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

22. Emily 🏊‍♀️

Emily stood at her locker, trying to fish out a notebook from within the depths of it. Hanna was across the street from her, talking to Mona. Hanna was scanning the crowd as Mona checked her cell phone. It was a few minutes before first period, and students were rushing to class all around them.

"Okay, I'm all for boob jobs, but when I see those, I wanna moo," Mona said loudly enough to hear over the hustle and bustle. The girl who had just walked by them looked back at Hanna and Mona, and she covered her chest quickly as she walked away.

Emily saw Hanna chuckle awkwardly. She'd seen that look before. Emily had made the same look herself. Most of the comments Mona made were harmless (in her mind, at least), but both Hanna and Emily knew how it felt to be on the other end of them. Who could forget Ali's favourite nickname for Hanna? Ali had spent all of freshman year calling her "Hefty Hanna" any time she could. Mona pointed down the hall at Sean, Hanna's boyfriend, with her cell phone.

Sean Ackard was the pastor's son, and a golden boy by anyone's standards. He was a straight-A student, captain of multiple sports teams on campus, and he was campaigning with Hanna for Homecoming King and Queen (and Emily was fairly certain that they would win). Hanna had been pining after Sean since junior high, but he hadn't paid her any attention until she had her big makeover.

Hanna smiled at Mona as he approached. "I'll see you at lunch," she said brightly as she walked off hand-in-hand with Sean.

Emily finally pulled out the notebook she had been looking for and exchanged it for a light blue one she had brought with her. She shoved it hurriedly into her bag; she didn't want to be late to her class and put a tardy on her record. She closed her locker and gasped as her boyfriend, Ben, leaned forward and kissed her. She pulled away in shock.

"What's wrong?" Ben asked, chuckling.

"You surprised me," Emily said.

Ben leaned up on the lockers next to her. They had met on the swim team, long hours in the pool both before and after classes could do that to people. Plus, Alison insisted on Emily being his girlfriend after she had found out about his mega-crush on Emily. They'd been dating since high school started and had been together ever since.

"Are we still on for the movie?" Ben asked.

She had actually forgotten all about their movie date that night. They were scheduled to watch Doom on DVD for the millionth time and eat a bucket of popcorn while Emily's mom checked in on them every few minutes from the other room. Having Maya over would certainly put an end to those plans, not that Emily was complaining.

"My mom invited Maya to stay with us tonight," Emily confessed.

"Oh," he said. "What kind of jammies do you think New Girl wears?"

Emily chuckled at his boldness. What other boyfriend would talk about another girl in front of his girlfriend besides Ben Coogan? "How would I know?" she said.

Ben laughed. "I'll see you at practice." He kissed Emily on the cheek and walked away.

Emily smiled to herself as she watched him go. He wasn't the world's best boyfriend, but he loved her, and that's what mattered. She glanced down the other end of the hallway and noticed Maya standing with a group of girls that Emily didn't know. She seemed to be very good at making friends. Emily wished she had that talent.

Maya walked away as the bell rang, and Emily pushed the notebook further into her bag as she started toward her class. The PA system crackled to life above her. "Will the following students please come to the office: Emily Fields, Aria Montgomery, Spencer Hastings, Hanna Marin," the voice of the school's secretary said.

The intercom fell silent as Aria came out of the girls' bathroom, and Spencer and Hanna joined them in the hall after leaving their classes. They hadn't been alone together like this since the night of Ali's funeral, right before Jenna came tapping back into their lives. As they made their way toward the front office, Aria's phone chimed.

"Wait," she blurted. The other girls stopped and looked over Aria's shoulder. "It's from A."

Dead Girls Walking... -A

That message was anything but good. After Jenna had just come back to Rosewood after over a year of being gone, who knows if she had gone to the police? Or even worse, what if the police wanted to arrest them for killing Ali? After all, as far as they knew, they were the last ones to see her alive. They were ushered into the principal's office almost immediately upon arrival. Emily's heart was pounding in her chest. She'd never been sent to the principal's office before.

Lucky for her, it wasn't the principal sitting at the desk, waiting for them. It was the detective from Ali's funeral, Wilden. The four of them sat down, squashed together on the black leather couch sitting directly across from Wilden. He analysed each of their faces for a moment, as if searching for guilt behind their eyes. He looked down at the file in his hand, presumably a file containing their statements from when Alison went missing.

"So, let's see," he said, looking back up at each of them. He pointed at Spencer. "You thought you heard her scream."

Emily remembered her saying that. That whole night came back in crystal clear detail. "I said that, yeah," Spencer said.

Wilden looked back at Emily, Aria, and Hanna. "And when you three woke up in the barn, Alison was gone. And so was Spencer."

"Yes," Spencer said. "I woke up before them, and I realised that Ali was missing, so I—"

"So you went looking for her," Wilden finished.

Spencer nodded quickly. "That's what happened."

"I got that," he said. There was another moment of silent inquisition. Emily knew he was looking for any doubts that Spencer's story was accurate, any details that may have been conveniently left out. "So, what's up? Was this a slumber party or—?"

"Is this an interrogation?" Spencer interrupted.

"No, just a routine follow up," Wilden replied shortly. "Why did you guys all fall asleep?"

Aria shrugged. "I guess we were tired," she said.

"Tired?" Wilden asked with exaggerated surprise. "Really? Is that how you remember it, Hanna?"

Hanna glanced up. "Yeah."

Wilden rolled his eyes. "Yeah, you guys were tired," he muttered to himself.

"Look, we've told you everything we know, like we did the night she went missing," Spencer said.

"I know, I know," Wilden said. He glanced over each of them again before looking back at Ali's file. "You see, the thing is, it's almost exactly what you said last year. Almost like it was rehearsed."

"Like Spencer said, we've told you everything we know," Aria said slowly.

Wilden smiled and stood from the desk, a menacing smile lingering on his lips. He opened the door for them and waited by the door as each of them walked out and to their classes. Emily knew in her heart that that was the first of many masked interrogations, and she knew that Aria, Hanna, and Spencer felt the same foreboding.