Summary: The liars experience their first winter break after starting college. A might have been out of their lives for a while but now she was back with a fairy tale twist. Will the girls finally get their happy endings?
Spencer walked downstairs to find her mother making cookies. She was on her first winter break from college and she was excited to spend some time with her friends now that the Christmas drama was over. She quickly sent out a message to all of them to meet at the Apple Rose Grill.
"Hey sweetie," her mother said when she saw her. "Can you do me a favor today?"
"Uh sure," Spencer replied.
"I told your sister I promised to bring your sister dinner but I'm late for a meeting," she explained. "Can you please take care of it?"
"Yeah," Spencer answered. She grabbed the care package and her purse and headed for Melissa's house across town. She was driving through the woodsy areas on the outskirts of Rosewood when her phone rang. She pressed the bluetooth button and answered it.
"Spence!" she recognized Aria's voice.
"Hey," Spencer replied.
"I got your text," Aria told her. "I guess I never told you but I ended up doing this writer's workshop at Hamilton and I'm going right back to school afterward."
"So you're not coming back to Rosewood?" Spencer pouted. "What about us? I thought we were all going to get together and catch up."
"I know," Aria sighed, "but this great opportunity came up and..."
Spencer hardly listened. Her eyes were focused on the road as it hard started to rain lightly. She was driving along barely paying attention to Aria when a deer ran in front of her car. She swerved to avoid it and drove straight into the shoulder which was full of dirt. When the deer had passed, Spencer attempted to get back on the road but her tires were stuck in the mud.
"Spencer?" Aria spoke into her mobile. "You okay?"
Aria looked at the phone but the call was lost. She hung up and tossed her cell in her purse.
"What was that?" Ezra asked sitting across from her in their spacious train compartment. The two were headed to New York for a writing seminar. Ezra was teaching while Aria was a student. It was natural for them now.
"Spencer wanted us to get together," Aria replied. "I hope she's okay. Maybe I'll text the girls to check up on her."
"I'm sure she's fine," Ezra told her. "Spencer's always known how to take care of herself."
"I hope you're right," Aria smiled as the train pulled into the station. The couple grabbed their bags and walked the few blocks to the house where the students were staying.
"I'll let you go here," Ezra told her. "I need to check in with the other professors."
"Okay," she smiled giving him a quick kiss. He walked away as she stepped into the quaint building. She walked inside to find seven other students sitting around the counter. All were boys except for one who was dressed almost like a boy despite her obvious beauty. She gave them all a slight wave. "Hi, I'm Aria."
"One final rule," Emily's coach told the team that was scattered around the bleachers. "There will be no romantic relationships amongst teammates. That will not be tolerated."
Emily looked around and caught sight of the rest of the swim team. They were all looking intently at the coach. This was her chance to prove herself as a swimmer. She had always been great before but now she was amongst a more elite group.
"That's it," the coach said finally. "Hit the showers."
Emily headed straight for her locker to grab her towel. She looked up from her bag and made eye contact with a beautiful girl across the room. The girl smiled back and gave her a tiny wink. Emily couldn't remember but she thought her name was Erica.
Emily got back to putting her things together and pulled out her cell phone. There was a text from Spencer about hanging out. Her stomach flipped when she realized that she was going to have to tell her friend that she would be at swim practice during the rest of the break. She quickly sent a reply and put her phone away.
"Hey," she heard a voice behind her. Emily looked up. It was the girl she thought was named Erica.
"Hi," she replied. "Erica, right?"
"Yeah," the girl smiled. "You're Emily?"
"Yeah," Emily silently love that she remembered her name.
"Do you think I could borrow your shower gel?" she asked. "I left mine."
"Totally," Emily said quickly handing it to her. "Help yourself."
"Thanks," Erica winked as she walked away. Emily's stomach was doing summersaults.
Hanna walked into the kitchen and found her mother sitting at the dining table fiddling with her cell phone. Hanna pulled her hair into a pony tail and took a seat next to her.
"You okay?" she asked her mother.
"My phone is bugging out," Ashley told her. "I think I need to take it into the store."
"Maybe you should let Caleb take a look at it," Hanna offered. "He's really good at that kind of stuff."
"Would you mind?" Ashley asked. "I would take it to him myself but I need to get to work."
"I don't know," Hanna sighed. She and Caleb weren't exactly on the best terms.
"Please," Ashley begged handing her the phone and a c-note. "I don't even know where he lives now."
"Fine," Hanna sighed. She grabbed the phone, the money, and her purse before she headed for the door. Hanna typed the address to Caleb's new studio two towns away into her GPS and followed the directions.
She felt like she had been driving for hours when she hit the end of the highway. She looked at the GPS. It was dead. She pulled out her phone and typed the address in there. Somehow she had managed to veer off the correct route by an hour. She turned around and attempted to go back the right way but was deterred by some adverse weather. Hanna was nearly at his place when it started snowing really hard. She parallel parked an made her way to his door.
"Hanna?" Caleb asked when he answered.
"Calm down," she replied handing him the phone. "I came on business."
"Oh," he breathed taking it.
If you haven't figured it out yet, I am basing each girl's story on a fairy tale. Try and figure out which storybook character each girl is interpreting. Thanks for reading!
