"SO if you swap this paragraph, with this one, your essay will be amazing, it already is, but it just needed to be re-arranged. That okay?" I pointed and traced my finger along the essay on my desk.
"Yeah, thank you so much Miss Montgomery, you're a lifesaver." The young blonde girl beamed at me before picking up all of her books and work and standing from her seat.
"You're welcome Mia, see you next Thursday!" I called as she headed out of the door. Just as the door closed it was re-opened, Spencer came rushing in looking disheveled as ever.
"Oh, hey Spence-" I started but the look on her face shut me up immediately, "You have got to see this!" She rushed, slamming her laptop down on my desk before me and opening it up.
"What's happened?" I asked, Spencer opened up a video file and pressed play. The recording was taken in Alison's bedroom, Ian was doing something with the camera, he seemed to be hiding it in a way.
"What is this?" I asked, Spencer hushed me and gestured to keep watching. Suddenly Garrett burst in the bedroom with Jenna clinging to his arm, my eyes widened as they begun ransacking through Ali's room and picking up her personal belongings.
"That's weird." Garret mumbled on the video as he held the small box that Jason had given Aria, the video soon glitched and stopped and Spencer slammed the lid shut.
"So this means, the whole of the NAT club, Jenna included, were in Rosewood...and Alison's bedroom, the night Ali was murdered..." Spencer informed me, I blinked a few times to process it before glancing up at her.
"What about Jason?" I asked, Spencer shrugged lightly, "I think he was at the house, just passed out somewhere..." She mumbled.
"Come on, the rest of us are in the courtyard for break time, come sit with us?" Spencer asked me softly, I nodded and grabbed my bag before standing from my seat.
༄
"And he just drove away?" Aria asked, I unscrewed the cap on my water bottle and lifted it to my mouth. "What else was he supposed to do?" Spencer shrugged lightly. Her and Toby had been going through a rough patch, after the 'Dolls' incident, she'd been trying to keep Toby safe by keeping him away from her.
"I mean Spence, you're protecting somebody you love, it's kind of romantic." I chirped up, watching as her eyes softened at my words.
"No, it's the opposite of romantic." She sighed defeatedly. "It's safe, it's what we all need to be." Hanna folded her arms on the table.
"Hey, well, at least Toby still wants to speak to you, because that was definitely not the case the last time I saw Ezra." Aria deadpanned, "Which makes me wonder, was that the last time I'll ever see him?" She questioned quietly.
"No, Aria..." Spencer replied firmly, I placed a soothing hand on top of Arias and she sent me a small smile. "Yeah but how do I know that? He won't see me, he won't talk to me..." Aria rambled on.
"Maybe you just need to give him time?" Em suggested, I hummed in agreement, "I gave him time! At the play, him sneaking out of the theatre? That was time." Aria bowed her head slightly.
"Now I really want some answers." She mumbled, fiddling with the cap on her bottle. "How are you going to?" Spencer asked, "Without your parents knowing?" Em added, "Without A knowing?" I shrugged lightly, Aria stared at someone behind Hanna and we all glanced over to follow her eyeline.
"Holy shit is that Holden?" I whispered, Aria hummed as an answer. "No way." I laughed lightly, Aria nudged my arm.
"Huh, the beard." Emily sighed, Hanna snapped her head back round to face us, "what?" She asked with a small grin playing on her lips, "Holden, Arias beard." Emily smirked, Aria shot her a deadpanned expression.
"It means he'll go out with her, but not really out with her, because he's not really interested." Emily informed Hanna, "I know what it means, he's gay." Hanna shrugged. Aria's mouth dropped agape as we all glanced at her knowingly.
"He's not gay, I've known him since I was five." Aria defended, "he might not have known when he was five." Emily added.
"Has he ever tried to kiss you?" I asked her, "No." Aria mumbled, furrowing her brows lightly together.
"Gay." We all said simultaneously, Aria groaned and stood up from her seat before sauntering over to Holden, I laughed lightly at Hanna who begun stroking her chin as if she had a beard.
"I've gotta go, my next tutee is coming to me in..." I lifted my phone out from my pocket to check the time, "15 minutes, see you all later." I called, grabbing my bag and drink before slipping off my seat. "Bye!" The girls called.
༄
Ledger and I didn't have any plans to see one another until Saturday night, he had Diem for the weekend so we'd planned to catch a movie and go out for dinner together, the three of us.
Spencer had messaged me once I'd gotten home saying that Caleb had come over to hers and told her that Hanna destroyed the flash drive with the videos from A's phone he'd managed to hack into and recover. She was torn up that she had to keep lying to him, and it must've gotten to her.
It must've been around 5pm when Spencer phoned me asking me to come over, saying that it was urgent.
"So, what did you exactly tell him?" Aria asked as we trailed behind Spencer into her bedroom, all of us were here except Hanna, and I felt awful leaving her in the dark.
"As little as possible." Spencer shut her bedroom door and moved over toward her desk, "That Jenna's trying to frame us for Alison's murder, that Garrett's helping her, and that despite what the police believe, Ian's confession probably doesn't tell the whole story." She rambled on, lifting the lid off the flash drive and placing it into her laptop, I rested my hands on her desk and crouched slightly.
"And then I figured that the rest was something all of us needed to talk about." Spence mumbled as she begun typing and clicked on a file.
"All of us, except Hanna." Aria concluded, I sighed heavily, "I don't feel any better about this than you do, but we did the right thing." Spence justified.
"Caleb knows what he has to know I guess." I whispered slightly, Spence hummed in agreement.
"Maybe what he got won't be any good, and we won't have to use him anymore." Emily shrugged.
"So we're hoping that nothings on here?" Spencer deadpanned sarcastically, the video loaded through and we each stared at the screen as if our lives depended on it.
"Dance you little bastards." Spence hissed as she clicked the screen a couple times.
"That's weird." Garrett mumbled on the video, "what? What's inside it?" Jenna asked timidly, "hey! Sh! Someone's here!" Garrett whispered before rushing over to Ali's bedroom door and closing it carefully.
"Alison?" Jenna asked quietly, "You're going down." Garrett jabbed a finger at Ian, "No no no, we are all going down." Ian crouched and pointed directly at the camera before picking it up.
"What?" Garrett asked, confused, "You taped us doing this?"
"What the- what is wrong with you?" Garrett snapped at Ian.
"Now we know why he hid the camera." Spencer mumbled quietly.
"Hey, once you're a member of the club, you're always a member of the club." Ian said firmly behind the camera, "Just making sure you're in as deep as I am."
Garrett lunged for Ian, "she's coming upstairs!" Jenna called, she almost sounded frightened, I've never heard her like that.
"That's Alison about to walk in and find them." Aria whispered. "This could be the last few seconds of her life." Spencer said.
The camera dropped and glitched, stopping the video there and leaving us wanting to find out more. "I'm not sure I want Caleb to get any more." Emily mumbled.
"Yeah but if he does...maybe we really can give this to the police." Spencer retorted, closing the top of her laptop down and sitting back on her chair.
"Maybe everything can finally be over." She sighed.
"Over over?" I asked, Spence shrugged.
༄
Em, Aria and I decided we'd sleep at Spencer's that night as Caleb phoned to tell us he'd managed to download another part to the video so he was coming over now to show us.
"Hey Quinn, can you grab some glasses out of that cupboard please?" Spence asked as she pointed towards a cupboard nearby my head. "Yeah sure." I said and turned to the cupboard behind me.
"So, where does Hanna think you are tonight?" Aria asked Caleb who begun setting up his laptop on Spencer's kitchen Island counter. "She thinks I'm home, FaceTiming my Mom." Caleb mumbled, I could see in his face it hurt him badly to lie to her.
"Here we go." Caleb mumbled, I sauntered round the island and perched beside Spencer who was huddled beside Caleb; Aria and Em crouched the other side of him.
"Wait haven't we seen this part?" I asked as the first part of the video begun to play, "It's gotta play through, I don't wanna risk skipping it and ruining anything." Caleb informed me.
"Can you turn the volume up?" Em asked softly, "yeah and could you make it a little brighter, it's kinda dark." Spencer added in.
"Okay that's it, I've officially stopped taking requests." Caleb said firmly, each of us shared a quick look before glancing back at the computer screen.
"Can you guys, like back up a little bit?" Caleb shrugged his shoulders up, Em backed away but Spencer stayed put. "We're not even that close to you." She objected.
He shot her a deadpanned look, "really? Then how do I know you had a cheeseburger for lunch?" Caleb raised a brow, Spencer sighed and backed up at his justified demand.
"Look here." Caleb mumbled, the camera panned to the box that had been dropped on the floor and the contents inside scattered around. "That's the box Jason gave me of Ali's." Aria said.
"I still can't see what's inside of it though." Spencer hummed.
"Just give me a second." Caleb whispered before typing away and clicking on certain things, I had no idea what he was doing. Aria's phone begun to ring.
"It's Hanna." She huffed before declining the call. Shortly after, Emily's phone began to ring, "Hanna..." she mumbled, switching her phone off and ignoring it.
Caleb's phone went off next, to which he declined as it was Hanna, then Spencer's, and then mine.
"Guess we know who's low man on the totem pole." Spencer grimaced at me, I thinned my eyes but scoffed a short laugh. "I can't take this anymore." I mumbled before moving away from the group and answering the call.
"Hey Han!" I chirped as I held the phone up to my ear. "Quinn! What are you up to?" Hanna asked eagerly on the other line.
"Um...I'm just chilling...in Ledger's living room, waiting for him to finish work." I lied through my teeth, folding my free arm over my chest and pacing slowly up and down the room.
"Oh, what time does he get home?" Han asked, "In about an hour or two I think." I lied again, grimacing slightly.
"Oh! Do you reckon I could pop round for a few? I'm just really bored..." Hanna asked softly, I so badly wanted to just come clean to the girl, it was on the tip of my tongue. But for her sake, I couldn't.
"I would totally say yes Han, but because it's not my place, I'm gonna have to say no...just in case he comes home and he's in a bad mood...y'know?" I mumbled guiltily.
"That's okay...um...can I see you over the weekend maybe?" She asked shortly after. "Han I'm so sorry, I'm gonna be here again this weekend as he's got Diem and we've planned a night out together." I sighed, that wasn't actually a lie so I felt a little good about that.
Suddenly a glass smashed behind me and Aria shouted Emily's name, "Will you guys shut up!" I covered the mic on the phone with my hand before bringing it back up to my ear.
"Sorry about that." I mumbled, "Yeah sure, have fun with Ledger." Hanna snapped before ending the call abruptly.
"Two minutes! Two-Fucking-minutes of silence is all I needed! And you guys couldn't even do that!" I groaned as I placed my phone back into my back-pocket and sauntered back over to the group.
"I'm sorry she was just-" Emily, Spence and Aria retorted loudly, "Hey! Ladies." Caleb shouted shutting each of them up instantly.
We each re-huddled around Caleb as he tried to un-blur the screen. "Is that a drivers license?" Spence pointed to something in amongst the stuff scattered on the floor.
Caleb made the screen zoom in and begun typing again, it slowly un-blurred. "Is that Melissa?" Aria asked quietly. The license photograph was still pretty blurred but we could definitely see it was a brunette.
"I don't know, it could be Jenna, it's hard to tell." I mumbled, squinting at the screen.
"Hold on." Caleb whispered under his breath and typed fast again.
The picture zoomed in more and was completely un-blurred now, "It's Ali." Spencer said, I furrowed my brows. "What?" I asked, confused as to why Ali was brunette in the ID.
"But, Ali already had a fake ID.." Emily leant upright and folded her arms over her chest.
"Yeah it definitely wasn't this one." Aria added, "why would she need an ID that didn't even look like her?" Spencer questioned, I glanced at her before looking back at the picture on the screen.
༄
It was a Friday morning when I was just finishing up with my last tutee of the day, I loved Fridays, I was finished by 1:30pm, it was great.
A knock at my office door startled me before the principle came in, "Miss Montgomery, I know you have just finished, but we've got a new student starting today and I was wondering if you'd be able to give her a tour and show her to her classrooms?"
"Oh yeah, for sure." I smiled softly and arose from my seat, the principle stepped to the side and opened the door further to reveal the last person I wanted to give a tour to.
"Hi! Nice to meet you, I'm Kate." The blonde beamed at me, but all I could see was the devil in disguise that hurt my girl Hanna.
I put on my fakest smile and moved round my desk, holding out my hand to her, "We met at the wedding, it's lovely to see you again." I tried so hard not to drop my fake-act and give her a piece of my mind. Kate shook my hand firmly and nodded.
"Alright, well ladies I'll let you get on, any troubles don't hesitate to come to me." The principle directed to Kate before slinking out the doorway. I gestured my arm up for her to leave first to which she obliged.
I went down a few hallways, pointing at specific classrooms and showing her where the toilets were, fire exits, headteachers office, nurses room and the gym. Kate listened intently the entire time and never queried anything.
"So, I think it's lunchtime now, do you reckon you could show me to the Cafeteria?" Kate asked sweetly, internal gag.
"Yeah of course." I headed down the halls with Kate wandering cluelessly by my side.
I made a beeline for the girls table, Hanna snapped her head over and her eyes widened slightly before she plastered on a smile as fake as my own.
"I know you know Hanna well, so I figured introductions to the others would be good." I shrugged. Sending the girls 'save me' eyes, Aria giggled and turned her head away.
"Hi, it's nice to meet you all, I'm Kate." Kate waved at each of them, they all grinned falsely and introduced themselves.
"So, I got my schedule, and next period I have history with Mr Barocas." Kate glanced down at the paperwork in her arms.
"Oh yeah, he's easy, everybody likes him." Aria chirped up.
I watched as Spencer tilted her head slightly and thinned her eyes at the blonde, Kate smiled at her but Spencer refrained to smile back.
"I'm actually in that class too so I can show you where it is." Hanna shrugged lightly.
"Yeah, Kate, have we actually met before?" Spencer asked, Kate shifted beside me before shaking her head.
"Oh! At the wedding, we met at the wedding." She nodded. Spencer hummed before looking down at her plate of food.
"It's nice to have met you all, bye." She clutched her bag on her shoulder before moving back to let Hanna out from the table.
Spencer's eyes never left Kate as she wandered out of the cafeteria with Hanna. "What's up with you?" I asked her, "Nothing, I just feel like I know her and I can't pin it." Spencer shrugged.
༄
It was a Monday morning when I received a message from Hanna; and let me tell you my jaw dropped when I opened the picture attachment.
I made a beeline down the corridors straight towards Hanna's locker, weaving in and out of students and clutching my phone tight in my hand. I could see Spence, Aria and Emily stood around her obviously received the same text.
"Han!" I called, their heads snapped over to me as I joined the group.
"What the hell were you thinking?" Em asked her sharply, "about what?" Hanna replied, dumbfounded.
"If that's taking the high road, what's the low road?" Em added, glancing at her phone again before switching it off, Hanna shut her locker door and folded her arms.
"Did you have a stroke? You promised you wouldn't say anything!" Spencer huffed.
"Hanna, why would you do this you're gonna be in so much trouble!" Aria stepped by my side.
"Can one of you guys please tell me what I did?" Hanna threw her arms up, I held my phone out to her to which she grabbed and turned away.
"I didn't do this..." she whispered, staring at each of us in shock.
"No, where would I have even taken this picture?" She asked frantically.
"It looks like it was taken in the girls' locker room." Em shrugged lightly.
"No, I did not send this to you guys." Hanna defended. The tone in her voice and the look on her face made me believe her instantly.
"Hanna, look, you didn't just send it to us, you sent it to everybody in your address book..." Aria mumbled, I glanced over my shoulder and practically everyone roaming the school hallway stared at Han.
Hanna moved away from us and everyone's eyes followed her, she turned back and groaned, covering her face with her hands. "If you didn't send this..." Aria hissed, "Do we even have to ask?" Spencer added.
It wasn't long before Hanna was called down to the principles office, I briefly hugged her and told her it would all be okay soon, attempting to reassure her but things didn't look like they were going up from here.
"Can you guys come over later? I'm picking up whatever Ali had at the dry cleaners." Spencer mumbled. Her and Hanna had found a ticket from a dry cleaners inside a book Hanna stole from Ali.
"You mean Vivian's?" Aria shrugged. "Yeah, I can't think of her as Vivian right now..." Spencer huffed before bidding us goodbye and heading off to her first period.
༄
My eyes fixated on the Ruby-red coat that laid before us on Spencer's sofa. "That's what you got from Ali's claim ticket?" Emily asked.
"That's what they gave me." Spencer mumbled, folding her arms over her chest.
"So basically you picked up her dry cleaning." Em scoffed, "I just can't picture Ali wearing something like this." Aria furrowed her brows.
"Don't picture Ali, picture Vivian." I tilted my head as my eyes ran over the jacket.
Aria shuffled forward with her hands placed behind her back. "Can- can I touch it?" She asked timidly.
"Yeah it's a raincoat Aria, it's not a mummy." Spencer retorted sarcastically, Aria shot her a look before reaching down and lifting the jacket up, checking inside the pockets and flapping it around.
"Where's Hanna?" Spence asked. "She and her Mom had to meet with Tamborelli after school..." I shrugged.
"Yeah, Kate's Mom printed off that naked picture of Kate and is threatening to sue." Aria said as she ruffled her hands inside the pockets of the coat.
"Guys, check it out..." Aria mumbled as she pulled out a folded piece of paper from one of the pockets, she handed it to me and I opened it up to read whatever was on there.
"It's a phone number?" I questioned, "Whose?" Spence asked me, I shot her a deadpanned expression. "Only one way to find out, call it." Spence suggested.
Spencer and Emily began to bicker over calling the number or not, before Emily sighed in defeat, snatching the number off me and pulling out her phone.
"Yeah I don't know about her fortunes but that lady in the tube top makes really good apple butter..." Aria folded her arms and glanced at me, I hummed in agreement.
"Hello? Okay, what if we know this person?" Emily waved at us to grab our attention.
"It went to voicemail..." Em mumbled, just as the line beeped to signify her to leave a message, Em stumbled on her words. Aria snatched the phone off of her and brought it to her ear.
"Hi! Um...this is a friend of Vivian's, can you just give me a call back on this number today? It's really important, thanks." Aria said into the phone before pulling it from her ear and pressing end call.
"Now we wait..." I groaned and slumped down onto the sofa.
"Hey are you guys going to that 'Truth-up' thingy tomorrow night?" I asked, "Yep, god being at school for 7 hours a day is enough now they want us to sleepover?" Aria scrunched her face up disapprovingly.
"My Mom is probably gonna volunteer to help out..." Spencer sighed.
༄
"Yeah I know, Saturday was lovely with you and Diem though..." I sighed into the phone as I sauntered down the corridor, a folder clutched in my right arm.
"It was, we will definitely have to have another evening like that, Diem had a blast and so did I." Ledger's voice muffled out through the speaker, I stopped just outside the classroom I'd been assigned in and faltered slightly as I saw Jason strolling towards me.
"I'm gonna have to go, I won't be able to call you later but I'll speak to you tomorrow, I love you." I called into the phone, listening to him bid me goodbye before ending the call.
Jason glanced at the folder in my arm before looking at the classroom door beside me. "You in here too?" He asked. I nodded, "I didn't realise you would work this?" I asked him as he held open the door and let me in first.
"Yeah, I didn't either." He breathed out a light laugh. My eyes scanned across the few students in the room, a little weight off my chest lifted as I saw Aria and Caleb sitting together across the room, at least I wasn't in this alone.
Aria nodded her head to the side and my eyes glanced over to Jenna whom sat nearby the piano. You're kidding. I thought to myself.
"Hello Quinn, how are you dear?" Mrs Hastings placed a light hand on my forearm and smiled sweetly at me. "I'm good thanks, how are you?"
"I'm okay, glad you're working this with me, it's nice to be with somebody whom is tolerable." I watched as her eyes flickered to Jason quickly almost unnoticeable but I noticed it. Jason had his back to us so I'm glad he didn't hear what she'd said.
Mrs Hastings soon started up the lesson and went round handing each of the students a questionnaire sheet. I sat on a desk just behind where Caleb and Aria sat.
Nudging my foot against Aria's chair she glanced over her shoulder to face me. "What would the consequence be if we just ditched now?" I whispered with a smirk playing on my lips, she huffed a laugh before turning back around.
"Feel free to write down anything you want in your answers, it's anonymous." Mrs Hastings said as she handed out a few pens.
"Jenna if you need any help, I can-" Mrs Hastings said softly, "No thank you, I'll pass." Jenna interrupted her shortly. I tried to bite back a scoff.
"Well I'm sorry but that's not really an option, if you'd prefer Jason, he'll be back in a few minutes, or Quinn would be happy to help you?" Mrs Hastings suggested, Caleb and Arias heads snapped over to me and I swear my eyes almost bulged out of my head. No no no, please no.
"-Or if there's someone you trust?" Mrs Hastings added. "I don't trust anyone around here." Jenna replied smugly.
"Okay, well keep in mind this day is about opening up to new possibilities, and you'll be expected to-"
"-To what? To forgive all of the classmates who mistreated me?" Jenna snapped, laughing sinisterly afterwards. "I'm not big on group hugs Mrs Hastings, I don't need something like this to find out what people are hiding, this schools filled with Phonies and liars." She snarled.
Caleb shifted in his seat before sitting forward and resting his forearms on his knees. "In what way have you been mistreated?" Mrs Hastings asked.
"How much time have you got?" Jenna asked, smirking slightly, "Oh! Should I start with the day I was cornered in the girls' bathroom, and smacked?"
I grimaced slightly, Caleb leant back slightly and I leant down, "Is she talking about Hanna?" He whispered, "Yes." I replied quietly.
"Did you report this?" Mrs Hastings asked.
"Well she couldn't..." Caleb sat forward once more, Aria tried to stop him but there was no stopping him now. "No because if she had, then she'd have to admit that she threw the first punch." He titled his head slightly, sizing up the girl.
Jenna glanced back forward and sucked in a short breath. "Isn't that right Jenna?" Caleb asked rhetorically.
"So just to clarify we are telling the whole truth today, right? And not just the part we wanna remember?" He asked Mrs Hastings whom looked down at the ground before nodding slowly.
"By the way, this is Caleb speaking, in case you were confused." He smirked, I almost choked out a laugh at how silent Jenna had gone, we'd one upped her now.
༄
I rushed down the corridor towards the principles office, Hanna and her Mother stood outside, with Em and Aria alongside them. Engulfing Hanna in my arms the blonde laughed as I squeezed her tight against me.
"I'm so happy it's all over now." I sighed, keeping my hands on her upper arms as I pulled away from her.
"Yep," Hanna bounced her eyebrows up and down, "Kate might think she was sneaky pulling a trick like that, but I spent all of ninth grade using photoshop to trim my thighs, you can't out-do the doer."
I giggled and shook my head slightly, Mrs Marin scoffed at her daughters remark but a grin tugged at her lips. We were all just so happy Kate had finally been dealt with now her true colours had come out once again.
"Hey, where's Spencer?" I asked, glancing over my shoulder slightly, Mrs Marin bid us goodbye before heading back to her group.
"I'm not actually sure, I haven't seen her for a little while." Aria mumbled, Em pulled her phone out and checked it to see if she'd heard anything from Spencer. "Nope, I've not heard anything." She shrugged.
Suddenly Mrs Hastings made her way swiftly round the corner towards us, she avoided eye contact with each of us; I quickly stepped forward. "Mrs Hastings!" I called, to which she halted in her place and turned to face us.
"Oh, hi girls, sorry I'm in such a rush I didn't even see you!" She beamed, "Have you seen Spencer?" I asked, she glanced at the four of us before looking back to me.
"Last I saw she was talking to Jason..." Mrs Hastings shifted uncomfortably, my brows knitted tight together, "Why would she be with Jason?" I asked quietly, turning my head over my shoulder to mainly direct the question to them.
"That's probably a conversation to have with Spencer, bye girls." Mrs Hastings called before spinning on her heel and heading back down the corridor.
"Okay, was she being weird or was that just me?" I asked, folding my arms over my chest and turning to face the girls.
"No she was definitely hiding something, she seemed almost, uncomfortable..." Emilys eyes followed the ghost trail of Mrs Hastings figure leaving the hallway.
-----
A/N:
I'm SO sorry this is so long...
I'm trying to squeeze multiple episodes into one chapter so that the seasons aren't too long on this book...
Anyways, hope you're enjoying ;)
-S <3