5 Months Later
Ethan's Pov

5 months had passed since everything happened.

5 months of no A. No looking over my shoulder. No threats. No Mona.

I was able to spend my entire summer just having fun, spending time with family and friends. It was absolutely amazing.

My summer internship at Harvard was amazing. Sure, hard at times, but I had enjoyed every single minute of it.

Me and the girls were able to experience something we haven't had in a while. Fun. Real fun.

However, the only one that didn't really enjoy their summer was Emily.

After Maya's body was found Emily was and still is completely heartbroken. Her girlfriend was dead and she's not coming back. The girl she loved was gone and Emily felt nothing but sadness.

I did the best that I could to help her heal during the entire summer, even during my internship, I did the best I could to help her.

Right now the girls were at mine and Spencer's house. We were celebrating making it to senior year since we were all ecstatic at the news.

"Em, you and I are the only ones who did anything worth talking about this summer. I mean, Aria took some boring picture class, Spencer went to college and Ethan did his boring internship at Harvard" Hanna scoffed.

I playfully glared at her as Spencer gave her an offended look.

"I took a full load at Hollis. Aria beat out a thousands applicants for a space in that photography class and Ethan nailed his internship" Spencer smiled.

I smiled at that and nodded, taking a sip of my beer.

"So, how many houses did you build?" Hanna asked, looking at Emily.

"Uh, I think we finished about six" Emily said.

"And in poor countries, one house is like a home for fifty" Hanna smiled.

"Ok, miss Productive. How much of your list did you actually do?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Let's see" Hanna smiled.

She took out a small notebook and pen that were in her pocket.

"Cooking class with Caleb. Done. Volunteer at the Animal Shelter for pocket dogs" Hanna said.

"Wait, that exists?" Spencer asked, shocked.

"Did not do. Expand my vocabulary, effectuating" Hanna smiled.

Me and Aria gasped in a fake surprise while Spencer chuckled at us in amusement.

"Interned for Vera Wang" Hanna said.

"You got an internship for Vera Wang?" Emily asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Yeah, I changed my mind. Turns out they want you to work for free" Hanna said, rolling her eyes.

I chuckled at that and shook my head at her, amused.

"Is that a car?" Aria asked, looking outside when she heard a noise

"No, it's just the wind" Hanna said.

We heard another noise and turned around, only to see Emily pouring herself another drink.

"Oh, careful, Em, they're already pretty strong" Aria said.

"Maybe for you, you're a pixie. I've gotten really good at this" Emily smiled before gulping down her drink.

We all looked at her in worry before looking at each other.

Just then the girls phones all rang, causing them to take them out and see who it was from.

"Show me your boobs, A" Spencer sarcastically smiled.

"Does Mona have a ten year old brother?" Aria asked.

"A for annoying" Emily scoffed, setting her phone down.

Ever since everyone found out what Mona did to us some people thought it was a good idea to mess with us.

Well, they mostly messed with the other girls, I only ever received like three or four texts from wannabe A's.

"Are these ever gonna stop?" Hanna asked, annoyed.

"Eventually we'll be old news" I reassured her.

"Yeah, and then Garrett will go on trial and we'll be news again. Or Mona will start talking and we'll be news again" Aria said.

"Or I'll show someone my boobs and we'll be news again" Emily slurred, already getting drunk.

"Ok" Spencer laughed before taking the flask away from her.

"Hey, I thought this was a party" Emily groaned, signalling for Spencer to give her her flask back.

"You know what? You're right, Em. Welcome back" Hanna smiled.

"And you're never allowed to leave for an entire summer again" Aria smiled.

"To making it to senior year" Spencer grinned.

The four of grinned and cheered together, but Emily didn't join us, she just stared at her cup with a sad expression on her face.

"Not all of us made it" Emily said.

I already knew that she was talking about Maya.

Spencer sighed and flashed her a sympathetic look.

"I'm sorry, Em. I didn't mean it like that" Spencer softly said.

Emily spared her a glance and nodded, she sighed before raising her cup.

"To Maya" Emily said, her voice cracking slightly before taking a sip.

I frowned and gently patted her thigh for comfort.

"Em, you know that we're here for you" I softly said.

Emily just nodded her head and continued drinking. I sighed before looking at the others as I raised my cup.

"To Maya" I said.

"To Maya" all of them said before taking a sip.

Rest in Peace, Maya.

A Few Minutes Later

I honestly can't remember anything other than drinking before passing out on the hard ground while the girls slept on the couches.

I woke up and groaned at the headache I was feeling before sitting up from the ground.

As soon as I woke up Aria and Hanna woke up. But what worried me was the fact that Spencer and Emily weren't here.

"Guys, where's Emily and Spencer?" I asked.

"I don't know" Aria said.

I turned around, only for my eyebrows to furrow in confusion when I saw that the door was open.

What the hell? Why is it open? Did someone come in?

"I need an aspirin and a trough of water" Hanna groaned, clutching onto her head.

I chuckled lightly before getting up from the ground as Aria got up from the couch.

"Emily!" Aria yelled.

I heard footsteps and turned around and sighed in relief when I saw Spencer, at least she was still here.

"She's gone" Spencer said.

"What do you mean she's gone?" I asked.

"I've looked everywhere" Spencer said.

That just made me even more worried, but what worried me was the fact that the door's open.

And my guess is that Emily woke up in the middle of the night, still drunk as hell, and left.

At The Graveyard

After calling Emily so many times she ended up picking up and told us that she was at a graveyard and needed us to come get her.

When we got there we didn't expect her to be standing in front of Alison's graveyard with a shovel in her hand.

And we didn't expect for Alison's grave to be dug up.

Emily stumbled away before landing on the ground, leaning against another gravestone, as Hanna walked towards her to make sure she was alright.

"How could she not remember anything?" Aria asked.

"She's totally out of it. She's still drunk" Spencer whispered.

"You don't think that she had anything to do with this, do you?" Aria asked, worried.

"No! She can hardly stand, how can she dig up a grave when she can hardly pick up her own damn phone!" I whisper yelled at her.

"How did she get here?" Aria asked.

Spencer sighed before looking towards Hanna and Emily.

"Han, hand me Em's phone" Spencer said.

Hanna handed her Emily's phone as Spencer grabbed it and began going through it, me and Aria huddled closer to her side to look at it ourselves.

"Em, you got a blocked call at eleven. Who was it? Do you remember who you talked to?" Spencer asked.

"Um, I think I remember leaving your house, and the next thing I know you guys are calling me and I'm here" Emily explained.

"What? That can't be right" Spencer gasped.

"What is it?" Aria asked.

"It says that at midnight she got a call from my phone" Spencer said.

"You were asleep, right?" Aria asked.

"No, she woke up in the middle of the night to go skinning dipping" I sarcastically said.

This earned a snort from both Hanna and Emily, Aria glared at me while Spencer sent me an unimpressed look.

"Oh, my God. Somebody called Emily from my phone. Somebody was in my house. You guys, this is a set-up" Spencer gasped, looking scared.

Holy shit! I was right.

Someone did break into the house.

We all jumped, startled, when we heard a branch break. We turned around to see if anyone was here, but there was nobody here at all.

"What was that?" Hanna asked.

"We need to get out of here, now. Come on" I sternly said.

I walked towards Emily and Hanna. I grabbed Emily by the arm and picked her up, carrying her bridal style. Emily wrapped her arms around my neck and buried her face in my chest, sighing.

"We'll take her to the house, you two get rid of the shovel and come back, make sure nobody sees you" I said.

Hanna and Aria nodded before Spencer and I walked away to head to our car to get Emily home.

We need to think of a plan and fast.

Back At Home

When we got home Spencer started making Emily some coffee while I was preparing us some cookies.

"Everything?" Emily asked.

"Everything" Spencer and I said.

Emily sighed before unbuttoning her shirt as she took it off before unbuttoning her pants and took them off as well.

"The only person who benefits from a missing body is Ali's killer" Spencer said.

"He killed Maya too" Emily angrily said.

"I know, Em. And Garrett's gonna rot in hell for it" I said.

I covered my eyes and grabbed one of Spencer's robes and handed it to Emily.

I went back to the kitchen and grabbed the plate of cookies as Spencer grabbed the coffee mugs as we both walked towards Emily.

"Jenna wouldn't help Garrett. She put him in jail" I said as I set the plate of cookies down.

Spencer handed Emily her coffee before handing me mine. I thanked her and took a few sips.

"What about your sister?" Emily asked as she sat down on the couch.

"She's in Philadelphia, and as far as we know, the only thing she's guilty of is being in Ali's room the night that she died" I said.

"There has to be someone else. Someone we don't know who's connected to Garrett" Spencer said.

She grabbed Emily's clothes before throwing them into the fireplace.

We both sat with Emily on the couch as we stared at the fireplace, watching the clothes burn.

We sighed before drinking our coffee and eating the cookies. We decided that we would leave and head to the lake house, that way the cops wouldn't suspect us if we were there the entire time and we'll be in the clear.

Spencer gave Emily new clothes before the three of us gathered our things and put on our jackets.

Spencer was currently writing a note to mom when Hanna and Aria walked in.

"What's going on?" Aria asked.

"We're leaving. We're going to the lake house. When my mom reads this note, she'll think that we've been up there since this afternoon" Spencer explained.

I nodded before turning to Emily, who was staring at the fireplace.

"Em, come on" I said.

Emily sighed before walking towards me. I wrapped an arm around her shoulders before guiding her outside, Hanna and Aria followed behind us as Spencer turned off the lights before closing the door.

The Next Day

When we arrived at the lake house we immediately crashed in the living room, considering we were all freaking tired and none of us wanted to be alone after what happened.

When we woke up we stayed in the living room, waiting to see if mom would call us or if there would be anything on the T.V about Ali's grave being dug up.

The girls jumped when the phone rang. I sighed before removing the blanket as I stood up and answered the phone.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Ethan, honey, I'm sorry if I woke you up. I don't know how to tell you this" Mom said.

"Mom, what's wrong?" I asked, even though I already knew the answer.

"I woke up and turned on the T.V when the news came on. Someone paid a visit to Ali's grave and dug it up and took her body. The caretaker called the police and now the entire place is surrounded by cops and reporters" Mom explained.

I swallowed thickly, damn, it's already that bad.

"Were there any witnesses?" I asked, worried.

"So far, no" Mom said.

I pulled the phone away from me and let out a huge sigh of relief, thank goodness.

"Ok, well the girls and I are going to stay here for a while but we'll be home soon" I said.

"Call me as soon as you do. And don't you or the girls talk to any reporters when you return, got it?" Mom sternly said.

"No, mom, I understand. There will be no talking to any of them" I said.

"Good, I'm gonna see if I can talk to the cops and find out if they have anymore information. Stay safe, I love you" Mom said.

"I love you too, mom. Ok, bye" I said.

I sighed before hanging up and turning to the girls as they looked at me, waiting for some answers.

"The caretaker called it in this morning. The place is crawling with reporters, but the police don't have any leads" I said.

"So we're okay. Nobody saw us?" Aria asked.

"Yeah" I nodded.

Aria let out a huge breath of relief before leaning against the couch.

"I'm so sorry, guys. This is all my fault" Emily said.

"No one's blaming you" Hanna reassured her, nudging her arm.

"Yeah, Em. Somebody took you there to make it look like you dug up Ali's body" Spencer said.

I nodded and sat back down on the couch, covering myself with the blanket.

"And I made it so easy. If I wasn't so wasted-" Emily started but Hanna cut her off.

"Em. Last night never happened" Hanna sternly said.

"Are we sure about that?" Aria asked.

We all looked at her confused as she extended her arm out.

"We can still go to the cops. We can tell them the truth" Aria said.

"We don't even know what the truth is" Hanna said.

What the hell are we gonna do?

I know that some of us want to go to the cops and tell them what we know but I also know that some of us are worried about getting caught.

We were freaking screwed.

"Ok, We got up here yesterday afternoon. We roasted some marshmallows, we talked about how much fun senior year is gonna be, and we went to bed early" Spencer explained.

We all nodded before looking at Emily, who seemed to be lost in a trance.

"Em?" I asked.

"I understand. Last night never happened" Emily nodded.

The Next Day

I met up with Hanna at Radley as we were both at the front desk signing ourselves in.

"You'll need to wear it while you're on this floor" the nurse said as she handed us two visitor passes.

One said 'Rivers' while mine said 'Hastings'. I would've used a fake last name but decided against it considering I used to volunteer here when I was in freshman year and it's fair to say that the people that work here know me, some like me while some respect me.

"We still haven't seen any changes, but I'm sure she appreciates your visits" the nurse said with a small smile.

She led us down the hallway before stopping at one of the rooms.

She opened the door and my breath hitched just a little when I saw Mona, wearing a white robe thing, sitting on her bed while staring at nothing.

"Your friends are here. Can you say hello?" the nurse asked.

Hanna and I glanced at each other before nodding as we walked inside and sat down on chairs.

The nurse said goodbye before leaving to head back to work, leaving the two of us alone with Mona.

Yes, Hanna and I have been visiting Mona.

I know that some of you might think I'm crazy for visiting the girl that's tortured me and my friends. Why would I visit the same girl that ran me over with a car and nearly killed me?

Despite what she's done, Mona was once my best friend, and even though I can never look at her the way I did before, I can't just abandon her like this.

Hanna began flicking through a catalog that she brought with her while I fiddled with my hands, not sure what to do.

"Birds, birds, birds. You cannot find a top this season without feathers on it" Hanna said.

Mona didn't say anything and just kept quiet.

This made Hanna sigh as she closed the catalog. I sighed before standing up from my chair and sat down on Mona's bed.

"Are you gonna look right through us forever?" I softly asked.

Once again, silence.

Hanna let out an annoyed sigh before getting up from the chair and walking to stand behind me.

"Look, it's not easy for us to get here, ok? We have been lying to everyone I care about for weeks, and after what happened last night" Hanna sighed.

I grabbed her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, hoping to give her some comfort.

"Mona, I need you to understand a few things. Hanna's not here for you, she's here for herself. As for me, I'm here for both you and myself" I sternly said.

I bit my lip, trying to fight back the tears that were threatening to come out.

I felt Hanna squeeze my hand tighter, making me look up at her.

"I want to know what I did to make you hate me so much. What did Ethan do to make you hate him? As far as I'm concerned we were the ones that cared about you" Hanna said, her voice cracking.

I nodded and looked back at Mona, allowing a small tear to stream down my cheek.

"What did we do, Mona? What did I do?" I asked, my voice cracking.

Once again, silence, nothing but silence.

I sighed in annoyance before getting up from the bed. Hanna stood up and grabbed her catalog and purse before we both walked away.

We both walked out of the room, we glanced back at Mona for a bit, before turning around and leaving.

"Ethan? Hanna?"

We looked up and our eyes widened when we saw Wren walking towards us.

What's he doing here?

"Um, no. No, you must have us confused with someone else" Hanna said.

I gave her a deadpan look while Wren looked at our name tags and nodded his head before looking back at us.

"Oh, Miss Rivers, I'm sorry. Your resemblance to an old friend is uncanny" Wren said.

He didn't need to say mine, considering he knows who I am.

Hanna let out a nervous laugh while I shook my head.

But the last thing I wanted was for Wren to tell Spencer about me visiting Mona. Or worse, my parents, especially my mom.

"Please don't tell anybody that you saw us here" I begged.

"What are you doing here?" Wren asked, confused.

"What are you doing here?" Hanna asked.

"I volunteer a few days a month. Quid pro quo" Wren said.

"What?" Hanna asked, confused.

"It's your turn, both of you" Wren said.

"Look, she owes us, especially me, some answers. We need it to make sense" I said.

"Sense is something rarely mined from mental illness. Trust me, I've spent a lifetime trying" Wren said.

"I'm starting to figure that out. I mean, we don't think I can keep coming back. It's like she doesn't even know that we're here" Hanna said.

I don't know why, but that hurts.

The Next Day

It was the next day, also the first day back at school, this time for senior year. I was in line with Aria and Spencer so we could get our new schedules.

Aria was currently telling us how her parents feel about her and Ezra dating.

Her mom is trying to get used to it, her dad, not so much.

"Even if I say his name we get sucked into this vortex of awkwardness. And my dad pretends like he can't hear, but his neck gets all red and then his face pinches up like he's constipated" Aria explained.

"So basically Ezra is like Lord Voldemort" I chuckled.

"Hey" Hanna said as she walked towards us.

"Hey" Spencer smiled.

Lucas walked past us and Spencer decided to call out to him.

"Hi, Lucas" Spencer said.

Lucas turned around but didn't say anything. When his eyes met mine a faint smile appeared on his face as he waved at me. I smiled and waved back at him before he walked away.

"He knows something" Aria was quick to say when he walked away from us.

"I thought you said he didn't see you guys" Spencer said, confused.

"He didn't" Hanna said.

"It's no coincidence that he turned dark after the masquerade ball" Aria said.

"Jenna has that effect on people" Spencer said.

"Yeah, but she's been gone all summer, and he's still Boo Radley" Aria said.

"Have you ever noticed how many skinny brunettes go to this school? She fits the costume" Hanna said.

I sighed and shook my head before looking at the girls.

"Has anybody heard from Emily?" I asked.

"No. I left her a bunch of messages" Hanna said.

"Yeah, me too. Hope she's okay" Aria said.

Aria left to go to the bathroom since she already got her schedule. When Hanna and Spencer got theirs they said they would wait for me in the courtyard.

When they left I made my way to the registration and told one of the staff my name. They handed me my new schedule and I thanked them before turning around and walking away.

However, while I was walking I accidentally bumped into someone along the way, causing me and that person to drop our books.

"Damnit" I sighed.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, I should've watched where I was going" a voice said, nervousness clearly shown.

We both crouched down and began picking up our books from the floor.

"No, no, don't worry it's fine. We all make mistakes" I reassured them.

I looked at the person who accidentally bumped into me, only for my eyes to widen at who I was looking at it.

It was a girl. She had blonde hair, beautiful blue eyes that I could easily get lost in and she had the height of 5'8. She wore a black jean jacket, a white crop top, white jeans and black boots.

She was pretty, no, she's beautiful.

"Uh...hi, hi, I'm Ethan. Ethan Hastings, nice to meet you" I smiled, extending my hand for her to shake.

She flashed me a beautiful smile and shook my hand.

"Hi, I'm Alyssa, nice to meet you" the girl, Alyssa, smiled.

Alyssa, a beautiful name for a beautiful girl like her.

"Uh, sorry, but by any chance are you new to this school? I've never really seen you here before" I asked in curiosity.

"Ah, actually yes. It's my first day here. Me and my family moved here from Florida" Alyssa smiled.

"Ah, makes sense" I nodded.

"I'm actually trying to look for the principal, I have to get my locker number and class schedule" Alyssa said.

"Well, if you want I can take you there" I offered.

"Are you sure? I don't want to waste your time" Alyssa awkwardly smiled.

"Don't worry, I don't mind. Come on" I said.

Alyssa smiled and nodded as I guided her to the principal's office. 

Something tells me I'm going to enjoy her being here.

Back At Home

When school was over Spencer and I went back home. While I was actually doing my school work Spencer was going through the pictures of the black swan.

Even though Mona was revealed to be A, we still have no idea as to who the black swan was and why the hell they ran away at the ball.

Spencer was looking through the pictures on her laptop while I was busy typing my essay.

She quickly shut her laptop and opened her books when Mom walked downstairs.

"Are you sure you two don't want to come?" Mom asked.

"Yeah, I just have one last test to study for" Spencer said.

"Same, and I'm cramped with assignments" I said.

"Oh, it's a long weekend, kiddos. You can put in hours tomorrow" Mom said.

"I know" Spencer said when he phone rang.

She looked at it before hitting decline and setting her phone back down.

"I really could use the extra day" Spencer sighed.

"Come on, a night out in the city might be fun. Like old times" Mom smiled.

Me and Spencer smiled at that, clearly remembering all those great times we spent together.

"Before your sister" Mom sighed.

Spencer and I frowned before scooting closer to mom.

"Mom, Melissa is a Hastings" Spencer said.

"We bounce back like superballs and get ready to kick ass" I smirked.

Mom chuckled at both of us, clearly amused, but nodded her head.

"Don't work too hard" Mom softly said, gently running her hands through both our hairs.

"Ok" we both nodded.

"Bye" Mom smiled before turning around and walking away.

"Have fun" I smiled.

When she was gone Spencer sighed before closing her books as she put her laptop inside her bag and stood up from the stool.

"Where are you going?" I asked.

"To the Lost Woods Resort to check out the A room" Spencer said.

"Have fun" I said.

"Wanna come?" Spencer asked.

"No, I really want to get my work done, you go alone but just be safe" I said.

"I will, I promise" Spencer smiled.

I gave her a quick brotherly kiss on the forehead as she turned around and left.

I sighed and was about to go back to typing when I heard my phone ring. I furrowed my eyebrows as I grabbed it, only to smile when I saw that it was Alyssa calling me.

After showing Alyssa to the principal's office I showed her around the school and gave her some advice for her first day. Before taking her to her first class we exchanged phone numbers before parting ways.

I answered the call and put my phone close to my ear.

"Hey there, stranger" I smiled.

"Hey, are you busy right now? Did I interrupt anything?" Alyssa asked, worry shown in her tone.

"I was actually working on homework but-" I started, only to be cut off by Alyssa.

"Oh shit, are you serious? Oh my god, I'm so sorry, I'm such an idiot for calling you. I'll call you later, unless you don't want me to" Alyssa rambled.

I laughed at her rambling, it was cute for her to get so worried over the littlest things.

Wait...did I just say cute?

"Alyssa, relax, alright. It's fine, I mean I was just working on an essay that I'm nearly done with, so you're fine. I promise" I reassured her.

"Oh, great, what a relief. I was seriously beating myself up about it" Alyssa sighed.

"I don't know why, especially when it's not your fault. But moving on from that, what did you want to talk to me about?" I asked.

"Well, I'm still pretty new to the town here and considering you're my first friend I was wondering if you'd like to hang out" Alyssa said.

I let out a tiny chuckle at that and smiled more.

I literally met this girl today and she wants to hang out. And what's weird is the fact that I don't mind, not one bit.

"Sure, that sounds like fun, it'll give us the chance to know each other better and I can take you to a few places that I like to go" I smiled.

"That's great, so w-when do you want to go?" Alyssa asked.

"How about at 6, I still need to finish this essay and it'll take a while" I said.

"Oh, of course, not a problem. Where do you wanna meet up?" Alyssa asked.

"Just come to my place, I'll text you the address" I said.

"Alright, sounds good" Alyssa said.

"Great, see you then" I smiled before hanging up.

I sighed, still smiling, before setting my phone down before going back to my essay.

Except this time I made sure to type faster instead of my normal pace.

A Few Hours Later

When I was done with my essay Alyssa came by and we both went into town together to explore.

I showed Alyssa around town. First, we went to the park to hang out for a bit, then I took her to the library and showed her some of my favorite books that I've read there.

So far we were having a pretty good time.

It was already getting dark and the two of us decided to just walk around for a bit, talking as we got to know more about each other.

"So, why did you and your family move here?" I asked.

"When my dad got offered a job here he immediately took it because it would be an opportunity for us to start new" Alyssa said.

"What does your dad do?" I asked.

"He's a doctor, he's always been big on helping people whenever they need it" Alyssa smiled.

"Really? That sounds amazing, I've always wanted to be a doctor myself and for the same reason as your dad" I smiled.

"Well I'll be sure to tell him that" Alyssa giggled.

I chuckled and shook my head at her and placed my hands in my pants pocket as we continued.

"Well, while we're on the topic of family, tell me a bit more about yourself" I suggested.

"There's nothing much to say. My family and I moved here from Florida and as far as I'm concerned you're the first friend I made since we got here. Although, I think I mentioned that before" Alyssa said, her cheeks turning red in slight embarrassment.

"Yeah, you did" I chuckled.

"Well now that that's cleared up, tell me about yourself" Alyssa smiled.

I opened my mouth to say something when we both stopped walking as two officers made their way towards us.

"Ethan Hastings?" one of the officers asked.

"Yes, that's me" I nodded.

"Can you come with us?" the other officer asked.

"What for?" I asked, furrowing my eyebrows together.

"We just want to ask you a few questions about the night Alison Dilaurentis's grave was dug up" the officer said.

I swallowed nervously and clenched my fist at my side.

Shit, I knew the cops were already on this investigation ever since the caretaker called it in, but I didn't expect them to want to talk to me about it.

I glanced at Alyssa and saw she was looking at me in confusion and worry.

"Uh, yeah sure, just give me a minute, please" I politely said.

The officers nodded their heads and let me and Alyssa talk privately to each other.

"Uh, Alyssa, I hate to do this but I have to go with the cops. They need to talk to me" I said.

"Why? What's wrong? Are you in trouble?" Alyssa asked, worried.

It's amazing how I literally meet the new girl today and she's already worried about me.

"No, no, I'm not in any trouble. They just need to talk to me about something that happened a few days ago" I reassured her.

Alyssa opened her mouth to say something when I placed my hand on her shoulder.

"Alyssa, it's nothing serious, I promise. I just need to go with them and answer whatever questions they need to ask me and I can go. That's all" I said.

Alyssa stared at me for a few seconds before sighing and nodding her head.

"Fine, but if you don't call me as soon as you're out I'm gonna spam you all night. And don't test me, cause I will do it" Alyssa warned me.

"Ay, ay, ay captain" I smirked teasingly at her.

Alyssa playfully rolled her eyes at me before chuckling and gesturing for me to go with the cops.

I sent her one last smile before sighing as I walked to the officers as they guided me away so we could head to the station.

I swear they better just be asking me questions, nothing else.

At The Police Station

When they took me to one of the rooms they asked me what I was doing the night Alison's grave was dug up.

I was nervous, but I made sure to swallow that down and stick to the plan me and the girls came up with.

"We went to my family's lake house. We made a fire and Emily showed us pictures from the trip. We spent the evening catching up. It was a pretty low-key night" I smiled.

The police asked me a few more questions and I made sure to answer them with no nervousness shown in my tone whatsoever. I can't have them suspecting me, or the girls for that matter.

Finally they let me go and I sighed in relief as I walked out of the room.

I walked outside and saw mom, Ms. Marin and Ms. Montgomery.

"Mom" I said.

"Ethan, honey" Mom sighed in relief.

She walked towards me and engulfed me in a tight hug, I smiled and hugged her back before we pulled away.

"Are you ok? Where's your sister?" Mom asked.

"Mom, I'm fine, they just asked a few questions. They're still talking with Spencer and the others" I said.

Mom sighed and nodded before giving my forehead a kiss, making me smile.

"Ethan!" I heard someone yell out to me.

I turned around, only for my eyes to widen slightly when I saw Alyssa walking up the steps as she made her way towards me.

"Alyssa, hey, what are you doing here?" I asked, confused.

"Well I got worried when you left with those two cops, I debated on what to do before deciding to come here and make sure you're ok" Alyssa said.

I smiled at that, happy that she was worried about me so much that she came here when she didn't have to.

My eyes widened in realization as I turned to mom.

"Oh, mom, meet Alyssa Taylor, she's new at school. Alyssa, this lovely woman is my mother, Veronica Hastings" I said.

Alyssa smiled gently at mom and extended her hand for her to shake.

"H-Hi, it's nice to meet you, Mrs. Hastings" Alyssa smiled, a bit awkwardly.

Mom smiled softly at her before shaking her hand.

"Very nice to meet you too, Alyssa" Mom said.

They both smiled at each other before pulling their hands away.

I turned around to see the other girls walking out of the station. Hanna made her way to her mom as they both began to leave, Aria made her way down the steps where her mom and Ezra were, while I stayed with mom, Spencer and Alyssa.

"Hey, you alright?" I asked, placing a hand on my sisters shoulders.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine, they just asked questions" Spencer reassured me.

I smiled and nodded before turning to Alyssa and nodded my head at her.

"Uh, Spence, I'd like for you to meet Alyssa. She's new here, I met her at school" I said.

"I accidentally bumped into him, that's kind of how we met, but I made sure to apologize. Especially since I felt bad" Alyssa said.

"Oh come on, don't feel bad, it's not your fault your a clutz" I teasingly smiled.

Alyssa let out a fake gasp of offence and put her hand on her chest.

"How dare you? I'll have you know I'm not a clutz, I was just nervous about my first day" Alyssa defended.

"Sure, sure, whatever you say" I snorted.

Alyssa hit my arm, making me fake wince in pain before laughing. Alyssa rolled her eyes before joining in on the laughter.

When our laughter died down I smiled at her before turning to mom and Spencer.

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion when I saw both mom and Spencer looking at us, small smirks on their faces and there was a glint in their eyes.

Why are they smirking?

I cleared my throat and rubbed my arm, getting rid of the small silence we were in.

"Well, it's getting late, we should get home. Alyssa, do you need a ride home?" I asked.

"Oh, don't worry about it, I can walk home" Alyssa reassured me.

She turned around to walk away but I quickly walked towards her and stood in front of her, preventing her from walking anymore.

"Oh no, no, no. There's no way I'm letting you walk home alone, especially this late at night. You never know what could happen" I sternly said.

"Ethan, I can handle it, besides my house isn't too far from here" Alyssa said.

"I don't care if it's across the street, I'm not letting you go home alone. We'll give you a ride home" I said.

Alyssa opened her mouth to protest when Spencer walked towards her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't try and deny it, Ethan doesn't take no for an answer. Trust me, I would know" Spencer said.

Mom nodded and walked towards us as she looked at Alyssa and smiled softly.

"Don't worry, sweetie, we don't mind taking you home. And I agree with Ethan, it's dangerous at night and I don't want anything to happen to you either" Mom said.

I smiled as Alyssa turned towards me before sighing in defeat as she nodded her head.

"Thank you, really thank you. And I'm sorry for being a bother" Alyssa said.

"Hey, don't say that, you're not a bother" Spencer reassured her, gently patting her shoulder.

"Agreed, we're more than happy to take you home. Now no more talking, everyone to the car, first stop is Alyssa's home" Mom smiled.

The three of us laughed and shook our heads at her as she began walking down the stairs, Spencer followed behind her.

Alyssa and I looked at each other and smiled before I extended my arm out, gesturing for her to walk first.

"After you, my lady" I smiled.

"Why thank you, good sir" Alyssa smiled before making her way down the stairs.

We both let out loud laughs and shook our heads, enjoying the small goofy moments we shared.

Honestly, this girl is amazing, and I seriously just met her today.

The Next Day

The girls were at mine and Spencer's house and we were trying to reach Emily, but so far nothing.

She wasn't at the police station yesterday when we were all called into the station and we were worried.

"I'll try one more time" Hanna said once we walked inside the house.

She took her phone out and dialed Emily's number while Spencer, Aria and I walked into the kitchen to get some lemonade.

"Why wasn't she at the police station? Do you think she told 'em the truth?" Aria asked, worried.

"If she told 'em the truth, we wouldn't be standing here" I said.

Spencer nodded as she took the lemonade out from the fridge, just then we heard a knock at the door and a phone ringing.

We turned around and saw Emily outside the door, causing us to quickly walk to the door to let her inside.

Hanna, being the closest, opened the door and let Emily inside.

"Em, that was me calling you. Where have you been?" Hanna asked as she closed the door.

"It's okay. If you told them the truth, we'll figure something out" Aria softly said.

"No, I would never do that to you guys" Emily said.

"Well they called all four of us into the station. Where were you? We were so worried" I asked.

"I didn't have my phone with me yesterday. And when I got home last night, the cops were waiting for me. But I told them everything that we agreed on. Everything" Emily explained.

"Then why are you so upset?" Hanna asked.

Emily sighed and walked into the living room as we followed her.

"Because if it wasn't for me, we wouldn't be at the wrong place at the wrong time, and it could haunt us forever" Emily said.

"Em, it's fine. Ok. We've dealt with it" Hanna reassured her.

"I saw you guys at school yesterday, and all I could think about was because of me-" Emily started but Spencer cut her off.

"No, because of you, nothing. Ok. Nobody saw us, and if we just stick to our story, we are in the clear" Spencer said.

I nodded and placed my hand on her shoulder, hoping to give her some comfort.

"I remembered something, about that night" Emily said.

My eyes widened as the girls and I glanced at each other before looking back at Emily, urging her to tell us what she remembers.

She told us that when she was running she started having flashbacks about that night. How she found herself in someone's car and someone was driving the car as well, but she couldn't tell who it was, she never saw their face.

It wasn't really much, but it was something, and that still counts.

"That's it? That's all you remember?" Hanna asked, a bit annoyed.

"Buttercup" I sternly said.

"I found out online that some people forget things because they don't want to remember. And if this is selective, then anything can trigger it. Sights, smells, sounds" Emily explained.

"So the car that you saw, it just looked like the car from that night, or it was the car?" Spencer asked.

"I don't know. I started to talk towards it because I wanted to look inside, but I got a text. And the person that sent it to me knows I don't remember what happened" Emily explained.

She sighed before taking her phone out as she handed it to Spencer.

Spencer looked at it as the rest of us waited for her to read it out, wanting to know what the text said.

"I bet you remember me" Spencer said.

Why the hell does that sound awfully familiar to the ones that we received before?

"Guys, is it starting again?" Aria asked, worried.

"No. You guys, that's not A. Mona is A, and she's drooling in her bed at a nut hospital" Hanna said.

"We don't know that for sure" Aria argued.

"Yeah, we do" I sighed.

The girls, minus Hanna, looked at me in confusion.

Hanna and I made eye contact before nodding our heads, it's time to tell them.

"We've been visiting her" Hanna said.

"What?!" all three of them asked in disbelief, eyes wide in shock.

"I didn't tell you because we knew you'd think we're crazy" I said, rolling my eyes slightly.

"Yeah. Ethan, she tried to kill both of you, she nearly succeeded in killing you" Spencer angrily scowled.

It's fair to say that Spencer will forever hate Mona for what she did.

"I get that, but despite what she's done she was my best friend. I don't know what I can consider her now, but I just can't leave her alone" I softly said.

Hanna gently placed a hand on my shoulder for comfort before looking at the others.

"She's locked up in a room with bars over her windows. Trust me, she doesn't know anything that happened that night" Hanna said.

"Yeah, well, someone does" Emily said, clearly worried.

"There's something I need to show you guys" Spencer said.

We all looked at each other before looking at her in curiosity.

At The Lost Woods Resort

We were at the Lost Woods Resort, inside the 'A' room. The entire room was empty, everything that was here before was gone.

Spencer was showing us a presentation/visual of what the room looked like before everything was taken out. Considering she was here before everything happened.

"Ali's shrine is right over there. And then over here she had a row of black hoodies all just perfectly hanging, ready for A to grab one and run" Spencer explained.

"Mona" I corrected her.

Spencer looked at me with raised eyebrows as Hanna spoke up.

"Ready for Mona" Hanna said.

"Yeah" Spencer slowly nodded.

I swallowed thickly and looked down before Spencer went back to explaining.

"And there was a zombie costume hanging on the back of that door. Just like the one that attacked Ali on Halloween" Spencer explained.

"Ok, so you've been coming here all summer trying to remember what was in this room. Why?" Emily asked, confused.

The girls and I glanced at each other, debating on what to do.

"We have to tell Emily the truth" Spencer said.

We all nodded our heads while Emily looked at us confused.

"The morning after they found Mona's body, we came back here" Hanna said.

"Yeah, to get rid of everything. I know. You told me" Emily nodded, but Aria shook her head.

"We lied to you" Aria said.

"We didn't want it to be another thing you had to worry about" Hanna said.

"When we came back here, it was empty. The file cabinets, the maps, pictures, Ali's diaries, everything was gone" I said.

"Maybe the police took it" Emily suggested.

"If the police found out what Mona knows about us, my mom would be in jail" Hanna said.

"Yeah, Ezra too" Aria nodded.

"So who took it?" Emily asked, confused.

"Well, there are things that don't really add up. Like Mona was with you when A gave Emily that massage. And there's no way that she could have gotten Ian's body out of the bell tower by herself" Spencer explained.

I sighed, already knowing what my sister was saying, despite how badly I didn't want it to be true.

"Wait. You're saying that you think someone was helping her?" Aria asked.

Spencer clicked something on her laptop, showing us the drawings of the black swan.

"If the black swan wasn't guilty of something, why would she run from you guys?" Spencer asked.

We all looked at each other, unsure of what to say.

We all flinched when we heard mine and Spencer's car alarm go off.

We all walked out of the room to head outside and saw that the car doors were opened. Even the trunk was opened. I quickly took out the car keys and shut off the alarm.

When the alarm shut off we all walked towards the car to see why the doors were opened.

However, our eyes widened in shock when we saw tons of pictures inside the car, and not just any pictures. Pictures of us at the graveyard that night.

"What the hell?" I muttered under my breath.

We walked towards the trunk, only to see that it was filled with pictures too.

I gulped when all our phones rang. We slowly looked at each other before taking our phones out as we read the message.

"Mona played with dolls. I play with body parts" Aria slowly said.

"Game on, bitches" Spencer said.

"A" all of us said before glancing at each other nervously.

It's starting again....