Ethan's Pov

Me and the girls were all rudely awaken by Aria because apparently she wanted to show us something.

I really didn't care what she wanted to show us, I was so freaking tired after the dance.

"Wait, where's Ian?" Emily asked as we all made our way downstairs.

"Don't worry, he went to Philly to be with Melissa" Spencer said.

"Thank lords" I sighed in relief.

"I didn't realize life existed at this hour" Emily groaned.

"Come on guys, just walk. You need to see this" Aria said, walking towards the kitchen counter to sit on one of the stools.

"I always hoped my first sunrise would have tequila in it" Hanna sighed.

"I'll make coffee" Spencer said.

Aria was typing on Spencer's computer while Hanna and Emily sat down on the other stools while I stood behind Hanna.

"Well, when it's ready just pour it down my throat" Hanna said.

"Same" I said, raising my hand up as Hanna high-fived me.

Aria pressed something on the laptop and soon the picture of Alison with the A message on it.

"I thought we were done looking at this. I mean, we know the shadow is Ian, right?" Spencer asked.

"That's what you guys think, not me" I said, shaking my head.

Aria stood up from the stool and walked over to the printer to take out a printed photo of Alison.

"You woke us up for this?" Emily asked, clearly annoyed.

"It's important. I couldn't let it go" Aria said, setting the picture down.

"Have you been up all night?" Hanna asked.

"Maybe" Aria shrugged.

"You have. One eye is bigger than the other. You look like a strung out power puff girl" I smirked teasingly at her.

This earned a snort from Hanna while Aria half heartedly glared at me.

"Stop looking at the eye. Just look at the picture" Aria said, rolling her eyes.

"Who's having coffee?" Spencer asked.

"Me" I said, raising my hand.

"There's only one place where this picture could have been taken from" Aria said.

"Where?" Hanna asked.

"Alison's bedroom" Aria said.

"No, Alison is in the picture. She clearly didn't take that" I said, shaking my head.

"Ok, but somebody in her house did" Aria said.

"Like who? Her parents?" Emily asked.

"No, her brother" Aria said.

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

"Jason" me and Spencer whispered.

"You know, my mom ran into him at the bank. He's back in town" Hanna said, looking at all of us.

"Why?" Emily asked, confused.

"Well we have to call him" Aria said but Hanna immediately shook her head at that.

"No, ew. I am not going to talk to him" Hanna scoffed.

"Me either" Emily said.

"Both of you, be nice" I scolded them, gently hitting their arms.

The girls may not like Jason but I do, he's one of my best friends and I don't like that they're rude to him or say stuff like that.

"I will" Spencer said.

We all looked at her in slight shock before she cleared her throat and shook her head.

"We need to know if he took this" Spencer said.

"I'll go with you, I kind of miss him" I said.

Spencer nodded as the girls glanced at each other and sighed.

At The Track Field

After me and Spencer got dressed we left home to go meet up with Jason and show him the picture, in hopes of finding out if he took it or not.

I doubt he did but the girls still want answers.

We both walked up the stairs and made our way into the track field. When we got there we saw Jason working up by running up and down the bleachers.

We began walking a bit closer to get his attention, and luckily it worked because he spotted us and began walking up the bleachers to get to us.

"Hey" Jason said, nodding at Spencer and flashing me a smile.

"Hey to you too" I smiled.

"Hey, Jason. I'm-I'm sorry we're interrupting your workout. This can wait" Spencer said.

She grabbed my arm and was about to drag me away with her before Jason stopped us.

"Really. It didn't sound that way on the phone" Jason said.

Spencer sighed and let go of my arm as we both turned back around to face him.

"What are you doing back in town?" Spencer asked.

"Yeah, you could've called, I would've brought you something or we could've hung out like we normally did" I said.

"Just taking care of family business. I would've called you, Ethan, but I just needed to focus on other stuff" Jason said, flashing me an apologetic smile.

I gave him a small smile and nodded in understanding.

"Spencer, why did you come here? I understand Ethan, you, not so much" Jason asked.

Spencer sighed and opened her bag before handing Jason a folder, the folder that had the picture inside.

Jason took it and opened it up and took out the picture.

"This was sent to us. It looks like it was taken from the second floor of your house" Spencer said and I nodded.

"Yeah. It does" Jason nodded, unfazed.

"So, why do you not sound convinced?" I asked, confused.

"Look, after Ali disappeared, we got bizarre things in the mail. Sympathy cards from strangers and letters with conspiracy theories about what happened to her" Jason said.

This made mine and Spencer's eyes widen as we glanced at each other.

What are the odds that the 'strangers' is none other than freaking A?

"Sometimes it was photos. Blurry images of a blond girl running away from the camera" Jason sighed.

"But that's definitely Ali. And it's in our yard. And it was taken the night she disappeared" Spencer said.

"Yeah. She's got the same yellow top on" I nodded.

"Spencer, Ethan, they have programs now that make photoshop look like scissors and a glue stick" Jason said.

Me and Spencer both sighed in annoyance.

Jason noticed and let out a small sigh before shaking his head.

Look, I'll tell you what My family hired a P.I. I'll take the picture to him and see what he comes up with" Jason said.

Me and Spencer both nodded at him. We turned around to walk away but stopped when Jason spoke up again.

"Spencer, Ethan. Ali's memorial was the hardest thing I've ever done. I was a jerk. I-I know that now" Jason said.

"Well, that wasn't the term that I would have used, but, it works" Spencer said, flashing him a small smile.

"And Jason you weren't a jerk. Sure, at times you would get drunk and act like a jerk, but I know that deep down you really did care about Ali. She's your sister after all. And I know that you're not heartless. And despite your differences, I know she loved you too" I softly said.

This made him smile softly at me and nod.

And with that me and Spencer turned around and walked away to head to school.

At School

When me and Spencer got to school we met up with Aria and the three of us walked into school together.

While we were walking, we spotted Hanna by her locker and saw her on the phone with someone.

By the looks of it she seemed stressed, angry and worried.

"Hanna" Aria called out to her.

Hanna looked at us and quickly hung up as we made our way over to her.

"Hey, buttercup" I smiled at her.

"Who are you talking to?" Spencer asked.

"My mom" Hanna sighed, looking at her phone.

"Is everything ok?" Spencer asked, worried as she opened her locker.

"Hmm? Uh, yeah, everything's fine" Hanna nodded, sighing as she put her phone away and turned back to her locker.

My eyes widened in realization and I tapped Spencer on the arm.

She looked at me with furrowed eyebrows and I gently hit her bag.

This made her eyes widen in realization as she nodded and opened her bag before turning to Aria.

"Oh. Here. We forgot to give you these last night" Spencer smiled.

Aria took the tickets from her and looked at them. A smile formed on her face as she looked at me and my sister.

"Thank you" Aria smiled.

Me and Spencer smiled and nodded as she brought us both into a hug.

"Oh, I owe you both big time" Aria said.

Me and Spencer chuckled at that before we pulled away. Aria sighed and looked at both of us in slight worry.

"Are you sure your dad's not gonna miss these?" Aria asked.

"Oh, please. He joined the museum board for networking. The man doesn't know the difference between a monet and a mojito" I scoffed.

This earned snorts from both Spencer and Hanna but Spencer nodded her head, agreeing with me.

"Well, hey, how can I get you back?" Aria asked both me and my sister.

"Pay for the extra toppings on our pizza delivery" Spencer said and I nodded.

"Alright, you got it" Aria nodded, smiling.

"Because if I have to hole up in my room all night as your alibi, I would like to do it with Jake Gyllenhaal" Spencer smiled.

I rolled my eyes at that but Aria giggled and nodded.

Hanna closed her locker and looked at us with furrowed eyebrows.

"Wait, what alibi? Aren't you three going to the museum thingy?" Hanna asked.

I sighed in slight annoyance as Spencer and Aria glanced at each other before looking back at Hanna.

"No, um...Spencer got the tickets for, me and Ezra" Aria smiled.

"You're taking Mr. Fitz?" Hanna asked in slight shock.

"I really wish you'd just call him Ezra. And yes, I'm taking him. He just, doesn't know it yet. It's a surprise" Aria said.

Spencer smiled and nodded while I rolled my eyes.

I seriously still don't like the fact that she's dating our teacher, but as long as he's making her happy that's all that matters to me.

Even if it does make me slightly uncomfortable.

"I don't know, I just figured that a date out of town would give us a chance to actually have a date" Aria said.

"Yeah. Uh, I get it. You guys do kind of have the social lives of shut-ins" Spencer said.

This made Aria nod while I lightly chuckled at what Spencer said. And with that the three of us walked away to head off to class.

The Next Day

It was the next day and me, Aria, Emily and Spencer were eating lunch somewhere else instead of the cafeteria.

We were mostly picking at our food since the lunch really wasn't that good.

And we were a bit confused when Hanna still didn't show up to eat with us.

"Why is this called 'meat casserole'?" Emily asked in disgust.

"The lunch lady has a gift for suspense" I scoffed, rolling my eyes and setting my bowl down.

"Where's Hanna?" Spencer asked, looking around.

"Who cares" Aria scoffed.

Me and Spencer looked at her weirdly, confused as to why she sounded so upset.

"What?" Spencer asked.

"I don't know" Aria sighed, shaking her head as she continued to eat her lunch.

I just nodded at that and turned to Emily, seeing her pick at her food, a frown on her face as she was obviously upset.

"Em, how is swim practice?" I asked, trying to break the awkward tension.

"Can we talk about something else?" Emily asked, glaring at her food.

Spencer sighed in annoyance as I shook my head and continued eating my food, quite reluctantly.

"Ok, I've heard of communal cramps, but this is getting ridiculous" Spencer said.

"Yeah, what happened to all that first real date excitement? I mean yesterday you were ready to give me and Spencer tongue for giving you two tickets" I said, looking at Aria.

"Yeah, you're not into it anymore?" Spencer asked.

"No" Aria sighed.

This made me and Spencer look at her with raised eyebrows and Aria noticed and she quickly shook her head.

"I mean, yes. Yeah, I'm so into it. We're gonna have an amazing time tonight" Aria said, a smile slowly forming on her face.

I smiled softly at her and nodded.

Spencer's smile was wider than mine as she set her bowl down and patted her knees.

"Ok, so talk. What are you gonna wear?" Spencer asked.

"I can't decide between my backless or my strapless" Aria said.

"Go with the red one. Be bold. Ethan, what do you think?" Spencer asked.

"I mean, I'm not an expert with girl fashion, but I agree with Spencer. Always be bold when going on your first date" I said.

Aria nodded as Spencer ruffled my hair and turned to look at Emily.

"What do you think, Em?" Spencer asked.

We all looked at her, only to see that her eyes were on something else, or maybe someone else.

"About what?" Emily asked.

"What are you looking at?" I asked, turning around to see that she was looking at a girl with short hair.

I think I remember her name, but I can't be for sure unless I saw her face.

"It's nothing. Just some girl on my swim team that wants me to disappear" Emily said, shaking her head.

"What's her name?" Aria asked.

"Paige McCullers" Emily scoffed.

Oh, now I remember.

Paige is another one of Alison's victims that she bullied. I remember that her nickname for Paige was 'pigskin'.

I've never really talked to her so I'm not really sure what to think of her.

I may have stuck up for her when Alison bullied her, but she never really said anything other than a 'thank you' before leaving.

"Oh, I know her. We played field hockey together, we named a penalty after her" Spencer said.

"What did she say?" Spencer asked.

"Just some snarky comment about me being gay" Emily said, shrugging her shoulders like it was no big deal.

And now I want to find her and slap her across the face.

"I will destroy that bitch" I angrily spat.

"Hmm, can we help?" Aria asked, anger flashing through her and Spencer's eyes.

Nobody, and I mean nobody, says snarky comments about Emily being lesbian and thinks they can get away with it.

Whether it's a girl or boy I will fight a damn bitch if needed. And for my best friends and my sister, most definitely.

"Guys, it's ok. I took care of it" Emily said, flashing us a reassuring smile.

We didn't buy it but decided not to push it any further.

Emily set her bowl down and began looking through her bag before getting her purse out.

"Anyone else thirsty? I'm gonna get a drink" Emily asked.

Me and Aria noticed a small box with a ribbon on the table. Before I could grab it Aria beat me to it, looking at it with interest.

"Who's this from?" Aria asked.

"Paige. Whatever it is you can have it. She's trying to bribe her way to becoming the next team captain" Emily said.

This made Spencer release a sarcastic laugh while I scoffed and rolled my eyes.

Talk about desperate.

Aria opened the box and inside of it was a bracelet that said 'go sharks'.

But what made mine and the girls eyes widened was the fact that the material of the bracelet was the same as the ones Alison gave us.

"Do you think they're from the same place?" Aria asked.

"It's possible" Emily said.

"If they were, maybe the store owner could tell us who bought the fake Alison bracelet" Spencer said.

"Yeah, or maybe even the Jenna one" I said.

"And we would know who A is" Emily said.

Spencer took the box from Aria and began looking at it, trying to find some sort of address on it.

"There's only one way to find out" Spencer said, not removing her eyes from the box.

The Next Day

So, alot happened yesterday.

First, Emily got mad at Spencer because Spencer told coach about Paige's comment about Emily being lesbian.

I'm not sure why Emily's mad. I know she didn't want any of us doing anything, but she needs to understand that Spencer did it because she cares about her.

I would've done the same thing. I don't care if Em got mad at me. I'll be glad knowing that I stood up for my best friend.

Another thing I learned was that the reason for Aria and Hanna not talking was because Hanna straight up told Aria not to go on the date with Ezra. Like, she demanded it.

It was a bit strange, I can understand where Hanna was coming from but I didn't expect her to react that way.

And Spencer went to the shop to find out who bought the bracelet so we could find out who A is, only for the store owner to say that 'Spencer' was the one who bought it.

Damn, A really is smart not to give out their real name.

I can't believe all of that happened while I was at home doing homework.

Moving on from that, I was heading to the pool to go check on Emily and try and convince her that Spencer did the right thing telling coach about what Paige said.

I walked in and began looking around for Em.

However, what I saw made my blood boil.

Paige was crouched down and had her hand in the pool, and I could see that she was pushing someone's head in the water.

And I didn't even need to look at their face to know that it was Emily.

Without second thought, I dropped my bag to the ground and sprinted towards them.

When I was close, I shoved Paige away and quickly grabbed Emily by the arm and pulled her out of the pool.

Emily gasped for air and stumbled into my arms. She took off her goggles and hat and began coughing out some water as I patted her back. 

I know that my clothes were getting wet since I was hugging her but I didn't care. I only cared about Emily at the moment.

When she calmed down we slowly pulled away from the hug and I cupped her face, scanning her up and down.

"Are you ok? Does anything hurt?" I asked.

"I'm fine, I'm fine" Emily nodded.

I sighed in relief and placed a brotherly kiss to her forehead. I then turned to Paige and glared angrily at her.

"What the hell was that for you bitch?" I angrily asked.

Paige ignored me and looked at Emily, glaring angrily at her.

"I saw the lineup. I know what you're doing" Paige said.

"What are you talking about?" Emily asked, confused while glaring at her.

"Coach replaced me as the relay anchor with you" Paige said.

"So go and talk to coach" Emily said.

"Like you did? I would never rat out my teammate because my feelings were hurt. I take care of things myself" Paige said, still glaring at her.

I glared angrily at her with my fist clenched tightly at my sides.

Who the hell does she think she is?

"Listen, how about instead of being a jealous bitch, you actually work harder to become team captain instead of trying to bribe your way to becoming it. And making comments about people based on their sexuality only makes you more of a bitch than you already are" I angrily spat.

"Listen dude, this doesn't concern you so why don't you butt out. And I only spoke facts about your little gay friend over there" Paige scoffed.

I growled and my body began to slightly shake.

Emily looked at me in worry and tried grabbing my arm to pull me away but I gently pushed her away and stalked over to Paige.

I grabbed her roughly by the ear, making her wince in pain as she looked at me with wide eyes.

"Listen you little bitch, I don't know who you think you are or what you're trying to accomplish. But how about you lay off my best friend. Just because she's lesbian doesn't mean shit. She's her own person and she's working hard to accomplish many great things in life. Unlike you, who's bribing people with gifts instead of working hard like you should. So how about you fuck off, unless you want to get on my bad side when I'm angry" I angrily spat at her.

I released her ear and shoved her away, making her fall to the ground.

She grabbed onto her ear and looked up at me with slightly wide eyes.

"And for your sake, I would listen. Because I'm a Hastings and a Hastings doesn't mess around when they're angry" I said, still glaring at her.

And with that I walked over to Emily and gently grabbed her arm, dragging her away.

I grabbed my bag from the ground and with that we both left.

Late At Night

After the incident with Paige I continued school regularly like always. I made sure to stay away from her because I probably would've smacked her.

She literally tried to drown my best friend and for what, to be team captain.

I swear she's a jealous bitch.

Anyways, me and the girls are in Spencer's room, sitting on her bed.

Apparently, Spencer called us in her room to tell us that the shadow in the picture isn't Ian, it's her.

"So, the shadow in the picture isn't Ian? It's you?" Aria softly asked.

"Yeah" Spencer nodded.

"Why didn't you tell us before?" Emily asked, placing her hand on her shoulder.

"I don't know. I guess I was scared. I know this is going to sound crazy, but I think that I didn't tell you because there was always a part of me that wondered if it was my fault. I mean I wished it and it came true" Spencer explained, tears stream down her cheeks.

My heart clenched and I frowned at that. I hated seeing my twin so upset.

I wrapped my arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer to my side. Almost immediately she leaned into my touch, silently crying in my shoulder.

"Spence, you didn't mean it" Hanna softly said.

"It was just something you said in the heat of the moment" Emily softly said.

"Besides, Ali said stuff to us that was worse. Much worse. Right?" Aria asked.

Spencer nodded, sniffling before looking up at me, making me look down at her.

"You're lucky, bro. Alison never said anything mean to you because she liked you" Spencer said.

"Whether she liked me more than you guys she had no right to say those awful things to you. Or to the other kids she bullied. That's why I always stood up for you guys and everyone else she ever bullied. I couldn't just sit back and do nothing" I softly but sternly said.

The girls all smiled softly at me and nodded.

I looked down at Spencer, only to see her staring at something. Aria seemed to have notice too because she looked at her with raised eyebrows.

"Spence?" Aria asked.

She stood up from her bed and walked over to the window and we all followed behind her.

When we got to the window and began staring outside, our eyes widened at the figure we saw in Alison's bedroom.

"Oh my god. Is that...?" Aria asked.

The figure came into view and it was none other than Alison's big brother, Jason.

"It's Jason" Hanna whispered, clutching onto my arm.

Well, things certainly got alot more interesting.