It's Two Sugars, Right?-Paily
Paige fidgeted nervously, waiting for Emily to return with their coffees. Running into her ex-girlfriend had been the last thing she’d expected when she’d gone to Rosewood High to apply for a swim coach position. The two women hadn’t been in touch since their breakup, and she hadn’t realized Emily was back in Rosewood. She certainly wouldn’t have bothered applying for the job if she’d known Emily was doing the same.
“It’s two sugars, right?” Emily asked, sliding the cup of coffee to her. Paige nodded and accepted the coffee. It felt so familiar, sitting in the Brew, drinking coffee together. Except now there was a distance between them that had never been there before.
“Thanks,” she said, at a loss for any other words. She wasn’t sure why Emily had asked her to join her at the Brew. Their breakup had been fairly bitter, and she seemed to recall the words don’t bother calling me being thrown in her face. Despite all this, she was still happy to see the other woman. She’d always been weak when it came to Emily.
“So what’d you want to talk about?” she asked. Emily sighed and looked down at her coffee, as if it would tell her what to say.
“You’re probably wondering why I’m in Rosewood,” she said. Paige raised an eyebrow. Of course she’d wondered, but she didn’t think it was her place to question it.
“Your mom does live here,” she pointed out. Emily nodded.
“I’m not just visiting if I’m applying for a job,” she said. Paige sighed. Now not only was she wondering why Emily was in town, but she was wondering why they were playing guessing games.
“Em, why don’t you just tell me instead of making me guess?” Paige suggested tiredly.
“I came back to testify at Charlotte DiLaurentis’s trial,” she explained. Paige tried to keep a blank face. Toward the end of their relationship, when everything had turned into an argument, Charlotte had been one of Emily’s biggest triggers. She’d get a text or e-mail from Alison that mentioned Charlotte, and Emily would take it out on Paige. She knew Emily was just upset about her dad’s death, and she didn’t know how to cope, but it had taken a toll on their relationship.
“How’d that go?” she asked, hoping she sounded uninterested. Emily pursed her lips.
“The judge released her. And the next day she was dead,” she said flatly. Paige’s jaw dropped. She certainly hadn’t been expecting that.
“What happened?” she asked.
“Are you asking if it was one of us?” Emily asked. Paige shook her head.
“Someone killed her. We don’t know who. But someone thinks we know,” she said. Paige’s eyebrows furrowed together.
“What do you mean? Does Alison think you know? The police?” she questioned. Emily shook her head.
“No. It’s happening again. We don’t know who it is, but they’re determined to find out who killed Charlotte. And for some reason, they think we know who it was,” she said. Paige frowned.
“Do you?” she asked hesitantly. Emily shrugged again.
“We all have our suspicions. But no, we don’t know. We thought maybe it was Melissa Hastings for a while. Spencer’s convinced it was Mona. Mona’s convinced it was Spencer. Hanna thought it might have been Ezra. Aria was afraid it was Byron,” she listed the suspects they’d gone through.
“Sounds like a mess,” Paige commented. Emily nodded.
“Yeah, well, Charlotte had a lot of enemies. We even thought it might have been Alison for a while,” she admitted. Paige’s eyes widened in surprise. Either things had changed a lot or something big had happened to make Emily suspect Alison.
“What changed your mind?” Paige asked. Emily shrugged, her new trademark motion.
“Things… things happened. Things I can’t tell you about. Bad things. It’s co—”
“Complicated,” Paige finished for her. Emily blushed.
“Exactly,” she said.
“So why are you telling me this?” Paige asked. Emily sighed.
“Because it’s not safe to stay in Rosewood. Go back to California, Paige. You hate Rosewood. A job at your former high school can’t be worth staying here,” she said. Paige’s lips formed a thin line.
“So that’s why I’m here? So you can tell me to leave town? You know, the entire world does not revolve around you, Emily,” she said bitterly. A hurt look flickered across Emily’s face.
“That’s not what I’m saying. I’m just trying to keep you safe!” she exclaimed, lowering her voice when she noticed people looking at them.
“This isn’t high school anymore, Emily. I don’t need you to keep me safe. Look, you have your reasons for being here, and I have mine. Let’s just live our own lives,” she said. Emily opened her mouth to argue, but shut it again. Maybe Paige had a point. This AD had no reason to go after Paige if she and Emily weren’t connected.
“I’ll see you around,” Paige softly. Emily nodded.
“I’ll see you.”