"I want to be the other mother. The one who's drunk all the time."-Hanna Marin
The five of them were in the school auditorium. Hanna, Spencer, and Isabel were auditioning for the play 'the Bad Seed'. Hanna wanted to be Mrs. Daigle, Isabel wanted to be Christine, and Spencer auditioned for Monica.
"If you're trying out for The Bad Seed, you need to sign up here and wait by the auditorium door until your name is called," Mr. Fitz announced. "Thank you, and good luck."
"Start with the line about the stolen medal," Spencer said to Hanna and Isabel.
"Why isn't she wearing any shoes?" Hanna frowned at some girl only wearing socks.
"So she can look short enough to play an eight-year-old," Spencer answered. "What's my line?"
"I don't see anything about a medal," Emily replied, skimming Spencer's script.
"No, that's what the eight-year-old killed her classmate for," Isabel sighed. "Penmanship medal. That's why they call her the bad seed." She pointed to a spot in the script.
"A penmanship medal," Hanna scoffed. "Really?"
"Didn't you read the whole play?" Spencer frowned. She turned to Aria.
"Don't look at me," Aria shrugged. "I'm just here to make them look taller."
"Why do I have to read the whole play?" Hanna complained. "I don't wanna be the bad seed's mother. That's Isabel. I want the other mother, the one who's drunk all the time." They laughed.
"No comment," Spencer said.
"Are you still ragging on me for bringing a flask to a dance?" Hanna sighed. "I don't need another parent, Spence. One's plenty."
"You brought a flask to the dance? Classy," Isabel laughed.
"Yeah," Aria nodded. "And has the one figured out that Caleb's in your basement?"
"No, but 'A' has," Hanna replied.
"What are you gonna do?" Emily asked her.
"I'm gonna tell my mom before 'A' gets to her," Hanna explained. "I'm just gonna ask her if Caleb can stay in the guest room."
"Hey, there, Hanna and her clanna!"
The others watched as Mona walked up to them.
"Hey, Mona. How'd it go in there?" Hanna smiled.
"Honestly, I nailed it. It was epic," Mona boasted. "I think Mr. Fitz cried."
"Good for you, Mona," Spencer sighed. "I guess the rest of us should go home."
"No!" Mona gasped. "There are no small parts, only parts that don't make it into the yearbook." And with that, she was gone. "Good luck!"
Isabel noticed Aria staring at Mr. Fitz. "Why don't you audition? You kind of have an in with the director."
"Stop," Aria hushed.
"Is he wearing the tie you gave him?" Hanna asked.
"Stop!" Aria repeated.
"It would be so awesome to hang out with you two after school, see you as a couple," Spencer added. "You and Mike as well," she nodded at Isabel. "A triple date."
"Mike doesn't wanna talk to me. Don't push it. Even though I do want him back, he doesn't want me," Isabel muttered miserably.
"And news flash. Just 'cause we're on this side of the building doesn't mean that we can suddenly light candles and slow dance," Aria whispered.
"That's the opening night party. 'Hello, Aria.' 'Hello, Ezra,'"Spencer smirked, making the others laugh.
"Are you finished?" Aria huffed.
"It's not like we'll ever be able to go on a double date with you guys," Emily pointed out.
"You won't even send us pictures," Hanna added.
"Pictures? Hanna, we meet at his apartment," Aria scoffed. "It's not Sea World."
"We're just saying it'd be nice," Isabel shrugged.
"Believe me, I know. Wish I could-" Aria glanced at Mr. Fitz- "But I can't. Um, where's your other scene, Isabel?"
All of the sudden, they heard the tap-tap-tap of a stick.
"Is Mr. Fitz in the auditorium?" Jenna asked.
"Uh, I'm, uh, right here, Jenna. What can I do for you?" Mr. Fitz told her.
"I don't know if you're interested, But I would like to compose some music for the play," Jenna explained. The girls stared at one another.
"Sure. That'd be great. For the flute?" Mr. Fitz nodded, pointing to the flute in Jenna's hands.
"Yes," Jenna smiled. "Is there a reason that you picked The Bad Seed? It's one of my favorites. The theme is so inspiring."
"Uh, inspiring?" Mr. Fitz frowned.
"I'm fascinated by the nature of evil," Jenna said with a wicked grin.
-
"I think you'll see, even with the novel, Rhoda is not the typical eight-year-old," Mr. Fitz was saying the next day. Isabel had gotten the part of the bad seed's mother. "Only the janitor is-"
Suddenly, Ian walked in, making the girls stare at him.
"Uh, I'm guessing this isn't the varsity booster club," Ian said. "My bad. Sorry."
When he left, Mr. Fitz continued. "Let's all take a look at the first scene With Rhoda and the janitor, if you'll turn to page 25."
"Isabel! Pay attention!" Spencer hissed. Isabel was too busy daydreaming to listen.
"What? Oh, what're you talking about?" Isabel asked.
"We all wanted to kiss Ian," Spencer sighed at the others.
"Never," Hanna scoffed.
"At that frat party when he was big man on campus?" Spencer reminded her.
"Which one?" Isabel frowned.
"What?" Both Spencer and Hanna stared.
"I've been to, like, a gazillion frat parties. Like, half of them had college boys like Ian," Isabel explained.
"Why would you go to frat parties? Spencer asked her.
"Jason snuck me in," Isabel shrugged.
"Ooh, and do you remember what you two did at-" Hanna smirked.
"Moving on!" Isabel said loudly. "Which one?"
"The one that Alison got us into," Emily clarified.
"Not me," Hanna huffed.
"Yes. You," Emily sighed.
-flashback-
Ali and Isabel handed the girls fake IDs.
"You two are so bad-ass," Aria said as Isabel handed her hers.
"Did you make these?" Emily asked.
Hanna frowned, staring at hers. "Where'd you get this picture of me? I look like my mother."
"That is your mother!" Ali whisper-yelled.
"So, you guys can thank us later," Isabel said as she and Ali walked off.
"Wait! So...What do we-- what do we do now?" Aria asked.
"Act your new age," Isabel winked. The others watched Ian and one of his friends walk up the stairs with some drunk girl.
"Hey, Spence, isn't that your sister's new boyfriend?" Aria frowned.
"He's kinda cute. So's his friend," Hanna shrugged.
"Easy. He's a little bit old for you," Emily told her.
"Not tonight...'cause I'm 26!" Hanna grinned, pulling out her fake ID.
"Put that away," Isabel hissed.
"Yeah, and take a math class. You're 21," Spencer scoffed.
"Looks like Mr. Melissa is giving Miss Rum & Coke a special tour," Ali commented while they watched the girl giggle at Ian.
"Maybe he's just taking her to the bathroom," Hanna suggested.
"Or finding an empty room so she can lie down," Emily added.
"Yeah, on top of her," Isabel said, rolling her eyes.
"Nice one," Ali grinned. The girls stared at them. "What? Look, I don't know about you vestal virgins, but I'm here to make some memories."
"Let's divide and conquer and meet back here at midnight," Isabel nodded as she and Ali walked off.
-flashback ends-
"You should've said something to your sister that night," Emily said.
"Like what? 'I crashed your boyfriend's frat party'?" Spencer scoffed. "I would've been so dead."
"Like your sister isn't now?" Emily argued.
"Yeah, knocked up with his bad seed," Hanna added.
"Hanna, why do you think that the janitor in the play is the only one who knows the little girl's not a liar?" Mr. Fitz asked loudly.
"Um, that's because the janitor is childlike himself," Isabel answered after Hanna paused.
"It's like when we were reading Shakespeare, and Ezra talked about the fools and how they can get away with saying...things that... other people can't," Aria said quickly. Everyone stared at her.
"Let's just focus on this play," Mr. Fitz muttered.
-
The next day, Isabel saw Caleb outside the play room.
"Hey, Caleb, wait up!" Isabel called.
"What do you want, Isabela?" Caleb sighed.
"What's up with you and Hanna?" Isabel huffed. "I saw you two giving each other the silent treatment. Whenever you two talk, it's like being in Antarctica. Why are you freezing her out?"
"There is absolutely nothing going on," Caleb assured her.
"Nothing? That wasn't nothing," Isabel scoffed.
Caleb was silent.
"You're my brother. You're supposed to tell me these things," Isabel pleaded.
"No I'm not," Caleb snapped.
"Caleb. Here, let me demonstrate: I dated Aria's little brother Mike, and he ghosted me. I still like him. Your turn," she replied.
"Fine," he sighed. "I was taking a shower yesterday before school, and...Hanna walked in."
"You did it in the shower?!" Isabel gasped.
"Not so loud!" Caleb hissed. "And it wasn't like that. Her mom was gonna catch me taking a shower, and so Hanna got in so she could pretend it was her."
"You were naked, Caleb," she pointed out. "Are you sure you didn't?"
"Yes!" Caleb retorted.
"Hey guys."
Isabel turned around to see Spencer and Hanna walk up to them.
"Where did you get this? The year 2020?" Caleb frowned as Spencer handed him some strange device.
"It's for someone who can't see," Hanna explained.
"Okay. Well, someone who can, might need to call NASA to turn it on," Caleb joked, holding it up.
"Uh, take however long you need," Hanna sighed, folding her arms across her chest.
"No. Take an hour. It has to be returned as soon as possible, or the person who..." Spencer hesitated. "Borrowed it might be in trouble." Huh, Isabel thought. So her and Toby?
"They should be," Caleb scoffed. "Stealing a blind person's phone? That's sick. What do you like to do for fun on the weekends, break old lady's hips?"
"Just give it back to Spencer or Isabel as soon as you can, okay?" Hanna snapped. Isabel followed her as she walked off.
-
"Where does my character sit?" Mona asked later.
"Uh, I haven't blocked it yet, Mona," Mr. Fitz replied.
"Then why has the stage been taped?" Isabel frowned as she walked in.
"We'll get to that on Saturday," Mr. Fitz explained. "For those of you just arriving, the stage has been taped off to mark the living room, and the prop table is being stocked as I speak."
"Wait, this Saturday? I can't be here this Saturday," Mona asked, looking at her phone. Mr. Fitz turned to Aria, his stage manager.
"I only sent the e-mail to those who were called for that rehearsal," Aria told him.
"Well, am I called in or not?" Mona scoffed.
"We'll be blocking that scene on Saturday," Mr. Fitz said. "I thought I mentioned that."
"You didn't," Aria argued.
"Mr. Fitz, can we find a way to work out the kinks in the system?" Mona sighed.
"I assure you, Mona, from this point on Aria will be on top of things," Mr. Fitz said pointedly.
"I just need some clarification from our director on the scheduling. Can we take five, everyone?!" She called. "Thanks." Isabel sighed and left with everyone else.
-
Later, Isabel walked back in.
"So, what do you think? Are people born bad?" Mr. Fitz asked everyone.
"I'm having a hard time figuring out who's evil and who's just naughty," Mona said.
"I think you know the difference, Mona, but let's ask some of your cast mates," Mr. Fitz sighed. "Spencer. Thoughts?"
"Yes," Spencer nodded. "Some people are pure evil."
-flashback-
"There they are," Isabel said, tugging on Ali's arm and pointing to the four others. They walked over to them. An ambulance, police, and everyone were gathered out on the front lawn.
"What's going on? What happened?" Ali asked.
"Y-You guys missed it? Where were you?" Aria stammered.
"Doesn't matter. What happened?" Isabel retorted.
"That-- that girl that was with Ian-" Aria began.
"She fell down the stairs, and it was terrible," Emily finished quickly.
"Fell? Or was pushed?" Isabel asked, raising an eyebrow. "I've seen some pretty nasty things go down at parties like these."
"Isabel, why would you say that?" Aria gasped.
"Just saying," Isabel shrugged.
"Can we just tell her on the bus?" Hanna complained nervously.
"Note to self: Don't drink and dive," Ali smirked, looking around.
"If my mom finds out I was here, I'm gonna be grounded until I'm 50," Emily gulped.
"Guys, if we run away like babies, we'll definitely be questioned," Ali explained, motioning for Isabel to follow her. The two of them approached an officer.
"What is she doing?" Hanna asked frantically.
"Excuse me. My friends and I made the mistake of having a little drink before we ate, and none of us feel comfortable about getting behind the wheel," Isabel said sweetly, batting her eyelashes.
"Can we trouble you for a ride back to Rosewood?" Ali smiled. He nodded, and Ali went over to the others.
"What-- what are you thinking?" Aria hissed.
"I'm thinking we're not taking the bus," Isabel shrugged.
"Chillax, ladies," Ali smirked as they got into the car. "The bolder the move, the less anyone questions it."
-flashback ends-
"I think my character's being totally selfish," Mona said loudly. "I don't even know how to play that."
"Miss Verne is protecting the future of her school, Mona," Mr. Fitz explained.
"So, is she forgivable or not?" Mona pressed.
"It's unforgivable if she's only thinking of herself," Aria said pointedly.
"Let's stop here," Mr. Fitz nodded. "These are all good thoughts. We'll pick up where we left off tomorrow. Study your lines. Put away your props. I'll see you then."
Everyone left but the five of them.
"Guys..." Spencer called. They went over to her. She was holding a Hilton Head golfing trophy that seemingly belonged to Ian.
"Where'd you get that?" Isabel frowned.
"It was in the prop box," Spencer told her.
"What are we looking at?" Hanna asked.
"Why would that be in here?" Aria added.
"What's that?" Emily gulped. "Is that... blood?"
"Em, where did you get this?" Spencer said slowly.
"I didn't!" Emily swore. "I've never seen it before."
"Oh, god, no." Hanna's eyes widened.
"You think that's what Ian used-- to kill Alison, don't you?" Emily realized.
"Guys, slow down. We don't know that that's Alison's blood," Aria frowned. "We don't even know if that is blood."
"Yeah, but we don't know that it's not," Hanna argued.
"That's insane," Aria huffed.
"Yeah, why would he hide that in here for everyone to see?" Isabel agreed.
"Because it's a bold move, and no one would ever look for it here," Spencer replied. "Why did the bad seed hide the medal in the box on top of her desk? Why didn't she just bury it?"
"Because she was eight!" Isabel hissed.
"Guys, we all saw that video," Aria whisper-shouted. "Ian did not have a trophy in his hand."
"We didn't see what was on the ground," Emily argued.
"It could've been in his luggage," Hanna added.
"This was when they were together at Hilton Head," Spencer nodded.
"Wow," Aria sighed.
"What are we gonna do?" Isabel gulped.
"We hand it in," Emily shrugged. "We're not wasting time losing evidence again."
"Emily's right," Spencer backed her up. "This goes to the police now."
-
"So, what do we do now?" Emily asked as they exited the police station.
"Just wait," Spencer sighed.
"How long until the police figure out that it's Alison's blood?" Isabel asked, shoving her hands on her pockets.
"I don't know," Spencer shrugged. "I'll tell you this-I don't want to go home. I don't want to be anywhere near where Ian is."
"You can stay at my place," Emily offered.
"Could we just all stay at your place?" Hanna asked. Emily nodded. "I don't know, it just feels weird splitting up after this."
There was a moment of silence as they thought about the trophy.
"I can't believe we had it, the weapon, in our hands," Emily said quietly.
"After all this time, it's like..." Isabel began, trying to find the right words.
"Like Ali can finally rest in peace," Spencer nodded.
"Yeah. We all can," Aria agreed.
"We'll pick up some food on the way to Emily's," Spencer suggested as she began to walk to her car.
"I-I can't stay over tonight," Hanna said abruptly. They all stared at her. "Look, believe me, I don't want to go home either, but my mom hears something in the basement..."
"You haven't told her about Caleb?" Emily sighed.
"There's only so much I can do in one day, okay?" Hanna snapped.
"Actually, can we just make one stop along the way?" Isabel gulped. "I need to talk to Mike."
"Yeah, uh, can I make another stop?" Aria chimed in. "I-I promise it won't take long."
"Yeah, sure," Spencer nodded as they all got into her car.
-
"Uh...hi," Isabel gulped when Mike answered the door.
"Oh, hey," Mike replied, crossing his arms.
"Mike, look, I'm sorry for snapping at you like that. I don't...I don't know if you'd want me back, but...you know I'm always here for you," Isabel promised.
"It's a little too late for that," Mike scoffed, about to close the door.
"Wait! Why are you always shutting me out? I've done nothing but try with you! Every damn time, I come begging for you to forgive me. Not once did you apologize," Isabel snapped.
"Well, that's because I don't believe in second chances," Mike huffed, referring to his parents. "Maybe that's why we're so different. You give everyone a second chance. You even gave Alison a second chance. I don't." He slammed the door in her face.
-
"Ladies," a detective walked up to the girls the next day. "Which one of you found the trophy? Who's, uh, Spencer Hastings?"
Spencer slowly raised her hand a little.
"So, was this a group effort, or are you four just along for the ride?" the detective chuckled.
"What do you mean?" Isabel frowned.
"I mean, you should've done a little research," he explained. "There's no golf tournament on Hilton Head on that date."
"What about the blood?" Emily asked.
"It's not human blood," he replied. "Comes from a rat."
"No, but why would there-" Hanna argued.
"Let's save our questions for the precinct," the detective cut her off. "Follow me."
-
The five of them exited the school with the detective.
Suddenly, all their phones beeped simultaneously.
'"Rat" me out, your blood's next.- A'
"'A' planted that trophy," Hanna realized.
"We should've known," Aria agreed. Then she added, "Guys, where was she that night? At the frat party when the girl fell, where was Alison?"
"She wasn't with us," Spencer said.
"She wasn't with us, either," Hanna added. They all turned to Isabel.
"Don't look at me," Isabel scoffed. "I was taking shots with some frat boy when I heard sirens. I went outside, saw Ali looking for you guys, and joined her."
"What are you saying, Aria?" Emily frowned, turning to her.
"I'm saying maybe it wasn't Ian who pushed that girl," Aria shrugged. "Maybe-- maybe that drunk girl was just in Alison's way."
"Why would Alison do that?" Hanna questioned.
"Because that frat party wasn't a random pick," Isabel said in realization. "She took us there because she wanted to see Ian."
-flashback-
"So...I got us all fake IDs," Ali grinned, holding them up. Isabel took hers.
"Wow," Isabel smiled. The girl on the ID looked just like her, but had striking black hair, and was 22.
"We can finally go to all those parties you wanted to go to," Ali smirked, walking over to her mirror, and fixing her hair.
"Are we inviting the others?"
"Where I go, they go," Ali replied. "Just because you and my brother fool around doesn't mean only we will, too." She applied a layer of lip gloss.
"Which one? Ooh, how about this one one Willsbury Lane-" Isabel began, but Ali cut her off.
"How about a frat party?" Ali suggested, looking at her through the mirror. "It's nearby, we can take the bus."
"Okay," Isabel shrugged. "When? Tonight?"
"Hmm, maybe tomorrow," Ali said.
"Can't," Isabel sighed. "Got a different party to go to."
"With my brother?" Ali teased, and they both smiled at each other through the mirror.
-flashback ends-
"Maybe she was stalking him," Spencer shrugged.
"Wait, so now you believe Ian?" Hanna scoffed. "You don't think he killed Alison?"
"I didn't say that," Spencer argued. "I think he killed her. There's just a lot about that night that was still don't know."
"Oh, my god," Aria said, her eyes widening.
"What?" Isabel frowned.
"What if Jenna was also blocking her way to Ian?" Aria rambled. "What if Ali threw that firecracker in Toby's garage knowing that Jenna was in there?"
"She had us all fooled..." Hanna agreed.
"Until now."