Pretty Little Liars: The Beginning {Episodes 1-10} (REVISED)

54. Emily 🏊‍♀️

Maya led Emily towards a photo booth that seemed pretty much untouched. The lights were on, but the kids around it seemed to be paying no attention to it, unless it was to set their drinks down for a moment or to lean against it while they talked to their friends. Emily wouldn't have been surprised if they were the first people to actually use it all night.

Emily slid inside the booth, with Maya right behind her. Already, they could see themselves in the camera. Emily had to admit that the lighting wasn't all that flattering, but she convinced herself that it couldn't be too bad. After all, this was just for fun. It's not like anyone would see these pictures.

"Ready?" Emily asked, fixing her hair.

"Wait, I gotta prepare," Maya said, leaning forward to see herself better in the camera. Emily thought she looked a million times better than she did. What Maya needed to prepare was beyond Emily. "If this comes out decent, I'm going to cut mine out and replace the one on my driver's license."

"Yeah, they're always scary," Emily agreed.

"No, I skipped scary and went straight to Snooki," Maya countered.

Emily laughed. "Can I see it?" she asked. Maya looked unsure, a slight tinge of red on her cheeks. "Come on, I'll show you mine. It's probably worse."

"No way," Maya said. "What could be wrong with yours? You're crazy beautiful."

Emily was struck by the compliment for a second. Excitement bubbled in her stomach. It had been a long time since someone had complimented her out of nowhere like that, not even Ben. She had forgotten how good it felt, even though there was no way she looked that beautiful in this cramped photo booth. But it didn't mean anything, right? Emily tried to remind herself that friends complimented each other all the time as she tried to slow her heart rate.

"Which button is it again?" Emily asked, looking back at the camera. "Um, this one. Okay."

Emily pressed the button, and the booth shuddered to life. Emily leaned against Maya, pouting her lips, and Maya put two fingers up behind Emily's head. The camera flashed, capturing that moment in a blinding light. The camera took picture after picture, catching them in different poses, their blue cups making appearances every so often.

She wasn't sure how it happened, but one moment Emily was smiling and laughing with Maya, and the next, she was gazing into Maya's wide brown eyes. Maya cupped her hand around Emily's cheek, and her lips met Emily's. Fireworks exploded as they kissed.

Maya's lips tasted like beer, but Emily hardly noticed it. Her lips were soft, softer than any boy she'd ever kissed, and she was completely captivated by it. She was drunk. That's all that happened. The shutter of the camera pulled them apart, and all of the magic that Emily had felt during the kiss vanished.

The sudden anxiety must've registered on Emily's face because Maya suggested they go back out and join the party. They slid out of the booth, and Emily reached for the photos. There were none. "Where are the pictures?" she asked, thinking that maybe Maya had grabbed them before Emily got out of the booth.

"Damn. I told you I break cameras," Maya teased.

Emily chuckled nervously, doing her best to keep a straight face. She didn't want to let the panic overtake her. She needed Maya to have the pictures because if she didn't, then that meant that someone else had them. Someone who could show the world, her friends, her parents. "No, seriously, where are they?" Emily asked again.

Maya peeked in the photo slot and shrugged. "It probably just ran out of paper," she said. Emily's heart practically stopped. "Come on. Let's eat something."

Maya grabbed Emily's hand and led her into the kitchen where a stack of pizzas was waiting for them. Emily couldn't bring herself to eat. Maya didn't have the pictures. The only thing she could imagine was that someone had taken them. Maybe even the person that had been sending her and her friends those threatening messages. It could've easily been A.