like this, that she had to meet the most intriguing person she had ever met? Why, in this place was she imagining the life she could be living with this bright eyed, fragile with a rough exterior, blonde beauty?
"Alison?"
"Yeah?"
Alison's smile started to shrink slowly and she waited for more words to come from Em's mouth.
Emily on the other hand, sat frozen, the words like bile in her mouth. She should spit them out but like when she tried Hanna's own spin off of an old family recipe, she forced it down. Stay down, she coaxed silently, sit in my belly and digest dammit.
I think I'm falling in love with you...I think I am in love with you.
That's the vomit she forced back down.
She couldn't spew it out and make a mess. Not now, Emily thought, the time just wasn't right.
Ali still looked at her with those eyes, and her own brown orbs swallowed in the view, and she thought that maybe there was nothing else to do right now in this moment but kiss Alison.
And so she did.
She shot her hands out fast but gentle against the sides of Ali's face. She breathed in the scent of the woman and looked down at those delicate lips, then the ice blue eyes saying yes to her unasked question.
Yes, yes, yes, do it she thought.
She smashed her lips into Alison's and forgot that she should be gentle and it should be slow, she forgot that she wanted to make a promise to not kiss her until after a good first date, a real one with a fancy car, a nice restaurant, real food, the bill that she'd pick up, the ride to her house to drop her off and walk her to her door and kiss her goodnight.
Emily forgot that. Alison's mouth moving against hers in perfect harmony did that to her.
Instead Emily kissed Alison like they were the last two humans to exist in their part of the world and were doomed to be apart as soon as they let go of one another and this kiss, this kiss was their final kiss, a kiss between two lovers that would be their last, so it had to be good, better than all the kisses they had ever shared before, it had to be passionate and raw and hungry and everything that it was right now. it was perfect.
It was a perfect could be our last kiss.
Neither wanted it to end. Maybe the end of the world was near after all and they should spend the rest of the time that they have lip locked, breathless, panting, heart racing, and coming closer to one another until they were a piece of art. Continuous limbs so intertwined it was next to impossible to discern where Emily began and Alison ended, or where Alison started and Emily ended.
They could've stayed like that.
They've could've let the world release them from its grasp and stay exactly how they were but when Emily's thoughts went from the end of the world to the hem of Alison's undershirt, the end of the world vanished and it was only the end of this kiss coming for them.
Their tongues slowed. Ali stopped taking nibbles at Emily's bottom lip and Emily unclenched her hand from the base of Ali's neck, where long blonde tendrils of hair were gently tangled.
Forehead to forehead now, breaths mingled in the small gap of air between their mouths, hands returned to their own bodies, they just sat there.
"Wow," Ali finally broke the silence, breathing resembling what it should 'normally' sound like.
"Wow," Emily repeated because her head was still spinning, or was the room spinning, no it was the world, the world was always spinning, only now she could actually feel it.
"Will they always be like that?" Ali kept her eyes closed, whispering softly to Em who was the same, heavy lidded mess she was.
Emily sighed, laughed once and ran her hands along the lengths of Ali's arms, "I don't know, I hope so."
"Me too."
x-x-x-x-x-x
The moment that the 'bell of sorts' rung out loud through the cold grey walls, indicating the start of the dinner period, Alison and Emily reluctantly disentangled their bodies from the hug/embrace they had been in. They didn't say a word. They looked at one another and knew exactly what had to be done.
Alison left first, knowing that Reyes was bound to stop in the supply closet to grab his not so secret secret stash or cigarettes, after he ate.
That gave Emily only about 20 minutes to find Val, get her alone and find out what she wanted to know...which was how much did she know? She said she knew about a 'her' and a guard. So how much did she know about Alison and Reyes, who was she working for?
So many questions flooded her brain that Emily feared the word vomit would choke her and the plan to get information and protect Alison would be ruined.
Two hundred seventeen steps later and Emily walked into the cafeteria alone.
It was the first thing her 'posse' as Alison called them, noticed, immediately waving and calling Emily's name, almost chiding her for not sitting down with them earlier, saying you missed out, come over here, sit with us, there's enough space for you.
Emily forced a grin and sat down, right next to Aryn, the ex-swimmer mirroring her own height and build and Bubbles, who was stout in comparison, but had the features of a grown baby. Across from Aryn was Aria, and directly in front of Emily was Val.
"Hey Emily," the black haired girl greeted, "we missed you at breakfast earlier."
"Oh," Em started, "I know, I seen you all, it's just that I was-"
"With your girlfriend?" Aryn finished, earning a scoff from Val.
"What? No, Ali isn't my- well she and I- you know what it's none of your business what she is to me."
"Well whatever she is, she doesn't like us, and I don't want to be the one to put you in this situation, but I don't think we can associate ourselves with the likes of her."
"What?" Emily wasn't believing what she was hearing. Aria, was quiet but Emily considered her the leader of this group, so with pleading eyes, Emily looked to Arias wide ones.
"Aria? You're going to make me choose?"
"Emily, you know we all are very fond of you, but Val - I mean we think that if you want to hang with us, then it might be a good idea if you know, you cut her off before she becomes part of your image."
"My image?"
"Yeah," Val pointed out, "you know, you're the innocent one, you have those soft doey eyes that scream how much you don't belong here, but if you hang with the wrong people, everyone will think you're just playing the part."
"Everyone, or just you?"
"Fine Em, sleep around with the cop killer, but don't say we didn't warn you and try to have your-"
"Don't you dare-," Emily stood and raised her voice, stopping when she felt the eyes of everyone else in the cafeteria fall on her. She sat back down, leaned over the table to Valerie and almost growled, "Can we talk to outside?" And when the others moved to get up, Emily shook her head, "just her."
Valerie stood and nodded her head once to let everyone know it was okay. She took a swig of water, "I'll be back. Oh and hey, I heard Ruby and Hazel and the other box crayon color named wackos were supposed to start something with Roza the Polish one - not the Hispanic Rosa - and her gang of thugs today. Come get me if something happens."
Bubbles shook her head, "No, I heard they were doing that tomorrow, something about Roza's son coming to visit her since he left home."
Shrugging nonchalantly, Val stood and turned on her heels, "where are you taking me Stretch?"
Emily grunted and bit her lip, "outside."
Emily took the lead, barging from the cafeteria and walking her way towards the nearest double doors leading to the courtyard, Valerie casually keeping up at her heels.
When they were out of earshot, Emily turned around and got her face right into Valerie's even though she stood inches below the Emily, Valerie held her ground.
"What is it Em? You didn't like me calling that Alice girl a psycho killer? She should be sent to the SHU, I don't know why they let her around everyone else, I've heard the stories, did you know that-,"
"Those stories are a load of bullshit and probably made up by you! What is your goddamn problem with her anyways, what has she done to you?"
"Me? What's your problem, just say you've been banging her. It's okay Emily, we all have that one dirty fuck and we're ashamed, you don't have to be-"
"I'm not ashamed, Val. I like her, she's nothing like what you think, I'm only ashamed that I thought you and the others would be different but I guess I was wrong."
"You can't actually be serious about her right?" Val took a step back and looked at Emily like she was growing a second head.
"Yes in fact I am, I like her a lot, in fact I think that I may - you know what, I believe in her and I hope to God nothing bad happens to her, which is why I wanted to talk to you alone."
"Me?"
Emily nodded and closed the distance between the two and in a deadly serious tone, she said lowly, "I heard you the other day. Tell me what you know Val, or else you'll regret the day you pranced around with a picket sign so stupidly enough that you got thrown in here with me."
Unwavering, but swallowing hard, Val jutted her chin out, "I talk on the phone all the time, I don't know what you heard."
"I heard enough to not trust you," Emily only began. "I heard enough that I've been thinking that only one of us will be walking back through those doors in the next few minutes."
"Care to refresh my memory? I might have been talking about my mom, or my dog Fido, hmm maybe I was asking my sister how my nieces were doing or if they've been feeding my fish."
Emily could hear the sarcasm lace thickly in her voice and as if on its own accord, Emily's body lurched forward, hands finding shoulders and pushing them back into the cold chain link fence until a groan was heard, "what the fuck?! Guards!"
"No. More. Games." Emily was primal now, eyes wild, heart uncontrollable, hands slightly shaking.
"Okay, what do you want?" Valerie surprised herself and Emily at how easily she conceded, "let go of me and I'll tell you what you want, whatever I know, if you ask, I'll give you the answer."
"Do not mess with me Val, I like you, I don't want to have to hurt you. I don't need a sharpened end of a toothbrush, or a gang of women behind me...my dad serves in the military, he taught me enough to hurt someone so bad they never recover, do you hear me?"
The gravel and dark in Emily's voice chilled Val to the bone. She told herself to blame the fence just two layers from her skin, but she knew damn well why she shivered.
"Tell me what you know about the guard and inmate that have been meeting in supply closets."
Val almost laughed when she heard it. She thought that Emily was going to kill her with her thumb for some real dirty inside scoop about anything she might know...like the drug smuggling, the homemade alcohol hiding in Johnston's bunk. Maybe about the sex happening in laundry room or expired food delivered for their consumption, but no instead, Emily was making death threats about-
"Are you laughing?" Emily's eyes had gone almost completely black and Val snapped her mouth shut when Emily raised her first for the first time in...her life.
She was going to hit this laughing idiot right now. She didn't care about wearing a shoe or whatever the hell they called being sent into solitary. She snarled one time before someone yelled her name, "Emily, no! Wait. Em, stop!"
Emily let go of her grip on one of Val's shoulders and took a careful step back.
"Alison what are you-,"
But when she looked up, she seen that Ali wasn't alone.
"What are you doing here?"
"Trying to stop you from doing something really stupid." It was Reyes, clad in his uniform, arms outstretched cautiously, waiting for Emily to back away from completely from Val.
Valerie looked between the three of them and fixed her shirt, "what the hell is going on here?"
Emily's eyes were wide with confusion, fear, and anger before Alison came to her side, "Emily we got it all wrong, Josh isn't involved with Michael. The pictures Spencer 'found' were faked."
"Okay, but what about her?" Em pointed an accusing finger in Valerie's direction.
"Em," Ali grabbed the brunette's face and made her look at her, calming her down, "believe me, it's not what you think, and I'll explain, just come inside right now, we need to get to a phone."
"Why?"
"We need to warn Spencer and Hanna."
Emily looked between Reyes, who she still didn't trust; Val, whose face she was ready to smash in with her fist and Alison, whose eyes looked wide and worried and like things were moving to fast around her.
"So what do we do?" Emily tried to imagine what had happened between Reyes and Ali before they came out here.
"Alison?" Joshua asked quietly.
"We have to start over."
Great, Emily thought, just great.
x-x-x-x-x
AN: ooooooh I can't wait to write the next three chapters, I so so happy about them...also, I'm developing carpal tunnel in my right hand/arm just like my mom and grandma...yay for genes! I tried not to cry while writing any of this...fuuuuuuuuck lol
I'll be back tomorrow with that second update I promised. I can't upload tonight because I'm supposed to be waking up in four hours...dammit *cries myself to sleep