No Escape

All Me

Alison had spent two years not attending school that it would have been too easy for her to ignore the need to go in favor of visiting the hospital daily for Emily. But Emily, Alison recalled scowling at her lunch, had threatened not to kiss her for a month if she didn't go. Alison barely passed the placement exams as it was to be able to join the four others in the last year of high school. Emily didn't want her to miss any more days at school.

"Go easy on your lunch." Aria stilled Alison's hand before she could stab her food again, and she felt Alison's tight grip on her fork. Not that it wasn't already noticeable from her pale fingers. "Ali, Emily's going to be ok. She'll only be a week there."

"That's easy for you to say. You're required to stare at Fitz to get a good grade," Alison bit out, eyes flashing in anger. The moment the words slipped out, her shoulders slumped in guilt. "I'm sorry, Aria."

Aria could only nod, giving her hand that was holding her fork an awkward squeeze.

Alison sighed. "It's just... Emily nearly-" Alison shook her head. "I feel like I've used up all my luck in dealing with -A. And it's-" She shook her head again, lips twitching as she tried for it to pass off for a smile. "Never mind. We should get to class."

Hanna reached out to comfort her, but Alison was already on her feet, barely having had any food. She had a few more hours to deal with school before she could go and visit Emily, and she was only given a few hours until the hospital barred visitors. Alison felt like she was wasting away where she was. School had never been for her.

"How's Emily?"

Alison's back went rigid, and she slowly turned to look at a falsely concerned Mona. "This is not the time to be speaking to me, Mona," Alison said, her teeth gritted.

"I'm just concerned. You're all usually together. Did something happen?"

"Mona." It was meant to be a final warning. Alison had been on edge ever since what happened, and she had barely had any sleep the night before. With no sleep, no appetite, and genarally just no Emily for the day, Alison was in the worst of moods ever since she got back.

Mona frowned in feigned disappointment. "You got her tangled into your mess again, didn't you? Oh, Ali. When will you realize that the people around you tend to, well, die?"

Alison was barely conscious of slapping Mona so hard the girl sprawled on the floor. She was seeing red. The constant calming presence that was Emily and the rest of her friends were nowhere in vicinity, and the Alison that she had been working to suppress, the one that had felt more natural years ago burst through. She straddled Mona, and when she pulled back her hand, it wasn't to slap the girl. Her hand curled into a fist.

But before she could deliver several blows that she knew she had no control over to stop, she was being pulled off by a muscled body, and beneath the ringing in her ears from the rage that was taking over, she could hear her name being called.

"Calm down, Ali. You're drawing attention to yourself again."

Noel's voice barely broke through her need to hit something, anything, and it was only a plus that it was Mona who she could hit.

"Let go of me, Noel."

She watched Mona being supported by her minions, and if looks could kill, Alison would already be dead by the way they looked at her. And of course, Mona was milking the situation. She acted as if the blow was so bad she had to cry over it. Alison wanted to give her a real reason to cry about.

It wasn't long before a teacher arrived, and tried to make sense of the situation. Alison didn't have anyone backing her, with Mona's lackeys taking over the story telling. She didn't care anymore. She was sent to the principal's office, and she barely listened to the lecture she was given about proper decorum and hurting fellow students. She'd bit out a few comments that had her receiving a detention.