"Juniors may I remind you that tomorrow is your last day to hand in your permission slips for this year's trip to Mr. Fitz or Mrs. Kaine." The perky junior class president boomed over the intercom. This year's English class trip was visiting England also known as the home of Shakespeare.

Aria Montgomery grabbed the last few books out of her locker and walked into Mr. Fitz's classroom. She took her usual seat in the back between Hanna Marin and Noel Kahn. She smiled at Hanna as she slid into her seat. She watched as her other best friends Spencer Hastings and Emily Fields walked in behind Mr. Fitz. He looked her way and his lips curled up in a tiny smile. Hanna followed her friends gaze to the front of the room as Mr. Fitz was unloading his bag.

"Hey," Hanna whispered.

Aria looked over at Hanna who was leaning over into the aisle. Aria met her halfway.

"What?"

"Is there a way the school could sponsor a student who…I don't know… doesn't have enough money to pay for this trip?"

"Han, seriously if you're trying to save money I think there are…"

Hanna rolled her eyes and sighed. "I'm not talking about me."

"Then who are you talking about?" Aria asked.

"Caleb," Hanna said. "I really want him to go but his foster mom won't pay for it."

Aria leaned over more. "He does do some sort of a 'business'," she whispered.

Hanna bit her lip and Aria gave her a look. "Just ask…please."

"Why do I have to do it?"

"Because you're so get at getting what you want with him." Hanna replied under her breath. Aria suppressed a laugh.

"Fine," she whispered. "I'll do…later though."

Once class was over and everyone was piling out, Aria stood up her legs in need of a good stretch. The room was empty except for Ezra and her.

"Hey," she walked up to his desk. He sipped some coffee out of his mug.

"Hey…" He replied. They smiled at each other.

She walked over to a desk and leaned against it. "So I was thinking about the trip…"

"Aria," he interrupted her. She looked up her eyes big with curiosity.

"What?"

"I can't find your permission slip. You turned it in right?" He held up a stack of envelopes.

Aria's mouth hung open. "Yah, I swear I turned it in at the way beginning."

Ezra shrugged. "I don't know what happened to it…it's not here."

Aria slightly groaned. "Well what am I going to do?" She felt something vibrate against her leg and realized that her phone was ringing in her purse. She pulled it out feeling a little bit woozy. Her fingers started to grasp the phone hard as she read:

LOOKS LIKE YOUR TRIP MAY NOT HAPPEN. SO SAD! BUT DON'T WORRY, YOU'LL GET YOUR PERMISSION SLIP BACK, IF YOU DO A CERTAIN SOMETHING FOR ME. -A

Aria immediately froze and her face paled.

"What's wrong?" Ezra asked suddenly concerned. Aria gulped contemplating whether or not to tell him or not. This was a touchy subject and she was paranoid that somehow A would find out and do something else to Ezra, it's not like A hadn't done anything already.

"Nothing." She shook her head as if it would somehow shake the memory of the horrid text. "I have to go."

"What about your slip?" He asked.

"I'll figure it out!" She called as she left the room. She fast-walked down the hallway towards Emily's locker. She was standing with her back to Aria, she quickly tapped her shoulder.

She jumped and turned around only to realize it was just Aria. She sighed with relief. "You scared me."

Aria's face froze. "Did you get a note too?"

Emily's brow crinkled with confusion. She started to unload her backpack. "No…did you?"

Aria looked at the ground and back up again. "Yes. A took my permission form and I'm not getting it back unless I do something for her…I, I mean, him…I mean…" She stopped talking feeling completely puzzled.

"Do what?" Emily asked.

"I don't know, but I have a feeling it's not good."

The bell rang and Emily waved goodbye. Aria closed her eyes and sighed feeling out of control of her own complicated life. She walked mindlessly to study hall and hoped that today wouldn't turn out to be hell.

Aria met up with her friends at lunch. She took a seat across from Spencer, behind her Emily and Hanna shortly followed her to the table.

Spencer had an annoyed look on her face.

"What's wrong?" Aria asked.

Startled, Spencer looked up. "Oh, nothing, I was just…zoning out."

Aria slowly nodded once and took a seat.

"Did you ask Ezra about the trip?" Hanna asked.

Aria's shoulders dropped. "No…I'm sorry I was about to, but I got a text from…you know who."

Emily shot her a sympathetic look.

"Which reminds me, I need to see…" Aria paused. "If I got anymore."

She rummaged through her purse while Spencer started up a conversation about the trip.

"Guys." Aria said seriously. They all looked up, they knew that tone too well. "I can't find my phone."

"What do you mean you can't find it?" Hanna asked.

"I mean it's not in my purse, my pockets, or…anything!" She threw her hands up in despair. She tapped her fingers nervously on the table and grabbed her bottle of juice. She heard a gasp and then "Aria".

She looked up and noticed they were all leaned in over her tray. There was a hot pick post it note where her bottle used to be. She recognized the handwriting right off the bat.

WANNA KNOW WHAT TO DO NEXT? GO TO MR. FITZ'S CLASSROOM AFTER LUNCH AND YOU'LL SEE…

They all whipped their heads around the lunch room. Everyone seemed to be acting perfectly normal.

"What are you going to do?" Emily asked. Aria shrugged and looked around once more. She caught Ezra's eye across the room. He was over by the far wall talking to some teachers. Aria tried to smile or acknowledge him but she was far too concerned at the moment.

When lunch was over Aria headed towards the direction of Ezra's classroom. She told her friends she wanted to do this alone, they already had their own A problems, why drag them into hers? She bit her lip anxiously as she approached the door. Five minutes had passed since the lunch bell rang. She took the long way to delay the situation as long as possible. She reached out to open the door and her arms suddenly stiffened when she noticed the room was full of students who were socializing. Aria didn't know what to do but to go inside. Few students noticed Aria come in the door and she ignored their looks as she decided where to go and what to do next. Her heart pounded as more and more students looked her way. She was standing in front of the door and realized she was blocking people's way in. As she scooted left she heard a familiar noise. A buzzing sound. She realized it was her phone. The noise grew louder in her ears as she followed the noise towards the desk. It was muffled so no one else heard it but her. The buzzing continued and she realized it was coming from his bag, which was perched on his chair. She cautiously stepped towards it avoiding the eyes that were now all on her. Dead silence erupted as she opened the bag. Her phone, still buzzing was at the bottom. She took it out. A few seconds passed as she held the still vibrating phone in her hands. It suddenly stopped. A text message was open on her phone.

LOOK HARDER…

Aria glanced at the open bag and recognized a beige envelope with a brown stain near the corner. It was her permission form. Her mother had spilled coffee on it as she was signing the forms. She quickly took it and closed the flap. Her heart was beating, someone coughed and she looked up. Everyone was looking at her. She backed out quickly and as she ran she took out the sheet. She was relieved to find all the signatures and papers unharmed. She stuffed the envelope into her bag and got out her phone.

Hey, found my permission slip, I'll give it to you later and I need to ask you something.

-Aria

She looked around the hallway once more and took off around the corner. But what she didn't know was that down the hall beyond Mr. Fitz's class, someone was watching her…