Family

Dear Emily

"You know a very wise woman once told me that their is nothing to hide, it doesn't matter who you love as long as you are happy. She told me that as long as you listen to your heart you can be and do anything you desire. She taught me how to be confident in who I am by loving me and proving to me that there is absolutely nothing wrong with being in love with a girl" Alison tells me, caressing my head in her hands

"I love you Emily. Whoever that boy is he is just a waste of your time and when I find out who it is, I am going to kill him" she laughs, wiping away my tears

"Emily do you love me?"

"More than anything" I sniff

"Well then what's the problem? Who cares what that boy says? As long as we love each other it doesn't matter" she tells me, leaning closer and closer to my face with every word

"I love you" she whispers slowly emphasising each word

I lean towards her and gently kiss her soft lips

"What do I Emily?" She asks

"You love me?" I reply, confused by her question

"What?"

"You love me"

"I What?"

"You love me"

Alison continues to ask me over and over again until I laugh and she is convinced that I know she loves me.

Ali's pov

Everyday after school teachers stay later to grade papers and Emily and I are no acceptation. It is an unwritten rule that teachers stay 1 hour after school before going home. However, today I decided to stay much later than everyone else so I can surprise Emily and try lift all her anxiety off of her.

At 5pm, I tell Emily to head home and pick Grace and Lily up from Pam's house. She reluctantly leaves me in the school and I begin to put my plan in motion. The janitor gives me the keys to lock the school after becoming impatient, waiting for me to leave. I am completely alone.

I sit at my desk and write multiple letters placing a strip of tape at the top of the paper. I write notes for Emily as well as draw arrows on multiple pieces of paper. I walk around the school strategically pinning paper on the walls. I stick my last note onto a bookcase before phoning Emily

"Emily, can you come pick me up? Oh and come into the school when you get here"

"Okay. We'll be there soon. Bye" she says, hanging up the phone

Emily's pov

I walk into the school holding onto Lily and Grace's hand. Once we are in the school Lily and Grace run down the dark corridors towards Alison's class room.

"Hey darlings" She smiles, hugging them

"Do you girls want to help Mom go on a treasure hunt?"

"A treasure hunt?" I ask

"Yes. Follow the red arrows"

I nervously walk out the class searching for the first red arrow

"Mommy I found it" Grace shouts

I follow the arrows and Lily, Grace and Alison follow behind me. We follow the arrows until I come across a note

'Dear Emily. I know you have had a bad week so I wanted to take you on my journey of acceptance.
"We'll be friends forever. Can you put mine on for me, Em?"
I remember thinking I was so powerful and smart making you put my bracelet on me. I liked flirting with you, it always sent shivers down my spine. I pretended I was just asking for a favour but I would do anything to make you smile...' the paragraph goes on and on, and with each letter is quotes and pages of how I made Alison feel

Hearing all the ways Alison tried to push her feelings for me away, made me strangely emotional and grateful. Grateful that I meant that much to her. Everything she did was for me, maybe she didn't want it to be for me but secretly everything she did was so that I could be happy.

We arrive at Alison's last note and once again it begins with two words

'Dear Emily'

"I remember this from our story" Lily says peering over my shoulder

"Your first kiss" Grace smiles

"Emily, you wrote your feelings towards me in a book. You wrote our story in a small space that can be easily hidden. I wanted to display our story out in the open. To show you that their is nothing to hide" she gently says, hugging me

"I love you Alison. I am so grateful to have you. I'll help you take all these down"

"Actually Emily, I was hoping you'd let me leave them up" she tells me

"Really? So every student in Rosewood can read it?"

"I'm not actually leaving them up. They are for you Emily, to show you that it's difficult to overcome the barriers but it's completely worth all the struggle" she laughs

"But you know what I'm going to do. Teach the little asshole that being homophobic is not okay" she devilishly smiles, pulling out a long rainbow flag and photos of couples, from her bag

She uses the keys the janitor left her to unlock his locker and tapes the flag to the inside of his locker door. Shoving photos of gay couples kissing into the locker she slams the door shut.

"How did you find out who..."

"You don't need to know, all you need to know is that when he opens his locker tomorrow he'll be bombarded with all things homosexual" Alison laughs

"Now come on baby" she says, once we have delicately pulled all the paper off the walls

"Oh, I've got one more letter"

'Dear Emily. I love you'

"I love you too" I cry with joy, kissing her passionately

"I know" she smiles, wrapping her arms around Lily and Grace's shoulders, and grabbing onto my hand