The Sixth Doll~ Pretty Little Liars

The Guilty Girl's Handbook

"She isn't answering my calls," Caleb complained.

"She's really hurt right now," Isabel replied, hoisting her books up to her chest. "She thought her mom was gonna get bail. We all did."

"I just don't like her being alone, you know?" he sighed.

"Well, she said that she's gonna call her dad," she shrugged.

"Come on. That's not any better than being alone, if you ask me," Caleb scoffed, throwing a worried glance her way.

"I know her dad's... something, but Spencer's gonna cut after English and make sure she's not at home still hiding under her sheets," Isabel promised as Caleb nervously fiddled with his backpack strap. "Okay?"

"How are the rest of you doing?" he asked after a second.

"We're just dandy," Isabel said sarcastically as she stopped in front of her classroom. Caleb stopped her, and she knew he meant how was she doing.

"Isabela... I drove by Emily's, okay?" he finally sighed when she was silent. "They're still pulling pieces of that car out of the living room. So, I'm gonna ask you again: How are you doing?"

"I'm fine, Caleb," she scoffed, and he gave her a skeptical look. "I haven't been out drinking, if that's what you mean." He nodded, relieved. "As for Spencer, Aria, Emily... We're trying to stay positive. If 'A' is escalating things, maybe it means that we're getting too close for comfort. Maybe you and Toby are getting too close to Wilden's killer."

"Maybe," he shrugged, unconvinced.

"Anyway, that number that you pulled from Nigel's cell phone, did you ever figure out who was on the other end?" she asked, changing the subject. Supposedly, the pilot who flew Red Coat out to the Lodge's name was Nigel Wright, and he had lied about being there. So when Caleb and Toby confronted him, Caleb stole his phone.

"Somebody really smart," Caleb replied, shaking his head. "The number is assigned to three people and three addresses. All in New York."

"Well, which one is real?" Isabel frowned impatiently.

"I don't know. That's why Toby went to New York- to knock on some doors, see who answers," he explained.

"Maybe CeCe Drake," Isabel scoffed. It was the answer that made the most sense. Especially with...

"Maybe," Caleb shrugged again. The bell rang, and he looked to her one last time. "Okay, will you please just have Hanna call me?"

"I will," Isabel nodded.

"Thank you," he sighed, and walked off.

-

Later, Isabel got a call from Caleb while she was doing her math homework.

"Isabela, I think Hanna's planning something stupid with Mona," he gulped, and she dropped her pen. No. She knew exactly what it was. 'I should be the one in jail. Not my mom,' she had said.

"Oh no," she replied, eyes wide. "She's gonna try to take her mother's place."

"Her mother's-" he began, but then he realized what she meant. "She's gonna lie and say she killed Wilden?"

Isabel arrived at Hanna's and found that Caleb was already there.

"And you let Mona talk you into this?" Caleb was saying to her.

"Mona is helping me. It was my idea," Hanna retorted as Isabel walked in.

"Hanna, it's insane," Isabel scoffed, sitting down next to Caleb. "First of all, you can't do it."

"Second of all, you would never pull it off," he agreed. "And third, I am not gonna let you do it."

"I have to do this," Hanna snapped. "And what's she doing here?" she added, looking at Isabel.

"To help convince you that turning yourself in will not help your mom," Isabel scoffed, crossing her arms.

"Maybe 'A' will settle for ruining my life and leave my mother alone," Hanna shrugged miserably.

"Neither one of you is going to prison," Caleb yelled.

"My mother's already there," Hanna huffed. "If they take her away tomorrow, I'll never get her back. Look, it'll be okay. I'll be fine."

"You will be fine?" Isabel scoffed in disbelief. "Hanna, you're talking about going to prison, okay?"

"Prison for kids is still prison," Caleb added. "You don't need to do something just because you feel guilty about something that somebody else did."

Hanna was quiet for a second as she looked between Isabel and Caleb. "You guys think she killed him. You think my mom shot Wilden."

"No, I don't, Hanna!" Isabel huffed. "You know I don't!" Hanna just looked over at Caleb.

"I did, okay?" he sighed. "Until I talked to her today. She never killed anyone."

-

Isabel was washing dishes, just not her own. Working at the Brew required overtime, since she was so often drunk or incapacitated.

Her phone beeped with a new text from Spencer.

'SOS. Mona confessed to shooting Wilden. Call!' -Spencer

-

She hurried to the police station and saw that Mrs. Hastings, Spencer, and Emily were already there. Hanna, Caleb, Jake, and Aria met up with them soon after to see a detective bring Mona into a interrogation room.

Mona gave them a small smile before the blinds closed on her. Hanna was staring at her incredulously, but also worriedly.

Mona was about to do the exact same thing she was helping Hanna do.