Runners high was a stupid myth. There was no "high" no feeling as if she had all the energy in the world. All Alison felt was her lungs burning, in desperate need of oxygen. Her knees aching and stomach cramping.
Her chest heaved as she stumbled over to the nearest park bench. Her hand gripped the handle first then she guided the rest of her body onto the rusty bench. She breathed a sigh of relief.
All her limbs ached, and her head was pounding. Who was she to think that she could run a mile even though she hadn't exercised in years.
Alison bent forward to glance down the side walk to see how far she had to walk to get home. Seeing that she was on Belmont street. Which was TWO STREETS OVER FROM HER LOFT. Alison internally screamed.
It was beginning to get chilly since it was the start of fall. She shivered, and pulled her sweater tighter around herself. She pulled herself up from the bench and unwillingly shuffled down the side walk.
Across the street in a white Mercedes Benz sat Spencer Hastings. Who had just watched the whole scene go down. The brunette was laughing hysterically in her car, Alison was such a drama queen.
Spencer shifted her car into drive, and pulled up beside her cousin, her car rolling at the speed of the blondes pace. She rolls her window down and speaks;
"Need a ride?" A chuckle escapes her lips
Alison's icy gaze snaps in the brunettes direction. Her scowl deepens, furthering Spencer's amusement.
Spencer's gaze hardens, silently daring her to refuse. Alison glares back but huffs in defeat. The brunette grins turning her attention to the road.
The rest of the ride to Alison's house was silent, the blonde drowning in wounded pride, and Spencer replaying her cousins fall over in on a loop in her head, all while trying to kept her laughter in check.
Alison huffed and puffed, her arms crossing over her chest, then messily in her lap, then back to her chest. She was already embarrassed she couldn't run, and of course Spencer had to see it happen, of all people who could have caught her. Her older cousin would never let her live it down.
Spencer's car pulled in the drive way of Alison's small loft. She unlocked the door and Alison scrambled out of the car. Spencer watched on in amusement. Before the blonde could go inside she rolled down the window and shouted;
"Make sure to stretch next time"
Alison flipped her off over her shoulder in the midst of opening her door.
***
"Ugh!" Alison tossed her Ipad on the counter, along with the glasses that were previously on her face. She leans over and rubs her temple.
She couldn't read any longer. Her head was pounding and her brain was completely fried. She was internally debating on drinking booze or taking a nap to cure the headache.
She inevitably decided on booze
Shocker
The blonde gathered up her things, she didn't even bother doing her hair, just throwing it in a messy bun hoping she look somewhat presentable.
She grabbed her keys and was out the door to her car. The other day Spencer had her boyfriend Toby come over and take a look at it, turns out the battery just needed to be jumpstarted, nothing major.
The car backed out of the driveway and she drove to her favorite bar, well the only one in Rosewood. It was different, to be back in this small town after spending half a year in London. The city had many bars, streets, coffee shops. Whilst Rosewood only had one of each.
Upon entering the bar she internally gagged, it reeked of smoke. Alison had to wave the clouds of smoke away from her face. The blonde sucked her teeth in disgust before finding an empty spot at the end of the bar that no one was near.
She listened to music and drank in peace. It felt good to sit alone. There were no longer drunk Douche bag frat boys hitting on her. The smell of their scotch filled breath made Alison grimace in remembrance. Fortunately no one had dared to bother her. Most people she recognized anyways, people she'd seen in passing in all her years growing up in the town. No one did approach her though, Maybe it was the resting bitch face she currently harbored, or her very pleasant choice of clothing.
Alison didn't know, and she didn't care.
All she did care about was the bud wiser she currently had nestled in her hand. She gulped down the rest then asked for another one. As she went to drown herself in another beer, a voice in the back startled her. Not the voice, but what the voice said.
"Comedy is subjective Hanna" followed but a mellow chuckle.
Suddenly, A memory flashed
***
"Em that's not even funny" she whines her eyes becoming teary as she looks down at the mess of paint on her shirt.
Emily giggles, her hand covering her mouth, otherwise the rest of her chuckles would break free.
"It kinda is"
"It's not!" Alison threw paint at Emily, the girl dodged it causing the blonde to gasp.
"Comedy is subjective Ali" Emily exclaims whole heartedly. Her eyes sparkling in innocence, but her smirk betrayed her.
Alison huffed "That makes no sense dummy"
Emily rolls her eyes joining in to lap up the paint on the floor before her mother comes in and sees it. "It does actually, it means I can laugh at what I want, even if you don't think it's funny"
"That's mean" she shoots back
"You would laugh at me if I was the one with pain all over me" the young brunettes brow quirks up, a silent action telling Alison she knows she's right.
Ali glances at her feet in defeat
"I would"
Emily giggles out loud
***
What the he— Alison's neck almost snaps at the speed at which she turns her head. Her eyes searching for the person that had just spoken those strangely familiar words. Her eyes scan the entire area but she can't seem to find anyone that looks familiar.
Was that Emily's voice
It's a popular statement, a lot of people said it, but what ten year old at the time, would say something like that? Emily would say weird stuff like that all time. Her childhood friend was incredibly smart when she wanted to be.
Emily Fields
She hadn't thought or heard of that name in years. Not since the girl left at the end of sixth grade.
Alison turned back to the bar, her mind flooding with memories she'd forgotten. Memories she's stored away years ago. She and the brunette grew up next door to each other, they could see into each others bedroom windows, they grew up together. Diapers together, first steps, you name it.
The blonde smiled fondly at the memories. Then scoffed
Back when life was easy and carefree
She took another swing of beer, her finger nails tapping rhythmically on the glass. The women was so spaced out she didn't hear a deep voice calling at her.
"Aye lady!" He smacked the bar "Blondie at the end! Yo is this chic deaf?"
He smacked the bar once more startling Alison out of her daze. She looked over instantly meeting his green ones. She glared at him expectantly.
"Stop tapping on that damn glass, it's making my head pound"
"No—" Alison looked the heavily muscled tattooed man over "Dwayne Johnson, what's making your head pound is the gallons of fire ball you're shoving down your throat"
The guy next to him chocked out a laugh
The man's eyes roared with rage. He downed yet another one of his shots, further proving Alison's point, then unsteadily pointed a finger at the blonde.
He opened his mouth to speak but a voice interrupted.
"Don't raise your voice Paul" a women walked up to the bar, her back turned to Alison. "Seems like everyone is a victim of a thumping headache , hearing you shout with all your toxic masculinity is going to give me one as well"
He opens his mouth to speak but she raises a hand. "Uh uh, run along" Her slender fingers point to the back of the bar where a group of guys are playing jack.
He glares one last time before he grumbles and reluctantly does what he's told.
The women sighs, her hands falling to her hips. Her stance screamed "I just won that fight" Alison was about to speak up but the women turned around just as she opened her mouth.
Both women's eyes meet. Alison's blue watched as a flicker of recognition sparked through brown ones. So many emotions were swirling through the women's eyes. Alison couldn't read her. She was good at reading people, she studied it, was making a career out of it, so it infuriated her that she couldn't understand what this women was thinking. Her eyes were a void of...of something, or nothing? the blonde couldn't even pin point the mystery in her eyes.
Suddenly it was like a switch went off and all the different swirls of emotion was gone, being replaced by a soft smile. With the most gentle tone Alison's ever heard Emily says;
"You're all grown up"
Alison searches her eyes for anything, something she can grasp on to. But she comes up empty handed. Deciding to believe the soft smile, her face soon falls into an identical one.
"You definitely didn't grow into your lanky body" Alison quips. She hopes the women doesn't take offense to her joke. She let's go of the breath she didn't know she was holding as Emily's face spreads into a humorous smile.
Emily takes the empty seat next to her "and you sure didn't loose your blatant charm" her eyes doing that same twinkle they'd done as a child.
Alison smiles making it look forced. It wasn't, she just wanted to appear as if she was annoyed.
Just as she wanted, Emily fed into it. "You still have that—I'm sick of your shit Emily face—only older and more mature" the brunette giggles.
The giggle brings back another memory in Alison's head, she smiles internally but then turns all her attention back to Emily.
"Well..." she dragged "It seems like it's still of use, seeing that you're still just as annoying now as you where when we were twelve"
The brunette's lip quirks up "I guess I haven't changed"
"I guess not"
The two sit in silence. They were familiar, yet they weren't. They knew each other as kids, but right now, they were merely strangers who shared memories of the past.
Emily's the first one to break the silence, her voice turned serious "it is good to see you Alison"
Alison's eyes found brown ones, she watched the swirls, finding that the more she stared, the more she found.
"It's good to see you as well" came her hushed tone
Emily smiled wholeheartedly as she stood from her seat. She pulls out a twenty, smacks it on the counter, paying for Alisons drink.
"I hope to see you around" is all she said before wandering to the table in the back of the bar.