Locum Tenens

PART ONE: "Mutantur Omnia Nos Et Mutamur In Illis"

~ All things change, and we change with them. ~ 

DISCLAIMER: Pretty Little Liars and all its characters is the intellectual property of others. Some characters used in the writing of this fic belong to PLL. Events that transpire, will transpire and have transpired in this story are entirely of my own creation.

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CHAPTER TWO

Emily stirred from her sleep, woken up by a pinging sound coming from her bedroom window. What is that? She thought irritably before checking the clock on her bedside table. When she saw that it was five in the morning, Emily mentally groaned in frustration. Who was disturbing her sleep at such an early hour? She thought about ignoring the sound and covered her head with a pillow but the noise wouldn't stop. Sighing, she finally decided to get up and trudged towards the window, this time groaning out loud when she looked down and saw Paige in her running attire, about to throw another pebble. Hurriedly, she opened her window to catch the girl's attention.

"What are you doing?!" Emily whispered incredulously.

Paige lowered her hand and threw the small stone lightly behind some bushes. "Took you long enough." She said, irritated. "Do you wear earplugs or something when you sleep? I've been throwing pebbles at your window for the past fifteen minutes."

"Well I was hoping the noise would eventually go away. And with it the person who's making the noise." Emily said pointedly. "What do you want?" She asked, itching to go back to sleep.

"I want you to change out of your..." Paige squinted to try and see the girl's current outfit. "Whatever it is you're wearing." She said, giving up trying to guess. "We're going for a run." She explained in a hushed tone.

"A run?" Emily asked, confused.

"Yeah. It's good for building stamina, burning calories, regulating breathing, etcetera, etcetera. Come on!" Paige urged.

"I know what it does. I run too. But Paige it's five in the morning and I just slept a few hours ago." Emily revealed reluctantly.

"Let me guess, you were up all night talking to Jai again." Paige said sarcastically.

"Well excuse me for having a girlfriend." Emily retorted.

"That's no excuse. The first meet's in a few weeks. I was serious about you slacking off at swim practice last week. As team captain I've taken it upon myself to make sure that you are in tiptop shape since you're the anchor. You're supposed to be the fastest. The anchor in a leg not the anchor in a boat. Get your ass down here." Paige ordered.

Emily sighed, frustrated. "Fine. Give me five minutes." She said, knowing Paige wouldn't leave her alone unless she joined the girl outside.

"Make it two." Paige told her impatiently before beginning to do some stretches.

"Five or I'm going back to sleep." Emily said firmly, refusing to let Paige order her around.

"Just hurry up Sniffles." Paige said, conceding.

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Emily leapt over a protruding tree root and ran a short distance before slowing down and bending over to catch her breath. She looked up and saw that Paige was about to round a bend on the trail and she didn't want the girl to look behind her only to realize she was alone so she called out breathlessly.

"Paige slow down. I think I pulled a hamstring." Emily said, raising her voice to be heard before placing her hands on her knees to catch her breath once again.