soon enough ➳ pll

Chapter 2: Pilot

One Year Later

Daisy sighed as she gave herself a once over in the mirror. It was her first day as a Junior at Rosewood high, and she felt anything but prepared. Especially considering that the day before was the first anniversary of Alison DiLaurentis' disappearance. She had barely gotten any sleep the night before because of that fact- the bags under her eyes proved that. Thank God for concealer.

"Hey, kiddo," Daisy's brother, Ryan Thorton, stood in her doorway, leaning against it's frame. He was dressed very professionally, which surprised Daisy. She was used to seeing her brother wearing worn out flannels- not unlike her own style of clothing- and old, ripped blue jeans. Not this perfectly tailored blue jacket and slacks.

"Hey, Ry. All dressed up with nowhere to go, huh?" She teased, while stuffing the rest of her binders into her brown, leather messenger bag which already held all of her other crap she needed for her junior year. It was mostly new, fancy pens- The 17 year old girl did love to write and a good pen made writing that much more fun. You'd think that considering how much she loved to write she'd pass English with flying colors, but you'd be wrong.

Ryan gave a short laugh before speaking, "Try again, Daisy-I've got a job interview. Gotta look professional." He shoved one hand into his pocket and let the other run through his hair that had a shade of brown that very closely resembled his sister's. "You need a ride?"

"No, I'm good, it's only like a five minute walk," She answered. She loved her brother, but sometimes she felt like it was hard to spend an extended amount of time with him, ever since what happened her Freshman year.

"Why don't you ask your little boyfriend?" Ryan asked only somewhat mockingly. "What was his name- Allan?"

"Andrew's not my boyfriend, first of all," Daisy rolled her eyes at her brother's assumption and teasing. "And second of all, don't pretend like you don't know his name. Besides, it's fine. I need the exercise anyways, it would just make both of us late."

Her brother would never admit it, but he couldn't help but to feel relieved. Their relationship had been strained to say the least- even more so ever since Alison went missing. "Alright..." He smiled. "Well, I'd better be heading out. Don't be late."

He turned and left Daisy's room and as he was walking down the hallway he could hear the young girl call out, "I'll try my best," Making him laugh slightly.

Daisy spent a good ten minutes putting together an outfit that didn't make her look like a hot mess after doing her makeup in record time- she had the rest of the year to show up late. Might as well be on time and make a good impression, right? She straightened out her plaid skirt and tied the laces on her heels before grabbing her bag and descending the stairs to the first floor of the house.

"Dad?" Her call was met with silence, confirming her suspicion that both her dad and Ryan had already left.

A short walk later Daisy was on campus of Rosewood High. Her bag rattled against her back as she walked up the steps. It was when she saw a face that she hadn't seen for nearly a year that she had to do a double take- Aria Montgomery was back in Rosewood, after spending a year in Iceland of all places. Daisy understood though- sometimes she felt like she wanted to get as far away from Rosewood as possible.

And even stranger, Aria was talking to Emily Fields, the two of them chatting like nothing ever happened. Daisy had planned on walking by the pair unnoticed, but that didn't work out too well. "Daisy," Aria called when Daisy was a mere foot in front of her. Daisy turned on the balls of her feet, giving a small smile.

"Hey, Emily, hey, Aria," She spoke, walking closer to her old friends. "I almost didn't recognize you, Aria."

"Yeah," Aria laughed somewhat awkwardly. "I got rid of the pink a while ago. You've barely changed, though."