At The Woods
Ethan's Pov

Me and the girls decided to go to the woods to get some fresh air, and spend more time together since it's been a while.

Well, I feel like I'm the only one enjoying this.

While my best friends and my sister aren't really happy about this. Especially Hanna.

"Whose idea was this, again?" Hanna asked, clearly annoyed.

"Emily's mom" Spencer said.

"The shed was me. My mom just said we should do something for us" Emily defended, rolling her eyes.

I sighed and shook my head as we all continued walking, Emily taking the lead since she seems to know her way around.

Hanna sighed and walked over to me, grabbing onto my arm.

"Well, couldn't we do something without mosquitoes?" Hanna asked.

"They're not mosquitoes, they're gnats" Aria said.

"Whatever! They're small and annoying, and they're flying up my nose" Hanna said in annoyance.

I chuckled and shook my head at her.

"Well, they're attracted to your perfume. And your hair product. And your lip gloss" I smugly said.

Hanna looked up at me, flashing me a sarcastic yet amusing smile.

"So, what are you saying, I attract flies?" Hanna sarcastically asked, rolling her eyes at me.

I chuckled at her antics and ruffled her hair, earning a smack to the arm in the process.

"Gnats" Aria said, looking back at Hanna before turning around.

We all continued walking, following Emily until we stopped at a nearby place that seemed good enough.

"Why do I feel like this is the wrong way?" Emily asked, turning to look at us.

Spencer looked around before shaking her head.

"No, this is it. I remember that tree. It's the halfway point. There's 136 steps left to the shed" Spencer said, pointing to the tree in front of us.

While I smiled at her and nodded, the girls looked at my sister with furrowed eyebrows.

"Have you been out here since... Alison?" Emily asked.

"Me? No. No way" Spencer said, shaking her head.

"But you remember that tree" Aria said.

"You guys, it's not that weird. I mean, we came out here in eighth grade like, every day... even after" Hanna said, referring to Alison's death.

"I think this is totally the wrong place to do this. Whatever you call it.. shrine" I said, shivering slightly.

"It's not a shrine. It's just a place to remember Alison. What's wrong with that?" Emily asked.

"Doing it way out here makes it look like we have something to hide" Spencer defended.

"You're worried what other people think?" Emily asked in shock and annoyance.

"Well, aren't you? Do you really want to give that creepy Detective more reasons to question us?" I asked.

Hanna shook her head and walked past us, making us look at her before we followed behind her.

"Hanna, why are you so quiet?" Emily asked.

"I'm trying to keep the bugs in my nose and out of my mouth" Hanna said, not looking at us and still walking.

"You're allowed to have an opinion on this" Emily said and I nodded.

Hanna sighed and stopped walking and turned around to look at us.

"You want my opinion? I say we hold off and not remember her 'til we know for sure she's not still here" Hanna shrugged.

We all looked at her with wide eyes in shock.

"What?" we all asked.

"What are you talking about?" Aria asked.

"Buttercup, you think she's still alive?" I asked.

"Hanna, they found her body" Spencer said and I nodded.

"Stop. I'm officially scared. Can we just not-" Aria started but Hanna cut her off.

"You know, you asked for my opinion. I don't believe she's really gone" Hanna shrugged.

She turned around and started walking again. Me and the girls looked at each other before following behind her again.

"We went to her funeral!" me and Spencer yelled.

"Yeah, and when we left we all got a text from her" Hanna said.

"It wasn't her. Someone is messing with us" Emily defended.

"How do you know? And what about all those nasty messages? I mean, how does this A person know stuff only Ali knew?" Hanna asked.

"Okay, this conversation is giving me a hive" Aria sighed in exasperation.

"That's a bite. Mosquito" Hanna said, giving her a slight smirk, making Aria roll her eyes.

We all stopped walking as Emily sighed and looked at me and Spencer.

"Spencer, Ethan, have you gotten any more messages?" Emily asked.

"Haven't you?" Spencer asked.

"No" I said, shaking my head.

We all jumped when we heard rustling nearby. On instinct I grabbed Hanna's arm and pulled her closer to my side.

"What was that? Did you hear that?" Emily asked, looking at all of us.

"Yes, I heard that. I'm standing right next to you" Aria said and I nodded.

"Hello? Is anybody out there?" Hanna asked, looking around.

"It's probably a rabbit" Spencer said. 

I wanted to nod in agreement but I'm honestly not even sure myself.

"Hello?" Hanna asked, one more time.

"It's a rabbit, Hanna, it's not gonna answer you" Spencer said.

"Can we just get to the shed?" I asked, my protective side kicking in.

We jumped once again when we heard more rustling, but it was closer then before and it put all of us on edge.

"Okay, that is definitely not a rabbit. Someone's out there" Hanna said, wrapping her arms around me in fear.

I wrapped my arms around her and placed a brotherly kiss to her head.

"Let's turn around" Emily said and we all nodded.

We turned around to walk away, but stopped when all of our phones ringed. We gave each other knowing looks and reluctantly pulled our phones out to check the message.

Heads up, BFF's. It's open season on liars and I'm hunting

- A

We all looked at each other in fear and started looking around us.

I hugged Hanna tighter, wrapping my other arm around Aria since she was the closest.

The Next Day

I sighed as I put my shirt on and left my room, feeling really hungry.

I walked downstairs and when I got there I saw mom and Melissa at the kitchen.

Melissa was sitting at the counter, looking at her laptop while mom was looking through a few things and trying to find a marker.

I sighed when I saw the depressed and sad look on Melissa's face, already knowing the reason.

I hate seeing my older sister like that. I just hope that if Spencer comes in here no fights will happen between them.

Although, I doubt that's possible.

"Morning mom" I smiled as I walked over to them.

"Good morning honey" Mom smiled, kissing me on the cheek before grabbing a nearby marker.

I walked over to Melissa and leaned down to kiss her head.

"Morning big sis" I smiled.

"Hey lil bro" Melissa said, giving me a slight smile and kiss on the cheek.

Mom smiled at our interaction, before Melissa's mood went back to a sad one as she went back to working on her laptop.

I smiled softly at her before walking over to the other side and grabbing a muffin.

Mom sighed as she turned to the calendar on the wall and started crossing out a few dates.

"You can't avoid seeing people, sweetie. It is what it is" Mom said.

When she was done she put the cap for the marker back on and placed the marker back where she found it.

"And what's that. Sad? Humiliating? Pathetic? All of the above?" Melissa asked.

I frowned and gently placed my hand on her shoulder for some comfort.

Melissa looked at me and gave me a small smile. Mom doing the same as she nodded at me in thanks.

Melissa sighed before shaking her head, trying to clear her thoughts and focus on what she was trying to do.

"Just... take someone else. I don't want to have to explain a wedding that's never gonna happen to every last club member" Melissa said.

Mom nodded, gently rubbing her back before turning around to grab her coffee mug.

I turned around and smiled when I saw Spencer walking into the room, but I could tell and see that she was nervous.

"Morning" Spencer said, nearly coming out as a whisper.

"Hey" Mom said, giving her a glance while drinking her coffee.

"Morning sis" I smiled, ruffling her hair when she made her way over to me.

A small smile made it's way onto her face as she giggled at me and gently shoved my hand away, shaking her head.

I chuckled and shook my head as I went back to eating my muffin.

But I stopped when I saw Melissa giving Spencer a dirty look. She grabbed all the magazines that were on the counter and walked over to us.

She passed by me, but she purposefully shoved Spencer out of the way.

"Excuse me" Melissa said, her voice filled with nothing but anger.

She then starts throwing all the magazines in the trash, one by one, not taking her eyes off of Spencer as she does so.

I looked at mom, who just sighed and shook her head, telling me not to get involved.

I sighed and nodded and just decided to see what would happen.

But if it gets a bit physical, I'm stepping in.

Spencer sighed in slight annoyance and turned to look at me and mom.

"Where's dad?" Spencer asked.

Melissa harshly bumped into her, making Spencer stumble, as she walked back over to where she was sitting before.

"He left for the office" I said and mom nodded.

Spencer sighed in annoyance and let out a sarcastic laugh.

"Already? So he ran without me? Why didn't he just knock on my door?" Spencer asked, placing her hands on her hips.

"He was busy. He was helping Melissa dispose of some things that...Wren left behind" Mom said.

"Unfortunately, you weren't one of them" Melissa bitterly said.

"Melissa" I sighed, already feeling a headache coming on.

Spencer glared at her and walked closer towards the counter as she tapped on it.

"How many times am I going to have to say it?" Spencer asked, clearly fed up with Melissa.

"Oh, girls, please. I can't arbitrate on one cup of coffee" Mom said, giving both of them a look as she walked past me and Spencer.

"And I want to eat first before getting involved with your problems" I said, going back to eating my muffin.

Melissa and Spencer glared at each other before Melissa turned away to look at mom.

"Who's calling the paper to pull the announcement? It was hard enough changing my status on Facebook" Melissa asked.

Spencer scoffed and rolled her eyes, turning around to grab a plate.

"I'll take care of the newspaper" Mom said.

"What about the engagement dinner? Do I have to make that call?" Melissa asked, her lips trembling as she was trying to hold in her tears.

I sighed and put my muffin down and walked over to her.

I wrapped my arms around her and kissed her forehead, doing my best to comfort her because I know she needed it.

"No sis, you don't need to do that. Just look up the number and I'll leave a message" I softly said.

Melissa nodded and placed her hands on top of mine, leaning into my touch. I sighed and placed my chin on top of her head.

Mom smiled at us and walked over and hugged Melissa from her other side.

I looked up to see Spencer placing a muffin on her plate as she quickly walked by us.

But before she could make her escape, mom stopped her.

"Where are you going?" Mom asked, turning to her.

"I'll eat in my bedroom" Spencer said, turning around to leave once again but mom stopped her.

"Oh, no, you won't. I just dry-cleaned your bedspread. Sit at the table" Mom sternly said.

Spencer gave her a look of disbelief as she spared Melissa a glance before looking back at mom.

"I don't think I'm welcome" Spencer said, earning a scoff from Melissa.

"That's never stopped you before" Melissa said.

I sighed and kissed her head before pulling away from her, walking back over to where I was and grabbing my muffin.

Spencer gave her an angry and frustrated look and walked a bit closer to her.

"I did not invite your fiancé to kiss me Melissa. For the last time, he made the move on me!" Spencer yelled.

"Spence" I sighed.

"Spencer, please" Mom said, closing her eyes in exasperation.

Melissa turned her head to look at Spencer, glaring at her with nothing but anger shown in her eyes.

"Right, you just sat there like a throw pillow with your tongue down his throat!" Melissa yelled back at her.

I groaned and threw my head back, my headache getting worse by the second.

Seriously, they have to fight right now.

I understand that Melissa is upset, but can she at least keep her anger to herself.

"Look, I get it! You're upset and I feel for you, but don't dump it all on me. Maybe you should be asking yourself why Wren felt the need to... I'm sorry. Okay" Spencer said in exasperation.

Melissa continued glaring at her while mom was rubbing her temple. While I finished my muffin and threw the paper in the trash.

"I'm not perfect, but I don't want to be accused of something that I didn't do!" Spencer yelled, almost in tears.

Mom, clearly tired and frustrated, snapped at both of them.

"Oh, stop please. Both of you!" Mom yelled.

Melissa, glaring at Spencer one last time, turned around to continue working on her laptop. Mom sighed before turning to Spencer.

"Go get dressed for school. You can take your muffin to go" Mom sternly said.

Spencer didn't say anything, other than rolling her eyes before dumping her muffin in the trash and heading upstairs.

"Seriously, Spence!" I yelled, a bit annoyed that she threw out a perfectly good muffin.

I understand if she wasn't hungry anymore, but she didn't have to throw it away.

I'd gladly take it. I'm still hungry.

Melissa sighed and shook her head, grabbing her laptop and getting up as she left the house. Most likely to head to the loft.

Sighing in annoyance, I looked up at mom, who was looking at me with the same look.

"This is gonna go on for a while, isn't it?" I asked.

"Most definitely" Mom said, shaking her head.

I sighed and shook my head, already fed up.

Mom chuckled softly before wrapping her arm around my neck, leaning in and placing a motherly kiss to my forehead.

"Don't worry about your sisters. Just focus on getting to school. And remember to get that AP paper of yours finished" Mom said.

"I will. I promise" I smiled.

Mom smiled and gave me one last forehead kiss before pulling away.

"Good, now go on, get out of here. School awaits" Mom said.

I chuckled and nodded.

I grabbed a granola bar and walked upstairs to get my bag, wait for Spencer and leave for school.

At School

Me and Spencer got to school. When we walked inside we went straight for our lockers.

I opened mine to take out the books that I needed. Whereas when Spencer opened hers, a few books fell out.

Spencer sighed in annoyance while I covered my laugh with my hand.

I closed my locker and bent down to help my sister. I jumped a bit when Aria bent down next to me to help.

"Russian history?" Aria asked, looking at the book that was in her hands.

"Yeah" Spencer nodded.

We all got up from the ground, books in our hands as we stuffed them back inside her locker.

"How many AP classes does it take until your brain explodes?" Aria asked in a joking tone, prompting a laugh from me.

Spencer chuckled and shook her head as she tried closing her locker.

"I'm already drowning in there" Spencer said.

"Why, what's drowning for you, B+?" Aria asked.

"First paper's due Monday, and I've written two words. My name" Spencer sighed, finally closing her locker.

"What about you, Ethan?" Aria asked.

"I've gotten a few paragraphs down. A few more to finish and I'll be done, but I think I'll be good enough for a B+" I shrugged.

Aria smiled and nodded before we both turned to my sister.

"Well, what's going on?" Aria asked, clearly concerned.

My sister looked at her and shook her head and started walking, but me and Aria caught up to her.

"Hey, you're not still freaked out about what happened in the woods yesterday, are you? Look, we do not have to do this thing for Ali until we figure-" Aria started but Spencer cut her off.

"No, it's not just that. It's... It's everything. Is there any chance your family wants to adopt me?" Spencer asked, smiling lightly at the end.

I chuckled at her while Aria looked confused, but I could see an amused smile forming on her face. We stopped walking when we heard a cane tapping again.

We looked up and thought it was just Jenna, but she wasn't alone, her step-brother Toby Cavanaugh was with her.

Aria and Spencer looked at him with wide eyes in shock and fear.

While I was calm and sent Toby a welcoming smile and wave.

He glared at the girls, but he gave me a small smile and waved back before they both walked away.

I don't know why the girls are scared of him. I'll admit that maybe he can be a bit weird and creepy, but he's not a bad person.

Hanna walked over to us and Emily did too once Maya walked away.

"He's back, too? When did that happen?" Aria asked.

"Maybe she needs help sending radioactive e-mails" Hanna sarcastically said.

"Yeah, or he may be sending a few of his own" Spencer said.

"Spence" I said in a stern tone, not liking that she was starting to accuse Toby when he just got here.

"Hanna!" we heard someone yell from nearby.

We turned around, only to see Detective Wilden walking towards us. Me and the girls looked at each other, clearly shocked.

Are you kidding me?

Can't this weirdo leave me and my best friends alone?

"Cops on campus too" Aria said in shock.

"I just spoke with your principal, asked him if we could have a chat" Detective Wilden said once he reached us.

"No, I have to get to class" Hanna said.

"Don't worry, you've been excused. Let's go" Detective Wilden said.

I glared angrily at him while Hanna just sighed and nodded. They both walked away and me and the girls looked at each other.

"What is going on? Why just her?" Aria asked.

"Probably thinks she's the easiest to crack" Emily said.

"She is" Spencer nodded.

"I'll kick his ass if he thinks about hurting her" I muttered under my breath.

We heard a cane tapping and turned around to see Jenna walking by us, holding a few books in her hands.

"Whisper, whisper, whisper. Almost feels like Alison's still here" Jenna said before walking away from us.

An Hour Later

Classes went on like they always did and once we were done with a few we were by the lockers. We were huddled around Aria, who was on her phone.

"What are you doing? Is that a new phone?" Spencer asked.

"Yeah, I'm checking my Kin. I'll just write on Hanna's wall from here" Aria nodded.

"If she's not answering texts, what makes you think she's checking Facebook?" I asked, crossing my arms.

"It's worth a try" Aria shrugged.

She started typing on her phone before we heard footsteps and looked up to see Hanna walking towards us.

"What's going on?" Hanna asked.

We all looked at her incredulously as Aria put her phone away.

"We've been trying to get ahold of you. What happened in there?" Aria asked.

We moved away from the lockers as Hanna walked over to hers and opened it, shoving a few books inside and grabbing others.

"You were in there for an hour, Hanna. What else did he ask?" Spencer asked.

Hanna sighed and closed her locker, turning around to face us and leaning against the lockers.

"Nothing. He just took a couple calls, and I just sat there, waiting for him to shut up" Hanna said with a slight smile.

"Well, is he gonna question all of us alone now?" Aria asked.

"Who knows? Look, let's do this at lunch, okay? I have to hit the ladies' before my next class" Hanna smiled.

She ruffled my hair before walking away. When she was gone we all looked at each other.

"Is she being weird?" I asked.

"She's being weird. I'll see you guys at lunch" Emily said before walking away.

"Bye" me and Spencer said to Aria before walking away to head to our next class.

A Few Hours Later

A few more hours passed and before I knew it school was done and it was time to head home. Thank goodness.

Spencer had already left to head home, while I was staying because I promised Emily I'd take her home.

I just need to wait for her outside the girls locker room since practice has most likely ended right about now.

While I was walking, I spotted Toby nearby and decided to go and talk to him.

"Hey, Toby. How's it going?" I asked.

I chuckled lightly when he jumped in shock, but when he saw it was me he sighed in relief and relaxed slightly.

"Oh, hey, Ethan. I'm good, thanks" Toby shrugged.

"Why are you still here? School ended a few minutes ago" I asked as we started walking together.

"I needed to talk to the Principal about something. And you?" Toby asked.

"Picking up Emily from the girls locker room. Swim practice finished a while ago and I'm going to pick her up and walk her home" I explained.

Toby chuckled and gave me a small smile.

"Quite the gentleman, always have and always will" Toby said.

"I do try" I sighed dramatically, earning another chuckle from Toby.

Once we were near the girls locker room, me and Toby were about to part ways, when all of a sudden I hear noises coming from inside.

I  walked closer to the door in order to hear what was being said. 

"Ben, get off me! Get off! Stop it!" I heard Emily yelling.

Fear coursed through my body and I quickly ran inside, with Toby right behind me.

When I got inside, my blood boiled when I saw Emily pinned to the locker, desperately trying to get Ben off of her.

"Get the hell away from her!" I angrily yelled.

I ran towards them and grabbed Ben and shoved him off of her.

I turned him around and before he could react, I shoved my fist into his face. He stumbled back into the lockers and I ran over to Emily.

I brought her into my arms and she immediately wrapped her arms around me, silently crying into my chest.

I heard a loud noise and a groan and turned around to see Toby pinning Ben to the lockers, holding the collar of his jacket.

"Toby, that's enough! Okay! Stop!" I yelled.

Emily managed to stop crying and she nodded, looking at Toby.

Ben gritted his teeth in anger and turned to Emily, anger flashing through his eyes.

"Is this creep a friend of yours? Is he the reason you're acting like this?" Ben asked, glaring at Toby.

I angrily glared at him and hugged Emily tighter in your arms.

"Ben, get over yourself, okay" I scoffed.

"Get over myself?" Ben asked in disbelief.

I glared at him as me and Emily pulled away from the hug. I quickly grabbed her pants and jacket that were on the ground.

She took them from me and hurriedly put them on.

"It's done, we're over" Emily said, some anger flashing through her eyes.

"Grab your bag and lets go" I sternly said.

She nodded and grabbed her bag before leaving the room. Toby glared at Ben one last time before letting him go and leaving too.

I walked over to Ben and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pulled him closer.

"If you ever, and I mean ever, go near Emily again and try and touch her when she doesn't want to. You're gonna regret it" I said through gritted teeth.

I shoved him towards the lockers and left, not wanting to be there any longer.

When I got out, I saw Emily waiting for me but Toby was nowhere to be found.

I looked at Emily and I saw small tears streaming down her face. She was shaking and hugging herself with her arms.

I sighed and walked over to her. I wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer to my side.

"Come on, Em. Lets get you home" I softly said.

She sniffled and nodded. She wrapped her arm around my waist and snuggled into my side. I kissed her head before we both walked away.

Back At Home
At Night

After I got Emily home, I went straight home to get started on my homework.

Noel is having his cabin party today and the girls are gonna be there. Me and Spencer want to be there too, but we've got to finish our papers before we can go.

When I had all my homework finished, I immediately got started on my paper. I had a few paragraphs done, I just need to work on the others and I'll be done.

I was holding my laptop while heading downstairs since that's where Spencer was.

When I got there, I saw Spencer putting a flash drive in her computer. I narrowed my eyes at her in confusion before shaking it off and walking over to her.

"Hey sis" I smiled.

She jumped slightly before turning to me and smiling.

"Oh, hey bro" Spencer smiled.

"What's up? Still working on that paper?" I asked, sitting down on the other side.

"Yeah, but the good news is that I've managed to get a few paragraphs down and I should be finished in a few hours" Spencer said with a small smile.

"Awesome, see, I knew you had it in you" I smiled, leaning over to pat her head.

She giggled and smiled. I opened my mouth to say something when we both heard the door opening.

Spencer quickly closed her laptop, not all the way, only halfway.

I raised my eyebrows at her in confusion before turning around and smiling when I saw mom and Melissa entering the house.

"Hey. Hi, how was the club?" Spencer asked.

"Chilly" Mom said, putting her keys and water bottle down.

Melissa put her bag down and walked over to me, kissing my head and wrapping her arms around me from behind.

I chuckled and put my hands on top of hers.

"Nobody who works there can figure out a thermostat" Mom said in annoyance.

Me and Spencer laughed and shook our heads at her. Mom smiled at us before she walked over to Spencer.

"Did you both eat?" Mom asked.

"Yeah, Spencer made some pasta if you're hungry" I smiled, Spencer smiled and nodded.

Mom looked like she was considering it, but Melissa scoffed, making all of us look at her.

"I'm not eating pasta. I don't need to be depressed and fat" Melissa said, giving Spencer a knowing look.

Spencer frowned and looked away while I sighed and shook my head. Mom frowned and nodded, putting her hand on top of her stomach.

"Good point. I'll make a salad. Let me get out of these clothes" Mom nodded before leaving to head upstairs.

When she left, it got silent really quick. And it was awkward. I can practically feel the tension between Melissa and Spencer.

I opened my mouth to say something when Melissa beat me to it.

"Wren called. He told me you went into the city yesterday to meet him" Melissa said, looking at Spencer.

Spencer perked up at this, but I furrowed my eyebrows at her in confusion.

She never told me she went to see Wren.

"It was strange. At first I wasn't sure why he was telling me this, but then I realized he's still trying to cover his tracks and yours" Melissa said, glaring at Spencer with nothing but anger.

Spencer frowned, hurt evident in her eyes, while I quietly groaned.

"Like I'm supposed to believe you took a train down there just to clear your name. You two deserve each other. I thought I was pathetic" Melissa scoffed, rolling her eyes.

She glared at her one more time before kissing my head and walking away to head upstairs.

I sighed and rubbed my temple, clearly over with this entire situation.

I looked at Spencer, only to see her frowning and biting her lip, obviously trying to stop herself from crying.

"She's never going to forgive me" Spencer whispered.

I sighed and placed my hand on top of hers, making her look at me.

"She'll get over it. Just give her time" I softly said.

She didn't look that convinced, but she sent me a soft smile and nodded, making me smile back at her.

At Noel Khan's Cabin Party

Once me and Spencer were done with our papers and submitted it to our teacher, we got changed and left for the party.

We met up with Aria and Emily outside the party.

Emily started explaining to the girls that she broke up with Ben after he tried to kiss her, even when she told him to stop.

She even told them that I punched him and Toby pinned him to the lockers.

While they were happy that I was there, they were confused and weirded out as to why Toby was there.

"What was Toby even doing in the girls' locker room?" Aria asked.

I opened my mouth to say something, but stopped when my sister scoffed.

"Why are you shocked? Toby's a perv. We caught him peeping through the windows, watching us undress" Spencer said.

I glared at her in annoyance.

I love my twin sister, I really do, but I hate that she's always judging other people without knowing their full story.

"Alison's the one who saw him do that. We never did" Emily defended.

"And for the last damn time, he wasn't there the entire time. I was walking to the girls locker room to get Emily and I met up with Toby. We both walked together but stopped when we heard noises inside the girls locker room. He wasn't there the entire time and he's not a creep" I explained.

Spencer opened her mouth to say something but stopped when Hanna walked over to us.

"What's up?" Hanna asked.

"I beat up Ben after he tried to forcefully kiss Emily" I shrugged.

"Toby Cavanaugh got into a fight with Ben over Emily" Aria said, making me glare at her in annoyance.

"It wasn't over me. God. Look, he and Ethan saved me" Emily said, already getting annoyed just like I was.

"For what, himself?" Spencer asked.

"Spence!" I angrily hissed at her.

"Ew" Hanna gagged.

"If we hadn't asked you about Ben, would you have told us about this?" Aria asked, looking at Emily.

Emily gave her an annoyed look while I was this close from snapping at all of them. Spencer sighed and looked at Emily.

"Toby is not a good guy, Emily. He could be seriously dangerous" Spencer said.

"For the love of everything. He's not dangerous" I said through gritted teeth.

"Yeah. And if he's such a bad guy, why'd he take the fall for us?" Emily asked.

Spencer opened her mouth to say something, but stopped for some reason.

We all looked at each other before looking back at her with furrowed eyebrows.

"Is this another secret? Do you know something that we don't?" Aria asked.

"Guys, why don't we just, like chill, and talk about this somewhere else? When we're alone" Hanna said.

"I...don't even know what 'just us' means anymore" I said and Aria nodded.

"Yeah, uh... Let's talk about it tomorrow, okay? Are we still meeting up at the shed?" Hanna asked before turning around and walking away.

We all looked at each other as Aria released an annoyed sigh.

"Yeah. Yeah, sure. Why not?" Aria shrugged.

I released a small chuckle and nodded. Aria grabbed her purse, making the three of us furrow our eyebrows at her in confusion.

"Where are you going?" I asked.

"The gallery. I promised my mom" Aria said before walking away.

When she was gone, Maya walked over to us with a huge smile on her face.

"Have you checked out the photobooth they've got in there?" Maya asked.

"No. Show me the booth" Emily smiled, grabbing her hand as they both walked away.

I sighed in annoyance and walked away from my sister, not wanting to be near her right now.

I just wanted to drink in peace.

The Next Day
In The Woods

It was the next day. It was early in the morning, really early but it wasn't that dark, me and the girls were back at the woods.

It was just to have fun, like last time, but Spencer had taken us somewhere private to tell us something.

"Alison wanted us across the street so she could have it out with Toby. Ali had something on him" Spencer explained.

"Besides being a total perv who peeped in our windows?" Hanna sarcastically asked.

"Hanna" I said in a warning tone.

"Yeah, something way bigger, and she was threatening to tell everybody. That's why he took the fall for us" Spencer explained.

"Why are you waiting until now to tell us?" Aria asked.

"I don't know. Ali made me promise, and...I guess I was scared. I thought if we never talked about that night again, it would just go away" Spencer explained.

I sighed and shook my head, rubbing my forehead, clearly tired.

"Well, it's not going away. Not unless we toss our phones and join the Navy" I sarcastically said, making Hanna giggle.

We all looked at each other and sighed before we started walking.

"Look, there's four of us and one freak sending messages. If we just talk to each other like this, I feel like it makes it easier to deal with everything" Emily confidently said.

I smiled at her and nodded.

"I think Emily's right. There's way too many secrets. We shouldn't do this in the middle of nowhere. We should do it where we can see it every day" I explained.

"You mean, like, somewhere in school?" Hanna asked.

"No. In town. We should ask if we can put a bench somewhere" I said.

Aria let out a small gasp, causing all of us to stop walking and turn to look at her.

"Wait, and you know what? Whoever did this to her, if they're still in rosewood, we should make them look at it every day, too" Aria smiled.

We all smiled at each other and nodded, liking that idea.

We looked at Hanna, only to see her half smiling and nodding, not liking the idea.

"What, you hate the idea?" Spencer asked.

"No. No, I just...I had a rough night" Hanna sighed, slumping her shoulders.

We all just nodded at her, not wanting to bother her anymore with the subject.

Then all of a sudden we hear rustling nearby. We all looked at each other before dropping our things and running towards where the sound came from.

If this freaking A person is following us wherever we go and is here right now, we've gotta catch him or her fast.

We continued running, before stopping when we realized that nobody was here.

I groaned in annoyance and tugged on my hair.

Damn, we were close to catching him or her and we missed our chance.

Just when we were about to walk away, I spotted something a few feet in front of us.

"Look" I said, pointing at where I was looking.

The girls looked at me before looking at where I was pointing and their eyes widen in shock and realization.

We walked towards the item. We created a circle and continued looking down at the item.

"Is that yours?" Spencer asked, not looking at us.

"Alison's" Aria said, nearly in a whisper.

It was a bracelet.

More specifically, Alison's bracelet.