.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。

♥ 𝐵𝓇𝒶𝒸𝑒𝓁𝑒𝓉𝓈 & 𝐹𝒾𝒶𝓃𝒸𝑒𝓈 ♥

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。

Scarlett made it through another Hastings family dinner. Her hi of being ahead in her classes earned her praise all throughout the table, and her low was a tasteless lunch, in more ways than one, but she didn't indulge those extra details.

Although the Hastings family dinners were mostly just to blow smoke up Meslissa's ass, Scarlett must say... at least they have dinner together as a family. She despised the way the emotion pricked at her black heart, and would never admit it out loud, but although Aunt Veronica was gone, they still made the effort, even if it was an artificial one.

No matter. Her dad gave her four hundred dollars the next morning- left it, for coffee, lunch, and a shopping trip for the following weekend as his attempt to make up for it, so her and Hanna met up for coffee before school. A wonderful start to her day. Alister Mave's solutions to mending any fence or fixing any problem is money. Since he had more than enough money than he knew what do with, it didn't phase him, and if it wasn't going towards work, he would put it towards Scarlett. He at least made somewhat of an effort, even if it was mostly shown in a materialistic way.

Scarlett ordered her sugar-free latte with extra whipped cream after noticing Hanna's slight hesitation on her order, and they were in a full conversation about purses, sashaying through the school parking when they stumble across a group of boys hollering as Emily exit's Ben's car.

"You ladies are looking good too." One of them eyes Hanna and Scarlett up and down.

"I'm sorry, are you talking to us?" Hanna clips.

Scarlett raises a perfectly-penciled eyebrow, narrowing her eyes. "Hmm. Surely not, because choking on gingivitis breath is not how I wanted to start off my morning."

The guy walks off as Emily tugs on the top of shirt, before falling into step with the other two girls.

"You okay?" Hanna looks at her.

"Not really." Emily answers honestly. The sweet, and a bit shy, school-girl Emily drawing a crowd in the school parking lot by making out with her boyfriend... who would've thought? Scarlett would've been more impressed and showered her with teasing praise if Emily's face didn't have an ill expression written across it.

"You know, I never thought of you as someone who'd be so comfortable with PDA." Hanna pokes lightly. 

"It's always the quiet ones you have to watch out for." Scarlett hums, unable to hold her comments completely.

"Maybe I'm not the person everyone thinks I am." Emily says.

"Who is?" Hanna mutters.

Scarlett shrugs a curated shoulder. "That doesn't scare us."

She's not half the golden queen the other girls paint her out to be.

More like a scarleted version.

That's why she never judged the other girls beyond her initial scrutiny or outwardly cattiness with Alison. She has no room to judge.

♥ ♥ ♥

Doing her skincare the next morning before meeting with Hanna and Mona at the mall, Scarlett hears noise outside and, of course, takes a nosey peak out the window to find the infamous fiancé Wren leaving the barn with his things... she exhales, clicking her tongue. What a shame. He's been one of the more tolerable men Melissa has been interested in, and that she means far less of a bore and much more attractive.

"Hmmm." She hums to herself, the corners of her lips tugging up. She wonders to herself if the sudden eviction has something to do with him locking lips with her cousin last night... and not the one he's engaged to.

Somehow, Scarlett Mave always found herself at the right place at just the right time, and it usually paid off well. But, this isn't the first of Melissa's men that Spencer has entangled herself with, shockingly, and Melissa handled this one quick, which meant she knew, and while still valuable― information that wasn't withheld or kept secret didn't hold the same flare or interest to the intellectually devious Mave girl.

♥ ♥ ♥

"Okay, so we're sure those Madames go with the dress." Hanna questions Mona and I as the three of us walk across the mall's parking garage, shopping bag strings wrapped across their fingers.

Mona chuckles. "This sounds totally gay, but if I saw you struttin' it in that dress and kickin' up those heels, I would think about doing you."

"Well, seeing as I am gay, I'm inclined to agree." I grin slyly, agreeing with Mona and she soaks in the reassurance that she her choice was affirmed.

"Now why couldn't I have that energy for the skort I tried in earlier?" Mona pouts.

"Uh, because I'm bi not blind." I purse my lips in amusement.

"And we loveee the necklace?" Hanna checks, holding up the small rose-colored bag lazily.

"We adore it." Mona chimes.

"Sexy on the collarbone." I add as Hanna comes to a hesitant stop causing my steps to falter. Mona glances over her shoulder as I follow Hanna's alarmed line of vision. That Detective that her mom banged, had the fucking audacity to corner us at Ali's funeral, AND pulled us out of class at school... stalker much? My mother could warrant a straining order expeditiously before he even had time to blink.

"Relax. You actually paid for that." Mona reassures, looking oddly once Hanna doesn't move or peel her eyes away. "Let's go."

"Um, yeah. I'll be right back." Hanna says.

"Han, are you sure?" I ask, eyeing the detective sharply.

"I'll just be a sec." Hanna calls over her shoulder.

Before Mona opens her mouth to ask what that was all about I turn to her. "Wanna pic the playlist for the ride home?" I look at her with excitedly-wide eyes, as if it is the most important task.

She lights up, giving a curt nod. "I have just the one."

"Great." I scrunch my nose as she heads to the car and I turn on my heel to join Hanna, catching the end of detective Wildabran's sentence.

"What I care about is you and your pretty little friends knowing who killed her."

I scoff and his gaze falls upon me as I approach them.

"What?" Hanna asks in disbelief.

"Is there a problem here?" My teeth grind together.

The detective pulls his attention back to Han. "Your mom may be hot, Hanna, but she's not hot enough to make that go away." He warns, with a smug look on his face.

My face twists in anger before I plaster a tight smile on my face. "Mmm, I'll be sure to let her and my mother know as you continue to approach and press minors outside of the police station and without parental figures present." My nostrils flare. Why the hell would we know who killed Alison? And why would we keep it to ourselves. I'd want to see the bitch behind bars, rotting...

If she's actually dead, that is.

♥ ♥ ♥

Driving home in the pouring rain from Mona, Scarlett glances down at the keychains dangling from the ignition. Her throat grows dry and hallow as she stares at the purple knitted bracelet with her name on it, unable to go forward at the stop sign outside of the Grille.

ғʟᴀsʜʙᴀᴄᴋ

All six of our laughs ring out while sipping Aria and I sip on our  pink lemonades when Ali's eyes connect with mine. I nod subtly, placing the glass jar cup down.

"Scar and I got you guys something." She announces to the group. Emily's eyes shine up at her as we pull out the tiny satchel like pouches from our purses and start distributing them out.

"What's the occasion?" Spencer asks.

"You'll see." Ali tells her.

"That's what makes it a surprise." I smirk, winking at Hanna in front of me.

"Open 'em." Ali encourages.

The girls yank open the pouches and slip out the bracelets we got them. Ali wanted us to gift the group something special, which I loved and knew they would too. After narrowing it down between anklets or bracelets, we chose on bracelets and I curated the design. Purple knitted band with our name stitched in white.

"We'll be friends forever." Ali says, a hint of dramatized tone.

"And always tied to one another." I run my finger across the bracelet. No matter what.

"Can you put mine on for me, Em?" Alison asks, holding hers out across the table as I shake my head to myself. Emily happily soaks up the attention and none of the others pay any mind, all wrapped in their own awe and excitement of the gift.

Special little moments like this bring us closer together...

Or at least cast the illusion of it.

♥

A blasting honk of a horn rips Scarlett out of the haunting memory and she jerks her head up, rolling her eyes she flips her manicured nail at the car behind her before her phone chimes. An annoyed huff strangles in her throat, unable to see much past the pouring raining anyway, she opts for pulling into the Grille's parking lot.

She snatches her cellphone from the top of her purse and the hairs on her arm spike as she reads the text.

UNKNOWN

Maybe you're the one who killed Ali. You either wanted her gone or had no problem watching her go, taking on the group as if she was never there. Shall I let Detective Wilden know we have a suspect...

--A

♥ ♥ ♥

0𝒷𝓊𝓉𝓉𝑒𝓇𝒷𝒾𝓈𝒸𝓊𝒾𝓉7 𝓈𝓅𝑒𝒶𝓀𝓈!

Heyyy, welcome back liarsss!! ;)

Look at meee.... updating this book only a couple weeks apart instead of months... who am I... haha. I also was ON top of it last week, going through & editing the previous/published chapters for this book bc they def needed edited & I needed to remember everything I've already wrote lmao, & I was on a ROLL until wp didn't save one of the chapters I spent day editing on & I got mad & lost motivation lmao.

Anywaysss... happy September 1st AND labor day... y'all know what that meansss... happy Alison DiLaurentis dayyy!! How freakin cool labor day fell on Sept. 1st this yearr!!! Girlie had a yellow tank top, a million hours in the day, & a dream!! Ugh, it's so pll season now tooo, i'm so excited!!

And this concludes episode 2 y'all!! I never thought we'd make it thru tbh, but we diddd!! I hope y'all are getting more insight into Scar as a character & her family dynamic/relationshippp!!  I also LOVED the idea of Scarlett being included in the bracelet gift, it just made sense!! (also i've thought all this time they were brown, but google made them look purple & so now im questioning everything & wondering if im colorblind lmao)

I would rlly like to finish going through & rereading/editing ep. 1 & 2 chaps now before I continue w/ 3 sooo, we'll see, hopefullyyy!! I hope y'all enjoyed this chapp!! Pls don't be afraid to comment your thoughts, questions, & reactions, they make writing so much more motivating!! And until next time, mwah!! <3333

(OH YEAH ALSOOO!! I don't remember if it's came up yet about Scarlett being bi (other than in the casting chapter lmao) but I just planned to mention it when she talks w/ Emily but then the Mona scene came up & I was like waittt this it TOOO perfect!! Haha, I love dropping Scarlett lore!!)