"You got a sharp stick for the other one?" -Caleb Rivers
"Is my chemistry book over there?" Emily asked. She, Isabel, and Emily were all in Emily's bedroom the next day.
"Uh, I don't see it," Spencer replied, staring out her window while Emily searched under her bed.
"It's probably in the room, Spence, not the front-yard," Isabel sighed, looking through Emily's bookshelf.
"What happened to the Cavanaughs' mailbox? Somebody hit it?" Spencer asked, ignoring her.
"It's not the first time, and I'm sure it wasn't an accident," Emily said darkly, getting up. "Every time I come home, Toby's out there cleaning up some new mess."
"And please don't say he deserves it," Isabel added. She walked over to the window, where she saw that Toby's mailbox was, in fact, demolished.
"I wasn't gonna say that," Spencer muttered, watching Toby walk out and try to fix it.
"Is that it?" Isabel asked Emily, pointing under a chair.
"Thanks," Emily smiled. She dove under it and grabbed her book.
"Do you still think that somebody framed him?" Spencer asked, ignoring both of them now.
"Toby? Do we really wanna have this fight right now?" Isabel sighed.
"I have to save up some of my energy for swim practice," Emily agreed.
"We're not on different sides anymore, guys," Spencer assured them. "I mean, I know what it feels like to have somebody say that you did something when you know that you didn't."
"Are you talking about the bracelets?" Emily frowned. Yesterday, when Spencer went to the bead shop, 'A' had bought the Jenna and Ali bracelets under Spencer's name.
"I'd never seen that bead lady before that day, and yet she had my name written down on two sales receipts," Spencer ranted. "I owe you an apology." Both Isabel and Emily gawked at her. "Seriously. You two believed that he was innocent from day one, And I jumped down your guys' throat. I said some really heinous things about Toby."
"You should apologize to him, not me," Emily smiled as she and Isabel walked out.
-
In the library, Isabel and the others, minus Aria, studied. Suddenly, the sound of ripping pages made Isabel look up, annoyed.
"Are you reading that fast, or are you fanning yourself?" Isabel scoffed as Hanna vigorously flipped through her math book. She stopped, but saw something, and got up.
"Where are you going?" Emily frowned.
"Um," Hanna gulped. "I left my lip gloss in the history stack. Gotta find it." Isabel watched as Hanna walked off, and saw a flash of brown in the direction she was headed. She smirked to herself, knowing who Hanna's 'lip gloss' was.
-
"What is the point of a swim-off?" Spencer frowned as she, Emily, and Isabel walked to their next class.
"Why would the coach pit you against each other before a meet?" Isabel agreed.
"She's using our combined times to choose anchor, and right now, we're tied," Emily explained.
"Well, you'll change that," Spencer assured her.
"Maybe not. She wants it more," Emily complained.
"Emily, you want it more, And it is okay to admit that," Isabel smiled. Suddenly, Spencer stopped, making Isabel and Emily come to an abrupt halt as well. Isabel looked at what she was staring at. A want poster for a French tutor for a 'homeschooled' student.
"You know who that's for, don't you?" Isabel said darkly.
"Toby?" Spencer asked. Isabel nodded, and Spencer took a slip of paper with a phone number for it.
"What are you doing?" Isabel scoffed.
"I might be interested," Spencer shrugged.
"Spencer, don't. You can't," Emily protested.
"Why not?" Spencer argued.
"Because you'd be going there for the wrong reason," Emily sighed.
"Really? Well, what if the same person who gave my name to the bead lady is the one who framed Toby?" Spencer snapped. "What if that was 'A'?"
"Can't you find that out some other way? Without asking him?" Emily hissed. "And why don't you have an opinion on this, Isabel?"
"I dunno. If Spencer and Toby wanna conjugate French verbs, then okay. If they wanna make out on his porch, then that's okay too," Isabel shrugged. "I really don't care."
"Make out?" Spencer scoffed.
"Yeah, and why're you condoning this?" Emily huffed.
"Who else knows what he knows, Emily?" Spencer countered. "If I can get him to talk-"
"You won't even get him to look at you," Emily yelled at her. "He doesn't trust us. He doesn't trust anyone anymore."
"Maybe, but if I have one piece of the puzzle and he has another, then we can put it together and maybe help each other," Spencer said. Then, she glanced around before ripping the whole poster down.
-
After school, Isabel hung out with Aria and Hanna at Aria's.
"Just don't think about it. It'll make you crazy," Hanna said, filing her nails on Aria's floor.
"How am I supposed to not think about it?" Aria panicked. Supposedly, Ella had a ticket to the museum the same night Aria and Mr. Fitz had went. "It's too freaky. If my mom's car hadn't stalled-"
"Well, it did," Hanna said loudly. "Don't look a gift card in the mouth. The universe gave you a pass."
"Isn't it gift horse?" Isabel frowned, looking up from her History textbook.
"Yeah, and that's not the universe I know," Aria added.
"Well, look, it all worked out, okay, and that's what counts," Hanna replied. "Maybe the universe got a little help from someone--Someone with really good intentions." As she spoke, Aria got up and made her way to the door.
Isabel stared at both of them quizzically. "Aria, what are you-"
"Shh," Aria said abruptly, listening to someone talk on the phone. After a moment, Isabel realized it was Byron.
"That's great. I can pick you up. I can find you in the dark. I've done it before. Okay, I'll see you soon. Bye," he chuckled, and hung up.
"Hey," Aria smiled, opening the door. "So you're not going to that department dinner anymore?"
"Oh, no, no," Byron replied, shaking his head.
"Was that mom you were talking to?" Aria pressed.
"Uh, no, no, no, it wasn't," he responded. Then, he looked over at Isabel and Hanna. "So you sure you guys are gonna be okay here alone tonight?"
"Sure," Isabel smiled.
"Okay," Byron nodded, and left.
"Okay, look, Aria, even if it wasn't the universe-" Hanna started, but Aria stared after her father.
"Shh," she repeated. When the front door slammed, Hanna resumed talking.
"I'm just saying if it's not a coincidence, then maybe-"
"Come on," Aria said, gathering her stuff, about to leave.
"Hey, what? Where are we going?" Isabel frowned as she shut her book.
"To follow my dad," Aria replied, walking to the door.
"Where?" Hanna added.
"If I knew that, we wouldn't have to follow him," Aria responded curtly.
"Aria..." Isabel warned, but Aria cut her off.
"Isabel, my dad's about to have dinner with somebody in the dark. Move it," she ordered.
-
Soon, Aria, Isabel, and Hanna were watching Byron walk into the high school.
"Why is my dad walking into our high school?" Aria frowned.
"Okay, weird," Hanna added.
"Not really," Isabel shrugged as Hanna leaned forward to see clearer. "I mean, think about it. He's probably just going to see your mom."
"Isabel, that's ridiculous," Aria scoffed.
"People lie, Aria," Isabel reminded her. "I mean, hello?"
"Well, what are they doing?" Aria asked impatiently.
"Call your mother," Hanna suggested.
"Huh?" Aria frowned.
"Right now. Call your mom," Hanna repeated. Aria pulled out her phone and called Ella.
"Hi, Aria, honey. I was just thinking about you," Ella said over the phone. "Is everything okay?"
"Yeah. Why wouldn't it be okay?" Aria replied hastily.
"Uh, well, I didn't mean to suggest that everything wasn't okay. I was just asking, checking, wondering, like moms do," Ella gulped.
"Where are you?" Aria asked.
"Home," Ella responded. "Where are you?"
"Home."
"Okay, so everything's okay then?" Ella frowned.
"Yeah," Aria nodded.
"Okay, I'll talk to you later, sweetie. Bye-bye," Ella smiled.
"Bye," Aria sighed, hanging up. "Okay, well, she says she's home."
"Do you believe her?" Isabel asked.
"I don't know," Aria replied, opening her car door. Isabel and Hanna stared at her.
"What are you doing?" Hanna frowned.
"Come on, you guys!"
Isabel and Hanna exchanged exasperated looks, and followed Aria.
-
Turns out, Ella and Byron were secretly seeing each other.
"Oh, my god, my parents are having an affair with each other!" Aria exclaimed. Suddenly, Isabel heard clattering nearby. She snuck off to see what it was.
Suddenly, someone clamped their hand over her mouth, pulling her behind some bookshelves.
She tried to shout, but before she could, they took off their hoodie.
"Caleb?"
He took his hand off her mouth, and glared at her.
"Could you be any louder?" He snapped.
"Jeez, you scared the living crap outta me! What was that for?" Isabel whisper-shouted, but Caleb was no longer paying attention. Hanna and Aria were talking near an air vent. Isabel turned back around to talk to Caleb, but he was gone.
All of a sudden, the lights went out, and a lamp was knocked over. Isabel sighed to herself. God, Caleb, why was he so stupid?
She cursed under her breath, and followed Aria, Hanna, and Caleb out as he chased them through the corridors. What the hell was that? Was it something she said? Why was he chasing her besties all of a sudden?
As she rounded a corner, she saw Hanna spray Caleb in the eyes with something.
"Caleb?"
-
"How's your eye? Any better?" Aria asked him.
"It's still burning," Caleb said as he held a tissue to his eye. "You got a sharp stick for the other one?"
"It was just hair spray. It was light hold," Hanna snapped.
"Yeah, knock it off, Caleb," Isabel scoffed.
"And who are you? You never told me your name," Caleb huffed.
"This is Isabel. Isabel Rivers," Hanna said quickly, before Isabel could retort.
"Rivers?" Caleb frowned.
"Yeah, gotta problem with my last name? Talk to my birth certificate," Isabel said, rolling her eyes.
"Isabela..." Caleb said, his one good eye widening.
"H-how'd you know my full name?" Isabel gulped.
"What?" Aria frowned.
"You can't be her. Isabela was a year older than me," Caleb scoffed.
"I was held back a year. I'm really 17," Isabel explained. Caleb stared at her, and then leaned over and hugged her. Isabel smiled, knowing that he was the only part of her family left.
And she had found him.
"What were you doing in there anyway?" Aria asked abruptly, breaking the sweet moment.
"I'm sort of, um...I'm crashing here," Caleb replied.
"You are? Why?" Aria pressed.
"What do you care?" Caleb snapped.
"Don't snap at her like that. I have more," Hanna threatened, holding up the bottle.
"Fire away," Caleb said. "Just give me my money back first."
"Where do your parents think you are?" Aria interrupted.
"Aria," Isabel sighed.
"My foster parents don't care where I am," Caleb replied. "As long as they keep getting their checks."
"We really are related, aren't we?" Isabel nodded bitterly.
"What do you mean?" Aria frowned.
"My foster mom couldn't care less about me," Isabel said, shaking her head.
"Wait, I thought all that stuff about the social worker was a joke," Hanna asked Caleb.
"Believe me, my social worker is a joke, But, yeah, I do have one," Caleb sighed.
"This is crazy. You can't keep staying here," Aria pointed out.
"Why? There's hot water, vending machines, the principal's couch is pretty comfortable," Caleb joked.
"Principal's couch?" Isabel snorted. "Classy."
"Well, they know someone was here last night," Hanna mentioned.
"Yeah. I got sloppy," Caleb sighed, getting up. Hanna gave him his money.
"Where are you going?" Isabel demanded.
"Grab some dinner, then back to bed," Caleb shrugged. "You know your way out, right?" Then he left before Isabel could piece together something to say.
-
The next day, Caleb sat with them at Emily's swim meet.
"Hanna, why are we sitting with Sketchy?" Spencer complained.
"He's my brother, Spence," Isabel scoffed.
"Go Emily!" Hanna cheered.
"She's not swimming yet," Aria said cruelly.
"Aria," Isabel sighed.
-
The next day, Isabel saw Caleb.
"Caleb! Hey! Wait up!" She called, running up to him.
"Hi, Isabela," Caleb smiled. "What's up?"
"Hey, look, I was thinking, and if you need somewhere to stay-" Isabel offered.
"No thanks," he said elusively.
"Why not? You can't just live here f-" Isabel argued.
"Im crashing at Hanna's," Caleb sighed.
"You're what?" Isabel asked, surprised. Since when did he and Hanna hang out? "Why? Did she offer? Ooh, wait, I get it, you're crushing on her."
"It's not like that," he protested. "Shes just being a friend."
"Hm," Isabel said, unconvinced.
"Who are you crushing on?" Caleb shot back.
"Me?" Isabel scoffed. "I just dumped my dream guy."
"What? Spill," he urged.
"Ah ha, no," Isabel said as the bell rang. "That is a story for another time."
-
That night, Isabel got a message from Spencer while she was studying.
'Melissa's pregnant!' -Spencer