"I FEEL LIKE whole parts of my brain have shutdown." Spencer said as we entered the house. "I used to love Algebra. Or at least I understood it and now it's a mess."
"Well it can get really abstract." Emily tried making her feel better.
"Yeah but that what we liked about it." I explained to Emily.
"X, Y, Zs. None of it real. We could deal with that. Just isolate the X factor and now I feel like we're the X factor." Spencer hands me a water bottle and yogurt to Emily.
"Honey where were you?" Mum asked rushing down the stairs to us.
"We stopped by the way at Emily's."
"Don't worry. I was expecting this. It's mostly about intimidation so I want you girls to just stay calm."
"Stay calm about what?" I asked her as I saw men walking down with boxes in their hands.
Mum threw the paper she was holding on the table. "They served a search warrant."
"A search warrant? From where? For what?" Spencer reads the paper.
"The house, the barn, your rooms-"
"Our rooms?" Spencer and I gasped before running towards our rooms.
"No Spencer, Lexi don't interfere."
I walked into my room to see them going through everything. My diaries, jewellery, clothes and shoes. I went next door to see them doing the same in Spencer's room.
"Make them get out." Spencer begged our mum.
"I can't you girls are people of interest in a murder investigation. They're just doing their job. In a specially ham-fisted way." Mum said looking at an officer.
"Well, what are they looking for?" I asked her.
"Things that Connect you guys to Alison and what happened to her."
Spencer and I look at the door when we hear footsteps coming towards it. I glared when I saw Ian standing there drinking a glass of milk.
SPENCER AND I walked over to the table in the cafeteria where the girls were the girls were sitting.
"Hey, you okay?" Emily asked as soon as we sat down.
"Yeah, we didn't think you guys were coming today."
I scoffed. "We had to be some place other then that house."
"Are the cops still there?" Hanna asked
"They came and went."
"They actually took things?" Aria asked surprised
I shrugged "Not so much. Our mum says they did it to shake us up."
"What'd they take?" Hanna asked
"Things from our jewellery box." Spencer paused to think. "stuff from our closet, a couple pairs of shoes-"
"Wait, not the Tony Burches." Hanna gasped
"Hanna." Aria looked at her before back at us.
Spencer chuckled "No sneakers. They wanted our laptops but our mum said no. It's wasn't in the search warrant and they couldn't have them. Look guys should know there is a chance they might try to pull this on you."
"Search our rooms?" Emily asked
I nodded. "Our mum said it's a possibility. I'm so sorry."
"Its not your fault."
"Yeah. We know who's responsible for this." Hanna added
Spencer sighed. "We should have know that trophy was some kind of trap. It's like I can hear A laughing in my head."
"Does A sound like Jenna?" Hanna asked
Both my and Spencer cell phones beeped
"Its our mum. She wants us to come home. Walk us out?"
"Yeah sure."
I GLARED AT my bedroom door when I heard a knock on it. I decided to ignore it so that the person would get the message that I don't want to see anyone. The person kept knocking irritating me.
The door opened revelling Raven.
"I didn't say come in." I told him looking away from him.
"Your mum told me what's happening."
I looked at him confused. "She told you what happened? Really and why is that?"
"Look your mum's just worried about you and Spencer. She's trying to protect you."
"What's there to protect us from?"
"Yourselves.-"
"Protect us from ourselves really Raven."
"You have to understand you guys keep getting yourselves into trouble and you have all these secrets."
"They think we have something to do with Alison's murder because we said we think Ian did it."
"Ian your brother in law? Ian the guy both you and Spencer convinced your sister to go out with again? Ian the guy you kissed that summer?"
I gave Raven an unamused look. "If they really think I killed Alison or had anything to do with it wouldn't I have left? I have many fake identity's and money to get me far away from here without anyone being able to find me."
"You shouldn't say stuff like that."
I sighed. "Why are you here Raven because if I remember what you said-"
"Don't listen to what I said a few days ago. It was..... Look it doesn't matter. I don't want to think about what you've done in the past."
"Really cause that's all the police what to think and talk about."
"Lexi, will the police find any of your fake documents?"
"No. They won't. I'm very careful about that stuff. Plus you are the only person alive who knows about them."
"Alive?"
"Alison knew but now she's dead."
"YOU GOT IT wrong." Hanna shook her head.
"We heard what we heard Hanna." Aria said softly
"No you heard what you heard but you got it wrong."
"He was talking to another girl." Emily added "There was a lot of history you could tell."
Hanna scoffed. "What happened to being all happy for Hanna? Where'd that go?"
"Hanna we want you to be happy." Spencer began before Hanna cut her off.
"Well you shouldn't tell me this because it boy true. Not after we... You heard wrong he could have been on the phone with his foster parents or something. His social worker. You don't know."
"Okay, maybe we didn't hear if right."
"Hanna we heard what Caleb said and you have to know the truth. I think his with someone else and hasn't told you."
"No, Caleb has told me everything and I've told him every thing."
I leaned forward looking at Hanna. "Everything?"
"Not everything but I've told him all about me. What your saying it's not him. It can't be."
"Okay guys, maybe we are being a little paranoid. You know with all that's going on we're looking at things too closely. We get details but we can t see the big picture."
"Guys." Aria called out cutting me off looking behind me.
We turn to see Jenna but what caught our attention was the owl pendant around her neck. It's the one Hanna showed me that Caleb was supposed to give to her.
ARIA WALKED OVER to us coming from where Hanna was standing. "Caleb's not picking up. She's gonna send him a text."
"What the hell's going on?" Emily asked
"either it's exactly as it looks like which is bad enough for its something worse."
"Could it be two pendants that look alike?" Emily asked
I looked at Emily. "Dream on."
"Caleb hurts Hanna his a dead man." Emily threatened. We all looked at her. "Not literally... I mean... I gotta go."
"PASSING HER INFORMATION?" Emily frowned "What kind of information?"
Spencer found out that the pendant on Jenna's neck wasn't just a pendant but also a flash drive.
"What was on the flash drive?" Aria asked
"I couldn't se but it could have been anything." Spencer said
"Anything?"
"Anything from Hanna's computer I guess."
"Caleb the hacker." Aria shook her head in disbelief
"Is that who Toby heard Jenna talking to when she wrote the number?" Emily questioned
"Wait 214 has to do with Caleb?" Aria eyes widened
"You know what your saying right?" Emily asked
"That Jenna plus Caleb equal's A." I nodded
"No." Hanna snapped. "He can't be doing this. Whatever it is, it can't be this and it can t be her."
"Hanna no one what's it to be true. Has he called you back?"
Hanna shook her head. "Not yet."
"Has anyone seen him in school since this morning?" Spencer asked Hanna
"You don't understand what this means if it's true."
"Hanna we do know..." Emily began, Hanna looked at all of us before walking away.
"Hanna." Spencer tried to follow her but Aria stopped her.
"WE GOT A good shot at having this search warrant thrown out." Mum said as we walked into Spencer's room. "Judge Hendry has a notorious rubber stamp and he probably didn't read it so... What ever they find we can get tossed out."
"Why are they searching our rooms? What makes us so special?" Spencer asked
"Police thinking is like water it runs down hill and travels a path of least resistance. So when they found out that Lexi and Ian once involved... You guys went to the top of their list."
"We'd never hurt Alison she made me furious something but I'd never hurt her." Spencer told mum.
"Honey I know you girls didn't do what they think you did. You couldn't. We'll get this behind us and then figure out a way to get ahead. All of us as a family. Come down stairs?"
I sighed. "In a little while."
I HEARD A knock on my bedroom door during the night.
"Lexi?" I looked up to see Spencer.
"Hey, Spencer. What time is it?"
"Its late. Can I sleep here."
I moved back to give her some space. "Yeah sure."
After a few minutes the door was opened again being a little light inside the room.
"I'm sorry honey it's me." Mum said coming inside.
"Did you just get home?" Spencer asked
Mum sighed. "Yeah."
"Is everything okay?" I asked her
"I was right. We got a shot at having the search warrant thrown out. That good."
"Yeah that's good but there was nothing for them to find."
"They did find something."
I opened my eyes and looked at her as I seat up. "What do you mean?"
"I got this back channel. They found some fibres some threads caught in a bracelet that name bracelet you both have."
"The one Alison gave us?"
"The threads match the sweater they found in Toby's closet the one with the blood stains."
Spencer gets up so she can sit up properly.
"I had to ask you girls. Did you have that sweater? Did you plant it in Toby's house?"
"No." Spencer and I in unison.
"That's the sweater Alison was wearing the night she died. How could we have that sweater?" I asked her offended she'd think we did that
"I guess the theory is she gave it that night or you took it from her."
"Took it from? Wait you mean after she...?" Spencer asked
"Inside their minds it makes sense."
"What about inside your mind? What do you think?" I asked her
"I think someone going through a great deal to make you both look guilty."
Mum wrapped her arms around us letting us cry.