"I was afraid she wouldn't get it done in time for the memorial." Aria said as she and Spencer pushed a big, wooden box.
"And this was someone from your mom's arm gallery?" Hanna asked from the couch.
"Right." Aria said.
"Where is your mom?" Emily asked.
"There's an apartment above the gallery so she's staying there. For now." Aria said.
"Can we open it now? I wanna see it." Katherine said, looking at the box.
"Yeah, get a screwdriver and start helping. We'll see it quicker." Spencer said.
"But that's work." Katherine said.
"Kat, screwdriver. Now." Aria said and Katherine groaned but started helping.
"Did anyone call Shelly Leonard?" Emily asked, getting the last corner.
"Done. And I told her if she plays anything depressing, I will kick in her cello." Spencer said.
"Oh, what about the program?" Aria asked.
"Almost done." Katherine said.
"But we should finish it before Ali's brother gets here." Spencer said.
"What?" Katherine asked, snapping her head up.
"Ali's brother is coming over. We're all gonna talk about the memorial." Spencer said.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Katherine asked.
"I thought I did." Spencer said.
"When is he coming?" Katherine asked.
"Tonight." Spencer said.
"Tonight? Like tonight, tonight?" Katherine asked.
"Yeah." Spencer said, looking at her best friend weird. "He wants to see us in the morning."
"Okay, you know what? I barely remember Jason." Hanna said.
"We didn't know him, he was just Ali's older brother down the hall." Aria said.
"Behind a closed door." Spencer said.
"With his hardcore punk music vibrating the floorboards." Emily said.
"How did he get into an Ivy League school?" Aria asked.
"I don't know. It must've been affirmative action for goths and emos." Spencer said.
"Jason wasn't emo." Katherine said without thinking.
Before they could comprehend that Katherine had talked they got the box open.
"It's beautiful." Aria said.
"Pedestal's already out there, next to the bench. This goes up Friday morning." Katherine said.
"Do you think Jason will like it?" Emily asked.
"Yeah, he will." Katherine said.
"Years from now, people are gonna see this memorial, and, and that's all that they'll ever know about Ali. She'll be the girl that they dedicated the bench too and we'll all be gone, but Ali will still be remembered." Aria said.
"That's immortality, my darlings." Spencer said.
"I wish we could just choose the age that we wanted to be and just stay there." Aria said, as they all tanned in the sun in skimpy bikinis, except for Hanna who had a T-Shirt on and Emily who wore a one piece.
"The only way to do that is to die young. Leave a beautiful corpse." Alison said.
"Don't joke." Emily said.
"It's not a joke. Oh, come on, haven't you guys ever thought about how deliciously tragic it would be to die in some incredibly mysterious way? That would be superior." Alison said.
"Is that really how you wanna go, Alison?" Spencer asked.
"I don't know about Ali, but I would wanna be murdered. Quick and easy but complicated. I want everyone to know my name when I die." Katherine said.
"Kat's right but not just yet." Alison said.
"Don't talk like that." Hanna said.
"It's gruesome." Aria said.
"It's not gruesome." Alison said. "It's immortality, my darlings."
"Where did she get that from? A movie?" Aria asked.
"Ali was a movie." Katherine said.
...
"You've done a great job, really." Jason said, as they all sat in Spencer's kitchen, except for Katherine and Hanna who hadn't arrived yet. "Mom and dad and I are all really grateful."
The door opened and Katherine walked in, not ready to see Jason again.
"There she is!" Jason said, with a big smile.
"Jason, hey. Sorry I was late, mom was being annoying." Katherine said, faking a smile. Jason just pulled her into a hug making her heart beat even faster.
Hanna walked in and while Jason was distracted with Katherine she snuck over by Emily.
"No problem." He said. "I was just saying, you've done some lovely work on the memorial. I might have done one or two things differently but we can adjust that along the way. Here's a copy of the program for the dedication."
"What? I didn't sleep for three days to make that program." Katherine said.
"Yeah, I e-mailed you the program that we worked up." Spencer said.
"Right. I saw the draft. This just fine-tunes it. Let's see, if Shelly Leonard's gonna play something, I don't think we can give her more than three minutes. I remember she's somewhat of a showboat with that cello." Jason said. "Oh, is this the picture for the program?" Jason asked, picking up the picture of Alison on the counter.
"Yes. It's everybody's favorite." Emily said.
Katherine was just glaring at Jason. She hated being in the same room with him. It wasn't the Jason that she knew. This Jason was wearing a suit and using words that Jason never would've used. She hated it.
"It's the one I would've picked." Jason said. "I thought I was gonna be able to get my whole family out here but you know, at the last minute, my mom, um, it's crazy talking about this, isn't it? When I think about her, I think about you. The six of you, in her bedroom, laughing, keeping secrets." He was looking directly at Katherine who just kept glaring. "Long time ago." He said, looking away from the girl he used to love. "I want each of you to speak. I'd rather hear from you than from Mrs. Slocomb from the PTA."
"The PTA was a lot of help." Spencer said.
"What about the rain?" Jason asked.
"The rain?" Spencer asked.
"Forty percent chance before the weekend." Jason said.
"Oh, they said that we can use the school's multipurpose room if we have to move the ceremony inside." Spencer said.
"Great." Jason said, nodding slightly. "People think this dedication is about closure. There won't be closure until they find out who did this to Alison. The cops in this town have been jerking my family around for more than a year. No more of that. I'm here to get some action and this memorial is gonna help me get it. Oh, and I'm adding one speaker to the program." He said, writing a name on the paper.
"Jenna Marshall?" Emily asked, reading the name.
"Wait, you want Jenna to speak at the dedication?" Hanna asked.
"That's right." Jason said.
"Why?" Aria asked.
"She asked me if she could." Jason said like it was obvious.
"Jenna asked to speak?" Emily asked.
"Is there a problem?" Jason asked.
"Yeah, there is a problem. Jenna hated Alison, and still hates us. Jenna Marshall is not somebody that you want to speak." Katherine said.
"I don't know what problem Jenna has with you, Katherine. But she called and said that my sister was a lot of help to her after her accident." Jason said. "Well, concentrate on what you're gonna say. Leave the rest of it to me. Now, I'm going to have a talk with Detective Wilden and find out why they haven't located Toby yet." Jason said, heading to the door.
"Did we just get fired?" Hanna asked the girls.
"Keep your voice down." Spencer said.
"Why is he talking to Jenna?" Emily asked.
"I don't know." Katherine said.
"What does she have to say?" Emily asked.
"I don't know." Katherine repeated.
"This is turning into a nightmare." Aria said.
"What else did he say?" Hanna asked Spencer as she came back into the room from walking Jason out.
"Nothing. He only asked about you, Kat. He wanted to know if your mom is still doing drugs and if that was what you meant when you said that she was being annoying." Spencer said.
"What'd you tell him?" Katherine asked.
"I just said that it was your business and if he wanted to know then he could ask you himself." Spencer said and Katherine nodded.
"Spence, why does Jenna wanna speak at the dedication?" Aria asked.
"Why does Jason want her there? I mean, he clearly knows that they weren't friends." Hanna said.
"We can't let Jenna speak." Emily said.
"Well, how are we gonna stop her without looking like bitches?" Aria asked.
"How are we gonna stop her at all? Incase you guys didn't notice, we just got patted on the head and sent off to play." Spencer said.
"You know what? You two need to stay on top of him. Find out what's going on." Hanna said to Spencer and Katherine.
"Why us?" They asked at the same time.
"Spence, you're the big organizer. You've got the laptop of all knowledge and he's gonna need some of that. You and Kat have worked amazing as a team since you were three. The pictures around this house prove it." Aria said.
"Jenna could get up there, she could tell about the fire and Toby. She could tell about everything." Emily said.
"God, Jenna the jerk is looking at us." Alison said, messing with her blonde curls.
"That's a very second string crowd that she's with." Aria said.
"Why doesn't she just take her D-List gang and go home instead of sitting here and creeping me out?" Katherine said, already annoyed at Jenna Marshall.
"Jenna's here. Where's Toby?" Emily said.
"Out in the woods, sacrificing squirrels." Alison said.
"Don't you ever get tired of shooting at the low hanging fruit?" Spencer asked.
"Don't ruin a perfect day, Spencer." Alison said.
"It is perfect." Hanna said.
"Friends forever." Emily said.
"Yeah, even when we get really old." Spencer said.
"Okay, it is time for you to get back to the land of the living." Hanna said.
"You just want me to go, so you can go with Sean." Aria said.
"It's not true! And even if it is a little bit true, more reason for you to come." Hanna said.
"I don't know." Aria said.
"Aria, what's not to know? I mean, it's not like I'm setting you up with my dud cousin Raymond who makes miniature furniture for a hobby. This is Noel Kahn. I mean, he was your biggest crush all through middle school and now he's asking you out. So stop pining for the fjords and carpe hottie." Hanna said.
"It's not about the fjords." Aria said.
"Well, then what's the problem?" Hanna asked.
"The problem is that, I just can't do this right now." Aria said.
"Well, now is all I've got." Hanna said.
"Maybe in a few weeks." Aria said.
"Can't you at least get over the guy by tomorrow night?" Hanna asked.
"Hanna, look, my family just blew up, understand?" Aria said.
"Well, I just thought this would take your mind off of it." Hanna said.
"Oh, I'd love to get my mind off of it, but I can't." Aria said.
"Later." Hanna said, nodding slightly.
"Later." Aria said.
"Well, well, well. Something new has been added." Alison said.
"Noel Kahn inspecting the troops." Hanna said.
"You know, you really shouldn't go out so soon after a boob job. Let them drop down to where they're supposed to be before you take them out." Katherine said, looking at the girl that Noel was with.
"Prudence Finn had a boob job?" Emily asked.
"She had to do something to compensate for being named Prudence." Alison said. "Thinking about it, Aria?"
"Thinking about what?" Aria asked.
"Doing something like that to get Noel's attention?" Alison said.
"No." Aria said.
"Aria likes them brainy." Alison said.
"Cute, rich, and brainy." Hanna said. "You get the whole package with Noel Kahn. I never understood why you haven't made a move, Kat. I mean, you guys are best friends."
"Why would I go for Noel? Aria likes him and I like being just friends. I like them older." Katherine said, wishing she could say that she had a boyfriend.
"Personally, I like someone with a little more maturity." Alison said, basically saying what Katherine said but in a better way. "Not that Noel doesn't have potential. He just lacks a little seasoning."
"See, Han? Someone else sees it the way I do." Katherine said.
"He's perfect for you, Aria. Don't be too coy." Alison said.
"Well, that was painless." Jason said.
"Not for Principal Hartman." Spencer said.
"He means well, but he needs to know who's in charge." Jason said, making Katherine roll her eyes.
"I think we all know that." Spencer said.
"Okay, is there a problem?" Jason asked, turning to the three girls.
"There's no problem. You're Alison's brother, you should have the final say. But you're not the only one dealing with this." Emily said.
"See, there's that closed door again. The secrets of the girls cuddled up in Alison's bedroom. Do you think that means that you know her better than I did" Jason said.
"No, it just means that we knew her in a different way." Emily said.
"Actually, yeah. I knew her better than you." Katherine said, glaring at Jason.
"What the fuck, Kat? She was my sister." Jason said, completely pissed off.
"Right here." Wilden said, leading a few cops to a locker.
"What are they doing?" Spencer asked.
"That's Toby's locker." Katherine said, her jaw clenching as she tried not to react.
"Detective Wilden." Jason said, walking up to the officer. The three girls following behind him.
"Oh, you'll find this interesting." Wilden said, grabbing something from the locker. "We're having a look in Toby Cavanaugh's locker."
"Why? Do you think he's hiding in there?" Jason said.
"He's a suspect." Wilden said.
"Well, your investigation better turn up more than Toby Cavanaugh's old gym socks." Jason said, oblivious to the fact that Katherine was about to lose her shit the more they talked about Toby as a suspect.
"You made it quite clear the other day that you weren't happy with the pace of the investigation. You said you wanted action. I'm trying to give that to you." Wilden said.
"Yeah, you've got nothing. I realized that yesterday." Jason said.
"You know, sometimes, Jason, we withhold information on the progress of an investigation to avoid any interruptions." Wilden said.
"Yeah, the only reason that you're tearing the kid's locker apart is because he's not around to object." Jason said.
"Toby Cavanaugh called your sister's cell phone the night she disappeared. I checked the phone records. She took the call." Wilden said.
"Toby called Alison the night she died?" Katherine asked, her eyes filled with tears that were begging to fall but she wouldn't let them.
"He did. Or somebody else did using his phone." Wilden said.
"There go Noel and Prudence off to the Kissing Rock." Alison said.
"People have been sneaking off to the Kissing Rock for hundreds of years. Me included, multiple times." Katherine said.
"You're making that up." Emily said.
"About going? Oh honey, I've been more time than I could count." Katherine said.
"No, about it being around for hundreds of years." Emily said.
"Just because I make it up, doesn't mean it's not true." Katherine said.
"You go there with somebody and you can feel the ghosts of the other lovers spying on you, pushing you to do it." Alison said.
"You know, you should never disappoint a ghost." Katherine said.
"It's just a dusty old rock." Emily said.
"Who do you want to take there?" Alison asked.
"You were right about the weather. Rain's starting at midnight, continuing through the day." Spencer said.
"I wish this was gonna be outside, in the sun." Jason said.
"We all do." Katherine said, avoiding eye contact with Jason.
"Are you satisfied?" Spencer asked Jason.
"Yeah. How about you guys?" Jason said.
"Yeah." Katherine said.
"I'll just be glad when this is all over." Spencer said.
"Are we talking about the dedication or finding out what happened to Ali?" Jason asked.
"Both." Spencer and Katherine said at the same time.
"The dedication will be fine. Thanks to you two. And I lit a fire under the cops." Jason said.
"Did you know that Toby called Alison?" Spencer asked.
"No. Wilden shouldn't have told me but he was easy to shake up like most bullies. You guys were the only ones who ever really challenged Alison. Spencer, I remember hearing the two of you getting in each other's grills a couple of times. Kept waiting for the catfight, but never happened." Jason said.
"How did I challenge her? I was drunk half the time." Katherine said, finally looking at Jason.
"You would tell her when to stop, you'd take over her spotlight. You showed her that she wasn't the most important person in the room." Jason said.
"Who do you think killed Alison?" Spencer asked.
"The police like Toby Cavanaugh. If they can't find him, they'll start liking someone else." Jason said.
Katherine knew they would start thinking of her. She had no solid alibi, Jason had never called her back and now that he was back, she didn't want to talk about it.
"Just someone, or someone in particular?" Spencer asked.
"Does it really matter?" Jason asked.
"I thought you said you wanted closure." Katherine said.
"My mom still needs pills to get to sleep. When they don't work you can hear her walking around the house at three in the morning. You think you're ever really gonna have closure? I mean, aren't you always gonna be the friends of that girl who was murdered?" Jason said.
"Just like you'll always be her brother?" Spencer asked.
"That's how people will see us. They solve it or they don't. It's not going to change, so I guess it doesn't really matter." Jason said.
"But what about justice?" Katherine asked.
"You don't really want to bring justice into this, do you?" Jason asked, laughing into his drink.
"Why not?" Katherine asked.
"Alison told me about the fire. About how you said the five of you should all go over and teach Toby a lesson. How you got the stink bomb and convinced the rest of the girls to back you up. How you even threatened Toby if he told the truth." Jason said, looking Katherine in the eye.
"Alison told you that?" Spencer asked, anger bubbling in her veins.
"Yes, she did." Jason said.
"But I didn't do that, Jason." Katherine said.
"Did you believe her?" Spencer asked Jason. He just looked at Spencer for a moment. "You are just like Alison, aren't you?"
"In some ways, even worse." Jason said.
Katherine had, had enough. She scoffed and walked out of the house. Slamming the door behind her. She was going to suffocate if she had to spend any longer in that room.
...
"So, she tried to pin it on Kat?" Hanna asked.
"That's what she told Jason." Spencer said.
"But why Katherine?" Emily asked.
"Because Kat could stand up to her, make her feel like a nobody and Alison didn't like that." Aria said.
"God, this is officially insane! Where did Katherine even go after that?" Hanna said.
"She left, went home." Spencer said.
"I don't blame her. Is that fake story what she told Jenna when she was at the hospital?" Emily said.
"I don't know, I don't think so but I don't know." Spencer said.
"Okay, so, so one minute she's trying to cover it up and the next she's ratting us out to her brother?" Aria said.
"Like she wanted Jason to know the fake story in case anything happened to her." Emily said.
"Why?" Hanna asked.
"So they'd know who to blame." Spencer said.
"Kat." Emily said.
"God, this is still Alison's movie and we are just filling up the screen." Aria said.
...
Katherine was up first. She was nervous but she loved Alison, it would be like talking to Ali in a way. She was about to start talking when she noticed Ian standing in the back. She gave him a small smile and he gave one back.
"I met Alison Dilaurentis when I was young. She was my absolute best friend. We lived right across the street from each other, when we were six we started sneaking out of our houses to see each other even more. Ali was someone I grew with, someone who taught me to not be scared, someone who showed me that even when life hits the bottom, you can always float back up. She was a queen bee, she knew how to make someone feel special. We made a routine when we were five, we'd compliment each other, first thing, everyday. It went on until the day that she went missing. That last compliment was about my hair. I had it styled wavy with little braids. She loved it. She used to have me braid her hair almost every night. Whether it was dutch, french, or just a regular braid. She loved having her hair done, it made her smile. Alison truly was one of my best friends. I miss her more and more everyday. I love you, Ali." Katherine said, a few tears falling down her voice as she talked.
She sat down when she was done and Spencer walked up to the podium. Spencer also noticed Ian but her reaction wasn't the same. She wasn't happy to see the older boy. The look on her face made Aria, Hanna, and Emily turn to look. They all wore similar expressions to Spencer.
"Ian?" Aria asked.
"Wait, Melissa's Ian?" Hanna asked.
"I can't remember not knowing Alison." Spencer said from the front. "Not having her as a friend. After Kat, she was the first person I knew long enough that I felt I could be angry with, without worrying that I was gonna lose her. It made me feel like something was gonna last. And you need that. Especially when you're a kid. She would've liked that you were all here. She would've liked the attention. No actually, she would've loved the attention. It would have made her laugh. And Alison laughing, that was amazing."
"Friends can be hard on you. Maybe they expect more from you than strangers. Strangers pretty much see you the way you want them to see you but you can't fool friends. That's what makes them friends." Hanna said.
"That corner of the park is gonna be a safe place where you can go and sit, read a book and just think. You should think about Alison while you're there. She'd want to make sure you didn't forget about her." Emily said.
"You do something like this, a memorial. It's partly because you don't understand what's happened. So, you plant flowers, and you paint tiles', and somewhere in the middle of all that work you stop crying. I guess that's the point." Aria said.
Jason helped lead Jenna to the podium. Katherine hated that he was touching her. Even if it was just so she could get somewhere, it made her jealous.
"Prepare yourselves, we might go to jail after this. Wilden's back there. Probably has the cuffs ready." Katherine whispered to the girls.
"We think we know who we are, but we don't. Not until something bad happens to us and then all of the useless things fall away and we're left with who we really are. I learnt that from Alison DiLaurentis. My whole life, I thought I knew who she was but I found out the truth when she came and talked to me at the hospital. I found out that she was the strongest person that I had ever met and it's her strength that touched so many people. Shaped them. That's her real legacy. That's how her memory will endure in the actions of those she inspired in so many different ways. From all of us, thank you, Alison." Jenna said, surprising each of the girls.
...
"I need sugar." Hanna said.
"Me too." Katherine said.
"I'm buying." Spencer said.
"That was my folks." Jason said, putting his phone in his pocket. "They say thanks, and so do I."
"You're welcome." Emily said.
"And I want you girls to have something." Jason said, pulling something out of his jacket. "The police returned this to my family. I think you should have it."
It was Alison's bracelet. The one that they already had in Spencer's room. A had planted a fake one.
"The police gave that to you?" Katherine asked.
"Alison was wearing it." Jason said.
"You mean, when they found her?" Hanna asked.
"After listening today, I just thought you should have it." Jason said. "I'll be in touch."
"If that's Alison's bracelet, what about the one we found in the woods?" Emily asked when Jason was gone.
"I don't know." Aria said.
"Someone made a copy of Alison's bracelet." Hanna said.
"Yeah, and made sure that we would find it." Spencer said.