✧
BROOKE WAS SERIOUSLY REGRETTING accepting Hanna's invite to this double date with Sean and Noel. She wasn't a massive fan of the fact he hadn't asked her himself and rather sent one of her best friends to do it for him. But also she couldn't help but wish that it wasn't him at all.
It wasn't his fault, but he had already done three things that Brooke didn't like. Well, she didn't not like them, but they were things that he knew she wouldn't like. First he insisted that she ordered the pizzas despite the brunette hating ordering. Then he wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her into his chest, which she only didn't like because it felt like he was forcing her to act coupled when she wasn't even sure she wanted anything with Noel. Then he started to drag up the past, the past that only reminded Brooke of bad things like, the person she used to be, her ruined relationship, situations that were buried deep for a reason and her dead best friend.
She had made an effort to put some effort into the date. But she could not get him off her mind. It was getting frustrating, to the point that for the two hours that they were into the date she had spent at least one and a half of them in silence, brooding in a quick sand of her own thoughts, slowly sinking into a mood that was not fit for the date she was on. "This concert should be great," Noel said happily from his seat beside her as they sat around Hanna's kitchen table with the half empty box of pizza sat between them.
Something else to ruin the evening was Sean. Brooke knew that he was Hanna's boyfriend and that it didn't really matter if she liked him or not, but he drove her crazy in the worst way possible. "The most important thing about a band is the name." Said boy insisted. "I should know, cus I had one." He spoke cockily, making Brooke roll her eyes. Any chance to brag he took. At least Noel was some what humble about his wealth. Humble wasn't the perfect word to describe it, but in comparison to Sean it certainly seemed like it.
Hanna scoffed, beginning to stack her and Sean's help while the blonde offered her no help. "You had five guys in Greg Samson's garage." She corrected a smile on her face none the less.
Noel chuckled too, stretching and then using it as an excuse to rest his hand on the back of Brooke's chair again, tapping his fingers on her back. "What was the name?" He asked absentmindedly.
"We had the best name ever," Sean assured. "Tick Beaudine." He revealed making them laugh, even Brooke laughed lightly at the horrific so called name for a band. "It was some guy I saw in a western when I was a kid." He defended.
Noel shook his head with a chuckle, turning the hand that was behind Brooke to look at his watch to see that it was almost time leave for the concert. "Guys we should get going," He said, hopping up
out of his chair.
"Thanks for the pizza, Noel," Brooke smiled politely, looking up at him as she stood up herself, stacking her and Noel's plates and taking them over to the counter beside the sink.
Noel grinned and sent her a playful wink, one that Brooke could only reply to with half a smile. He turned back to the table after and spotted Hanna closing the lid on the box to carry it over to the fridge. "Don't put it away. It'll be perfect room temperature when we get back." He assured, shortly interrupted by the doorbell ringing. "That's the guy back with the crazy bread." He said suddenly in a wave of excitement.
"No! No, it's too late for that," Hannah complained, despite the delivery driver already being there with the food in hand. Brooke refrained from pointing that out.
Noel shrugged and walked around the corner to answer the door. "I paid for crazy bread, I want my crazy bread," He called over his shoulder, hands held up in defence until they couldn't see him anymore.
Once Hanna had seen and checked that Noel was well out of earshot and that Sean was too distracted by his phone to pay attention—of course—she wandered over to Brooke, taking over from Brooke's washing and handing her the tea towel instead. "Can you at least pretend to be having a good time, for me, please?" She begged the brunette who had held a frown on her lips for most of their evening so far.
"I'm having a great time." She shrugged in a failed attempt at convincing her friend. She couldn't help that her focus was on everything but this date. From Wilden and how uncomfortable he made her, to her mothers return home and thus her dads leaving it. But most of all, Mike Montgomery. He was a lingering thought that wouldn't fade.
Hanna shook her head, "Brooke, you've been staring at the crust of your pizza more than Noel." She insisted, passing her a plate to dry.
"Sorry, I've just been distracted." She huffed.
"Look who's here. It wasn't the crazy bread." The sudden arrival of Noel explained awkwardly as he lead Lucas inside behind him.
Brooke snorted at the unpleased look on Sean's face, glad that he was unhappy. "Hey, Lucas." His girlfriend said with a grin while the two boys shared a look that was obviously questioning why the boy was there.
BROOKE LOOKED TO HER SIDE WHEN another person appeared beside her from where she was sat on the edge of the kitchen island, waiting for Hanna to return from saying goodbye to Sean. The pair had been chatting when he suddenly decided to up and leave. That person was of course Noel, looking down beside her with a smirk.
"You okay?" He questioned, resting his hands on either side of where she was sat, her knees pressed against his chest. Her brown hair was down with two plaits at the front and she had spent the last half hour fiddling with them while she chatted absentmindedly, trying to make the effort that Hanna had wanted.
She pushed a smile onto her face, hoping that it didn't look as forced as it really was. "Yeah, of course." She nodded, squeezing the hand that he had rested on her leg after her smile, moving it off back to the counter and holding it there, a feeble attempt at playing it off.
"Can we talk for a minute?" He asked, stopping her before she could jump off the counter, his hands remaining on either side of her. He wondered if the closeness would prompt to her that he wanted to kiss her, but she either didn't realise or didn't want to.
She leant back a bit further onto the kitchen counter, trying to not give him the impression that she wanted to kiss him because she didn't know what she wanted. Well, she knew who was in her head and she knew that it wasn't Noel, it had been months since Mike had returned home and he was yet to stop troubling her thoughts. "Yeah." She chuckled awkwardly.
"I just want to be clear on something, okay? Remind me, did I run over your dog or do something wrong at homecoming?" He asked with half a laugh. "I just don't remember doing anything to get you this mad at me." He explained, the smirk ever lasting on his lips.
Brooke looked down and laughed too, "I'm not mad at you," She promised, squeezing the hand that was still held at her side. She laughed again when he breathed a dramatic sigh of relief and she heard him mutter, 'Could have fooled me.' She wasn't mad at him, but she wasn't enthralled with him either and it some what made her realise just how much had changed. Because if Alison was still there, then Brooke would have probably escalated what was happening between the pair right then, just so she could go back to her friend and laugh and giggle about how it went. Because the last year was the first time she had properly been single for four years. So this would have been her opportunity. But similarly, two years ago, Brooke would have probably been using this date as an opportunity to rub Noel in Hanna's face, just like she had done at that stupid Halloween party of his.
But here she was right now, enjoying only having one person on her mind. Enjoying that she wasn't over complicating the situation, that while it was still a complicated situation of course, she wasn't trying to add more people into the equation like there had been the last time her and Mike were together. She enjoyed that he could be the only thing encapsulating her mind and that Noel wasn't effecting that. It gave her clarity. Because even if he was ignoring her, even if he was completely and undoubtedly pissed that she had ran from him a few nights previous, she knew that until he was off her mind she didn't want anyone else. "I'm just...theres a lot going on at the minute." She sighed, shaking her head, but also hiding the smile that tugged on her lips at the realisation she had just come to. "This probably was a bad idea."
"Bad idea going out, or a bad idea going out with me?" He asked nervously waiting for her response, whether it would be one of total rejection or one that at least wasn't a complete kick in the teeth.
Luckily she went for the second option, the first one would have proved for an extremely uncomfortable end to the evening and an even more awkward end to a thirteen year long friendship that had started with the pair in kindergarten, snatching at each others toys. "No. It's me. You're great. I mean you're you." She shrugged.
"Terrific. I'm a brand name." He joked and Brooke chuckled a little, but even that wasn't what she meant. She didn't like Noel because he was what everyone else wanted. She didn't like him for his money or his popular status.
She shook her head, "No, it's just, i—we've been friends since Kindergarten, Noel. I just guess I don't see you as my boyfriend, as much as...one of my best friends?" She tried to explain. The boy couldn't even be mad at her, because he understood. Because even he knew that Alison Dilaurentis had been the reason for his first real liking for Brooke, but it was the girl herself that kept the feelings brewing. Which was why he wouldn't be giving up.
"Yeah, yeah, i get it." He nodded, squeezing her hand with a smile. "I heard about your folks splitting up." He admitted, looking sympathetically at the Brunette, the look making her cringe.
"They haven't split up...yet." She sighed, awkwardly. That had been the last thing she wanted to talk about. She just wanted an evening where she wasn't riddled with guilt over the declaration she had made across the dinner table, the one that she was more than certain caused her dad to leave.
"Well, i'm here, always. You know that." He smiled, standing up, both of his hands falling to his sides, but a hinting look still settled in his eyes. "A minute ago, Back when I got you to smile, I thought I might try for a kiss. But then you said all that stuff about friends, which I get. But i'm still not going to give up." He winked. Brooke nodded, despite her knowing that there probably wouldn't be a chance for them.
Brooke and Noel had never really been a them, he had been a cover for what she really wanted, she had been something unattainable by Alison which only made him want her more, they had been a so called 'power couple' but never an actual couple and Brooke could like happily knowing that she wasn't one of the many girls to fall for Noel Kahn's charm and even better, she hadn't been one of the many that ended up with him at his cabin, alone.
None the less, she was glad that she had somewhat ended whatever they thought they had. Because now she could focus on either getting exactly what she wanted, or figuring out exactly how to get him out of her head instead. All up until her phone chimed with a text from Spencer, because good things could only last so long in a world where you had once been Alison Dilaurentis' best friend.
S.O.S
✧
BROOKE WAS COMPLETELY ASTOUNDED by the girl that was and used to be Alison Dilaurentis. She knew that she was a bitch, but she always had some kind of insistence that she was just trying to protect herself and her friends, like a cockroach. But this just proved how completely out for herself she really was.
"Wait so she tried to pin it on you?" Hanna asked outraged. The pair had ditched Noel and Sean as soon as the message came in, claiming that Spencer needed them, which she did, the fact that she needed them to save her from a bad date, not so much but it worked none the less. When they had arrived the Hastings told them that Alison had told Jason of all
people, the details of the Jenna thing and not just that, but that it was in fact Spencer's plan, carry out and coverup.
"Why you?" Emily asked, but they all knew why. They all knew that it was Alison's insecurities that lead to the lie she spat out to her brother. The fact that Jason had managed to keep his mouth closed was what had baffled Brooke. The only time the boy was good at keeping secrets was when they could vindicate him, Brooke had learnt that first hand when he had spilled to her the secrets of his best friends without a second thought.
"Because Spencer could stand up to her, and Alison didn't like that," Aria said what they were all thinking, that she had done it out of spite. That she had done it to clear the competition. Because Spencer was a threat, she didn't listen to Alison, she didn't tolerate her comments or her rude remarks, she didn't fit the mould that Alison had formed for her perfect friend group. Despite Brooke doing the same, she knew exactly why Alison hadn't claimed that it was her. She had only just realised it. But she knew now why. She just wished that Emily didn't speak her next sentence. Because that opened a whole can of worms that slowly but surely would unravel and spill every lie that Brooke had ever told.
"But Brooke stood up to her more than anyone," Emily argued and Brooke internally screamed at her comment, suddenly feeling so sick that a pit of nerves sat in the bottom of her stomach. Because she would have to spill now.
"Yeh, but Brooke and Ali grew up together they were best friends for far longer than her and Spencer. He would never believe her if she said it was Brooke." Aria suggested and the Bentley girl wished that she could just agree and brush off the fact that, that was not the reason at all. But she couldn't. She couldn't lose the girls again and if this came up again and Brooke told them then, it would be a whole other, bigger and dirtier secret that would possibly lead to that loss.
So she swallowed her pride, swallowed her disgust of what she had done and spat out the truth. Something they all needed to do more often. "That's not why." She said quickly, in the burst of confidence she had, it came out in a second.
The four girls shared an equally confused frown before they turned back to their friend who now sat, staring at her fingers as she waited for the next burst of courage to get her though the rest of her admission. She took a deep breath and hit her lip, "Me and Jason used to hook up." She spat out, bile following and then anxiety. She couldn't bare to look at their faces, but when's he forced herself to, all she saw was four identical faces of bewilderment. It wasn't surprise, it was like they had realised aliens existed, but not just that, that they were them too.
"What the hell!"
"When?!"
"Brooke, he's like five years older than us!"
"Oh, my god."
"I know, okay? It was so stupid, but it just happened and then it happened again, and then again a few more times and then i realised how bad it was and called it off." She exclaimed, throwing her hands up in frustration, she wished the situation never happened, it only happened in the first place because her and Mike argued and ended things for the first time so she went to a party with Ali to get over it. The whole night was a complete mess and it ended with her and Jason in a bathroom, which lead to an even bigger mess.
"God, this is officially insane!" Hanna stressed dramatically, flopping down on the sofa while the rest of the girls looked equally as shocked by the occurrence.
"Hanna, our whole lives are insane." Brooke grumbled, leaning against the kitchen island, rubbing her head in her hands in the silence that had fallen in the kitchen. She couldn't believe what she had just admitted.
"This is insane, insane!" She sat up, staring straight at the Bentley. All eyes were on her in fact. "You and Ali's older brother! How could you keep that a secret?" She stressed, wondering how Brooke had not exploded trying to keep it secret.
"Because it's not legal, Hanna. He can still go to jail if anyone found out." She explained, waiting for whatever the other three girls would say. "Ali didn't blame it on me because she must have known and she must have known that he would tell me." She revealed, how Alison had found out, Brooke would never know, she thought they had done a good job at keeping it secret. But that last night was starting to add up. Everything that happened was beginning to come together and unravel from the ball of mysteries that were still unfolding.
Brooke knew that Hanna's immediate reaction would be to freak out and if she was honest, Hanna was the only one she knew wouldn't hold it against her. They had both made their fair share of mistakes, they all had. Which was why when the other three girls spoke moments later, malice was not one of their reactions. "We understand, Brooke. We know how hard secrets are to keep and this obviously wasn't just for the sake of keeping quiet, there were consequences." Aria said for the group of them, sending the girl a smile that said that she wasn't mad.
Spencer spoke next, "Yeah, I mean, it is pretty unbelievable, but we're not mad." She agreed, followed by Emily generally saying the same thing.
And while Spencer, Emily and Arias response were ones of support, Hanna's mind hadn't even crossed the bridge of being mad at Brooke. She was far more interested as she returned to her seat at the island of the Hastings kitchen. "So, how was he?" She grinned, looking excited.
Brooke groaned, pulling a face of disgust, but it was now the four girls looking at her with looks
of interest, the mention of Jenna momentarily forgotten by what was deemed as more important. "Not as good as everyone claimed." She teased making them all giggle. "Anyway," She coughed, "Can we return to Alison being a complete snake?" She asked, watching as their smiled faded upon realising the situation they were in once again.
"Do you think that's what she told Jenner when she was at the hospital? That it was you?" Emily asked, turning to Spencer who had returned to twiddling her thumbs, all of her anger and irritation towards Alison rushing back in.
Spencer rubbed her temples, stress evident on her features, the vein in her head ticking. "I don't know. I mean, I don't think so, but I don't know." She sighed, emotionally drained and exhausted. The one thing Spencer Hastings hated was not having the answer. And in this case, she had a jumble of questions and no answers. But every time they got a little closer, the ticking in her head slowed down a little and every time they were pushed back a step, it started again, faster and more infuriating.
"Ok, so...so one minute, she's trying to cover it up and the next she's ratting us out to her brother?" Aria asked with narrow eyes, as if she didn't like Jason enough already, although as horrible as it sounded, now they had something over him, something they could use as leverage if ever he did decide to spill what he knew. That made her slightly more comfortable.
Emily's arms littered with goosebumps, "Like she wanted Jason to know the fake story in case anything happened to her." She theorised, something they didn't want to think about, something they didn't want to even consider being possible.
"Why?" Hanna frowned.
"So they'd know who to blame," Spencer said with certainty.
Brooke shuddered at the thought, "Is nobody else creeped out by the idea that Alison knew something was going to happen to her?" She asked the others, all of them feeling slightly more sick now than they did moments ago, even more than when they found out about Brooke and Jason.
Aria buried her head in her hands with her elbows rested on the counter, running her fingers into her hair with a groan. "God! This is still Alison's movie, and we are just filling up the screen time." They would always be the girls who were friends with the dead girl, they could never be the girls who moved on.
Brooke was getting so sick of that title. She was getting so sick of jeprodisring her relationships for the girly whirly train that they were still stuck on. Her brother most of all, she always told him everything and now she was lying to protect a dead girl. "If she told her brother then can I tell mine? Cus i tell him everything and this is killing me to keep a secret." The Bentley girl sighed, resting her head on her hand and closing her eyes to push off the undeniable stress headache that she was going to have in a few moments time.
Of course she never could, but she hoped that one day it would get to a point where they didn't have to suffer in silence. But Emily reiterated the reality of their situation. The reality being that if they ever told about A they'd have far more than cyberbullying to worry about. "We all have. But telling him just increases the risk of someone else finding out. And it puts him in more danger too." Brooke knew that, she knew that jail was far more imminent of a threat if they risked telling anyone, let alone the police. Because they had secrets that could have them filling out a police file before they even had the chance to collect their bearings.
"God, I hate A."
This was the beginning of the truth, the whole truth, they just didn't realise how much they were uncovering. Everything they found out, every admission was a seed that was sown and eventually they hoped that the seeds would line a path and that path would lead to the answer, the truth, Alison.
✧
THE NEXT DAY, WAS THE DAY. MEMORIAL Day. The day that they hoped would mark the end of that title they hated so much. It was already off to a bad start, because obviously it had rained and that obviously meant that Jason had been right and that obviously had irritated Brooke beyond belief.
So much could go wrong, they had Jenna and the impromptu speech that she decided to give. Brooke was on edge because of the admission she had made to the girls, she knew that they would never say anything, but it put her on edge, because this was the first time that anyone but her and Jason knew. The first time that she was aware of it at least. Clearly Alison had known about them, otherwise why hadn't she blamed Brooke for the Jenna thing? She knew that Jason would have told her. She knew that his loyalties never lay with her, despite being his sister.
As much as they wanted this to mark the end of their unofficial title, they knew that it could never completely happen with Alison's killer still at large. Until the police had made an arrest, until that arrest was confirmed to be her killer, they would never really have peace—as Jason had said.
Spencer took the podium first and started the ceremony with her speech once everyone had been seated. She froze however when she saw Ian walk in, hinting to all the other girls to turn too and once again, Brooke felt sick. She pulled the sleeves of her dress over her hands when his eyes locked with her and they narrowed. But her gaze broke from him when Spencer started talking and she quickly turned back around, holding the paper in her hands so tightly that it crinkled at the edges.
"Erm...I can't remember not knowing Alison, not having her as a friend. She was the first person I had known long enough that I could be angry with, without worrying I was going to lose her. It made me feel like something was going to last, and you need that, especially when you're a kid. She would have liked that you were all here. She would have liked the attention. No...she would have loved the attention. It would've made her laugh. And Alison laughing...that was amazing." She said with tears gathering her vision.
Then Hanna, "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." She said looking down at the other four girls that sat in the front row, her real friends, waiting for their turn or stewing on what they had already said. "That's what makes them friends. And I couldn't fool Ali because she was my friend."
Next was Emily who seemed the most nervous so far when walking to the platform, which they understood. She had always spoke of Alison was admiration, even when the others didn't. Even when they were realising how badly she treated them, she still tried not to, she still tried to see the best in her friend. She cared for Alison the most and that was evident. "That corner of the park is going to be a safe place where you can go and sit, read a book and just think. You should think about Alison when you are there. She would want to make sure that you won't forget about her."
After was Aria. "You do something like this, a memorial, partly because you don't understand what's happened. So...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."
Finally was Brooke. She walked up onto the platform and tried to swallow away the sickly feeling in her throat, looking down at everyone. Ian being there had thrown her off completely, she was so clouded by unpleasant thoughts that she had completely forgotten how to speak and her hands weee shaking even more. But then her eyes fell on him. It was perfect timing really, as if she was meant to scan over the crowd and have her eyes land on him. He was frowning at her, but when she flickered her gaze to the back, he followed it and saw exactly who she was looking at. Then dread settled on his features too, but he tried to hide it for her sake. He sent her a supportive smile and nodded, letting her know it was okay. He wouldn't let anything happen.
She swallowed thickly and cleared her throat, "Alison was known in so many ways. She was a best friend, a sister, a daughter, the popular girl, or maybe just a pretty girl you walked past on the street. But no matter when or where you met her, she left an impression. And now that she's gone, that's all that we're left with. In some ways that can be a great thing, like having a part of her with you forever. Like when you look at a photograph and the memory of that day plays in your head and you get to reminisce over the experience all over again, or when you read a book and some of the lines stick with you. And well...i wish my whole friendship with Ali could be a photograph or a line in a book, because i never want to forget her."
It was a beautiful speech, that the girls were tear struck by too, but then none other than Jenna Marshall was helped to the stage by Alison's brother. Brooke had to refrain from commenting on how ironic it was. They were on the edge of their seats when she stood behind the platform, facing straight ahead.
Then she opened her mouth and the girls were ready to plan their escape routes that would almost definitely be needed soon. "We think we know who we are, but we don't. Not until something bad happens to us, and all of the useless things fall away, and we're left with who we are. I learned that from Alison Dilaurentis." Here we go, Brooke thought. "My whole life, I thought I knew who she was, but I found out the truth when she came and visited me at the hospital. I found out...that she was the strongest person that I had ever met and it's her strength that touches so many people, shapes 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."
Five simultaneous sighs of relief followed.
AFTER LEAVING THE HALL, BROOKE only sought comfort from one person. The only person that could calm the anxiety that was rising in her chest. And he was loitering in the corridor right near her. So close yet so far away, because she couldn't reach for him without anyone finding it weird, without Aria finding out what had been happening behind her back for the last two years.
But she desperately just needed him to calm her down, he knew exactly what to say to stop the bubble of anxiety in her stomach from bursting and leading to a panic attack. That boy that she needed was not Noel Kahn.
None the less, he was the one to approach her after the memorial, wrapping his arms around her and catching her off guard.
✧
UPON THE SIMULTANEOUS DESIRE FOR food once the girls returned back to Spencer's, presumably from the amount of energy their stressing had taken out of them, the girls mutually decided that pizza was a necessity for the next few hours which prompted Spencer to call Angelos to order three large pizzas.
They were on the smallest of highs over how well the ceremony had gone and how it hadn't been ruined despite the incredibly high possibility of it being so that they had decided a sleepover would be the perfect way to end the evening. However their high over the excitement of the incoming pizza was dimmed by the entrance of Jason Dilaurentis.
He had followed them in after the memorial, but had been distracted by a call from his parents which left the girls alone for a short while, something they were glad to have even if it was only a few moments. They had sort of forgotten he was there, until he returned. "That was my folks. They say thanks. So do I." He smiled a tight lipped smile.
"You're welcome." Emily smiled back awkwardly, her gaze flicking to Brooke who was thinking more about the pizza she was craving than the man stood before them. But she was also thinking about Ian and his sudden arrival which did not mean anything good for her and Mike. Mike. Mike who knew just how to calm her at that memorial. Mike who had once again re-entered her brain and once again would not leave it.
But upon Jason addressing them all directly, she looked up, trying not to think of her ex-boyfriend. "And I want you girls to have something." He said fishing something out of his inside jacket pocket. "The police returned it to my family." He explained, pulling out a silk red purse with a yellow lining. "I think you should have it." He said as he pulled out...Alison's beaded bracelet. The five girls were engulfed in simultaneous waves of goosebumps. They already had her bracelet. They already found it in the woods. They thought at least.
"You got that from the police?" Brooke asked, her voice and hands shaking. Jason knew her enough to see the shock on her face, but he refrained from commenting on it, brushing it off as shock from seeing the bracelet that her friend was wearing when she died.
"Alison was wearing it." Jason reaffirmed.
Hanna looked at the other girls who looked equally as disturbed. "You mean when they found her?" She asked, a shiver running down her spine.
"After listening today, I just...I thought you should have it." He shrugged, trying to hide his feelings as always, but they could tell that he was touched by what they had say, that he could tell that despite everything they loved his sister. Despite her comments and her unpleasantness, they loved their blonde best friend. "I'll be in touch." He assured, turning to walk out but quickly spun back around. "Oh, and Brooke?" Her stomach jumped a million miles and all of the girls eyes landed on her. "Mom said she loved your speech." He smiled and Brooke was shocked, but glad that Mrs Dilaurentis had liked it despite her not being there. "I sent her a video of the memorial." He explained to answer the confusion on her face before walking out of the house.
The girls had all loved Brooke's speech, English was of course her favourite subject after all which would explain why it was written with such fluency. But it was the sublimity of her words that made it so perfect. She had summed Alison up so perfectly.
And while she had been commemorated so perfectly, this had crashed straight into the picture of perfection they had created, shattering it to shards of questions instead. Aria was still holding the bracelet and staring at it with attentiveness when Jason walked down the hallway and out the door.
They waited for the click of the door before speaking, "If that's Alison's bracelet, what about the one we found in the woods?" Emily rushed out as soon as they heard it, obviously having been waiting for him to leave so she could speak.
"I don't know." Aria breathed out.
"Someone made a copy of Alison's bracelet," Hanna said equally as worried as she was scared.
"Yeah, and made sure that we would find it," Spencer added, because that meant that whoever this A person was, they were far more than a cyber bully, they were there to make sure that nobody ever found out the truth of Alison's death, which could very well mean that they were her killer. It had to be them, why else had they been lured out to the middle of the woods to be in the perfect spot to find it.
"This just became extensive levels of freaky." Brooke groaned.
✧
Part 2 of Episode 8