Love, Secrets and War~

4. Blind Dates

I wrinkle my nose at the disgusting smell wafting from the bins near by. This is the definition of 'off the beaten track' to a T. Making me judge how reliable this pawn shop is going to be, not that they are very reliable in the first place.

Emily is standing off to the side staring upwards at the optometrist sign looking down on us all. Eerily reminding me of the Great Gatsby and Doctor T. J. Eckleburg, reminding us that someone is always watching us. Judging our actions even in this sketchy back alley.

"This place is skeevy," Aria comments, her voice barely louder than the blaring sirens to our right.

"She pawned her sister's wedding ring," points out Hanna, "you're not going to Tiffany's."

"So," Emily folds her arms, "Wren and Melissa?"

An uneasy feeling settles in my stomach. If Wren and Melissa get back together that will certainly complicate things with Spencer's sister and me.

"Weird right?"

"Could you tell what he gave her?" Emily asks us.

"No," I reply, shaking my head, "she didn't seem happy about it... whatever it was."

"I wonder if Ian will be," Hanna says.

"How are you holding up?" Aria asks Emily.

"Great," she smiles half-heartedly, "since I got that fake scholarship letter, my mom thinks I can do no wrong. I'm living a lie I didn't even tell."

"Leave it to A to make you feel bad about your mom feeling good."

The door to the shop slams shut behind us with a massive clang. Our tall brunette friend storms to us as the portly shop owner watches her leave, turning the close sign forward as he chuckles. She gets to us and we can see the full extent of her anger. Her hand clasped around a horseshoe so hard that her knuckles are turning white.

"I can't believe it's gone," she seethes.

"At least you got your money back," Hanna points out.

Spencer holds up the horseshoe. "Am I supposed to give her this?" she questions, her voice cracking slightly. The guilt of her actions starting to outweigh the anger she is feeling at the owner. "I stole it. I actually stole my sister's wedding ring."

BEEP BEEP.

All of our cells chime simultaneously, meaning only one thing. We all sigh deeply as we root in our bags, pulling them out to see the latest poison A has to offer.

"Just my luck, diamonds are a girl's best friend. A" Aria reads out.

**

Aria flits around the bedroom, gathering up the books that she needs for the day whilst I lay slumped on the bed. I start to rub small circles in the sides on my forehead in hopes to relive the building tension up there.

"Migraine?" Aria asks.

"Humph." I groan, not even wanting to form a coherent sentence due to the pain.

Aria comes over and sits beside me, the duvet dipping underneath her weight. "I got something for that."

I look up and see that she is holding some aspirin and a glass of water. Which I take gratefully.

"That is your second one this week. Is everything okay? You normally get them when you are stressed."

I grit my teeth; I am running out of lies to tell her. "You know what I am like," I lie, "I am finding the mountain of AP homework a little bit difficult to trek through at the moment. That and track gearing up again."