season 2, episode 11
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Sophie let out an irritated groan as she listened to her phone buzz against the wood of her bedside table for the fifth time that morning. The blonde squeezed her eyes shut, rolling over and pulling her pillow over her head in attempt to block out the noise and go back to sleep. However, it was simply only wishful thinking because as soon as the vibrations stopped, her phone would pick up ringing again.
"You better have a good reason as to why you're calling me before the sun is even up" Sophie groaned as she answered Hanna's call.
"Why haven't you been answering your phone" Hanna snapped
"Hello to you too" Sophie grumbled.
"Have you spoken to Emily at all?"
"Emily?" Sophie furrowed her brows in confusion, "no, why? What's happened?"
"She left my house like half an hour ago, but her phone and her purse is still here, no one's heard from her and we can't find her and-"
"Hanna slow down" Sophie interrupted the rambling blonde on the other side of the phone, "I can't understand a word you're saying"
"Emily is missing, get here ASAP" Hanna responded abruptly before ending the phone call.
After that, Sophie got up and dressed as fast as she could and made her way to the Marin household without a second thought. She didn't bother knocking on the door, she simply just made her way inside and up to Hanna's bedroom.
"I got here as fast as I could" Sophie announced as she walked into the room to find her three friends, "Can someone please tell me what is going on?"
"Yeah we weren't sure, we just thought that maybe she – yeah thanks" Sophie heard Spencer say through her phone before she hung up, "She's not a swim practice"
"I told you, she's not allowed near the pool" Hanna snapped.
"You guys, all of her clothes are here. You think she did something crazy?" Aria said as she rummaged through the closet.
"Like what?" Sophie yawned.
"Like jump in her car and burn rubber until she hits Texas"
"And leave everything behind?" Spencer said, "she didn't even take her phone"
"Yeah and her car is parked outside" Sophie added.
"I wouldn't either if I were her" Aria countered, "A had his, her, it's hands around her neck and keeps reminding her"
"She hasn't slept in weeks" Hanna told them.
"Who has?" Sophie mumbled, "Have any of you thought to check her phone?"
"What like snoop around?" Hanna asked in confusion as Spencer picked up Emily's phone. The girls watched intently as Spencer searched through the messages on their friends phone for any clues as to where the girl could possibly be.
"What is it?" Sophie asked as she watched Spencer's face contort in confusion as she read over a message.
"Han, did you not see this?" Spencer asked, showing the blonde something on the screen before turning the phone so that Aria and Sophie could see as well.
"Wait is that you?" Hanna said, looking up at Aria. Sophie stared at the phone screen in confusion, looking over the picture that was lighting up the screen – an image of Aria and Mr. Fitz making out.
"Yeah of course it's me" Aria panicked, taking the phone from Spencer.
"Well, unless your Aria's mom, just assume it's Spencer, you know, slutting it up" Spencer muttered sarcastically.
"When did she get that?"
"3.07" Spencer said, "and it came with a text"
'Clue Ella in and I'll let you out - A'
"Gimme this" Aria exclaimed, taking the phone out of Spencer's hands once more.
"Aria chill" Sophie scoffed, "Emily wouldn't send that to your mother"
"Well of course she wouldn't, because she can't, 'cause we have her phone and she left in the middle of the night!" Spencer ranted.
"Where the hell is she?"
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The four girls had spent their entire morning trying to fine Emily, they had been quite literally running around town trying to find where the girl could possibly be. When the girls were running out of ideas about where to look for her, Sophie suggested going to Dr. Sullivan's office.
However, upon arrival there was no sight of their tanned friend, so Dr. Sullivan had invited them to wait there until they heard any news. Which lead to now, Sophie was sitting on the couch in the therapist's office, nervously fiddling with the rings on her fingers as they waited to hear from Emily.
The four girls immediately tensed when they heard the sound of a knock from the other side of Dr. Sullivan's door.
"Hi" Emily's voice sounded from the now opened door, "I'm ready. To talk"
"Good" Dr. Sullivan smiled, "Come in and join us, you're friends have been worried about you"
Emily walked into the room and Sophie let out a sigh of relief at the sight of her friend, she tried to offer the girl a small, reassuring smile however the tanned girl looked to the floor to avoid her gaze.
Hanna was the first to break the silence, "Em, why didn't you wake me? I was sleeping five feet away from you"
"I can't keep asking my friends to take care of me" Emily retorted.
"We're not trying to take care of you Em, we're your best friends" Sophie smiled, "we want to be there for you"
"Emily look, if you were seriously thinking about going to Texas-" Aria started.
"I didn't have any plans. I just knew that the longer I stayed here the worse it was gonna get-" Emily said, "I'm not gonna be used as a bowling ball to knock down my best friends"
Emily sounded tired and Sophie knew that the girl was hurting deep down. She sounded tired of being A's scapegoat and Sophie didn't blame her – they were all getting tired of the grip A had on their lives. They were all tired A being in the driver's seat of their lives.
A part of Sophie just wished that Emily had confided in her, they couldn't trust a lot of people right now, but they should be able to trust each other. Sophie knew that thinking that was hypocritical, there were many things that she was keeping from the girls.
"Emily, we're sitting here because of you" Spencer assured her, "none of us think that you-"
"That I'm the weakest link" Emily cut Spencer off, "Yeah, well, somebody else does"
"Who? Who's using you to knock down your friends?"
Dr. Sullivan's question made all the girls tense up, for a second Sophie had forgotten that the therapist was even there. Sophie slipped a look to Hanna, who shared the same glance as her. Was they really about to do this?
It was a sort of unspoken rule about not telling anyone about A, mainly out of fear. A pushed Ian off of the bell tower and might've killed Alison there's no saying in what they could do to the girls. There was also the fact that A knew all of their dirty little secrets, if any of them got out then the girls would be in a lot of trouble.
Sophie looked from Hanna to Spencer and then Aria and then Emily. Spencer was the first to break the silence this time.
"Somebody's been trying to help us" Spencer sighed, "for a long time"
"When did these treats begin?" Dr. Sullivan asked, notepad in hand, "Did the texts start coming after Alison's funeral?"
"Before" Emily stated.
"At first, we thought they were coming from Alison" Aria explained, "but then they found her"
"Her body" Emily corrected.
"And you don't know who this A person might be?"
"We do but-"
"We've been wrong before" Sophie cut Spencer off, "A is an expert in putting the spotlight on other people and making them look guilty"
"Do you think this person goes to your school?" Dr. Sullivan asked.
"Maybe, but it's not like we go home and we're suddenly safe" Hanna muttered.
"A is everywhere, constantly on us like a shadow" Aria stated.
"And I'm the first person you've told about this?" Dr. Sullivan asked, looking around the girls, "why have you waited this long to say something?"
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Sophie had felt as if a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders, but even then, all she wanted to do was go home and crawl back under her covers. However, Spencer had other ideas as she practically dragged the girl to school (literally she locked the blonde in her car so she couldn't escape).
"Seriously Spence, I could get you done for kidnapping" Sophie muttered to the brunette as the girls sat with the rest of the student body in the hall waiting to listen to their guest speaker.
"If I buy you coffee for a week will you shut up?" Spencer whispered back to her.
"Deal" Sophie nodded in an instant as Spencer and Hanna shared an amused look between them.
As Sophie turned her attention back to the front of the hall, she almost laughed as she saw Dr. Sullivan walk up to the front, nodding to the girls as she passed them.
"This isn't going to end well" Sophie muttered as she fiddled with the sleeves of her jumper.
"The pressure you're under at this point can be overwhelming" Dr. Sullivan began, "choosing the right college, getting in, leaving home – it can be scary. A few weeks ago, your principal asked me to come and talk about some of the tough choices you're facing. But how can you make any good choices when you're not in a safe place?"
"What is she doing?" Hanna muttered.
"I have no idea" Spencer murmured back as the girls shared a look.
"Many of you don't feel safe. You feel like you can't make a move without someone judging you or challenging you or worse, threatening you. Bullies have been around since the first caveman invented the club. When I was in school, the attitude was, kids are cruel, but being roughed up a bit built character" she spoke, looking directly at the girls as she did so.
"Today's bullies can cause a lot more damage. They have better weapons. They can keep hitting send, over and over again and hide behind the anonymity of a text or an email, which is about as cowardly as it gets" Dr. Sullivan said.
"Would it be a bad idea if we ran to the bathroom right now?" Hanna whispered.
"Way bad" Aria shook her head.
"Why is she doing this?" Sophie muttered as she sunk into her seat, "I'm seriously going to kill you Spencer for dragging me here"
"These vicious attacks sent through electronic means may as well be carved into stone. If you think a college admissions board, not to mention a jury, won't examine the evidence, you're sadly mistaken. All it takes is for the victims to stop being afraid and decide to speak up and speak out"
Once the speech was over, the five liars were the first to leave the hall, ignoring the strange looks their classmates were sending them.
"Am I the only one who thinks she's made things worse?" Hanna asked as the two blondes took a seat on the steps in front of the school.
"Why would it be worse?" Emily questioned.
"Because she just tore our clothes off – basically, in front of the whole school" Hanna stated harshly.
"She wasn't betraying us Han" Aria argued, "this is someone trying to help us take down the enemy"
"Let's think about this logically, is your phone back on?" Sophie asked.
"Yeah, why?" Emily answered, raising an eyebrow at the blonde.
"Why are you defending her?" Hanna asked.
"Because I think she genuinely has the best intentions, despite going about it in a questionable way. Besides, her speech ended ten minutes ago and we haven't a text from the beast so that's progress" Sophie stated.
"Or the quiet before the storm" Hanna mumbled.
"Always optimistic" Sophie joked.
"Look, Sullivan's right" Aria said, "it was time to speak up"
The familiar sound of a can could be heard nearing them, and sure enough, when the girls turned around they saw Jenna approaching them.
"I'll talk to you guys later" Aria said as she turned to walk away, causing Sophie to let out an irritated groan as she had just told Jenna of their presence.
"Aria?" Jenna called out, "did you guys go to the assembly?"
"Yeah, we all did Jenna" Spencer stated, crossing her arms over her chest, "Why?"
"Just curious" Jenna shrugged, "What did you think of the speech? Too little too late huh?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Sophie scoffed, standing up.
"It's just a shame that Saint Sullivan wasn't around when your friend Alison alive, you and her running these halls" Jenna mused.
"I guess it takes one bully to know another Jenna" Sophie muttered.
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"Can we talk?" Sophie heard Aria call from behind her. The blonde rolled here eyes when she turned around to see the girl jogging towards her.
"Make it quick" Sophie sighed, "I've got things to be doing"
"It's about Jason" Aria told her, "About when we-"
"You kissed?" Sophie scoffed, cutting her off, "I don't think there's anything you could say to make this situation better Aria"
"A made me do it!" Aria told her, rather abruptly to be honest, "A had a picture of me, and Ezra and she told me to kiss Jason. I'm really sorry Soph, but I didn't have a choice. You don't need to be jealous-"
"Jealous?" Sophie scoffed, cutting Aria off once more, "You think I'm jealous? Of you?"
Aria shook her head, "What are you being such a bitch?"
"Oh, I'm the bitch? I'm not the one going around kissing my friends' boyfriends"
"I told you Sophie, A made me!"
"Stop blaming everything on A, Aria!" Sophie exclaimed. A part of her really did see where Aria was coming from, A was notorious for making the girls do things they didn't want to, the bitch was constantly pushing them over the edge. However, that other part of her couldn't understand why or how Aria could even do that.
"This was A" Aria shot back.
"A didn't force you to get involved with Ezra, you made that choice, and you were stupid to think that a wasn't going to use this against you" Sophie said harshly, she knew she had taken it a bit too far, but in all honesty, she was passed caring.
"You cannot say anything about me and Ezra when you were involved with Jason for however long"
"There's a difference between sleeping with an older man and sleeping with your teacher aria. You're acting like you had no choice, you willingly went behind my back and kissed Jason, you did that, not A. You know full well if the situation was reversed, I wouldn't have done that to you! That's the difference between us aria, you only think of yourself, and I'm done with you"
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After her argument with Aria, all Sophie wanted to do was return to bed, curl up and watch Harry Potter. However, she had promised her brother that she would help him move his things out of the house and into his new apartment.
"I can't believe it's taken you this long to move out" Sophie chuckled as she taped up the final moving box whilst Daniel stacked the boxes by the table.
"Well, someone had to be the responsible one around here" he joked, moving to ruffle the blonde's hair.
"Does this mean I get your room?" Blake called from his seat on the island, "I'm sick of having the small room"
"No way" Nova scoffed, "I'm the next oldest so I get it"
"That is so not fair!"
"Yes, it is"
"See what I mean?" Daniel said with an amused smile as they watched the other two Langford children bicker.
"Are you sure you've got everything love?" Joanne said as she came down the stairs, Chris in tow carrying another cardboard box.
"Mom for the last time, yes" Daniel rolled his eyes, "and if I haven't got anything, I'll just buy it"
"Come on, we'll take these to the car" Chris said as he walked towards the front door, Daniel and Blake in tow.
"Are you okay?" Nova said to Sophie once the two were alone.
"Why wouldn't I be?" Sophie said, turning to look at her sister with furrowed brows.
"Call it sister's intuition, I just know something's up"
"Me and Jason broke up" Sophie sighed, pulling her sleeves over her hands. A deep sigh left her parted lips as she debated whether or not if telling Nova was the best idea.
"What? How – what happened?"
A pause followed her sister's question.
"Did he do anything to hurt you?"
"No" Sophie shook her head instantly, "People grow apart, life moves on"
"That was rather vague" Nova joked, "Are you seriously not going to tell me what happened?"
"All you need to know is that it was my fault and that he deserves much better than me"
"Okay I don't know much, but I do know that any guy would be lucky to get so much as a smile from you. You're Sophie Langford, you're probably the best thing that ever happened to him"
"I don't think he would agree" Sophie replied with a dry chuckle, "and I think I want to retire from being Sophie Langford for a while"
"There's only one of you Soph" Nova smiled, "hiding behind a couple sarcastic jokes and a mask will only get you so far, if you need to talk, come to me, okay?"
"Okay" Sophie nodded, "I don't think I've ever seen you this nice to me, I might have to get my heart broken more often"
Nova shook her head, "I may be a bitch, but I'm also your sister I do care about you. Sometimes"
"There it is"
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Sophie was on her way back from Daniel's new apartment, stuck in the middle seat between Nova and Blake (yet again arguing over who would get Daniel's old room) when her phone exploded with a few rapid texts from Emily.
'Come to Dr. Sullivan's office ASAP! She knows who A is! - Emily'
Sophie nearly dropped her phone in sheer surprise as she read over the message. She stared at her phone in shock as her heart thumped against her chest, rereading the text over multiple times to ensure that the words she was reading were in fact there.
Was this really happening? Could this all really be over finally?
Sophie's lips parted in shock, maybe fear – she didn't quite know. Part of her brain was telling her that someone had taken Emily's phone and this was yet another one of A's master plots.
"Is everything okay sweetheart?" Joanne called from the front, seemingly noticing her daughters sudden change in mood.
"Uh yeah" Sophie nodded, "can you drop me off somewhere? I need to meet the girls"
Sophie had practically jumped out of the car once Chris pulled onto the street in which Dr. Sullivan's office was located, not bothering to say goodbye as she rushed to Spencer.
"Are we all ready?" she said, slightly out of breath, "Let's do this"
They all stared at each other hesitantly before walking through the front door and heading straight to Dr. Sullivan's office. Sophie felt her heart sink once she realised that the office door was already open.
"Dr. Sullivan!"
They burst through the door, only to stop in a sudden when they saw the room was empty – no sign of the doctor. The lights were switched off and some of the furniture had moved, slightly out of place.
"Guys, where is she?" Sophie muttered, wrapping her arms tightly around her body as a shiver made it's way down her spine. She swallowed harshly once she realised that something was wrong. Terribly wrong.
"Okay, are we sure she asked us to meet her here?" Spencer asked.
"I'm positive. She said meet in her office" Emily said firmly.
"Well she's clearly not here" Sophie shook her head.
"If she's not here, then where is she?"
None of them answered, because none of them knew. Deep down, Sophie thought that they all knew where she was, or well who knew where she was.
One by one, the girls' phone made that awful chiming sound, signalling that they all had received a message. Sophie hesitated before taking her phone out of her pocket, the dreadful 'BLOCKED ID' lighting up her phone with one unread message.
The blonde felt her heart once again sink her stomach as her thumb trembled over the message, not wanting to open it. She should've known, whatever A gives, A takes away.
'The doctor is out
- A'
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Word count: 3472
who's watched sam and colby's new conjuring videos? i'm obsessed omg i literally cried. what are your thoughts on it? cody and satori's method is INSANE!