Pretty Little Liars: The Beginning {Episodes 1-10} (REVISED)

2. Hanna 💋

Hanna pushed these thoughts away as she strutted happily toward her old friend. "I cannot believe Spencer Hastings actually has time to shop!" she exclaimed, beaming. Spencer turned to see Hanna and chuckled as she continued shifting through the clothes hanging on the rack. "I mean, you're interning for the mayor, taking classes at Hollis, and redoing the barn. And in your leisure moments, you Facebook and Tweet."

"You know me, I like to stay busy," Spencer said with a smile.

"It's called a summer vacay, Spence," Hanna replied.

"Yeah, and you spent yours sunning and shopping," Spencer teased.

"Tweet, tweet," Hanna joked back.

For a moment it felt like old times, like they were fourteen years old and trying to decide what to wear to Noel Kahn's end of the year party or gossiping about the people in their classes. It felt like their lives were back where they were a year ago, but they both knew that they weren't those people anymore. Those thoughts about Alison rose to the surface of Hanna's mind again. "Did you see the paper today?" Spencer asked.

Spencer was thinking about Alison too. Her poster was being spread around again like wildfire. "Yeah," Hanna said, the smile fading quickly from her face. She didn't know a person in Rosewood that hadn't.

"She's gone, but she's everywhere," Spencer sighed.

Hanna shook her head. "I can't believe it's been a year."

Spencer looked away from the clothes rack she had been searching through. "Do you remember what Ali said that night? About our secrets keeping us close?" She asked as if she had been dying to talk to someone about this all day. Hanna, on the other hand, had been trying to avoid this conversation all day, and simply nodded, itching to change the subject. "I think it was the opposite," Spencer finished.

They exchanged wistful smiles. "So, what's the occasion?" Hanna asked in a desperate attempt to change the topic of conversation to anything other than Alison.

"Family dinner. We're meeting Melissa's fianceé," Spencer said, pulling a white blouse off of the clothing rack and examining it. It was exactly Spencer's style, simple but cute.

"Did Miss Perfect find Mr. Perfect?" Hanna asked, following Spencer to the checkout counter.

"He's a med student so everybody's thrilled," Spencer said sarcastically.

If there was one thing Hanna knew about the Hastings family, it was that they did not like to lose at anything. The fact that Melissa, Spencer's sister, had found a med student to propose to her was a stellar accomplishment that Spencer hadn't yet managed to accomplish. After all, they were still in high school. Hanna knew that Spencer desperately wanted to have an advantage that night. "Then that's not the right top." Hanna turned to the rack of clothes next to the checkout counter and began sifting through the various shades and styles of clothing that hung there. "You need to turn heads."

"Away from Melissa? Please," Spencer scoffed.

Hanna took a purple top off the rack and examined it for a second before handing it off to Spencer. "She doesn't always have to win," Hanna said with a smile. Spencer smiled back gratefully. "See you around the playground."

"See you."

As Hanna walked away, she realised how much she had actually missed hanging out with the other girls. They had had a lot of fun times together. It had felt really good to see Spencer and talk to her again. It was just too weird to think they could ever be friends again. After all, she was still best friends with Mona, and they had spent so much time bullying her that it would probably be hard for her to accept them and vice versa. She pushed the thought out of her mind and stepped onto the escalator.

The sunglasses she had tried on were still resting comfortably on her head, and her heart raced as she glanced around the store. There was no sign of Mona, who was probably waiting for Hanna outside, but a very intimidating security guard stood just by the door of the store. Her palms began to sweat at the sight of him. She wasn't leaving the store without those glasses, whether he wanted her to or not. Her wallet was missing from her bag, and either way was just shy of $350. She smiled at the security guard as she walked by and left the store. No alarms went off, no security guards jumped out at her. She was out free.

She walked through the mall, passing all the other stores Hanna and Mona had "shopped" at. This was a regular adventure for the pair of besties. Mona had gotten a few expensive pieces of jewellery, lip gloss, bags, and other accessories, while Hanna had picked up a few clothing items as well. Now she was browsing the mall for her best friend. She couldn't have gone too far.

"Miss!"

Crap. She had been caught. She turned around, positive that guilt was written all over her face. The security guard that had been stationed at the door was jogging towards her, handcuffs dangling threateningly from his waist. He caught up to her and held up his arm. He was holding a gold bag — Hanna's gold bag. "You forgot your bag," he said, his deep voice winded from the run.

Hanna took a deep breath, regained her composure, and smiled brightly. "Thank you!" she exclaimed, a bit too loudly.

The guard walked away as Mona crept around the corner of another hallway, wearing the burgundy scarf she had modelled in the store. She looked like her heart was racing just as much as Hanna's. "I so thought you were busted!" she said.

"Nice scarf," Hanna said, brushing off the terror and trying to slow her heart.

"Nice glasses," Mona replied as they climbed the escalator.

By the time they had walked out of the mall and gotten into Mona's car to drive home, all memory of Hanna's conversation with Spencer and her almost arrest was gone. Hanna and Mona laughed the whole way home, listening to the music that was blasting through the speakers of the car. This had been the perfect way to spend the last day of summer vacation, with her best friend and not a care in the world.