Ethan's Pov

The girls were going to go back to school in order to get Alison's diary back to see what else she's written.

While they were doing that, Aria texted me, asking if I could come over since she didn't want to be alone with her dad.

Turns out Mona wasn't the only one in the shed, Meredith was there too and she was injured terribly. 

Mr. Montgomery believed that Aria was involved with the explosion and believed that we helped her.

Aria is extremely pissed at him. I am too. 

I know he isn't my father, but for him to believe that we would do something like that is just wrong.

No, for him to believe that his own daughter would do something like that is wrong on so many levels.

Aria and I are currently sitting on her couch. We were eating popcorn and drinking soda as we watched a movie.

"Thanks for coming. I seriously didn't want to be here alone, especially with my dad" Aria said, spatting her dad's name like it was venom.

"No problem. And for the record, you have every right to be pissed at your dad. We all are" I said.

Aria smiled slightly at that and nodded.

We went back to watching the movie, eating our popcorn.

All of a sudden we heard footsteps and Mr. Montgomery walked into the living room.

"Oh, hello, Ethan. I didn't know you'd be here" Mr. Montgomery said.

I just gave him a dirty look before turning back to the T.V to continue watching the movie.

Mr. Montgomery sighed before looking up at the T.V.

"I think I've seen this one before" Mr. Montgomery said.

He walked towards the couch and sat down next to Aria. He grabbed the remote and muted the movie.

Seriously. We were getting to the good part.

"Listen, I wanted to talk to you about that explosion at school" Mr. Montgomery said.

"We've already talked. No, wait, you talked, I got accused" Aria glared at her father.

Forget the movie, this might be a bit more entertaining.

"Meredith got a call from the principal. He believes they found out who was behind it" Mr. Montgomery said.

He tried to grab her hand but Aria pulled it away, still glaring at him.

Mr. Montgomery shot her a guilty look while I had to stop myself from snorting. He deserved that.

"And I know that you are still upset at me for thinking that you were somehow involved. And I just wanted to say that I'm sorry" Mr. Montgomery softly said.

This is a bit awkward but entertaining. 

Aria giving her father the cold shoulder after he accused her of something she didn't do is the highlight of my day.

Aria continued glaring at her dad before grabbing the remote and unmuting the movie.

"I have seen this one. That guy keeps a severed head in a hatbox" Mr. Montgomery nodded.

Aria and I glared at him, angry that he spoiled that part for us. Aria scooted closer to my side, bringing her popcorn and drink with her.

Mr. Montgomery sighed before getting up from the couch as he started walking away.

He stopped and looked at us. I just glared at him while Aria quickly looked away from him.

Mr. Montgomery sighed before walking away. I sighed in relief before turning to Aria.

"You ok?" I asked in concern.

"Peachy" Aria muttered, stuffing popcorn in her mouth.

I stifled a snort before turning back to the movie, taking a sip from my drink.

The Next Day

The girls and I all met at the brew and we were waiting for Spencer to return with our orders.

Spencer walked towards us and I smiled when I saw our coffee orders.

"Soy? Unsweetened, no foam" Spencer smiled, her eyes on Aria.

"You deserve a medal" Aria smiled.

Spencer handed her her coffee before handing us ours. She then sat down next to Emily.

"You guys, I tossed and turned all night. I'd wake up from a dream about keeping secrets from Ezra, and then I'd fall asleep and I would dream about falsely accusing my dad. Weirdly, both of them ended with my teeth falling out" Aria explained.

"Anxiety dreams. In mine, usually there's always a piece of gum in my hair, and I just keep pulling and pulling until I'm bald" Hanna explained.

"Academic decathlon. I show up to state finals with my underwear on the outside" Spencer explained.

I snorted at that and shook my head, gulping down a bit more of my coffee before stopping.

I've had those a few times. But it's about something else, something I'd rather not talk about.

"Are you still gunning for team captain?" Aria asked.

"Didn't you hear? Brad Langfield got into a bike accident. He's gonna need physical therapy" Spencer explained.

How the hell did Brad get into that bike accident?

He's always been careful when riding his bike, especially at night.

So what the hell happened?

"The very grim upside is that I'm running unopposed" Spencer frowned slightly.

"Are you the only one of us that got sleep?" I asked, turning to Emily.

"Are you kidding? After last night?" Emily scoffed, shaking her head.

"So everything's gone?" I asked.

"Everything but a fake diary" Emily sighed.

"We've gotta talk to my mom about where my dad was that night. My teeth actually feel kinda loose right now" Aria explained.

I opened my mouth to say something when Mona walked towards us.

"Hey, guys. Losing sleep? Me, too" Mona nodded.

"What exactly are you talking about?" Emily asked.

"Remember that creepy Harold guy, from the Lost Woods Motel?" Mona asked.

"What about him?" Aria asked.

"He was at our school, stalking me. He bribed the real custodian so he could have the job" Mona explained.

"Why would he be stalking you?" Spencer asked, clearly not believing her.

"I used to talk to him once in a while, and he sort of ran with it. When I told him it was inappropriate, he didn't take it so well. And after what happened at the 10k, I told my parents, and we went to the school administration" Mona explained.

"You think that he rigged that explosion in the shed just to hurt you?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at her.

"I guess the police are looking for him now, but Harold's gone completely off the grid. I really hope they find him soon" Mona sighed.

"You sure it was him?" Hanna asked.

"Who else would it be?" Mona asked.

Does she expect us to believe that?

She may have been a good actor before but she's not anymore. Especially when we can see right through her.

"Anyway, I just thought you guys should know" Mona smiled before walking away.

When she was gone the girls and I all glanced at each other.

"Ok, please tell me no one else bought that" Emily was the first one to speak up.

"I'm just glad it's over with. Meredith thought that we did that" Aria said.

"So Mona did us a favor. We did not ask for it. We definitely don't owe her anything" Spencer scoffed.

"I wouldn't call anything that Mona does a favor" Aria added.

"You know her better than any of us, Hanna, Ethan. What do you think?" Spencer asked.

Hanna and I glanced at each other before sighing.

"We think there's more to the story" I said and Hanna nodded in agreement.

At School

Hanna and I were walking together when we got to school. We're trying to find Lucas.

Apparently when the girls went to school last night to get the diary they thought that they had ran into A, considering they were wearing a black hoodie.

But in reality it was actually Lucas.

Hanna saw his shoes and immediately knew that it was him.

We both need answers as to why he was there last night. 

Why does he seem so scared ever since Mona came back to school?

Finally, we found him in the courtyard and made our way towards him.

"Lucas, can we talk to you for a minute?" Hanna asked.

"Not now, guys" Lucas said.

"Look, I know it was you last night in the basement" Hanna said.

Lucas turned around, clear panic in his eyes, before I quickly stepped in.

"Don't worry, we're not gonna tell anyone" I reassured him.

"We just...why were you there?" Hanna asked.

"I was looking for something" Lucas sighed.

What exactly was he looking for? That's the question.

"Listen, we shouldn't be seen together" Lucas said.

He tried walking away but Hanna and I were quick to follow him, not wanting him to leave just yet.

"By who?" Hanna asked.

"Who do you think?" Lucas asked.

It didn't take me that long to realize who he was talking about.

"Listen, if you guys wanna take the chance, and believe that Mona is cured, go ahead, drink the kool-aid" Lucas said.

"No one is sipping her cuckoo juice" Hanna scoffed.

"I've seen you guys talk to her" Lucas pointed out.

"So what if we talk to her? We know better than to trust her" I scoffed.

"Lucas, why are you so freaked out?" Hanna asked, worried.

"The question is, why aren't you? Have you tried stopping her? I couldn't" Lucas said.

"What do you mean, stop her?" Hanna asked.

Lucas bit his lip and shifted from where he stood. My eyes soon widened in realization.

"Lucas, you didn't..." I trailed off.

Hanna glanced at us in confusion, still not catching on.

She finally understood and her eyes widened in realization as she looked at Lucas in disbelief.

"Lucas, you almost blew up a freaking teacher!" I quietly hissed at him. 

"I just wanted to scare her. I didn't want to hurt anybody" Lucas defended.

"So get a restraining order or a can of mace!" Hanna quietly yelled.

Couldn't he have thought of a better way to stop Mona?

Like, I don't know, spray paint her locker or tie her shoelaces together.

"I should go" Lucas shook his head, trying to leave.

"No, look. If you need help, let us help you" I softly said.

Hanna nodded in agreement while Lucas sighed and shook his head.

"You can't. Neither of you can" Lucas said.

"Just promise us you won't try another stunt like that again" Hanna softly said.

"I had to do something. As long as Mona is back here, we're not safe" Lucas explained.

He shot us one last look before walking away.

Hanna and I glanced at each other and sighed, shaking our heads.

We have to get more answers from him. He knows more things about Mona than us and we need to know what they are.

The Next Day

The girls and I were sitting together in the courtyard for lunch. 

Spencer is currently telling us that Mona is now apart of the academic decathlon team. Not only that, but she's running for team captain.

"Maybe her phone was hidden or something" Emily said.

"If she's gonna dip bag into the A bag to scare me off the decathlon team, she's got another thing coming" Spencer scoffed.

"Is being Captain brainiac really that important?" Hanna asked.

"Yeah, sis. I don't think being captain is worth it" I added.

This made Spencer shoot Hanna and I surprised look.

"Do you guys know something we don't?" Emily asked, looking at us suspiciously.

Hanna and I shot each other a glance before shaking our heads, looking back at the others.

"No. I'm just saying, if Mona's back to her old tricks, then maybe we should stay away from her" Hanna said.

"Like sabotaging Brad so she could run against me for team captain? That's so..." Spencer trailed off. 

"Ali" Emily and I finished.

I sighed and shook my head.

My eyes wandered over across the courtyard and my eyes widened when I saw Mona walking towards us.

Oh, you've gotta be kidding me.

"She's coming over here" I muttered to the others.

They all became alert as they looked at her. When she reached us, she smiled at us.

"Hi, Spencer. Listen, I just wanted to thank you for being such a good sport. I know that the two of us running for the same position could have caused some tension" Mona explained.

Tell me about it.

"I didn't mean to make a big deal of that. I would've called or texted, but-" Mona started but Spencer cut her off.

"Oh, no, Mona, I got your text. Yesterday" Spencer sarcastically smiled.

Mona chuckled slightly and shot her a confused look.

"I'm not allowed to have a cell phone. No texting, no Internet. Part of my release terms from Radley" Mona explained.

"No Internet. So how did you post that apology video?" Emily asked, narrowing her eyes at her.

"The vice-principal said that I could have limited access to the computer lab. Homework only, supervised" Mona explained.

"That was certainly calculating, but I wouldn't call it trig" Aria sarcastically said.

"I thought it was the right thing to do, so I asked Jason and-" Mona started but I cut her off.

"He's helping you?" I asked in disbelief.

Why the hell is my brother helping Mona?

"He supervised. It was my idea" Mona sighed.

"We know you were sneaking out of Radley, Mona. How are we supposed to believe anything you say?" Hanna asked.

This caused Mona to frown as she looked down at her feet.

"Mona?" I asked, waiting for her to answer. 

"The doctor said that people might have some trouble. It's just been a little more overwhelming than I thought, you know, to confront the past and work it out with all of you" Mona explained, her voice cracking slightly.

I swear I saw that tears were slowly streaming down her cheeks.

Why the hell does she sound so convincing? Why does she make it look convincing too?

"Can you excuse me?" Mona asked.

She quickly walked back over to her table and sat down, grabbing her water bottle.

"That was part of her act, right?" Aria asked. 

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

Honestly...she was pretty convincing. But we're not falling for her tricks, not again.

"Yeah, let's go" Spencer nodded.

With that, we grabbed our trays and got up before leaving the courtyard.

A Few Minutes Later

I met up with Alyssa and we were walking together in the hallway, heading towards her locker.

I was holding onto Alyssa's bag as we made our way to her locker, 

"Are you feeling any better? I mean, from everything. The bullet wound and the Halloween train" I asked.

"A little, yeah. My parents are a little paranoid, though" Alyssa sighed.

"Makes sense" I nodded in understanding.

Alyssa nodded and opened her locker, putting in a few of her books.

"Yeah, but as long as I'm with you, they know I'll be safe" Alyssa smiled.

"Your parents seem to really like me. Especially your dad" I smiled.

"Well, when we first became friends I talked about you all the time. My dad was skeptical at first, I blame his protectiveness over me" Alyssa scoffed.

I chuckled and shook my head.

"It's understandable. You're his daughter and he just wants to make sure you're safe and hanging out with the right people" I said.

"I know. But I've talked about you, mainly the good things, and it's fair to say he's come around. He's grown fond of you" Alyssa smiled.

"Well, I feel flattered. But I feel that he was the same way towards your ex-girlfriend" I said.

Alyssa sighed and shook her head, biting her lip.

"Not really. Let's say that my father's relationship with Amanda wasn't necessarily the best" Alyssa said.

"Forgive me if this sounds rude, but was it because she's a girl?" I asked.

"No, god no. When I came out to my parents they were both extremely supportive. They didn't care if I had a boyfriend or girlfriend, they only cared about my happiness" Alyssa explained.

"So, why did your dad not like Amanda?" I asked.

Alyssa sighed and placed her last book inside before she closed her locker. 

She grabbed her bag from me before beginning to walk. I followed next to her.

"When I introduced Amanda to my parents my mom was extremely happy to meet her. My dad, not so much" Alyssa said.

"How come?" I asked.

"Well, for starters, she was a smoker. She wore tattoos, rode a motorcycle and she had some trouble with police" Alyssa explained.

"And your dad thought she was a bad influence" I nodded, finally catching on.

"Yes. I tried convincing him that she was a good person and that she treats me well, but he was convinced that she was a bad influence. My mom tried to convince him as well, but nothing worked. So, they didn't really get along the way her and my mom did" Alyssa explained.

I nodded before a frown formed on my face.

"Uh, does your dad not know that I was arrested once?" I asked.

"He does. Trust me, people love to gossip in this town. But it's just one arrest, not 15" Alyssa reassured me.

I sighed in relief before nodding in agreement.

We made our way outside of school. I opened my mouth to say something when I saw a figure walking towards us.

I squinted my eyes a bit before they widened in realization, worry and annoyance.

"Oh you've gotta be kidding me" I muttered under my breath.

Unfortunately, Alyssa still heard me.

"What? What's wrong?" Alyssa asked in concern.

I clenched my eyes shut before turning to her, my lips pressing into a thin line.

"Don't look now, but my ex-best friend, the former A, is walking towards us" I whispered.

That alone made Alyssa's eyes widen in panic as she looked towards the said person I just talked about.

Mona. Freaking Mona was walking towards us, a bright smile on her face. 

I had a hard time figuring out if it was real or fake.

"Why is she coming over here?" Alyssa asked.

"I have no idea" I whispered back.

Alyssa sighed and cursed under her breath, grabbing her bag from me.

It's fair to say that Alyssa is nowhere near a fan of Mona after I told her what she had done to me, my sister and my friends.

Especially after I told her that she ran me over with a car, nearly killing me in the process.

Before we knew it Mona was now a few feet in front of us, a smile on her face, her hands in front of her.

"Ethan, hey. It's nice to see you" Mona smiled.

"We attend the same school and we have a few classes together. We see each other nearly all the time" I sarcastically said.

Alyssa snorted as she hid her face into my shoulder, trying to stop herself from laughing loudly.

I chuckled slightly and smiled softly at her, happy that I got that reaction from her.

Mona's eyes wandered over to Alyssa and a tight lipped smile formed on her face.

"Huh? You must be the famous Alyssa Taylor. Ethan seems to talk about you, alot" Mona said.

Alyssa slowly removed her face from my shoulder and cleared her throat. 

She looked up at me and I shrugged, but shifted closer to her side.

Alyssa quietly sighed before nodding her head, bringing her arm up to link it with mine.

"Yeah, that's me" Alyssa nodded.

I had to stop myself from blushing after she did what she did. Not that I'm complaining.

I swear I saw Mona's eyes lock onto Alyssa's arm that was linked to mine.

I swear I saw a little bit of anger and jealousy flash through her eyes. That made me really confused.

Why the hell is she jealous...?

Angry I understand, but why would she be jealous?

"It's nice to finally meet you. I'm Mona" Mona introduced herself.

"Yeah, I know who you are. Ethan told me everything" Alyssa said.

"Oh, well hopefully good things" Mona smiled.

I scoffed under my breath and shook my head while Alyssa refrained herself from slapping Mona across the face.

What good things?

All I can talk about are the bad things. For example, torturing me, my sister and my friends.

"Well, we really should get going" I managed to say.

"Oh, of course. I wouldn't want to keep you guys waiting any longer" Mona nodded.

Alyssa and I sent her a nod before we walked past her.

When we were far away from her, we both glanced at each other and let out breaths we didn't know we were holding.

"Talk about tension and awkwardness" Alyssa smiled slightly.

"Got that right" I nodded.

Alyssa shrugged her shoulders as she held onto my arm tighter, snuggling closer to my side.

I didn't even hide the fond and adoring smile that made its way onto my face.

At Lucas's House

Hanna and I both went to Lucas's house to talk to him to know more about him and Mona.

We need to know what Mona has on him that's got him so scared. Especially since he stopped coming to school.

We knocked on his door before opening it.

We saw Lucas sitting on his desk chair, doing schoolwork on his computer.

His eyes widened when he saw us and he took off his headphones.

"Hey, your mom let us up. Can we talk to you for a minute?" I softly asked.

Lucas sighed before nodding his head, allowing us to walk inside.

We both walked inside, we looked around his room, before turning to him.

"Look, um...I know you warned us about Mona, but we kind of poked the bear today, and we just wanna make sure she didn't take it out on you" Hanna explained.

I nodded in agreement while Lucas shook his head.

"Mona's not my problem anymore. I'm leaving Rosewood High for good. She can't get to me if I'm home-schooled" Lucas explained.

"So she was blackmailing you" Hanna said in realization.

Lucas pressed his lips into a thin line before standing up. He walked towards his door and closed it.

He sighed before turning to us, seeing the confused looks on our faces.

"Try still blackmailing" Lucas sighed.

"For how long?" I asked.

"Since the masquerade ball. I got an anonymous text to go to go distract Jenna. And then, after that, when she was in Radley, she got a contact again" Lucas explained.

He walked back over to his chair and sat down, turning around to look at us.

"I picked up an envelope from Jason Dilaurentis. And brought it to her. Then when I told her that I was out, that I was done, she tried to run me over" Lucas explained.

Mine and Hanna's eyes widened and our jaws dropped in disbelief.

Are you kidding me? Mona tried to run him over because he was done doing things for her?

"Oh, my God" I gasped.

"Lucas, are you ok?" Hanna asked in concern. 

The both of us walked towards him and sat down on his bed.

"This S.U.V. just swerved at me out of nowhere. I didn't see the driver, but it had to be Mona. I mean, she did it before with you" Lucas explained, his eyes locked on mine.

I fought the urge to roll my eyes and let out a small scoff, shaking my head.

"Thank for reminding me" I bitterly muttered under my breath.

Lucas frowned and shot me an apologetic look while Hanna rubbed my shoulder.

"So when you were doing things for her, did you ever meet with anyone else?" Hanna asked.

"As far as I could tell, I was just the middleman. She's completely protected. It's just easier if I bow out of school. Maybe that way, I can protect myself" Lucas explained.

"Why would you want to protect yourself from school? What does she have on you?" I asked, confused and worried. 

"Test answers, to every course the school offers. I was selling them" Lucas said.

"To who?" I asked. 

"Anyone with cash. After she tried to make me road kill, I shut everything down and covered my tracks. Now I just have to disappear" Lucas explained.

I frowned and shook my head. Hanna did the same thing.

I can't believe Mona was, still blackmailing, Lucas. 

I can't believe she tried to run him over when he told her he was done. She could've killed him like she nearly killed me.

She hasn't changed. And honestly, I don't think she'll ever change.

At The Brew

Hanna and I are going to the brew since that's where Spencer, Mona and the rest of the decathlon team would be.

Spencer texted us they would be there.

When we walked in we spotted Spencer nearby and walked towards her.

"Hey, we just got your text. Are you ok?" Hanna asked.

Spencer sighed and turned around, clear sadness shown in her eyes.

"Um, I lost" Spencer said.

A frown made it's way onto my face as I walked closer to my sister.

My eyes wandered over to Mona who was talking to one of the members.

"Did she cheat?" I asked, nodding towards Mona.

"Yeah. I don't know. Um, I just really blew it, and I need to get outta here" Spencer said.

"Toby's not home?" Hanna asked.

"No, he's still out at dinner with his boss" Spencer sighed. 

"Ok, we'll go" I softly smiled, patting her shoulder. 

"Ok. Thank you" Spencer nodded, a tiny smile on her face. 

"In one second" Hanna said as she began walking towards Mona.

"What are you doing? What is she doing?" Spencer asked, confused. 

"Just hang on" I said.

I patted her head before walking towards Hanna.

"Mona, can we talk to you for a minute?" Hanna asked. 

"Sure. Oh, there's still more cupcakes if you guys wanna join" Mona smiled.

"We're onto you" I got straight to the point.

"What?" Mona asked, confused.

"Ok, nothing's changed. You are still pulling strings and pushing buttons. Manipulating lives, using people's secrets. You know, we wasted months visiting you, defending you, feeling guilty for everything you did to us" I scowled.

"And I kept thinking, maybe if I was a better friend. You almost reeled me in. Not just me, Ethan too. I'm scared, guys, I need you. Bull crap" Hanna angrily spat.

"Guys" Spencer muttered, walking closer towards us.

I held my hand out and shook my head, gesturing for her not to intervene.

"We know you're still A, and we know what you're doing to Lucas" Hanna said.

"Whatever Lucas said-" Mona started but Hanna cut her off.

"No, we're done. We don't wanna see you, we don't wanna hear from you, and we don't wanna know you" Hanna angrily said.

She let out a scoff before turning around and walking away.

"I'm sorry you feel that way" Mona muttered.

Mona looked up at me and I had to fight the urge to roll my eyes when I saw that she was close to crying.

"Ethan, I-" Mona started but I cut her off.

"Don't. Just, don't. I really wanted to believe that you changed, but it's clear that you haven't. Just, stay away from me. And stay away from Alyssa too" I scowled.

With that, I spun around and walked away from her.

I wrapped my arm around Spencer's shoulders as we both left the brew.

Back At Home

When we got home Spencer crashed on the couch, clearly tired after what happened. I don't blame her.

She laid on the couch with an icepack on her head.

I sat next to her, looking at something on my phone when Spencer released a sigh.

"We have a competition in, like, a month. Overnight travel. I'm not gonna be able to survive a weekend with Mona" Spencer groaned in annoyance.

I patted her leg for some comfort while Hanna walked towards us.

"Maybe we should throw her under a bus, literally" Hanna suggested. 

I snorted slightly and shook my head before Hanna sat down across from us.

"Here's more ice" Hanna said, setting the bowl down.

Spencer sighed as she sat up from the couch and removed the icepack.

"This isn't working. I'd actually need to remove my brain, and soak it in an ice bath" Spencer said.

Mine and Hanna's phone rang, causing us to glance at each other, before taking our phones out.

No surprise. It's from A.

"Cut Mona off? Big mistake. You're not the only one who can slice and dice. A" I read off what the text said.

Hanna scoffed and rolled her eyes while I shook my head.

"It's not Lucas?" Spencer asked. 

"100% not Lucas. Mona just used him like an evil personal assistant" Hanna said. 

"I think there's more people out there who are way worse" I added.

"You guys shouldn't have yelled at her like that" Spencer scolded us. 

"Spence, she had it coming" Hanna defended. 

"I know, but if she's up to her old tricks, that text won't be the end of it" Spencer said.

"So what? We know her tricks. I'm not gonna live my life in fear. Mona can't hide from us anymore" I explained.

Hanna nodded in agreement while Spencer scooted closer to me.

"Do you remember when she started to unravel the other day in the courtyard? I saw her crack like that tonight. I thought I could rattle her cage and send her running. That's what made me lose" Spencer explained.

"How?" Hanna asked, confused.

"Cause I got cocky, and competitive. I saw this soft underbelly, and I lunged" Spencer explained.

"So you think she showed you a weak spot on purpose?" Hanna asked. 

"That's what I'm worried about. She doesn't have to hide behind A anymore" Spencer said. 

"She can take us on right in the open" I added.

Hanna sighed while I groaned and ran a hand down my face.