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

7. Emily 🏊‍♀️

Emily and Maya walked down Maya's street, laughing and joking with each other the whole way. Emily had decided to show Maya the way home at the risk of being late for swim practice, despite Maya's insistence that she knew the way home. Emily just wanted to know more about the girl who had taken over Alison's old house and bedroom, and it felt good to have a friend like her again. Maya wasn't afraid to speak her mind or do what she wanted. It was almost like having Ali back, but better in a way.

"Thanks for walking me home," Maya said.

"It's no big deal. Practice doesn't start until four," Emily said, smiling. It was kind of a big deal though. If her mom ever found out that Emily had cut it this close to practice, she would never hear the end of it.

"I've never had a jock friend before," Maya said with sudden realisation. She bumped Emily playfully on her shoulder. "I guess that makes you my first." They chuckled as they approached Maya's house.

There were two garbage men throwing the boxes of Alison's old stuff into the back of a dumpster truck. Emily's heart sank. She had known that that was going to happen, but she hadn't thought she'd be there to witness it. She hadn't even really looked through it all, and now she'd never be able to. A dull ache in her chest reminded her just how much she really did miss Alison. There was no way she could move on as fast as she thought she had.

Alison and Emily had been the closest out of the five girls in their group, or so Emily thought. She always would go out of her way to get Emily gifts and not tell any of the other girls about them. It made Emily feel special and that was everything to her. There was no getting that back now though.

"Are you okay?" Maya asked, breaking Emily out of her trance.

Emily swallowed her pride. Maya was going to find out eventually anyway. In Rosewood, gossip spread like wildfire. "It's hard for me to talk about," she said as they began the trek up Maya's driveway. "I didn't tell you everything about the girl who used to live here." "Alison," Maya said.

"She disappeared last summer. She's still missing," Emily admitted finally.

Maya's eyes softened from confusion to sadness. "That must've been awful for you," she said sympathetically.

The two girls arrived at the wooden steps that led up to the house, but Emily wasn't quite ready to say goodbye yet. "I used to think that if I didn't talk about her, I wouldn't think about her," Emily confessed. She looked down at the ground, scattered with dead leaves and branches.

"But you still do," Maya said

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry."

Maya went to kiss Emily's cheek goodbye, and Emily did the same thing. Their lips almost met, missing each other by millimetres. They pulled away quickly, startled. She hadn't expected the feeling that followed. She felt a warmth blossom in her chest, like the hole that had been missing since Alison's disappearance had vanished completely. They both laughed awkwardly. "See you tomorrow?" Maya asked.

"Yeah," Emily said as Maya climbed the staircase. "Bye."

Maya disappeared into the house as Emily watched. As soon as the door closed, she took off sprinting toward the school. The exertion from running would tire her out really quickly before practice, but she would have to just push through it. She got to the school just two minutes before practice started, changed into her swimsuit, and jumped into the pool just as the clock struck four. The practice wasn't as gruelling as Emily had been expecting, and thoughts of Maya kept interfering with her concentration.

When practice was over, she padded across the cold stone floor toward the locker room, with its equally as cold tiled floors. She showered and wrapped a towel around herself before heading back to her locker to get her normal clothes, probably still just as sweaty as they had been when she got there. As she put in the code for her locker, Spencer came into the locker room, her hair in a ponytail. Field hockey practice must've just gotten out as well. "Hey, you been hanging out with Aria?" Spencer asked as she put in the code for her locker.

"No, not really," Emily responded, shaking her head and pulling the door to her locker open. To her surprise, a folded up piece of notebook paper was sitting inside, propped up and waiting for her. She furrowed her brow as she pulled it out and opened it.

Hey Em! I've been replaced. 

You've found another friend 

to kiss! -A

Emily glanced around the room, hunting for anyone sneaking away or looking at her suspiciously. There was no one even looking at her, except for Spencer, who had noticed the look of shock and confusion on Emily's face. "Emily? Is everything alright?" she asked.

Emily forced a smile. "Yeah, why wouldn't it be?" she asked.

Another friend to kiss? No one had been around when she and Maya had almost kissed, and that was the only thing she could think the note would be referring to. But replaced? The only other friend she had kissed was Alison. But she couldn't have been the one who left the note, she was dead. At least, Emily thought she was. Maybe it was possible that her old best friend was wandering the streets of Rosewood once again.