"Besides, I'm not Spencer. I would ditch school for a hang nail." - Hanna Marin
Isabel, Aria, Hanna, and Emily were hanging out by Aria's locker.
"Did she show up to AP English?" Emily frowned as Aria shoved books into her locker. "Was she even here today?"
"I think we would know if Spencer were here," Isabel scoffed. "People would be running for cover." They stared at her, and she added, "What? Look, she's hurting, and when people hurt, they lash out."
"Just... give her some space," Hanna agreed.
"We have," Aria huffed, closing her locker. "But she's living on planet freefall." They started walking to class, and she turned to Isabel and Emily. "Have you talked to Toby?"
"I tried," Isabel shrugged.
"Well, I left him a ton of messages," Emily replied, elaborating. "Think we're going to have to find out what went down from Spencer. Maybe I'll get some cupcakes and show up at her house."
"She doesn't have the flu," Hanna scoffed. "She doesn't need ragmags and junk food. She needs to work through this pain, not cover it."
"Hmm. Okay, Dr. Hanna," Aria said skeptically. "Pretty sure when you and Caleb broke up, you locked yourself in your bedroom for two weeks, and all you ate was eskimo pies."
"They were skinny cows, and it was four days," Hanna protested. "Besides, I'm not Spencer. I would ditch school for a hang nail."
"Yeah, well, I'm going over there," Emily shrugged, and Aria nodded.
"You need to tell her what you remember about the blonde in the red coat," she agreed. "And give her a riddle, she needs to use that part of her brain again."
"Yeah, and tell her I think I saw her too," Hanna added, and they all stopped, staring at her.
"Back up, saw who?" Aria frowned.
Hanna sighed, "When I went into that fake interview, I could have sworn I saw a blonde girl in a red coat staring at me across the street."
Suddenly, they saw Spencer arguing with Andrew Campbell, the captain of the decathlon team.
-
Isabel walked into Jason's classroom, planning to apologize. He sat in one of the many chairs arranged in a circle, and she couldn't help but smile when she saw him.
"Hey. What are you doing back here?" He smiled, looking up from his book. Isabel walked over to him, and pursed her lips.
"I wanted to talk to you about what Spencer said at the cemetery," she explained.
He scoffed. "You going to tell me she made that up... Ali being pregnant. Come on, Isa, that wasn't breaking news to any of you."
"It doesn't mean it's true, just because CeCe said it," Isabel shrugged, crossing her arms as Jason got up.
"CeCe? Is that who set her up with Wilden?" he spat. "Right after they had their little thing?"
"I don't know, but Emily saw a picture of him up in Cape May, right around the same time, so she thought-"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what picture?" he frowned, and she shrugged.
"I never saw it," Isabel replied, walking over to the desk where he now stood.
"Where did Emily see this?" Jason pressed.
"Police station," she sighed. "I don't know the details, but it was Wilden and a few of his buddies holding up a fish... on a..."
"Boat?" he finished, clearly trying to remember something.
"Uhh, it's more of a dock. Why?" Isabel frowned, tilting her head.
"Alison made my dad this collage, and there was a picture of her on a boat," Jason explained. "What if it was Wilden's?"
"Jason, you can't ask him," Isabel said hastily, her eyes widening. "Okay, if he is trying to hide something, it could hurt you. Don't bring up what Spencer said."
"Well..." he muttered sheepishly, and she sighed. "It's too late. I already called him."
"Great," she mumbled sarcastically. "What did he say?"
"Nothing," Jason shrugged. "Yet. I left a message. Would sure help, though, if I were armed with more proof."
"I have an idea," Isabel nodded, and he motioned for her to go on. "Where is that picture of Ali?"
"Uh, probably in some box in my dad's new office," he replied, frowning slightly
"Can I see it?" she asked, and he smiled down at her.
-
Jason drove them to his house that night, but when they got out of his car, there was a nasty little surprise waiting for them.
Bottles upon bottles lined his porch, all bearing a popular whiskey brand's name. She scowled as they approached it, and hated this new 'A' for doing this.
"Looks like someone's offering me a drink," Jason said sarcastically as he stared.
"Is this some kind of sick joke?" Isabel huffed.
"Yeah, or how Wilden returns phone calls," he shrugged. He grabbed one of the bottles and emptied it into the trash can, shaking his head. "Unbelievable. Would you mind grabbing that other trashcan?" She nodded and started over. "Thanks, babe."
Isabel was about to get it, but her phone beeped.
'Tell your boyfriend to save a couple. He might need it later. Oh, wait, you will, too! -A'
-
At Jason's father's office, the two of them went through the boxes, using their keys as knives.
"I'm so sorry about what happened, back there," Isabel apologized as she opened up another box.
"It wasn't your fault, Isa," Jason assured her, but she wasn't so sure. 'A' even owned up to it. There was something big coming, and she needed to figure it out before she or Jason got hurt.
"No, but I'm thinking it was Mona and 'A's," Isabel scoffed, turning to him. "Jason, I know you seem to think Mona can help you-"
"Look, she hasn't told me yet, but I know I'm getting warmer," he said, and she pursed her lips. If Mona was going to do something, something that she would never have anticipated...
"I know you might think that, but you're literally walking on fire when it comes to Mona," she scoffed. "She's planning something. Using you."
"I'm using her," Jason promised.
But was he?
-
"Is this it?" Isabel asked. She had opened a box and found a collage, and the main photo was of Ali at Cape May.
"Yeah," Jason nodded, walking over.
"Why would Ali give this to your dad?" she frowned as he opened the glass covering.
"Typical Ali move," he shrugged. "Strolled in one day at dawn. Father went ballistic. This was her apology." He gestured to the collage. "That's the one."
"Whose hand is that... on Ali's shoulder?" Isabel asked.
"Wilden," Jason replied, lifting the photo up. "You check the other side?"
Isabel lifted the other side up, and saw CeCe.
"Typical CeCe," he scowled when he saw the image. "Tells me she cares about me, then she goes and has a ménage à trois with Darren Wilden and my sister."
"We... we don't know that for sure," Isabel said hastily.
"Maybe she planned on meeting up with him that night," Jason scoffed.
"What night?" she frowned, and he stared off into nowhere.
"The last night my sister was alive."
He went on to explain how he thought he saw CeCe talking to Melissa.
"Jason, when police were questioning you about that night, why wouldn't you just tell them?" Isabel asked.
"I never trusted that's what I really saw," he shrugged, looking back down at the picture. She took his hand, making him look back up at her. "Besides, if I had told them, that would have meant I was awake, even for a minute. And that would have made me a suspect."
He picked up the picture, and they both made their way to the elevator, still holding hands.
Just as the doors closed, and it started up, the elevator came to a harsh halt, making Isabel almost stumble over.
"Are we going up?" she frowned as the lights flickered, then went out. They both looked up, then at each other, then up again.
A loud bang sounded, rocking the elevator car up and down.
"What just happened?" Isabel panicked.
"I don't know," he shrugged, looking around. She noticed the help button and motioned to it.
"Should I...?"
"I'm not sure whose gonna answer on a Friday night, but go for it," Jason sighed as she punched the button. He pulled out his phone, and when it didn't work, he turned to her. "Oh, come on... try your phone."
She did, and no reception.
"Oh my god, we're trapped!" she gulped, and in her addled state, she didn't realize who was really behind this.
'A'.
-
After futile attempts to call someone, Jason was trying to pry the doors open. She tried to help him, but PTSD kicked in, and she fell against the far side, pulling her knees up to her chest. Being in an enclosed space again...
"You all right?" he asked.
"Yeah," she muttered.
He looked back over at her, clearly worried, but went back to trying to open the doors. "I got it. Just give me a sec."
They finally opened, and just three feet below them was nice, safe, ground.
"We can make that jump," he assured her as she sat rooted to the spot. "Just push off, keep your knees bent."
"Have you done this before?" Isabel asked, gingerly getting up.
"Hell no," he scoffed, still holding the doors open for her.
"Okay," she mumbled, but then she caught sight of the long drop, and her heart got lodged in her throat. "Oh, my gosh!"
"Hey, hey, you'll be fine," Jason promised her as she hyperventilated. "You can make it. Come on, Isa." She was frozen, unable to do anything. "Hey, hey, look at me. You can make that." She slowly scooted over to the edge, legs dangling off the side.
Finally, an actual thought formed in her mind. "Who's going to hold the doors open for you?"
The lights shut off, and the florescent ones turned on, making Jason look back up. "Is somebody up there?"
There was another banging noise, and Isabel scampered back into the elevator before she could be sawed in half. "Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Oh, my God!"
"Isa, let's go, right now," he said as she panicked yet again.
"I can't do this," she gulped, looking up at him helplessly. "I can't do this!"
"Isa, yes, you can. You can do it," Jason promised her. "You can do it, all right. Come on. Isa, you can do this. You gotta go now. Come on."
She slowly inched down, and safely landed on the ground. She could've ran, but her only goal now was to save Jason.
"Thank you," she gulped, reaching up. "Okay. I'll hold the door open for you."
Suddenly, the doors shut, making him back away, and it dropped. Down, tens of tens of feet. She heard him yell before the car disappeared completely.
"No!" she screamed, tears filling her eyes. She collapsed, crying heavily. "Jason! Jason! Jason!" She heard the elevator crash, which raked her body with sobs. No. No, this wasn't happening.
-
Isabel didn't remember getting into the hospital, but there she was, sitting next to Jason's bed.
"I can't believe..." she began, but tears threatened to spill over. Jason took her hand, and she looked back over at him once more. He was so badly injured that she was devastated by just looking at him. "You're really lucky you survived, Jason. I'm so sorry. This is all my fault, I can't-"
"Isa, it's not your fault," he promised. "You didn't tell me to go to my father's office. I did that of my own accord."
"But if I wasn't so slow to-" Isabel protested.
"You were traumatized, you couldn't deal with being trapped again," Jason replied in a soothing voice. "I don't blame you at all."
"I blame me, and I always will," she huffed stubbornly, her eyes prickling with tears once again. "Imagine if you... if you..."
"But I didn't," he said as she cried softly. "I'm okay. I promise you, I'm okay."
All she could do was nod in her messed up state.
"Can you... can you get me some more water?" he asked nervously as if he was asking for something unachievable.
"Sure," she gulped, getting up.
"Hey, Isa," Jason called, and Isabel turned around. "I love you, and I always will."
"I love you too, Jason," she said, a bit confused. Well, it's not like he was gonna die... Right?
When she left, Aria, Emily, and Hanna rushed up to her immediately.
"Isabel, what happened? Where's Jason?" Aria asked, eyes wide.
"Why were you even at his father's office?" Emily frowned.
"T-There's a photo of Ali and CeCe and Wilden," Isabel explained as she put an arm around her. "It was taken on Wilden's boat that summer in Cape May."
"Well, show it to us," Hanna scoffed.
Isabel gulped. "I can't. It disappeared in the... in the accident."
"What?" Hanna gaped.
"Is Jason okay?" Emily frowned, and Isabel almost started crying again.
Spencer rushed in. "Can we see him?"
"Uh... yeah, he's over there," Isabel muttered, pointing to his room. "He asked me to get him some more water.
"I'll do it," Spencer offered, taking the cup. "I'm so sorry, Isabel."
"Me too," she mumbled.
"Excuse me! Where's your friend?"
Isabel turned around to see a nurse walk up to them.
"What?" Isabel blinked.
"The patient in bed 3, Jason DiLaurentis," the nurse replied, and Isabel's heart sank. No. 'A'. She started to panic, and Emily held her tighter. "Where'd he go?"
Isabel ran over to the bed to see that he was, indeed, gone. She started to cry, but then noticed something on his bed.
A note.
'I'm so sorry that I have to do this, but it's for you. I have to go, but I won't be gone forever. I love you so much, more than anything in this world -Jason'
No. She wasn't aware of collapsing to the ground, but all she knew now was that she was sobbing uncontrollably next to his empty bed. He was gone. He left her. He actually left her.
Emily sat down next to her and held her as she wept.
"No, no, no," she choked. "Please, no. Jason, no!"