Pretty Little Liars

Chapter 9: Just Like the French

Once the final bell of the day rings the next day, Sabrina leaves out the double doors and descends the stairs in front of the building. Her stomach does a flip when she notices Zoe waiting for her at the bottom, a small bag in her hand. Sabrina musters up a friendly smile at her, telling herself that it's fine if she's befriending the girl that is now living in Ali's old house. As weird as it might be, Sabrina has actually wanted to peep inside for a look or two ever since that failed sleepover. She expects to find Alison hiding in a closet. She would tell Sabrina how funny it was watching everyone worry about her for the last two years. Sabrina and everyone else would forgive her and they would have Alison back. Everything would be perfect again.

Sabrina trips on the last step and her face immediately turns a shade of red. She quickly takes a bow in front of Zoe. "I meant to do that."

"Very graceful." Zoe laughs.

"What are you doing here?" Sabrina asks, even though she already knows the answer. But it's signature Sabrina to read into things when she couldn't be more wrong. "Staying at school longer than you have to is worrisome, you know."

"I will risk that if it means keeping my word on walking you home," Zoe chirps, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "Plus, you need to fill me in on everyone. The Queen Bee's, her minions, the jocks that don't know their elbows from their knees, teachers that grade too hard, you name it."

"It's pretty much just like any other school," Sabrina assures, pulling her bag higher up her shoulder as they cross the lawn onto the sidewalk. "There's no Queen Bee or anything."

It's a lie. Alison is still the Queen Bee, even though she's missing. Covering up posters around Rosewood and still being talked about by students and teachers, Sabrina would put her old friend under that category. But there's no way she's going to tell Zoe that some people might consider her one of Ali's "minions"-- whatever that means.

But, Sabrina isn't like that anymore. After Ali went missing, she found herself entranced with theater and make-believe. She distanced herself from other students and slipped into makeup and costumes in the drama department. She's been able to make new friends during production and whatnot but nothing will ever compare to what she shared with Ali.

"There is however, horrible graders," Sabrina warns next. "But if you're nice to them, that makes it worse. I actually saw someone running from one of the math classrooms in tears before."

"That's terrible!" Zoe squeaks, laughing anyway and playfully nudging her. "But it doesn't sound too bad. I think I'll be able to manage." They walk in silence for a few paces before going on. "So, you didn't tell me that you used to be friends with the girl that lived in my house."

Sabrina purses her lips. Apparently she isn't the only one Zoe is asking for advice to. She clears her throat. "There's nothing really to tell, it was a long time ago and people drift apart."

She isn't sure what the right words to go about this are. There's a lot more to it than just friends drifting apart. She arcs her brow at Zoe. "How did you find that out, if you don't mind me asking?"

"I may have asked my neighbor about you." Zoe ducks her head, clearly unsure if that was stepping out of line. "I think he said his name was Cameron."

Cameron Veluz. Bree's older brother who is now working as a teacher's assistant at the school. The warm feeling is coming back to Sabrina, thinking about Bree and how Cameron used to joke with them all when they would go to her house.

"Cameron's pretty cool," she comments casually, not entirely wanting to explain how she used to be best friends with Bree in middle school. "And as for the asking around, I'm kind of used to it, if I can toot my own horn."

Zoe looks impressed. "Oh?"

"Everyone wants to know about the girl on stage," Sabrina says, even though it's a little bit of a lie. So what if she likes to think of herself as a bigger star than what she actually is? That's not a crime. And if she has a chance to reinvent herself to someone new, someone that never saw her as part of Ali's posse, then so be it.

"Well, I don't blame them," Zoe chirps as they cross the street to Mockingbird Lane. "You seem like a treat. I'm guessing you have a boyfriend?"

Sabrina's smile fades at the boyfriend comment. It's a topic that has always made her feel a bit uncomfortable. She's never actually been involved in a proper relationship with anyone. She's only crushed on people from afar... or close. To be honest, no one has ever seemed truly interested in her and Sabrina has gotten into the habit of convincing herself that that's okay.

"No boyfriend for me," she says honestly. "I think I'm destined for a life of cats, which isn't bad because cats are the best."

"You're too cute for a life destined for furry creatures." Zoe pokes her in the side and Sabrina stiffens as they reach Ali's old house and Zoe's new one. "Really cute."

"So are you," she blurts, struggling to not do anything embarrassing or something that Ali would tease her about. She coughs into her elbow, the two of them standing at the end of Zoe's driveway. "I think I'll have to find an Instagram worthy cat."

"I'll be sure to follow it when you find one." Zoe grins. "Thanks for walking me home. It's a lot easier moving to a new place where someone is actually friendly enough to do this sort of thing."

"It's no problem," Sabrina says, really not wanting to say goodbye but she can't leave the conversation with cats being the last thing they talk about. "I'm sure you'll have no trouble finding friends in Rosewood. And if you want to home together another time, we can. I live just around the block."

"For sure," Zoe quickly agrees. "Now, I leave you with a kiss. Like how the French do it."

Zoe leans in to place one kiss on Sabrina's right cheek, and then another on her left. The feeling of her lips against her skin sends chills down Sabrina's back.

"Now, your turn," Zoe coaches.

"I guess I can't disappoint the French." Sabrina feels her cheeks go hot and she leans in to return the gesture, a little hesitant at first but trying her best to not focus on the scent of Zoe's fruity perfume or how nice the sun makes her skin look. She finds herself drawn to Zoe's mouth but quickly pecks her cheek.

"Mwah!" Zoe kisses her cheek again, the second kiss closer to Sabrina's lips until they're touching completely.

Sabrina returns this kiss, too, her anxiety melting away before she can think twice about it. Stunned at what just happened, Sabrina pulls away, not really sure where that came from but also not really sure she would want it any other way.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Zoe promises with that same chipper smile.

The girls wave goodbye to each other as Sabrina heads back the way they came down the sidewalk. She's halfway home when her phone vibrates from inside the pocket of her denim jacket. She feels her lips with her fingertips before digging inside for her phone, where a jumbled line of numbers is displayed on the screen with a message attached:

Guess it was only a matter of time until you found a new friend to kiss. How'd her cherry chapstick taste? -A