The Pretty Little Lying Game (A PLL and TLG Fanfiction) *PAUSED*

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

As she finished, they all started sympathizing.

"It's like something out of a movie!" Emily remarked.

Emma frowned. Like Cinderella, without the lame prince, she thought. She'd been ecstatic to hear that she actually had a twin! Like the daydreamer she was, Emma'd imagined all the cool stuff they'd do. Pretend to be each other. Have slumber parties in her room and go thrift shopping. And even before they had begun, her dreams shattered on the pavement, right before Sutton's porch.

I slapped a hand to my face "Just because I'm dead and you're taking my place doesn't mean you own the goddamn joint!"

Naturally, no one heard me. A few grabbed fresh pastries off of the plate my mother brought home from the bakery each morning and gobbled them up with no worry. I sneered at their faces, pissed off. No one knew how frustrating it was to watch people mooch off of me and not care. I mean, I knew Emma was my twin sister, and I loved her, and the other girls were going to be a big help to my case, but it was just disrespectful! And I hoped a tiny sliver of their minds felt that way.

"Uh. . .yeah," Emma agreed.

"Sorry, I didn't mean for it to come out that way." Emily murmured, her cheeks burning.

"No, it's okay."

"Have you told anyone? I mean, other than us?" Aria expressed, genuine concern set deep in her face.

Was she going to tell them about Ethan? They didn't need to know everything about her new life. Did they? 

Yes, I pushed. Tell them! I wanted to scream it, whisper it, say it and have someone hear me for once, but it was pointless.

"Uh. . .I have to go to the bathroom!" Jumping up, she ran straight to a door at the end of the hall. I followed along, tethered to her.

Emma perched her hands on the corners of the marble sink until her knuckles were white. She let her grip up and yanked the violet colored ponytail holder out of her long sienna hair. "I can't do this," she muttered aloud.

"No!" I cried, banging my fists. Obviously they slipped right through the counter, and I recoiled, a jump in my stomach.

Moving aside a mini Dell laptop (that had clearly no business there), she pumped a bottle of cherry blossom lotion onto her left hand. Emma touched a finger to the glob and tapped her chin, leaving a dot of cream. Then she worked her way around her face, adding one to each cheek, then two to the centers of her nose and forehead.

This time, her first two fingers streaked across her palm, and she put pale pink stripes right under her eyes, like battle paint. Her mouth set in a terse line. Emma leered at herself in the square, jaunty mirror, giving me the evil eye. Not that she knew it.

I badly wanted to say something. My fingers brushed against the laptop. I clicked my tongue, waiting for them to fall. For a second, I thought they would. But my hopes were quickly dashed.

Emma rushed down the halls back to the kitchen, where the girls were still sitting. Suddenly, their phones dinged, the sharp beeps echoing throughout the room.

"You should know better than to let your guard down. I'm always watching. -A" they read aloud, all glimpsing at each other. Emma stood behind, unaware if they knew she was listening or not.

Suddenly, Hanna turned around, and saw Emma stiffly standing there. "Oh! Hi."

She gave a weak smile as the others turned around to see who she wad talking to.

"Emma!" Spencer cried sharply, as if they'd been caught doing something bad. They all slipped their phones into their bags.

"Was that a message from A?" she asked cautiously.

Emily nodded somberly. "I don't mean to freak you out...but A followed us here."

Emma's eyebrows raised. "What? Your stalker is in my town?!"

They all looked at each other. Spencer gave them a silent warning to not say anything about the trip being forced on them by A.

"Yeah. We're sorry. But you're dealing with a killer, too. Strength in numbers." Aria said.

Emma supposed they were right. Still, the thought of two psychopaths lurking around was more than unsettling. She raised her toes to stare out the window. No one was there. 

"What? What's wrong?" Aria's purple-glossed lips parted as she stared at Emma. 

"I'm just a little freaked out, I guess. You guys are more used to this."

"True. But I promise, we can fight this." Emily reassured her.

One important thing they were withholding: A had them completely controlled. The game was out of their hands. This trip was going to change everything, and they had no idea how.