Ali's pov
I didn't know much back then; they were just girls who I hoped could help me gain popularity. I had no idea that I had successfully assembled the perfect group:
Smart, Compassionate, Admiring and Loyal.
"So Emily and Hanna, would you like to sit with us?" I ask again
"Yeah, but I'm going to get a muffin first" Hanna told me
"Do you think you need a muffin honey? I think you've had enough muffins for a life time" I joked
Emily's adorable eyes dropped and she looked upset with me
"I'm only joking, go get as many muffins as you want Han" I smiled, desperate to please Emily
I had never felt this way about anyone before, I was only 11 but I knew that Emily wasn't just another girl; she was a girl I desperately wanted to kiss.
"Come on, I'll introduce you" I smiled as I grabbed Emily's hand and led her to the table
"Spencer, Aria. This is Emily Catherine Fields. Oh and this is Hanna" Nodding to them as I said their names
Hanna placed a cupcake on the table; at the top of the icing was a plastic ring. I pulled the ring out the icing and wiped it down with a napkin
"Can you put it on for me Em?" I smirked, handing her the ring
Emily's rosey cheeks turned a deeper red and her lips curled into a smile, she bite her bottom lip to stop herself from blushing. The other girls watched us in confusion as both Emily and I unknowingly fell for each other. Emily slid the ring onto my index finger and threw her face into her hands in embarrassment. Spencer, Aria and Hanna blinked repeatedly trying to figure out what was happening. After lunch my next class was Math, classes were split into intelligence and I was relieved to find that all the girl were in my class
"I shouldn't be in this class. I am smarter than every one of you. I can do high school math"
"So why are you in our class? I'm in the class cause I cheated in my math test" Hanna laughed
"I'm in this class because they don't have a higher class and the school said they can't make a class for only me" Spence complained
When we walked into the classroom I was happy to see that the seats were arranged in desks of two
"Emily do you want to sit next to me?"
"Sorry Alison but I was going to ask Hanna to sit with me"
"Please" I pleaded, holding onto her hands and staring lovingly into her eyes
"Okay, I'll sit with you" she sheepishly blushed, looking down to our intertwined hands
After school I returned home and gossiped with my mom, making fun of everyone in the school
"Did you make any friends? I really don't want a repeat of Kindergarten and Elementary"
"I made four"
"Oh, what are their names?"
"Spencer Hastings, the geek. Aria Mont...Mont...gomery...Aria Montgomery, the weirdo" I laughed forgetting Aria's second name
"Weirdo? How?"
"Her hair is brown and pink"
"Pink?" My mom laughed
"Hanna Marin. She's fat"
"Hanna Marin, more like hefty Hanna" My mom giggled, blowing air into her cheeks to pretend she was fat
"Who else? A nerd? A psychopath? A prostitute?" She sniggered
"No. Her name is Emily Fields"
"So what's wrong with Emily Fields? Not another fatty?" My mom asked in excitement
"She's not fat. She's cute; perfect actually"
"Perfect?" my mom asked in complete confusion
"Yeah like she's really cute and sweet. And her eyes are this really nice hazel brown"
"Other than Emily did you see anyone else who looked cute?"
"No, only Emily" I laughed, trying to pretend I was joking
"Emily is a girls name. You should only say boys are cute" my dad complained as he walked into the room
"Kenneth. Leave Alison alone, she can say a girl is cute if she wants"
"No she can't. Alison if I dare hear you talking about this Emily girl again, you will be kicked out of this house. Because I'm not having a gay for a daughter" my dad shouted with rage; a vein in his neck began to bulge and I thought it was going to pop
"Okay Kenneth. Ali honey, it's not appropriate to say a girl is cute" she told me
I didn't realise until a my mom spoke to Emily, that she didn't actually agree with my dad. However, the damage of my parents disapproval had already been done and I no longer showed my feelings towards Emily. I pushed my love for the beautiful brunette away and became the bitch most of Rosewood still see me as today; the bitch that was buried.
Emily's pov
"How did you all meet?"
"How did I meet the girls?" I ask myself
"I actually can't remember. It was so long ago, we were only eleven when we first met. Do you remember Alison?"
"Kind of, I don't remember a lot"
Ali's pov
"Kind of, I don't remember a lot " I lie
I'll always remember how I met my best friends, but I'm too embarrassed to admit that I did actually find them just so that I could be the most popular girl; like in the movies. At age 11 they were girl who could make me popular. At age 30 they are women who risk their lives for me and make me feel at home.
I run through to my bedroom, stand on the edge of my bed and pull out a small pink metal box from the back of my closet. Taped to the lid of the box is a discolored white card with 'Emily Catherine Fields + Alison Lauren DiLaurentis' written in smudged black pen. I walk back into the living room to show Emily my 'Emily box' for the first time.
Emily pulls open the lid and begins to place items on the ground. She flicks through a notebook full of signatures that I practice writhing with my dream married name 'Alison Fields'
"When did you write these?" Emily blushed
"I think I was eleven or thirteen...ish"
Emily continues to question the story behind items. Reminiscing moments captured by photos
"S.H what is this doing in here?" Emily asks, holding a black pen in front of me
I grin as I take Spencer's pen that I stole almost two decades ago. I pull the box closer to me and rummage through the many sentimental object from Emily and my relationship trying to find the other objects I stole that day. At the very bottom of the box lay a tangled feather necklace, coiled around a plastic ring.
"These are all from that day. The day we met" I say, half smiling
"I stole this from Spencer and this from Aria" I explain, holding up the pen and necklace
"I recognise this ring. Who's is it?"
"This ring reminds me of meeting both you and Hanna"
"Me and Hanna?" Emily asks in confusion
"It came from the top of Hanna's cupcake and you put in on my finger for me. Kinda like a proposal"
"Why don't I remember that?"
"Emily it was twenty years ago and so much has happened between then and now" I say, holding her hand and kissing her engagement ring
"I turned a plastic ring into a real one. And we turned a childhood friendship into a family"