Ethan's Pov

After everything that happened yesterday, the girls slept over at our house.

They were all scared to sleep in Spencer's room because of the message on her mirror. So we all slept in my room.

Spencer and Aria took my bed, Emily took the couch and I set up a mattress for both me and Hanna to sleep on.

Morning came by and now we were all in the living room and kitchen.

Aria sat on the couch, holding the letter A sent to her mom. While me and the other girls were in the kitchen.

Emily and Hanna were sitting on the chair stools while me and Spencer were making breakfast.

Apparently A sent a letter to her mom, saying that Mr. Montgomery had an affair with one of his students. And that Aria knew about it.

So to say she was having a shitty day would be an understatement.

Pretty sure we all are having a shitty day.

"A sent this letter to my mom" Aria said, not taking her eyes off the letter.

"You know it's not your fault, right? It's your dad's mistake. Totally" Emily said and I nodded.

"No, it is my fault" Aria said but I shook my head at her.

"You did not hook up with her and then ask your kid to cover for you" I argued, earning a nod from Spencer.

"Ali said I should've told my mom right after it happened" Aria sighed.

This made all of us look at her in shock. Well, I was in half shock.

Alison told me that she knew a secret about Aria's. But she never told me what it was. 

"Ali? Alison knew?" Emily asked.

"Yeah. She was with me" Aria nodded.

"So Alison saw this Meredith person?" Spencer asked.

Aria nodded while Hanna turned to me and Spencer with wide eyes in shock.

"Meredith? Her name's Meredith? Ew. That's not a cute girl name. I'm seeing big pores and mousy roots" Hanna scoffed.

Me and Spencer gave her disapproving looks and I shook my head at her.

"Buttercup, I think it's a little too soon to joke" I said and Spencer nodded.

"I'm sorry. But if you're gonna cheat...do it with someone who deep conditions her hair" Hanna scoffed, shaking her head.

Aria closed her eyes and sighed.

Me and Emily gave Hanna looks of disbelief. While Spencer sighed and put a plate with a bagel in front of her.

"Here, put something in your mouth besides your foot" Spencer said in a stern scolding tone.

I nodded while Hanna sighed. She turned around to look at Aria and gave her an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry, ok" Hanna said.

Aria gave her a small smile and nodded.

"Look, all I'm saying is that when my dad left...laughing sometimes helped. So did crying" Hanna softly said.

Aria's eyes widen as she shook her head and stood up from the couch.

"My father hasn't left, guys. I mean, this happened over a year ago" Aria said, walking over to us.

Me and the girls remained silent and glanced at each other before looking back at Aria. Aria noticed our looks and grew worried.

"You think he's gonna leave?" Aria asked.

I shook my head and walked over to her and gently grabbed her hand, giving her some comfort.

"Look, whatever happens, we're here for you" I softly smiled at her.

She smiled back and nodded. She walked closer to me and snuggled into my side. I chuckled and wrapped an arm around her shoulder and placed a brotherly kiss to her temple.

The girls smiled at our interaction before Spencer sighed, catching all of our attention.

"Thank you, guys, for staying here. We couldn't have been here alone" Spencer said.

"What do you mean we? I could've protected you from anything" I scoffed, rolling my eyes at her.

"I know that, but you can't protect everyone" Spencer defended.

I shook my head at her while the girls quietly giggled. Hanna sighed and looked at me and Spencer.

"When's your family getting back?" Hanna asked.

"This afternoon" I said and Spencer nodded.

"Aren't you gonna clean off the mirror before they get here?" Aria asked.

Spencer looked at all of us in worry and bit her lip. I sighed, knowing that my sister was scared of going back up there alone.

"Come on sis, I'll go with you" I softly said, holding out my hand for her.

She smiled gratefully and nodded and grabbed my hand. I smiled and gently pulled her away with me.

"We should all go" Emily said and Aria nodded.

They all walked over to me and Spencer, while Hanna remained in her chair.

"You know what? It doesn't take five to clean a mirror...so why don't you four go and I'll just wait here" Hanna suggested.

We gave her annoyed looks before Aria started smirking and nodded.

"Fine. Okay. You stay down here. Alone" Aria scoffed before turning back around.

"Make sure you lock the door!" Emily yelled, just as we were walking closer to the stairs.

"Right. You spray. I'll wipe" Hanna smiled, grabbing her phone and getting up and walking over to us.

We all laughed at her and shook our heads.

But just when we were about to head upstairs, we stopped when Hanna's phone rang.

We all looked at each other before looking at Hanna. She sighed in annoyance and took out her phone.

"Well, the creature's back. We should've never unblocked our phones" Hanna scoffed, shaking her head.

We all sighed and huddled around her, wanting to see what A texted her.

Ever wonder what's going on when your back is turned?

- A

But the weirdest thing was that there was also an attachment.

"Buttercup, open the attachment" I said and the girls nodded.

Hanna nodded and pressed on it and held her phone out so we could all see what the attachment was.

Apparently it was a video.

But the most creepiest and scariest part about it was that it was a video of all of us. Last night when we were in Spencer's room, looking at the A message on her mirror.

"That's us" Emily said.

"Was that shot from inside your closet?" Aria asked.

I looked closer at the video and my eyes widen when I realized Aria was right. The video was shot from inside Spencer's closet.

We all looked at Spencer, who looked at us before looking upstairs.

"A was watching us" Spencer said.

I grabbed Spencer by the arm and shoved her behind me, where the rest of the girls were. I started heading upstairs, the girls following closely behind me. 

Hanna and Aria were closest to me, so they were both gripping onto my arms in fear, not wanting to let go.

I opened the door to Spencer's bedroom and we all walked inside, looking around.

I made eye contact with her closet and walked closer towards it.

I took a few deep breaths, feeling Hanna and Aria gripping onto my arms tighter, Spencer and Emily scooting closer to me.

I grabbed onto the door knobs of the closet door and took a few deep breaths. Without hesitation I opened the doors.

Then all of a sudden a bag fell to the ground, causing a huge thud when it made contact with the ground.

The girls screamed and jumped back in fear, while I just jumped and my hand flew to my chest.

When we all calmed down, Aria crouched down and picked up a lipstick that had fallen out of the bag.

"Guys...check it out" Aria said.

She held the lipstick in her hand, showing it to us so we could all get a good look at it. She then put some on her hand.

We looked at her weirdly before she walked over to Spencer's mirror and put her hand next to the mirror.

This made our eyes widen in shock. The color matched the one on the mirror.

At School

When we got Spencer's mirror cleaned up, we got changed and got our things to get ready for school.

Now here we are, by mine and Spencer's lockers. 

I was getting my books, Spencer doing the same, Hanna was putting on some lipstick while Aria and Emily stood there talking to us.

"You cannot seriously think that a blind girl broke into our house" Spencer said.

"Yeah. That would take a lot more than a talking GPS" I nodded, taking out my last book and closing my locker.

Aria sighed and looked around before looking back at us.

"Well, I didn't say that Jenna was alone" Aria said.

When I realized she was obviously talking about Toby, I glared at her in annoyance, Emily doing the same.

"Let's not go to the Toby place, okay" Emily said.

"Why not? You guys think her guide dog left behind his lipstick?" Aria asked.

"Yeah, do you wanna ask what your lab partner was doing last night? If maybe he took a break from sitting on his porch...pulling heads off of squirrels" Spencer sarcastically said.

Emily gave her an annoyed look while I was trying to hold in my anger.

"Both of you enough. Stop being mean to him. He wouldn't do something like that" I said.

Seriously, what the hell is with them accusing Toby of something he didn't do.

I'm so close from snapping at them, really.

"Spencer. Ethan" we heard Mr. Sheldrake say.

We turned around to see Mr. Sheldrake walking towards us, a smile on his face while holding two envelopes in his hands.

"Sorry ladies, I didn't mean to interrupt, but I hope you're proud of your friend as I am" Mr. Sheldrake smiled.

He looked at Spencer and showed her the envelope.

A nervous smile appeared on Spencer's face as she took the envelope from him.

"Congratulations. My instincts were right. This just makes it official" Mr. Sheldrake smiled, pointing at the envelope.

I realized it was about the contest and a sad small smile appeared on my face.

I mean, I really can't be that proud of her considering it's not her essay, but I still don't want to be rude to my twin sister.

But it hurts that I didn't win when I worked extremely hard on that essay.

"Oh, Ethan, I'm really sorry that you didn't get first place. But always remember that second place isn't bad either. You should be very proud of yourself" Mr. Sheldrake said.

"Thank you, Mr. Sheldrake. It means alot" I said, nodding at him.

He smiled at me and nodded before handing me an envelope as well.

I furrowed my eyebrows at the envelope and slowly took it from him.

"What's this?" I asked.

"Open it and find out. I think you'll really love it" Mr. Sheldrake smiled, patting my shoulder before walking away.

The girls all looked at me and I shrugged. We looked at Spencer to see her stuffing her envelope inside her locker.

"What's that about?" Aria asked.

"An essay contest" Spencer sighed, and I nodded.

"Wait, did you win it? Aren't you gonna open the envelope?" Emily asked.

Spencer bit her lip nervously, making me and Hanna look at each other and nod before looking back at the girls.

"Why should she? She wins an award for waking up" Hanna joked.

This made me snort as Spencer lightly laughed, while Emily and Aria laughed and shook their heads.

Spencer closed her locker and Hanna linked her arm with hers.

"Ethan, open the envelope" Hanna said with an encouraging smile.

"Yeah, we wanna know what it's about, and we know that you do too" Emily smiled.

I looked at the girls before sighing, deciding to open the envelope. 

I opened it and took out the letter. Spencer took the envelope and I began reading what the letter said.

My eyes widen in shock, a small gasp escaped my lips and a smile appeared on my face.

I looked at the girls, the smile not leaving my face, making them confuse but excited.

"What? What does the letter say?" Aria asked.

"I've been given a summer internship at Harvard to learn more about becoming a doctor" I smiled widely.

The girls eyes widen and before I knew it I was engulfed in a hug by Hanna and Spencer.

"Congrats bubs, that's amazing" Hanna smiled.

I chuckled and hugged both of them back, kissing their foreheads before we pulled away.

"Oh my god, Ethan. That's amazing. Congrats" Aria smiled.

Emily smiled at me and nodded and they both engulfed me in a tight hug. I chuckled and hugged them back before we pulled away.

"I mean, I'm excited. But how did this even happen?" I asked, still confused.

"I remember Mr. Sheldrake mentioning that he has a few friends at Harvard. You've always been his favorite student, and maybe after reading your essay he contacted one of them and told them about you" Spencer explained.

I gasped in realization and nodded. That's true, I remember Mr. Sheldrake telling me and Spencer about that.

Then the bell rang and it was time to head to class.

The girls all smiled at me, Spencer handed me the envelope back and I put the letter back inside before we all went our separate ways to head to class.

The smile still remained on my face, I clutched onto the envelope and continued walking to head to class.

Back At Home

When school was over me and Spencer went to the club.

It may seem a bit weird but I've never been that interested in tennis like Spencer and Melissa. I like a few other sports, but not all the time because it's just never interested me.

The only reason I went to the club with Spencer was so I could help out a few workers.

I'm not sure what it is, but helping people is just something I'm really good at. And it's something I love doing.

When me and Spencer got inside the house, we saw dad sitting on the couch, looking at his phone.

"Hey, kiddos. Those are for you. Buttercream's. They're your favorite, right?" Dad asked.

Me and Spencer looked at each other and shrugged. She put her sports bags on the ground and I set my bag on top of the kitchen counter.

"Yeah, they were. When we were, like, 7" I chuckled and Spencer nodded.

Dad chuckled and nodded.

Me and Spencer looked at each other and walked into the living room, smiling at him.

"Thanks daddy" Spencer said.

"Yeah, thanks old man" I joked.

This earned a snort from Spencer while dad looked up from his phone and gave me a playful glare.

"Excuse me young man. Who are you calling old?" Dad asked.

"You" I said with a fake serious expression.

Spencer released a small laugh while dad rolled his eyes, but the amused smile was still on his face.

"So you finally spoke to Wren?" Spencer asked, crossing her arms.

"No. But I spoke to Mr. Sheldrake. You didn't really think you were gonna keep this essay secret, did you?" Dad asked.

Spencer opened her mouth to say something but dad looked at me.

"And you didn't think you were gonna keep your summer internship at Harvard a secret" Dad said.

Me and Spencer glanced at each other before looking back at dad.

"Spencer, Ethan, this is a coup for both of you. I mean if the Ivies weren't onto you already, they are now. I'm seeing a cage match between Harvard and Yale" Dad explained.

I smiled and nodded while Spencer sighed and shook her head.

"Dad, it's really not that big of a deal" Spencer said.

"Oh, now you tell me. Your mother's already taken out a full-page ad in the club newsletter" Dad said.

This made our eyes widen in shock, but it went away when dad started laughing.

"I'm kidding. Come on. Have a buttercream" Dad smiled.

He stood up and took the box and opened it. He held out his hand, gesturing us to grab a buttercream.

We both smiled at him and walked closer. We grab a buttercream from the box before dad closed it.

"At least let me brag about you both tomorrow" Dad said, setting the box back down.

"What's tomorrow?" I asked.

"Oh, I'm taking Russell Newhoff to the club. He's a potential new client" Dad said.

Me and Spencer hummed and nodded before dad looked at Spencer.

"You up for playing doubles if he brings his daughter along?" Dad asked.

"Sure. Hey, you wanna volley with me?" Spencer asked, a huge smile on her face.

Dad smiled at her but before he could answer his phone started ringing. He sighed in annoyance before grabbing his phone.

"I'd love to, but I have a bunch of calls to return. And a prize-winning essay to read. Don't forget to put it on my desk, okay" Dad said.

"Oh Dad, you don't have to read this one. It's really not one of my best" Spencer said.

Dad scoffed at her and shook his head.

"Somebody sure thought it was. They don't give awards to people who don't deserve them" Dad said.

He smiled at both of us, ruffled my hair before walking away to head to his officer.

Spencer sighed and ate her buttercream, me doing the same since I did want a small snack.

"Come on, lets go play volley. It'll help take your minds off things" I smiled, nudging her arm.

She smiled at me and nodded and with that we both left to head to the backyard to play some volleyball.

Late At Night
At The Apple Rosegrille

When me and Spencer finished our homework, we left the house to meet up with Hanna at the Apple Rosegrille.

Spencer brought the lipstick along and put it in a plastic bag.

Apparently she brought it because Hanna saw Jenna today at the Hospital and she's sure she had the same one.

"I saved it. Just in case" Spencer said.

"I'm telling you, that's the lipstick Jenna was putting on in the elevator" Hanna said.

"Buttercup, are you sure?" I asked and she nodded

"Yes. It's Alison's color. Same shade, same tube. What I'm wondering is why was Jenna in an empty room for an hour?" Hanna said, clearly suspicious.

I sighed and shook my head and lightly tugged at my hair.

"I think we should call the police. There are fingerprints on this tube" I said and Spencer nodded.

"Well, yeah, ours" Hanna scoffed.

I chuckled while Spencer rolled her eyes, a small smile on her face.

"Look, if you want me to answer more questions, let me get in the office, see what I find" Hanna said.

Me and Spencer sighed and nodded as Spencer went back to examining the lipstick.

I saw Hanna turning around and staring at someone in slight fear. I furrowed my eyebrows and turned around, only to see she was looking at Toby.

He was staring at her with a hard stare, obviously one of hate.

But when he saw me, a small smile appeared on his face and he waved at me.

I gave him a small smile back and waved before turning to look back at Hanna and Spencer.

"Have either of you gotten any more e-mails?" Hanna asked.

"Not since this morning. Have you?" Spencer asked.

"No. I'm just wondering" Hanna sighed.

We heard the door open and we turned around to see Emily walking in.

I saw her looking at Toby and smiling. He looked at her and smiled back at her.

I smiled at the both of them. Glad that Emily was staring to like Toby and see him as a friend and not an enemy.

But before she could go over to him, Spencer saw her and called out to her.

"Emily. Hey, what are you doing here?" Spencer asked in confusion.

Emily looked between her and Toby. I internally begged for her to go to Toby, but she sighed and walked over to us.

I sighed in annoyance and clenched my fist. 

Are you kidding me right now?

"Uh...I was just...I..." Emily nervously said, trying to find the right words.

"Hanna had a run-in with Jenna Marshall today. Sit down" Spencer said.

Emily glanced at Toby one last time before sighing and nodding, sitting down.

"Em, you know that dentist office I'm working at?" Hanna asked.

Emily sat down, still looking in between Toby and us, still trying to find the right words to say.

"Well, I was going for my shift after school and I was in the elevator, and Jenna Marshall was in there. And she had the same lipstick Ali wore. The exact same color" Hanna explained.

Emily nodded, glancing at Toby.

I glanced at him too, I saw him getting up and gathering his things, a frown on his face and the obvious hurt and sadness in his eyes.

I looked at Emily, who looked at me with a guilty look in her eyes.

I shook my head and stood up. I walked away from the table, ignoring the looks from Spencer and Hanna.

I left the place and started looking around, trying to see if I could find Toby.

I finally found him, I saw him sitting on a nearby bench across the street.

He was reading his book, the frown still on his face and I can see him biting his lip, trying to stop himself from crying.

I quickly crossed the street and walked over to him.

"Hey Toby. Are you ok?" I softly asked.

"No. Not really" Toby said, nearly in a whisper.

I softly sighed and sat down next to him.

"Toby, Emily didn't mean to ditch you like that. She's just nervous about how my sister and the others will react to her being friends with you" I said.

"Why would she care what they think?" Toby asked, turning to look at me.

"My friends, my twin sister, they're just a bit on edge. Especially after everything that happened with Alison. And I don't want to be rude to Spencer, but she's just judgmental" I said, rolling my eyes at the end.

Toby let out a small chuckle and I smiled, knowing that I cheered him up.

I chuckled myself before patting his shoulder.

"Don't worry buddy. Remember, I'm here for you and I'm your friend" I said.

"Aren't you worried how your friends, twin sister and parents will react to being friends with me?" Toby asked.

"I don't give a damn what they think. They can't tell me who I can or can't hang out with. If they don't like our friendship, to hell with them" I scoffed.

Toby managed to smile, not a small one, a big happy one.

I smiled back at him and ruffled his hair, earning a playful smack to the arm.

The Next Day

I was in the kitchen doing homework, along with studying for a few tests, and eating some pretzels while drinking water.

I heard footsteps and looked up to see Spencer walking into the kitchen, carrying a few books with her.

"Hey sis" I smiled at her.

"Hey bro" Spencer said, flashing me a small smile, before setting her books down.

She opened the fridge and took out a pear, closed the fridge and grabbed a knife before sitting down.

I already know why she's in a bad mood. Dad took her to the club and told her that she needed to play badly in order for dad's guests to win.

It pissed me off that dad told my sister to lose on purpose just for the guests to win. 

Speaking of our dad, he walked downstairs, mail in his hands as he walked over to us.

"Don't tell me that's how you wanna celebrate? With a pear? Put that away. You deserve a three-course meal tonight" Dad grinned.

I scoffed and shook my head, Spencer sighed and shook her head too.

"Think I'll pass" Spencer said, sitting down.

"Pass? Honey, you and your brother are the guest of honors. You won a national award, Ethan got a summer internship at Harvard, and you helped me sign Newhoff" Dad smiled.

I rolled my eyes and continued with my homework, not wanting to get distracted.

"Which almost didn't happen" Dad said, shaking his head and going through the mail.

"Why? Didn't I hit the net enough?" Spencer sarcastically asked, making me snort.

"No, no. You were perfect. But things almost fell apart while you were in the locker room" Dad said.

This made me and Spencer look at each other before looking back at dad.

"What happened?" I asked.

"Oh, well, he expected lunch at the club. And I didn't make a reservation, so there were no tables" Dad said.

"We sat at your favorite table" Spencer said.

"After I made a scene. I had to tell the manager that the kid on the courts forgot to call it in" Dad said, chuckling at the end.

This made my eyes widen when I realized who he was talking about.

He was talking about Alex.

Me and Alex have been friends since that day I stayed back to help the workers clean up. I helped Alex one time and after that we became friends.

So the fact that dad blamed Alex for something he didn't do, made me mad.

"Who, Alex? Wait, will he be in trouble over this?" Spencer asked in worry.

I looked at her and furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. 

Since when does she know or talk to Alex?

"Who cares? Kid can pick up balls anywhere, right? We snagged a major client, Spence" Dad said.

This made me and Spencer glare at him in anger.

My glare was more deadly then Spencer's because Alex is my friend.

He's a really nice and chill dude and the fact that dad did something like that to him annoys me.

Dad realized the looks we were giving him and raised his eyebrows at us.

"Why are you both looking at me like that? Just did what I had to do" Dad said as if it were the obvious.

"To win" Spencer said, her tone bitter.

"Don't give me that attitude. You're just as driven and competitive as I am. Don't pretend you're not" Dad said in a stern tone.

I glared at him in more anger and annoyance and clenched my fist.

"You know what? You're right. I am. I'm just not sure it's a thing that I wanna celebrate anymore" Spencer said.

She started gathering her things and looked at dad again.

"You know, and by the way, you don't have to read my essay" Spencer said.

"Why not?" Dad asked in confusion.

I looked at her with wide eyes in shock and worry. Is she really going to tell dad?

Spencer saw the look I was giving her and she flashed me a small reassuring smile before looking back at dad.

"Because I stole it" Spencer said.

This made dad's eyes widen in shock as he stared at her in disbelief.

"But I'm gonna win a big award so I'm guessing you're okay with that. You know, because winning's all that matters, right?" Spencer asked, flashing dad a sarcastic smile.

Dad didn't say anything, he continued staring at her in disbelief.

When she had all her things, she stood up and walked away, going upstairs to head to her room.

I smiled at her and shook my head.

I know she's going to get in alot of trouble for confessing later, but she did the right thing, and I'm proud of her.

Smirking at dad's shocked face, I grabbed my stuff and stood up and walked away to head upstairs to my room.