CHARISMA - the sweet unknown {PLL}

The Blame Is On Me, Bitches

Alisha was fast asleep just a few minutes after she sent that text to Colin. When she woke up in the morning, she hadn't received a reply from him yet. She put on the outfit she had prepared for today and went downstairs to have breakfast. On her way to school she kept checking her phone for a text from him, but still, nothing. He must have read it by now, she thought, as she entered the building.

Aria and Hanna were already in the classroom waiting for her. If they had known what Alisha was about to tell them, they wouldn't be as excited to spread their news about Caleb and the hacking.

"Hey guys", Alisha said and put her bag on her desk, "can we go somewhere less crowded for a second?"

They nodded and all together they left the classroom. Alisha opened the door to a small chamber where brooms and buckets for cleaning were kept. It was empty, so they went in.

"Creepy" Hanna said and took a look around the small place, trying not to touch any cobwebs or dirty shelves.

"You'll survive it", Alisha commented and waited for everyone to get in. "Sorry I didn't check in with you yesterday, I just needed some time to process this."

"What is it?" Aria asked curiously.

Alisha took a breath, "When I was called to the principals office yesterday, Colin and Wilden were both there. At first I thought Wilden was trying to report Colin for what he did on Saturday. But then Colin told us that he had been blackmailed to treat me like shit, otherwise his dad would get in trouble."

"Blackmailed?" Aria frowned, "By who?"

Alisha gave her a meaningful look, "Who do you think?"

Hanna's eyes widened and she quickly covered her mouth with her hands. "That's crazy", she mumbled through her fingers.

Alisha nodded, "Honestly, I don't know how to feel about it. Why would A do that to me?"

"What did Wilden say about it?" Aria wanted to know.

"He thinks it's our chance to find out who A is", Alisha lowered her voice and leaned in, so her friends had to come closer, too, "he wants to locate the bank account that sent Colin the bribing money. Of course he can't officially do it, otherwise he'd have to tell everyone about Colin's dad, or even about him and me. But there's a good chance he will be able to do it secretly."

Alisha waited for her friends reaction. To her surprise they were rather hesitant and not as happy about it as she was, now. She noticed Aria and Hanna exchanging a quick look before Aria spoke, "He might not be the only one trying to find out who A is."

"What do you mean?" Alisha didn't understand Aria's comment.

Hanna wasn't shy to interfere, "We told Caleb to hack A."

"You what?" Now Alisha was shocked. She clearly hadn't  expected that at all.

"We thought it was our best chance", Aria declared.

"You guys", Alisha wasn't sure if she was desperate or angry, "if I finds out about that, she's going to be way more careful with everything. Wilden said its best to let Colin run free and not do anything about him or his dad so A doesn't realize he actually spoke up about it. That way she might act less careful and it will be easier to locate her."

"Who says she will know Caleb is hacking her?" Hanna didn't get the fuzz.

"Well", Aria had to admit, "she probably knows how to protect her data, she's a technical genius. If Caleb makes one mistake, A will know right away."

The bell rang and they all jumped a little, not having expected the sound of it. It was time to get to class now. Alisha put a hand on the doorknob, but before she opened it, she said, "Lets just hope for the best."