"CeCe always said there were five other she-devils." -one of CeCe's former friends
Isabel, Spencer, Emily, Hanna, and Aria were all late for school.
"I still think we should dip into those candy-striper outfits one more time," Hanna shrugged.
"What difference would that have made?" Isabel scoffed as they walked as softly as they could.
"Well, we could've talked to Jenna instead of getting turned away at the visitor's desk," Hanna pointed out.
"Guys! Can you keep it down, please?" Aria hissed. "Whole point was to sneak back."
Spencer raised an eyebrow at her. "I think Mr. Facinelli noticed that our entire row was missing."
"Well- I'd still like to graduate," Aria faltered.
"Oh, news flash, honey, none of us are graduating," Isabel laughed, shaking her head.
"Okay, I still think that Spencer to get back to Shana and see if she'll say more," Hanna said abruptly.
Spencer stopped walking to stare at her. "What? Why?"
"Because...!" Hanna snapped. "If CeCe drowned Jenna, then she must know the reason."
"And why exactly do we trust Shana?" Emily asked.
"Why do we trust Jenna?" Isabel pointed out, crossing her arms.
"All right, well I don't trust anybody, and you guys are about as quiet as a monster truck rally!" Aria whisper-shouted. "Now shut up."
Hanna spoke up again once they started walking. "Fine. I'm going to the source."
"'The source'?" Aria frowned. Emily's phone beeped, and she checked it.
"CeCe's been AWOL," Spencer explained. "Since Wilden was alive. You're not just gonna find her folding peasant skirts at the diva dish right now."
"Well, then I'll- I'll search every hipster boutique until I do find her," Hanna scoffed, stopping as Emily stopped.
"No friggin' way," she huffed.
"What? What's wrong? Is it an 'A' text?" Isabel frowned.
"Worse. It's my mother," Emily gulped, reading the text over again. "Mrs. DiLaurentis has offered to let us stay with her." Isabel fell silent.
"In Ali's house?" Aria blinked.
"You're gonna sleep in Ali's old bed?" Spencer added incredulously.
"No! Hell no. I'm not moving in there," Emily scoffed.
"Yes, you are," Hanna said firmly, and they all stared at her. "Em, you have to. It might be our best chance to find CeCe."
Before Emily could answer, the bell rang, and students flooded the halls.
-
Isabel was at her apartment, studying for yet another math test, but her brain was too addled to pay cosines any attention.
Emily moving into Mrs. D's house?
The same house she lived in not too long ago...
Suddenly, her phone beeped, and she picked it up.
'Caleb tried to tell Spencer's mom about 'A'. Can you talk sense into him?' -Hanna
Isabel immediately called Caleb. "What the hell, Caleb?"
"So I'm guessing Hanna told you," he sighed.
"Yeah, she did! Why would you do that? Why would you come this close-" Isabel snapped, getting up and pacing.
"Because I'm sick and tired of 'A' hurting the people I care about. First you, then Hanna," Caleb scoffed. "I love you, Isabela. This is why I'm doing it."
"You're doing it? Caleb, you know 'A' won't disappear if you tell Mrs. Hastings about her. 'A' will only retaliate, and you'll be the one who ends up hurt," she argued.
Caleb was quiet for a moment. "Okay, I won't."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
-
Isabel and Aria went over to the address that Caleb had traced. Aria was on the phone with Hanna, whose mother made bail a while ago, and they seemed to be talking about Jake, who Aria was now dating.
"Okay, well, if I don't get back soon, he's gonna think that it's weird," she sighed. "I mean, 'Gone With the Wind' took less time than this fro-yo run." She paused. "Fine. Oh, but can you please check in on Emily and see how she's doing? Spencer said she was pretty creeped-out when she left." She paused as Isabel held the slip of paper up to each building with no luck. "Thanks. I'll talk to you later."
She finally found the right address, but then bumped into a girl with boxes. "Oh! Excuse me," she apologized. "Sorry."
"You from the management company?" the lady scoffed as Aria walked up.
"We're here to-" Aria began.
"Because I told the lady on the phone I'll move out, but as far as-" the lady went on.
"No, no... we're here looking for someone named CeCe Drake," Isabel explained.
"Well if you find her, let me know," the lady spat, mood suddenly sour.
Isabel and Aria exchanged a confused look. She knew CeCe?
-
Soon, the three of them were moving boxes.
"When CeCe dropped out of UPenn and left for LA, she was still paying rent," the lady explained, putting a lamp in her trunk. "At least, I thought she was."
"She dropped out, or..." Aria frowned.
"She was kicked out?" Isabel finished, vaguely remembering something like that.
The lady straightened, turning to face Isabel. "How'd you know about that? I thought you said you weren't really 'girls' with CeCe."
"No, but my ex was her ex," Isabel explained, and the lady shook her head sadly.
"Well, be glad that you're not dating him anymore. CeCe would've killed him, and then you," she sighed, picking up another box. She then turned to Aria.
"Our friend Alison was friends with CeCe," Aria replied.
"So you two are Alison's friends?" the lady scoffed as she gathered a couple blankets. A car's horn honked at at her, and she yelled, "You want the spot?! Move a box!" Then she turned back to the girls. "Well, then you know."
"I'm sorry... know what?" Aria frowned.
"Alison got her kicked out," the lady said, shoving the blankets into her trunk. "At least, that's what CeCe claimed."
"She was probably lying," Isabel scowled.
"True, but having met Alison, I could see that chick shoving someone down the stairs," the lady shrugged.
"What?" Aria blinked.
"You two were at that frat party," the lady remarked, looking between them. "You're the drunk," she frowned, nodding at Isabel, who raised an eyebrow. A drunk? Seriously? Jeez, Ali. "W-which one are you?" She continued, looking at Aria. "In Alison's crew? CeCe always said there were five other she-devils."
"'She-devils'?" Aria asked shrilly. "Well I-I hardly even knew CeCe, and that... Party was like three years ago. I barely even remember anything."
"Oh, hon, believe me, CeCe would've," Isabel laughed humorlessly.
"Yeah, it stayed pretty fresh in CeCe's mind," the lady agreed as she hauled more clothes into her trunk. "She assumed you were all in on it. And she hated you for it."
-
Isabel was at Mrs. D's. That's what she was gonna call it. Anyway, Spencer was telling them about how Mrs. D visited Radley.
"He said, 'DiLaurentis,'" Spencer urged, looming over Isabel, Hanna, and Emily. "I'm positive."
"How can you be positive?" Isabel frowned. "You said it was Toby that was there, not you."
"No- it was," Spencer stammered, and Isabel raised an eyebrow.
"'Kay- what was Toby doing in an old folks' home?" Hanna asked after a pause.
"I-I don't know, okay," Spencer stuttered. "It had something to do with Nigel's phone. You guys are focusing on the wrong details, okay? She was there. Ali's mom was at Radley at some point."
"He has dementia," Emily shrugged. "The name 'DiLaurentis' has been everywhere. Maybe he just got it stuck in his head."
"Well, I think it's worth it to find out," Spencer protested, crossing her arms.
"So what?" Isabel frowned. "You're just gonna ask her?"
Hanna raised an eyebrow at her. "Yeah, why not?"
"Um, because she's going through a divorce, and she's a little fragile," Emily scoffed.
"She's divorcing that monster? Good," Isabel huffed, leaning back and crossing her arms.
"Who? Kenneth?" Emily blinked.
"He's a terrible person, Em," Hanna agreed. Emily just scoffed again and got up.
"I can't talk about this anymore," she said, gathering her things. "I'm late for work." She looked at Isabel. "Don't you have to take over Amara's shift today?"
"Oh, right," Isabel nodded, also getting up.
"What? Not you, too!" Spencer groaned as Isabel picked up her coat.
"Um, Spence, I kinda need my job," Isabel scoffed, following Emily out.
-
At work, Isabel worked next to Emily, but silently.
Emily broke the silence with, "She said she's sorry."
"Who, Spencer?" Isabel frowned, picking up a cloth. "About what?"
"No, Mrs. DiLaurentis," Emily replied hesitantly. "She really likes you, and... you know."
"Yeah," Isabel nodded sadly. She didn't meet Em's eyes, because all she'd see was pity. "So, she's divorcing Mr. D?"
"Yeah. Why do you hate him so much?" Emily asked.
"Well," Isabel sighed, leaning back on the counter. "He was like a ticking time bomb. When you pissed him off, he'd lash out on you right then and there. And most of the time, Jason was the one who had to drag him away. It ruined him, and I blame Mr. D for that."
-Flashback-
Isabel was waiting for Jason at the door. He had a new club for them to go to, one 'out of town'. She was excited to go, and her leg bounced up and down energetically as she leaned against the front door.
"What are you still doing here?"
Isabel turned around to see Mr. D standing there, slightly irritated.
"Oh, Jason's taking me... out," she replied brightly. "Don't worry-"
"Doesn't he have a girlfriend? What was her name? CeCe Drake?" he frowned as he glared at her. He made her nervous, and she shifted uncomfortably.
"Oh, no, not like that. We're just friends," Isabel assured him.
"Always knew he'd be unfaithful," he muttered under his breath. "Just like his mother... father..."
"Pardon?" she asked politely.
"I always knew Jason wouldn't amount to much. Failing school, an addict, has seven girlfriends-" Mr. D snapped, suddenly mad.
"With all due respect, Mr. DiLaurentis, Jason and I aren't dating. We are, like I said, just friends," Isabel repeated slowly, not sure what else to do to calm this man.
"Bet he says that to all the-"
"Dad, what are you doing?"
Isabel turned around to see Jason walking down the stairs.
"I-I'm sorry, I didn't-" she stammered.
"This is what you do, huh? Go out with her," he practically spat the word out- "at night, and spend time with that lovely girl CeCe for the rest of the day? I expected nothing different from you. And look at her, she even looks like a slut-"
The hurt must've been visible on her face, since Jason yelled, "Dad! She's just a friend! And don't call her that!"
"You're not going anywhere near my son, you hear?" Mr. D snapped at Isabel, who physically backed away a few steps. "And you better get the hell outta my house, before I kick you out!"
"Dad, no, stop-" Jason tried to pull him away from her, but he shook him off.
"Get lost!" Mr. D shouted, and Isabel whirled around to run out the door, but then she let out a harsh laugh, turning around slowly. "What are you-?"
"You know what?" she scoffed, crossing her arms. "You better think twice before calling me a slut, because you don't even know the half of it. If I really am his girlfriend, which again, I am NOT, then I could make you a grandfather faster than you can spin out another one of your basic insults. Also, I can't believe you'd speak to your own son like that. Instead of questioning my motives, maybe you should start questioning yours."
And with that, she stormed out, making sure to slam the door in his face.
-Flashback ends-
"You said all that to him?" Emily asked incredulously.
"I did," Isabel nodded. "And I don't regret a word of it. Which is why he hates me, even now. Doesn't matter, I hate him."
-
Later, Isabel sat on her bed, talking on the phone with Spencer.
"She called us she-devils?" she asked.
"Yep," Isabel nodded, pacing.
"This is starting to make more and more sense," Spencer scoffed. "I mean, now we have a motive, a means of-"
"Wait, are you saying CeCe tried to kill Ali?" Isabel blinked. No way CeCe would. She might've been a bitch, but not a killer.
"Maybe," Spencer shrugged. "But we do know what she's capable of, right?"
Way more than Spencer'd ever know.