Secrets Can Kill

Chapter 5: Appearances

The next time Emily woke up was mid afternoon and it didn't look like she was going back to sleep anytime soon.

"Mmmmm," she moaned rousing from her sleep state. This caught the girls' attention that were working on homework and reading; well Hanna was just reading a magazine as usual. They stood in their positions not wanting to crowd around her. Emily's body was covered in sweat and goose bumps. When she sat up, her eyes were still closed and she had forgotten about the other girls in the room. She clutched her head because of a headache and reached for her nightstand. She opened the compartment searching for her pills, but felt none. This put her on high alert and her mind started racing. She rushed to her closet, as if she were hallucinating, in search of more pills. She still hadn't detected other occupants in the room who were watching her closely. Hanna wanted to speak up, but Spencer put her finger to her lips to all the girls and they nodded. They heard Emily rustling in the closet searching through bags, but still coming up empty. She began to cry and get anxious.

"Where are they?" she asked visibly shaken before deciding to walk out of the closet. Then she saw her friends eyeing her suspiciously. Her confusion turned to anger; she knew they took them away. "Where are they?" she asked spitting out venom and Aria jumped at the tone.

"Where are what?" Spencer asked sarcastically.

"You know what," Emily said walking over to Spencer.

"Oh the pills?" Spencer asked.

"Yes," Emily said through clenched teeth.

"I know you have them," Emily said confidently.

"We flushed them all," Spencer smiled.

"What? How could you? Do you know how much that cost?" Emily yelled then turned back towards Spencer, eyeing her closely. "You must think I'm some kind of stupid, I know you took some for yourself. Let's not forget, you just got out of rehab". That dig sort of made Spencer's heart clench, but she knew this was to be expected.

"Is that the best you can do? Talk about my rehab stint?" Spencer chided and Emily huffed.

"Why are you guys doing this?" She yelled and went over to her dresser. She pulled out the drawer and flipped it over looking for her phone and money.

"Looking for something?" Spencer smiled and Emily glared at her.

"You stole my money and phones? Your fucking evil," Emily said and threw the drawer on the floor. She went over to the painting and opened the safe to find it completely empty. Her heart sank and realized that they'd done a complete sweep of her room.

"How could you do this to me?" she cried, giving up hope.

"You have to get sober Em, this isn't the life you want," Spencer said firmly taking over the situation as the other girls watched unsure of what to do. She walked over to Emily who let the tears spill from her eyes. She tried to bring Emily into a hug, but her hands were slapped.

"Don't touch me! Don't you dare touch me," Emily said. "I can't live without them," she said honestly.

"Yes you can, you have to," Spencer said bringing them down onto the floor. She could see Emily working herself into an anxiety attack.

"No you don't understand," Emily said losing her breath. Spencer sat behind her, rocking them back and forth trying to get them into a rhythm both breathing and moving.

"Explain it to me. Why are you taking those pills?" Spencer asked softly.

"I need them," Emily cried.

"Why do you need them?" she asked again.

"Because I can't be perfect without them," she says turns and buries her face into Spencer's shirt.