Season 2, episode 4
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"This place is skeevy" Aria said as she looked around in disgust. The girls were standing outside of a random pawn shop as they waited for Spencer to get her sister's wedding ring back.
"She pawned her sister's wedding ring" Hanna scoffed, "she's not going to Tiffany's"
"So, Wren and Melissa?" Emily said.
"Weird right" Sophie snorted.
"Could you tell what he gave her?" Emily asked.
"No" Aria shook her head, "but she didn't look happy about it"
"I wonder if Ian will be?" Hanna said.
"How are you holding up?" Sophie asked Emily.
"Great" she answered sarcastically, "ever since I got that fake scholarship letter my mom thinks that I can do no wrong. I'm living a lie I didn't even tell"
"Leave it to A to make you feel bad about your mom feeling good" Hanna sighed. They were soon joined by Spencer – without Melissa's wedding ring. Apparently it had just suddenly disappeared.
"I can't believe it's gone" Spencer exclaimed.
"At least you got your money back" Hanna shrugged.
"Am I supposed to give her this?" Spencer said, holding up a rusty horseshoe she had been given instead of the ring. "I stole it. I actually stole my sister's wedding ring"
The sound of all of their phones pinging distracted them from the conversation at hand.
UNKNOWN ID
'Just my luck, diamonds are a girl's best friend –A'
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The girls quickly made their way out of the classroom when the bell rang.
"I'm going tonight" Spencer told them, "right after school"
"Are you sure that it's safe?" Emily asked worriedly.
"No" Spencer said.
"Do you want us to come with you?" Sophie offered.
"No, it's -"
"Sophie" Ella called out, opening the door to her classroom, gesturing Sophie to walk in.
"Mrs. Montgomary" Sophie said awkwardly, "hey"
"Can I talk to you for a minute?"
"We were just saying goodbye to each other honestly, we didn't do anything-"
"Yeah, that's not what I want to talk to you about" Ella cut her off, "I bumped into your mom this morning as she said you were picking Blake up from the park this afternoon. Mike has left his keys at home and I have a faculty meeting and Aria is busy, so I was wondering if you could drop his keys off for him"
"Yeah, no problem" Sophie nodded, taking the keys from the woman.
"And while it's not really my concern, the 'no seeing your friends' thing should probably extend to the school corridors"
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Sophie pulled up to the basketball courts after school, searching for her brother and Mike. She looked around the courts trying to spot the two boys, however, her attempts weren't that successful as she couldn't locate either of the two boys.
She pulled out her phone, quickly selecting Blake's number and holding the phone to her ear as it dialled. However, as expected she was met with voicemail, "Hey Blake it's me, where are you? I'm at the basketball courts and I can't see you. Hurry up and get your ass in the car, I have better things to be doing than standing waiting for you all night"
She hung up the phone when she saw someone who happened to look like Mike, "Mike?" she called out, approaching the boy, "hey Mike!"
The boy turned around and it was in fact, not Mike, "You're not Mike, sorry" she said awkwardly.
She turned around only to be met with something a lot more interesting.
"Soph?" Jason called out, running over to her.
"Hey Jase" she smiled, trying her hardest to not let her eyes trail down his toned abs, "you've not seen Mike or Blake have you?"
"Blake was here a few minutes ago, I've not seen Mike. Sorry" he smiled, "he give you the slip?"
"Something like that" she chuckled.
"I wouldn't worry" he said, "I was always lying about where I was when I was his age"
"That's not hard to believe" Sophie muttered, "is that meant to make me feel better?"
"I don't remember a lot about that time actually" he continued, seemingly not hearing her comment, "most of what I do remember, I wish I could forget, you know?"
"Thanks?" Sophie scoffed, a little offended.
"I didn't mean it like that" Jason sighed, "I remember the times we spent together"
"And you want to forget that?" she challenged, quoting his previous words.
"Sophie?" the sound of Blake's voice grabbed both of their attention. Sophie turned around to see her younger brother jogging towards them, bag in hand.
"About time" Sophie snapped, "where's Mike?"
"How am I supposed to know?" Blake replied, "he's not been here for months"
"His mom said he plays here everyday?" Sophie said in confusion, "never mind, we'll have to stop by Aria's to drop these keys off"
Sophie turned back to Jason as the three fell into an awkward silence, "We should get going, I'll talk to you later Jase?"
"Yeah, I should" he replied, pointing to the ongoing game behind them, "I'll see you later"
As Jason turned to rejoin the game, Sophie couldn't help but smirk to herself as she saw the faint scratches on his back from a few nights prior.
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Sophie had wasted no time in rushing to Spencer's after receiving an 'S.O.S' text from the girl. All five of them were sitting in Spencer's car, following Melissa as it turns out, Wren had informed the Hasting's girl that Melissa was going to meet Ian.
"Have we got a plan?" Hanna asked.
"Working on it" Spencer replied, not taking her eyes off the road.
"Should we call Garrett?" Emily said, "tell him about Ian?"
"No" Sophie said firmly, "the last thing we should do is get more people involved in a mystery we can't explain"
"Cause that's what happens when we're the girls who cried wolf" Hanna said, "Don't you get it? We're screwed!"
"They're stopping" Aria pointed out as the car in front of them stopped. Spencer pulled over, ensuring that they were hidden behind some bushes.
"There's not going back now, right?" Spencer asked them.
"I've got 9-1-1 on speed dial" Aria told them as they made their way towards an old wooden fence, still staying hidden by the bushes.
"I've only got one bar" Hanna said, holding her phone in the air, "Crap! No bars"
"We should take a photo of Ian" Emily suggested, "prove we haven't been making this all up"
"Well, you go ahead whilst I try and not get killed" Sophie snapped, earning glares from her friends, "Sorry"
"I'm worried about Melissa" Spencer admitted, "he's the bad guy, right?"
No one answered the girl, instead they stayed silent as they neared the gate, watching as Melissa and Wren disappeared into the barn. The girls climbed over the fence and neared the old barn when a gut wrenching scream came from the barn.
Spencer instantly recognised the scream, "Melissa!"
Spencer didn't hesitate to run towards the barn, the rest of the girls following suit. They followed the sounds of heart-breaking sobs only to find Wren tightly hugging Melissa.
Sophie froze in horror as she took in the sight around her. The bloody walls. A gun. A letter. Ian.
Ian Thomas was dead.
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Word count: 1219
Slightly shorter chapter but two updates :)