"More academic bling for Spencer"- Emily Fields
The girls talked at the park, but Isabel wasn't paying attention. She was trying to find a cheap motel to stay at.
"Isabel!" Hanna exclaimed.
"What? Oh, sorry," Isabel said, looking up. "What are we talking about?"
"'A'," Spencer sighed.
"You sure it's an 'it'?" Hanna asked.
"She or he, it makes no difference," Spencer said. She picked up her laptop and started typing.
"What are you doing?" Aria frowned.
"I am going to block all messages from people I don't know," Spencer explained. "Chat, SMS, emails, everything. Screw 'A'. Done, who's next?"
Emily took the laptop, and started typing. Suddenly, Mr. Fitz biked by.
"And here is a lovely rider whose name begins with F," Spencer smirked.
"Hello, Mr. Fitz!" Hanna called as Mr. Fitz waved.
"What form, Mr. Fitz!" Isabel joked. Aria forcefully took Spencer's laptop from Emily.
"Well, I'll do it," Aria huffed.
"There are teachers that you don't want to see on a bike, and there are teachers that you do wanna see on a bike," Spencer remarked.
"I do not want to see Mr. Gilardi on a bike," Hanna frowned.
"I don't want to think of Mr. Gilardi in motion of any kind," Emily added.
"Mr. Fitz," Isabel sighed, joking around.
"Isabel? Your turn," Aria said with gritted teeth. She shoved the laptop into Isabel's hands, and she stared typing.
"Have you talked to Ben?" Spencer asked Emily.
"Nothing to talk about," Emily shrugged.
"So you're really done?" Aria frowned.
"It's okay, I'm fine," Emily assured her.
"Your turn, Han," Isabel said, handing her the laptop. Hanna pressed a few keys, and looked up at the others.
"I wish we had a drumroll for this," Hanna grinned, clicking buttons. "Alright, here goes. We are officially 'A'- proofed."
"Okay, now listen," Spencer smiled. "All of those little messages just zipping through the air."
"Yep. And none of them from 'A'," Aria added.
"This feels like a good thing," Emily nodded.
"Of course it's a good thing," Isabel rolled her eyes.
"Out of mind, out of sight," Hanna agreed. A flier tumbled through the wind and toward the girls. Aria picked it up, revealing a missing persons poster of Alison, with an 'A' message on it.
'Ding Dong the Bitch is dead.- A.'
Aria crumpled it up, and they all left.
-
The next day, in school, the girls talked in the cafeteria.
"Why didn't your folks take you to New York with your sister?" Hanna frowned at Spencer. "I mean, you deserve some retail therapy."
"Not as much as Melissa," Spencer sighed. Emily walked up to them.
"Nice scarf, Em," Isabel smiled.
"It's a nice color for you," Spencer agreed.
"Is it new?" Hanna grinned, admiring it.
"No," Emily said hesitantly. Then, Hanna's phone started to ring.
"Well, go ahead. Answer it," Aria half-smiled. "At least we know who it can't be from."
"It's my dad," Hanna gaped in disbelief. She answered it. "Hey, dad."
"Has she even talked to her dad since he's walked out on them?" Isabel frowned as Hanna walked off, chatting with her father.
"Hanna and her father is one of those 'don't ask, don't tell' situations," Emily sighed.
"We shouldn't stare at her," Aria pointed out. As they walked away, her phone beeped. "My brother's post just showed up on my loop."
"You added him as a favorite?" Isabel laughed. She had a huge crush on Mike Montgomery, but she had no idea how to tell him. With his fluffy brown hair, and sky blue eyes, he was pretty cute. But she didn't really have a chance. He was, like, four years younger than her, anyway.
"Yeah," Aria shrugged. "Moment of weakness."
"I've got to get to class," Isabel smiled, and walked off. Suddenly, someone bumped into her, and all her books came crashing down. "Toby."
"Sorry," Toby gulped, helping pick all her books up.
"It's okay," Isabel said, giving him his bag, which he had dropped. "My fault."
"Thanks," Toby half-smiled.
"It's the least I can do," Isabel nodded before walking away.
-
Later, Hanna walked up to the others excitedly.
"He has to be in New England for a couple weeks, but he's making a detour just to see me," Hanna grinned.
"That's- that's great, Hanna," Isabel grimaced.
"What?" Hanna frowned.
"It's just that..." Spencer began, but Emily interrupted her.
"Do you think he's here because of Sean's car?" Emily asked. Hanna had wrecked her boyfriend, Sean Ackard's car, at Noel's party.
"Spencer!"
They all turned to see Mr. Sheldrake walking toward them. He was Isabel and Spencer's A.P. History teacher.
"Mr. Sheldrake," Spencer smiled.
"I was going to tell you in class, but here you are," he said. "Remarkable job on the Russian history essay."
"Oh, thanks," Spencer muttered. Isabel raised an eyebrow at her. Wouldn't she be pleased?
"Very lucid presentation," Mr. Sheldrake nodded.
"It's not really a new idea," Spencer mumbled.
"I've submitted it to the Golden Orchid," Mr. Sheldrake announced.
"Wait, you what?!" Spencer's eyes widened.
"There's an honorarium. But you know the real upside to winning an essay competition like that? It's how it looks on your applications!" Mr. Sheldrake continued. "We'll talk about the rest of the details later in class." He walked off.
"Look at you!" Aria grinned.
"More academic bling for Spencer," Emily joked.
-
The next day, Isabel woke up at seven in the morning. She was crashing at school until she could find a cheap enough motel to stay at. Her stash of money was limited, so she also had to get a job.
She threw on some clothes: a black layered top, her favorite jean jacket, and some tan jeans.
"Hey, girls," Isabel smiled, walking into her first period, English class. "How was the Jollyrogers?"
"It was nice," Hanna replied. "We walked around and talked. And I told him about what's going on."
The four of them stared at her.
"Some of what's going on," Hanna clarified. "You know, he wants to take me to a real dinner tonight. He says he has something to tell me. I think he wants to spend more time with me. Maybe summers in Maryland."
"Seriously?" Emily asked.
"Would you go?" Aria added.
"Well, I wouldn't move away," Hanna promised. "Not forever. I won't leave my mom, but I would like to see my dad more."
"I'm happy for you, Hanna," Aria grinned.
"We all are," Isabel agreed.
-
After a strange interaction in class with Aria and Mr. Fitz, Isabel walked to her locker with Emily, whose locker was right next to hers.
"What do you think is going on between Aria and Mr. Fitz?" Emily frowned.
"I dunno," Isabel shrugged. She had a sneaking suspicion that Mr. Fitz was more than just Aria's English teacher. But how?
"You did notice how weird that was, right?" Emily asked.
"Kinda. Look, maybe-" Isabel sighed, but she heard some jocks laughing. She turned around and saw Toby. Shaving cream and books fell out of his locker. Isabel slammed her locker door shut and walked over to Toby. "Get a life," she snapped at the jocks, who scampered off.
"You didn't have to do that," Toby muttered, picking up his chem book.
"It's called being a friend," Isabel smiled, pulling some tissues out of her purse and wiping down one of his notebooks. "You deserve one. Everybody does."
"Why do you want to be my friend?" Toby asked suspiciously.
"BecauseI understand what it's like to be low on everyone else's bar," Isabel said quietly. "When Alison found me...I was begging off the streets."
"I'm sorry," Toby whispered sympathetically.
"I'm fine now," Isabel nodded. "But I give everyone a second glance before throwing them away like they don't matter."
"Why were you friends with Alison, then?" Toby frowned.
"Because..." Isabel shrugged, throwing away some shaving cream. "She could be the nicest person in the world...and then, suddenly, she wouldn't."
"Well, see you around, friend," Toby smiled as the bell rang.
-
Later, Isabel was taking another nighttime stroll to clear her head. She had taken a liking to that. No one else was out, and she didn't have to worry about cars so much.
Suddenly, her phone beeped.
It can't be...
No. Spencer.
'S.O.S.' - Spencer.
When she got to Spencer's, the girls were gathered around her mirror. On it was a message in red stuff.
"Is that lipstick?" Isabel frowned.
"Jungle red," Hanna nodded.
"Alison's color," Emily agreed. Isabel read the message.
'It Won't Be That Easy, Bitches. -A.'