𝐃𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐈𝐍𝐆
𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐓𝐇𝐄
𝐃𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐋
𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄
𝐈𝐈𝐈. 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞.

𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓, the five girls sat in the Grille. Noelle was slowly nursing an iced tea that she had Hanna spike. Her head was pounding, and she didn't know what to do. That text message kept haunting her mind over and over again. It was as if it was on a constant loop that would never end. It sucked. 

The rest of the girls stayed silent as they sat. It was now night time, and all of them looked exhausted. Aria was the first one to speak up. "Why was Jenna there?" 

Spencer gripped her coffee cup in her hands. "I guess she's back?" 

Noelle shrugged as she ran her hand through her hair, wanting to pull it out. "But for how long? I don't think I could survive if it's for good." 

Hanna gave her a look. "That cop acted like we were suspects or something." 

Noelle placed her drink on the table and gave Hanna a deadpanned look. "Yeah, he's a cop. That's his job." 

Emily sent a panicked look to her friends. "Do you think we looked guilty?" 

Aria sent Emily a look. "Why would we be? We haven't done anything wrong." 

"That they know of." Noelle whispered. "Ow!" She hissed as both Emily and Aria stepped on her toes. 

"Except lie about the Jenna thing." Hanna put in, gaining a nod from Noelle. 

Spencer lowered her voice as she leaned forward to male sure no one would hear. "We promised we'd never bring up the Jenna thing again, remember. It never happened. " 

"And here we are." Noelle gently raised her glass in mock salute in Spencer's direction gaining an eyeroll from said girl, and her feet stomped on again. 

"Have you found a way to forget?" Aria snapped as Hanna unscrewed her flask, as soon as she was done, she handed it over to Noelle who graciously took it. Aria shook her head, eyes deep in memory. "I still wake up sometimes in the middle of the night."  

Noelle nodded as she gripped the table. "It's haunting." 

"Aria, it was an accident." Spencer insisted. 

"Was it?" Noelle asked making the girls turn to her. She shrugged as she played with the Pandora bracelet on her wrist. "We don't know what Ali saw in the shed, what if she did it on purpose." 

"Not here!" Spencer snapped as she looked around to make sure no one was listening. 

Hanna went to pour more of whatever she had in her flask, but an older man at another table gave her a look.  She gave him a sweet smile. "It's medicinal." Noelle snorted as the man clearly didn't believe her. "Cramps." She snapped, rolling her eyes as he finally looked away. 

"I don't get it." Emily stated bringing everyone's attention back to the table. "How does "A" know something about me that only Alison knew?" 

Aria shook her head as if she was trying to ask the same question. "Ali knew all of our secrets, but . . . we never knew any of hers." 

"I knew some." Spencer whispered making them turn to her. Noelle's eyes widened in surprise, she thought she was the only one. 

"So did I." Spencer looked to her with wide eyes, it seems she thought the same as well. 

Aria looked between the two with wide eyes. "Go on." 

Spencer's eyes timidly moved everywhere as she tried avoiding the question. Noelle just blatantly shook her head as she looked down at her iced tea. She wasn't saying thing that wasn't hers to say. "Talk." Hanna demanded. 

Spencer shook her head, "I can't."  She refused, but the girls were ever so persistent. 

"Spence, Nelly, no, you are not gonna drop a bomb like that, and just clam up!" Aria whisper-shouted as she looked between the two girls, the latter of the two stilling at the nickname, it was a long time since she heard it last. 

"She'd so kill me if I told you." Spencer refused, shaking her head again. 

"Yeah, well someone killed her." Noelle bitterly spoke at the same time Hanna said "She's dead." Both gaining warning looks from their friends. 

"Ali was seeing some that summer." All the girls, including Noelle were surprised by that fact. Alison never told Noelle that. Plus, Alison never seemed like the type to willing date someone, no matter how flirty she seemed, it was more manipulation that desire. 

"I knew she was keeping something from me  . . . . from us." Emily quickly jumped in, though she quickly corrected herself. Noelle gently nudged Emily with a sad smile. 

"Well, why didn't she want us to know?" Aria questioned as she looked over to the other girls. 

Spencer shrugged her shoulders. "He was an older boy, and he had a girlfriend."

"Who was it?" Emily asked. 

"She never told me his name." Spencer spoke as Noelle tried racking her brain on who it could be. Her and Alison nearly told each other everything, so this was seriously surprising to the Call girl. 

"Okay, that's only half the secret." Hanna rolled her eyes. 

"It's more than you ever got from her." Spencer defended. 

"Damn." Noelle whistled, her eyes wide. "That was harsh, Spence."

"Your turn." Emily nudged her. 

"What?" She questioned with a slight laugh as she looked between her four eager friends. 

"Spencer shared what she knew, it's only fair that you share." Hanna spoke, her fingers twirling her straw. 

"Yeah, no." Noelle denied as she crossed her arms over chest and leaned back in her chair. "Come on, don't give me those looks."

"You've had to known something." Aria searched her friend's face, trying to find some what of the old Noelle that she knew. 

"Yeah, of course I knew something."  Noelle scoffed as she leaned forward once again. "I just don't know how much of it is true." Noelle ignored the exchanged looks as she continued. "It's Alison. How many times did she lie to us to, just to get something out of us?"

Everyone at the table mulled over her words, letting it sink in before Aria spoke up. "How was that Ali told us nothing, and we told her everything?" Aria added to Noelle's words.  

"Because she made us feel like we were part of something special." Emily spoke up, a sad undertone in her voice. 

"We were." Hanna shrugged, a reminiscent smile on her face as she looked at her friend. 

"I miss that." Aria nodded. 

"Me too." Spencer voiced, sadly. 

"I miss Ali." Emily spoke.

"I miss us being as close as we once were." Noelle voiced quietly, hoping one of them heard her. Both Emily and Aria did, both grabbing her hands, gently squeezing it to remind her that they were there. 

"I can't believe you still wear that." Hanna spoke quietly as she nodded to the bracelet around Emily's  wrist. The one Alison made all of them. 

"Ali still wears hers." Emily defended as she took her hand away from Noelle's and brought them into her lap. "Wore."

"When Ali didn't come home that night, I knew something terrible must have happened." Spencer spoke up. "But there was always some part of me that she'd just show up." 

"Don't jinx it, she still might." Noelle tried to joke, but no one found it funny. 

"Yeah, I used to think that maybe she'd just  . . .  run off with some guy." Aria trialed off, it was Alison, anything was possible with her. 

"She was laying on a beach somewhere." Emily added, a smile smile on her face. 

"Or getting a tan out by the pool with that hot lifeguard." Hanna smiled. 

"Oh. Yeah." Aria grinned. "What was his name?" 

"Who cares?" Hanna brushed it off. ""Save me!"" Hanna shrieked in a high voice, making the girls laugh, finally bringing a lightness to their conversation. 

Their laughter fall quiet as the door to the Grille opened up, and the tapping of a white cane made everyone freeze in their seats. Everyone exchanged looks as Jenna Marshall walked through the Grille, still in her funeral dress. No words were said as the girls quietly packed up their stuff and walked out in different directions.