girl named Maya St. Germain (Bianca Lawson), her new next-door neighbor whose family has moved into the old DiLaurentis house. Emily and Maya instantly bond, and the next day they kiss when Emily walks her home. With the appearance of "A", it is revealed that Emily is questioning her sexuality and may have been in love with Alison. After Maya stays over Emily's house for a night, Ben (Steven Krueger), Emily's boyfriend, senses that Emily is losing interest in him; he attempts to rape her in the school locker room, but is stopped by Toby (Keegan Allen). Grateful and not wanting to deal with her homosexuality, Emily grows closer to Toby, despite the warnings of her friends, who believe him to be "A"/Alison's killer. Emily goes with Toby to Homecoming, much to the dismay of her friends; Emily later admits to Toby that she really wanted to come with Maya. Convinced by her friends that Toby is dangerous, the two get into a physical confrontation; as Emily tries to run away, she trips and hits her head, falling unconscious. Toby drops her off at the hospital in Rosewood, which convinces Emily that he is innocent. When a tornado warning traps everyone inside the high school, Emily finds herself haunted by memories of Alison. That day, she is outed by Detective Darren Wilden (Bryce Johnson), who accuses her of destroying Alison's memorial in the park (when, in reality, Emily had been trying to salvage what she could from the wreckage). Emily tearfully confesses to her friends that she was in love with Alison; although surprised, they are instantly accepting of her being a lesbian. "A" later mails Emily's mother (Nia Peeples) a copy of the same picture of Emily and Maya kissing. Although devastated, she doesn't confront Emily about it, instead later showing it to Emily's father (Eric Steinberg) when he returns home from his tour of duty in Afghanistan. Toby comes to visit Emily to prove that he is innocent, but when cats is arrested, he believes that she is responsible for it. Believing that Emily and Toby were involved romantically, Emily's father confronts her about it; after denying that anything is going on, she ends up coming out to her father, who is shocked. Emily's relationship with her parents soon becomes very strained due to the truth about her sexuality, although her parents attempt to accept her by inviting