𝐆𝐎𝐎𝐃 𝐋𝐔𝐂𝐊, 𝐁𝐀𝐁𝐄! | 𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐀 𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐆𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐘

eight.

every year for olivia, iris and kalani's respective birthdays, they'd eat out at rosewood grille before doing some major weekend shopping. it was like a tradition to their small friend group considering iris and kalani weren't big on parties and olivia had gotten enough partying in by being friends with alison. iris' birthday was first which was how olivia came to be freezing outside the grille while waiting for the girls to show up. "oh my god," she waved to them. "could you show up later next time?" iris grinned widely at her. "the birthday girl is allowed to be a little late," she said. "for a dramatic entrance."

"fair," olivia nudged her friend. "what is your excuse?" kalani dangled her keys on one finger. "neither of you two will get a license, that's my excuse." olivia grimaced at that before pulling iris into a hug. "happy birthday!" iris flushed red which might've been the best part of the girl's birthday, she hated the attention and olivia and kalani loved to shine the spotlight on her, mainly because she hyped them up constantly, they felt like it was payback for her niceness.

kalani held open the door for both girls as they entered. "i'll grab the menus," olivia smiled at them. "find a table that isn't surrounded by annoying people please." kalani raised a brow. "you think everyone is annoying," she said before iris pulled her over to a corner table. olivia turned to where the counter was, taking three menus from the side. she turned away, glancing towards her friends table. "liv!" she caught sight of aria standing awkwardly behind her. "oh, please no," olivia groaned before realising her words had actually come out instead of remaining an irritated thought and aria actually looked pretty hurt. "why are you everywhere?"

"i thought that was you!" spencer appeared next to both of them. "oh great," olivia muttered under her breath. "i actually can't talk right now, i have plans so goodbye." spencer rolled her eyes. "a beacon of kindness as always oli." olivia couldn't help but smile at that. "sorry," she said. "but i really do have to get back to my table so have fun, i'll see you at school." she glanced around. "oh ew are you here with your parents?" she stopped in her tracks once she caught sight of the hastings family. "that sounded really bad, i-"

"no it's fine," spencer sighed. "we're having dinner with melissa's new fiancée." olivia scoffed. "sounds like fun," she said, moving away from both girls. "oh hey," spencer caught onto her arm. "do you really think that alison went to see jenna in the hospital?" olivia shrugged. "i mean, i guess?" she replied. "i really don't see why she'd lie about that of all things." aria nodded. "yeah," she echoed. "sounds like something alison would do." olivia could imagine ali showing up to the hospital, playing the concerned friend act so that if the truth came out, she could easily pin it on one of the other girls. "why would ali keep that from us?" spencer asked.

"because she didn't want us to know what they talked about," aria answered. "listen, i really have to get back over there," olivia smiled towards spencer. "yeah, sure, go," spencer waved her off. "i should probably get back to my awkward family dinner as well." all three girls dispersed which probably looked a little suspicious to anyone around them, or maybe olivia was just being paranoid. olivia made her way back over to her own table, iris moving over to let her sit in next to her. "what was that about?" she asked lightly. iris was far more inquisitive than kalani who seemed in support of olivia reconnecting with her old friends. olivia didn't like the inquisitiveness of her friend, not when she had to lie to her about most things.

"they're still pretty shaken up about wilden borderline interrogating us," olivia replied. "i don't think i've ever seen spencer hastings shook up about anything," iris laughed. "well, it's mainly aria," olivia lied. "she stresses about pretty much everything." iris nodded. "you stress about pretty much everything as well," she reminded her. "they're not your problem," she nudged her. "how are you doing?" olivia brushed off her question. "it's your day," she said. "we're not going to talk about any of them, ok?" iris raised a brow, but dropped the subject anyway, picking up the menu that olivia had placed in front of her.

"so," kalani cleared her throat. "weekend plans, are you free?" olivia nodded. "yeah," she replied, before glancing towards where spencer was sat. "well, maybe." she needed to get a grip of herself, she didn't know why she was leaving gaps in her days just in case one of the girls needed her, she just knew she needed to shake it off and prioritise the people who had been in her life for the past year. "what?" iris frowned at her. "do you have plans with spencer?" kalani swiftly kicked olivia under the table, she had probably intended for it to be subtle but iris had definitely noticed.

"no," olivia replied and for the first time that night, she was actually being honest. "i'm just saying that officer is relentless and he could pull any one of us back in at any given moment, so yeah i'm free unless a cop comes after me." iris relaxed almost instantly. "oh, ok," she said. "but for the record, you're the only one in that group that i don't think would be capable of murder." she tilted her head, thinking for a moment. "and also emily fields, but mainly you." olivia inhaled sharply and hoped her friends didn't catch on, she was capable of a lot more than she let on.

"that's oddly reassuring," she replied with a small laugh. "but yeah i'm down for whatever at the weekend." she kept her eyes firmly on her menu, mainly because she was craning her neck at the hastings table too much and she could tell it was becoming harder and harder for iris to keep her thoughts to herself.

and olivia really tried her best to keep her attention away from spencer for the rest of the night even though she felt like she was failing miserably at that. whenever kalani or iris weren't focused on her, she felt her eyes drifting to the hastings table - wondering how her family dinner was going. she knew spencer long enough to know that the hastings were strange at the best of times and also that they favoured melissa no matter what spencer did. she was glad that aria had apparently only been there for takeout or she probably would've been eyeing up her table as well, as much as she hated to admit it.

✭

she got home at ten o'clock that night, glad to see the inside of her room and the comfort of knowing she wouldn't have to juggle two friend groups while she was inside it. her mom and george had been perched on the couch when she came in, watching whatever recent series they had discovered. she liked to leave them alone considering they both worked and never got to spend as much time with each other as they would've liked.

her phone lit up, an unknown number calling her. olivia's heart rate picked up, who would be calling her at that hour? 'A' hardly had the guts to reveal their voice to any of the girls but olivia couldn't help but panic a little as she raised the phone to her ear. "hello?" she asked, her voice coming out high pitched. "it's just me," the voice reassured her from the other end. "emily?" olivia breathed out a sigh of relief. "fuck, don't do that to me."

"sorry," the girl replied. "spencer sent me your new number, i assumed you still had ours." olivia shifted guiltily as she pulled back her duvet cover with one hand. when she'd deleted all their contacts from her phone, she'd felt like she was betraying them in a way. she'd have never thought that almost a year later, she'd be collecting their numbers once again, prepared for whichever one called her. she was even more shocked with herself at how quick she found herself replying to them. she'd been texting back and forth with spencer since the girl dug up her new number and hanna had gotten it days ago and had been texting her under the table in their classes almost everyday since.

"is everything ok?" olivia asked, avoiding the topic of her having deleted emily's number for fear of coming off as insensitive. "yeah, yes everything is ok," emily said. "my mom just had this idea that the five of us should do something to say goodbye to alison, i was wondering how you felt about it." olivia flicked on her television and turned the volume down low, she struggled to sleep if it wasn't on, having no background noise made her feel unsettled - especially if there was no one else in the room. "i mean, we were at her funeral," olivia said.

"this would just be something special for us," emily said. "like we could go somewhere that we used to hang out or something but it would just be a way to let go, and all of us would be together." olivia hesitated for a moment and then realised how much of a bitch she would look like if she let them all go without her. reconnecting with her old friend group had made her mean and snappy, she didn't like it and she didn't want that to be how the girls viewed her. as much as she hated to admit it, she'd mostly managed to fit back in with them, maybe the final step was doing this with them and not being harsh about it.

"i think that's a good idea em," olivia said. "really?" emily asked. "yeah, of course," olivia reassured her. "just tell me the time and place and i'll be there."