"Man, times are tough. Michele Obama wore this same blouse two years ago." -Hanna Marin
The next day at school, Isabel met up with the girls.
"It's really old, like six months," Mona said, handing Hanna a new phone (?). "But it works pretty good for an antique. The number bills to my account. Your mom never has to know."
"Oh. Mona, you are a life saver," Hanna sighed as Mona gave each of the girls some moisturizer.
"Well, what's the point of doing something for someone if it doesn't make you look good?" Mona shrugged, smiling. She got to Isabel, and her smile fell. "Oh, hon, I've heard about you and Jason. I'm so sorry." Isabel nodded sadly. Great, looks like everyone knew. Mona turned back to Hanna and smiled. "I'm already number one on the speed dial. Ciao!" She sashayed off.
"If only we could harness Mona's sense of entitlement, we could light the Eastern seaboard," Spencer smiled after her.
"Yeah, well, I don't care," Hanna said distractedly. "I got a new phone and didn't have to go through Caleb. He's safe in Montecito."
"Yeah, well at least 'A' can't sabotage your relationship," Isabel snapped. Hanna blinked at her, and she sighed. "I'm sorry, I'm just pissed off."
"Don't worry, I completely get it," Hanna replied, putting a hand on Isabel's shoulder.
"Did you get through to Duncan yet?" Emily asked Aria. Supposedly, Aria had met some guy who knew what happened to Alison, and they were gonna check it out.
"Yeah, he's coming after school," Aria nodded. "I'm gonna meet him in the courtyard."
"That sounds safe," Isabel agreed. "Anyway, gotta go, I have to make up a quiz in History."
-
The next day, Isabel got a text from Spencer, explaining how Toby was totally manipulated, and they talked about how upset they were.
"Hey, Spencer, Emily-"
Isabel turned around to see Jason walk up to them.
"Isa, I-" he started cautiously.
Isabel would've stayed and listened, but tears threatened to spill over, and she stormed off, actually sobbing before disappearing completely.
-
Isabel was cleaning up in the Brew, about to close up. She swept the floor behind the counter, and when she was done, she held the broom up to her chin. Looking around, she decided no one was there, and then let the tears come. She cried and cried until she heard the door open, and she quickly wiped away the tears.
"We're closed, sorry," she muttered, turning around so that they couldn't see her.
"Oh, I know, Isa."
Isabel turned around, hopeful. Was it Jason-?
In front of her stood a slightly cross Liam.
-Jason's perspective-
Jason was quietly reading in a corner of the Brew when he heard someone crying. He got up and walked closer to see him walk in.
It was the guy in the photo. Isa's new boyfriend. He had called her Isa. Wow, looks like she replaced him quickly.
"I said we're closed," Isa said. "And if you dare call me that again, I'll knock your lights out. Believe me, I can and I will."
"Oh, come on, I know you want me," the guy smirked.
"What I want is for you to get out of my fucking life, you foul, loathsome, evil cockroach," she snapped. He stared at her blankly, and she scoffed, "How come no one gets my Harry Potter references?"
"Didn't you get my gift?" he pressed, walking closer.
"Yeah, I did, and now it's all over my walls," Isa huffed, dropping her broom. "Don't you ever do that again. I'm a recovering alcoholic." He sent her a bottle of alcohol?
"Speaking of which, I heard that your ex is one, too. That he was a stupid drunkie that killed his sister. Do you really care about him, Isa-?"
"What was that you said?" Isa scowled. He smirked at her, licking his lips.
Suddenly, she sucker- punched him, and he recoiled with a bloody nose. Jason's eyes widened. Note to self: Never cross her.
"What the-?!" The guy scoffed.
"I told you. Don't ever call me 'Isa'," she spat. "And never, ever, say that Jason killed Ali. Now get out of my fucking face or else next time, you'll be left with more than a bruise on your ugly face. I said, we're closed."
The guy scampered off, terrified of her. Jason couldn't help but smile. That was how she was. He also felt stupid. Of course she was telling the truth, why'd he ever doubt her? Now she'd probably kick him to the curb for all the nasty things he said. He kind of deserved it...
-
Isabel glared after Liam. The nerve of that bastard. Coming up to her like that, when he knew she hated his guts. She leaned down to pick up the broom and heard someone walk up to her.
"I swear, if you want me to punch you again-" she seethed, standing up again. Instead, Jason's sheepish face loomed above her, and she sighed. "Do you want me to punch you, too? I'm in a bad mood."
"No, no, I came to say... I'm sorry," he gulped. Well, at least he was telling the truth.
"So you saw," she muttered, flushing red. She had never in a million years intended for him to see her beat someone up.
"I..." Jason faltered.
"What happened to 'I know when someone's lying'? If I'm telling the truth, which I really am, Jason, then how come you didn't know?" Isabel huffed, crossing her arms.
"I was blindsided by anger and... stupidity," he replied, walking a bit closer. She'd back up if she wasn't frozen. Well, she also didn't want to, but that wasn't the point. "You know, I'm terrible at apologies."
"I agree, and if you were anyone else, I'd totally kick you to the curb-" Jason gulped pointedly- "But, since I love you, and for some stupid reason, everything means nothing if I can't have you. I hate you, but I love you."
"I love you, too," he smiled cautiously. He seemed hesitant to do anything.
"Oh, come on, I was only joking when I said I'll punch you," she laughed, and Jason stood there nervously. Oh well. At least he'd never underestimate her again.
Suddenly, he walked up to her and kissed her. She hated that she had missed him, that she could forgive him so easily, yet she kissed back, and that was the end of another of their stupid, futile fights.
-
They made up in her apartment (Ezra had evicted Liam) and afterward, she got a text from Spencer.
'SOS' -Spencer
She sprang up, knowing it was about Duncan, and quickly got dressed.
"Hey, you okay?" Jason asked.
"Yeah, just have to go to Spencer's," she replied. "See you later. Love you," and she was out the door.
Before she was gone, she heard Jason call," Love you, too."
-
"What the hell happened?" Spencer frowned. "You moved on fast." Isabel looked down and realized that she was wearing Jason's shirt.
"Shit," she muttered, walking over. She sat down next to Hanna, who laughed.
"Oh, she didn't move on, she made up. With Jason," Hanna teased.
"What the- How'd you...?" Isabel blinked.
"His scent clings to you," Hanna smirked. Isabel rolled her eyes at her and turned to Spencer.
"So, why the SOS?" she asked.
"Well, I went to drop off the bag, and the house was dark, so I just left it on the back porch," Spencer explained. Isabel gave her a confused look, and Spencer added, "The bag Jason gave us."
"Oh," Isabel nodded.
"Now I know why the house was dark," Spencer muttered, and Hanna snickered along with her. Isabel shoved both of them, but playfully. She was just thankful that she and Jason were back together. "Anyway, then I came back here, and I found you lurking in the hydrangeas," she looked at Hanna.
"Okay, I was not lurking, I was just working up the nerve to tell you about Toby," Hanna said nervously. Supposedly, Jenna had Toby completely under her spell. "Did I mess it up even more?"
"I don't see how that's humanly possible," Spencer scoffed. Then she turned to Isabel. "At least Jason forgave you."
"Well, I mean, their relationship mostly consists of-" Hanna began with another smirk.
"I guess there was nothing important in that bag?" Isabel asked loudly, and Hanna silently giggled.
"I don't know what we though we'd find," Spencer shrugged. "Just a bunch of kid stuff."
"Man, times are tough," Hanna suddenly sighed. Isabel looked over at her, and she was holding a newspaper. "Michele Obama wore this same blouse two years ago."
"Wait, where did you get this?" Spencer frowned, taking it from her.
"I was sitting on it," Hanna scoffed.
"That stuff in the bag was wrapped up in newspaper from July, 2009," Isabel realized, reading off it.
"So?" Hanna frowned.
"So we thought Maya's parents wrapped that stuff, but Ali did. Before she disappeared," Spencer explained, and Isabel noticed that sections of the papers were highlighted.
"Spence, look," Isabel said, pointing to them.
"Yeah, this one's highlighted too," Hanna nodded, picking up another paper.
"Wait, Isabel, go through the back yard and take that bag off of Jason's porch," Spencer gulped, pulling out her phone. "I'm gonna call Aria. Hanna, call Emily."
"Did something just happen?" Hanna frowned as Isabel shot up and started off.
"We were looking in the bag for clues but we should've been looking at the whole bag as a clue," Isabel said before hurrying out.
-
Isabel walked onto Jason's porch, remembering all the times she spent playing basketball with him there. She couldn't help but smile.
Suddenly, just as she grabbed the bag, someone got thrown against the door, and Isabel turned around, dropping the bag to go save them. Suddenly, a terrible thought struck her, and she quickly opened the door.
"Jenna?" She gaped as Jenna fell out. Just before she hit the ground, Isabel caught her and dragged Jenna away from the fire. Smoke billowed from the door, and Isabel choked on it as she and Jenna stumbled out onto the lawn.
Spencer and Hanna ran up to her and helped Isabel drag Jenna away. Just as they escaped the flames, the whole back porch exploded, making Isabel stumble and fall, landing on her hand painfully.
-
In the hospital, they confirmed it was only a twisted wrist.
"Wait, so he flew her on a plane?" Hanna asked Aria incredulously. Aria had just explained how Duncan had flown her from Hilton head to Philly the weekend she died.
"From Hilton Head to an airstrip outside Philadelphia," Aria clarified.
"What about the bus ride from her grandmother's?" Emily frowned.
"We never actually saw her get off the bus," Isabel pointed out. "We only saw her get out of the cab. She could've been in Rosewood hours before that."
"Doing what?" Emily gulped.
"Isabel, Hanna!"
The girls turned around to see Ms. Marin run up to Isabel and Hanna.
"What happened? Are you two all right?" Ms. Marin asked worriedly. Isabel was touched that Ms. Marin was worried about her.
"No, I'm fine, I just need to wash my hair," Hanna said with a small smile. "I'm all smoky."
"Only a twisted wrist," Isabel added at Ms. Marin's concerned look at her.
"Isa!"
"Wow, I'm strangely popular now," she joked, but when she turned around and saw Jason, she almost burst into tears of relief. She'd thought... Jenna...
"Oh my god, I'm so glad you're okay, I thought-" Jason began, but Isabel threw her arms around him so that he wouldn't say it.
"Aw," she heard Hanna grin.
"I'm okay," Isabel promised, pulling away. "Only a twisted wrist."
"Only?" He asked incredulously. She smiled, and he added, "Wanna sit down? I have a few questions."
They sat down at the waiting room chairs, and Jason spoke up. "What was Jenna doing in my house?"
"Don't you know?" Isabel frowned.
"No. I was at your apartment when I got a call from the police saying there had been a fire," Jason replied, and Isabel was quite confused now.
"How bad was it?" She finally asked.
"First floor is pretty much damaged in the back, but I won't really know much else till morning," he sighed.
"I'm so sorry," she said.
"You didn't start the fire, trap Jenna in it, and rescue her," he joked, taking her hand.
"You can stay at my place for a while if you want," Isabel offered.
"I-"
"It's not a suggestion," she replied.
"Well, I'd pay rent, since-" he started.
"No, Jason, I'm serious," Isabel laughed. "If you want to thank me, buy me Chinese every night."
"Done," he smiled. "I love you, you know that, right?"
"Of course I do, because I love you too," she grinned. Suddenly, Mrs. Hastings walked in and glanced at her and Jason. She went to the other girls, and he stared after her. "You know you need to talk to her."
"I know," Jason nodded. "I just don't want to."
"Well, we all don't want to get up in the morning, but we do," Isabel shrugged. Jason gave her the 'not helping' look, and she sighed. "I need to talk to the girls, but please, talk to Mrs. Hastings."
She kissed him on the lips before walking off.
-
Toby walked up to Isabel later. "Hey."
"Hey," she replied gruffly. "What you're doing, hanging with Jenna-"
"Bella, you just have to trust me," Toby shrugged. "Jenna and I both know what we're doing. Speaking of Jenna, she wants to talk to you girls."
In her hospital room, Jenna lay there on her bed, looking traumatized.
"Jason was miles away when the police called him," Isabel explained to Jenna, who gulped. "He didn't send you that text."
"Somebody did," Jenna muttered.
"Meaning one of us," Spencer scoffed.
"You can't blame this on us," Emily huffed.
Jenna burst into sobs. "I don't."
The girls awkwardly stood there as Jenna cried. Toby turned to them and said, "You should go."
"Wait," Jenna called. The girls stopped in their tracks. "Isabel, are you there?"
"I'm here," Isabel nodded.
"Toby said that you were the one that dragged me out," Jenna stated. "Is that right?"
"Yeah. That was me," Isabel replied, nervously shoving her hands in her pockets.
"Why?" Jenna gulped.
Isabel smiled softly at her. "You're welcome."
-
"They're all from that summer," Emily pointed out. They were in Spencer's room, going through the newspapers in the bag.
"There's gotta be some kind of key," Spencer huffed, picking up a paper.
"We're the key. Ali said we know more about what happened than we think we do," Hanna said, and Isabel nodded.
"Who tricked Jenna into that house?" Isabel frowned. "It definitely wasn't Jason."
"Speaking of, lemme guess, he lives with you now," Hanna smirked, and Isabel rolled her eyes at her for the third time today.
"Yeah, but his house is destroyed," Isabel argued. Spencer smirked at her as well, and Isabel groaned, "Oh come on Spence, not you, too." The others erupted into giggles. "If it was anybody but Jenna, I think it'd be 'A'," She said, changing the subject.
"Garrett can't be happy that Toby's back in that house with Jenna," Aria said knowingly.
"She was supposed to die in there, wasn't she?" Emily gulped. The others were silent.
Spencer picked up the music box and opened it. "That's everything."
"No, it's not," Emily said suddenly, and Isabel looked over at her. "Does anybody recognize this?" In her hand was a post card to some hotel.
"Is there anything on the back?" Isabel asked, and Emily turned it over.
"Yeah, number 1," Emily nodded, showing it to her.
"It's just half a postcard," Aria shrugged as she grabbed it.
"How do we find out where it's from?" Isabel frowned.
"Yeah, where's the other half?" Spencer added.
Isabel's eyes landed on a newspaper and picked it up urgently. "Wait, this isn't from July, it's from the end of August. Look."
"It's- it's Labor Day events from Philadelphia, Brookhaven and..." Aria said, flipping throught the pages.
"Rosewood," Isabel finished as she landed on the page.
"When did Duncan say he left Ali at the airfield?" Emily frowned.
"Before noon on Sunday," Aria replied confusedly.
"Well, is this where she was when we thought she was on that bus?" Isabel asked, holding up the postcard.
"Who did she plan on meeting?" Spencer agreed.
Suddenly, the ballerina came to life, twirling slowly as 'Fur Elise' played softly.