Please note that I do not own Pretty Little Liars. This work is not intended for profit. This work is intended only for entertainment and for something to read in between releasing episodes of Pretty Little Liars. Enjoy the final season of Pretty Little Liars, which is season 7.
Warning: This content contains sexual, mature, and intense themes.
Author's note: By the way, there's a lot of time jumping and references back to different episodes of Pretty Little Liars. Also, I will make my own references. This chapter begins with episode 9 of season 5.
Chapter 1: Jar of Hearts
"Tonight's homework is to complete only the even numbers on page 212 to page 215," our Calculus teacher said as the final bell rang, signalling the end of school.
Several students around me groaned. I was one of the several students who groaned. The teacher had been giving us quite a lot of homework. We had a huge chapter test coming up.
The teacher laughed as he excused us. There was quite the ruckus as students stood up and pushed in their chairs noisily. I waited for a little so that the door wouldn't be too crowded. I left the classroom and decided not to wait for my other friends as I headed for my locker. I reached my locker minutes later and entered the combination. When I tugged the door open, I realised I had sort of messed up the combination somehow. I tugged at the door stupidly for a moment. I leaned back against my locker and folded my arms across my chest, closing my eyes.
"Having trouble?" I heard a male voice speak somewhere to my right.
My eyes flew open to see Jason. Jason DiLaurentis, the man I turned down a relationship for another relationship I knew would eventually come to an end.
"Sort of," I blushed as I tucked a thick curl behind my ear. "Well… not really. I just messed up the combination".
"Do you want help?" Jason asked me.
"No thanks," I smiled as I turned back to retry once more.
I tried again, and this time the door opened. I unzipped my bag and shoved a few unnecessary things into my locker. I zipped my bag shut and shut my locker.
"I hope you don't mind me asking, but what are you doing here?" I asked Jason as I turned around to face him.
"I was actually coming over to ask you how your brother was doing. I just finished work," Jason replied.
"Um… as far as I know… Mike… um… I think he's doing fine? I haven't really talked to him recently. I've been quite busy preparing for my mom's wedding and her engagement party," I answered him.
"Is there anything I can do to help you and your mom? I know your friends need you at times when you're busy with preparations," Jason asked curiously.
"Yeah, definitely. I-we wouldn't mind the extra help. It would definitely help us move a lot faster," I smiled.
"It's good to see you smile," Jason smiled. "I hope everything is going well with you".
"Actually, there's something I wanted to talk to you about. It's been really bothering me, and I haven't had anyone else to talk to besides my friends, excluding Hanna," I sighed, running my hands through my hair.
"What do you mean by 'excluding Hanna', Aria? What's going on?" Jason demanded. "I've never heard you having problems with your friends, except for the exception of my little half-sister, Spencer the brat, and the occasional one of you going rogue".
"I don't want to talk about it because I don't want to drag you into my drama," I jumped a little at his tone.
"Well, uh… you should take my advice and make amends with her. I haven't seen you guys tear apart like this before," Jason clapped my shoulder before turning to leave. "Oh, and Aria?"
"Yeah?" I asked.
"I only got back in town yesterday and would appreciate it if Spencer and the others wouldn't bomb me with questions. Could you keep them from doing so, please?" Jason asked me.
"Yeah, I can do that," I nodded.
"Thanks. Oh, and I see that those pink streaks haven't returned," Jason commented.
"Well, I don't know if I'll do pink again, but I may streak my hair again at some point," I smiled.
"Well, I'll see you around. Do you want to meet up for a coffee or lunch sometime?" Jason said as he turned to leave.
"Yeah, sure. That sounds good," I smiled.
"See you, Aria," and with that Jason vanished.
Blushing furiously, I stared down at the ground. I didn't realise that my friends had shown up right after Jason had left.
"Hey, Aria. What did Jason have to say to you?" Hanna asked me.
Sighing inevitably, I turned around to face my friends.
"Hanna Quinn Marin, would you please do me a favour and leave me alone for a while, please?" I tried my best to keep myself together and not let my anger get the best of me as it started to build up again. "I'm hurting right now. I just need time to heal and be away from you guys right now".
I turned on my heel and calmly walked away from them.
"Aria, please!" my friends shouted after me as I pushed open the nearest exit.
I jogged outside towards my car, my hair streaming behind me in the wind. I dug my keys out of my purse and unlocked the car. I got in and dumped my stuff on the shotgun seat. I quickly buckled my seatbelt and started the car, slamming the door. The engine roared to life and I backed out of the parking space. On the way home, I took a slight detour for some coffee. I needed to clear my head and get prepared to soon enter work mode when I get home.
I parked out in front of the Brew and got out. I yanked open the door and entered the Brew. My mom's boyfriend, Zack, stood behind the counter, as usual, waiting for customers.
"Good afternoon, Aria," Zack smiled, "what can I get for you?"
"Dark roast, decaf coffee with half and half milk, please," I answered
"Coming right up," Zack said and turned away to make my order.
I yawned and sat down at a nearby table. As I pulled out my phone to text Ezra, the door opened and my friends including Jason entered. Sighing irritatedly, I stood up and slouched over to my friends, ignoring Jason.
"What do you want?" I asked them. "Did you tail me?"
"No, we didn't. We're just worried about you, Aria," Spencer reassured me. "You told us that you were hurting, but we don't know what you're hurting about. We want to be here for you, but we can't if we don't understand what's going on".
"Thanks, guys," I yawned, running my hands through my hair. "You can ask Hanna why I'm hurting".
I stepped away from them to pay for my coffee. I paid for it and left, telling myself to keep it together and not give way to my darker feelings. I headed over to my car and unlocked it. I set my purse on the floor of the car as I got in, buckling my seatbelt and shutting the door. Just as I started the engine, the passenger door opened and Jason sat down.
"Hey, you okay?" Jason asked me softly.
"Why wouldn't I be okay?" I challenged him back, lying at the same time.
"Aria, don't lie to me. You're not okay," Jason said. "There's something that's going down between you and Hanna. Something seems a little suspicious because every single time you speak to Hanna, you clench and flex your jaw muscles".
"Jason, please stop trying to break down what's going on between me and Hanna. I don't want to get you involved and make the situation messier than it is right now," I sighed and buried my face in my hands
"Then tell me what's wrong," Jason said softly as he rubbed my back muscles in smooth, steady, rhythmic circles. "Maybe I'll stop bugging you then".
"Fine," I said. "I feel like Hanna's trying to ruin my mom's relationship with the guy she's engaged to and is about to marry. She told me that Zack was hitting on her. I don't believe her. I thought she was just trying to prevent my mom and Zack from marrying".
"Maybe you should ask her what really went down between her and Zack. I think that you're just misinterpreting/misunderstanding the whole situation here," Jason said.
"I-I don't know what to do anymore. We've had to deal with Spencer taking too much Provigil, and Hanna getting wasted at random times during the day. I mean there's just been too much going on that I can't focus on one thing at a time. I have to deal with Hanna on my own and our whole business with-" I cut myself off abruptly.
"You have to deal with some kind of business with who?" Jason tried to coax me into telling him about A.
"Just forget about it," I shook my head. "I need to head home. Either I can drive you home, or you can get out".
"Aria, is there-" Jason started.
"Just get out," I said. "Go! I can't explain certain things to you because of the consequences that would result from my actions if I did".
"Aria," Jason said.
God, stop it! Jason was really testing me to get information that was confidential only between me and my friends. I couldn't let him find out about A. If he did, there'd be a lot of questions. If he found out more than just A, either he'd throw me and my friends in jail, or he'd try to be the understanding figure and help us out. Heavens, I couldn't let him find out.
"Jason, you're really testing me right now. If you don't stop and not get out of the car, I swear to God I will run you over with my car," I said, my stronghold wavering.
"Fine," Jason huffed, "but you and I aren't done with this conversation".
I rolled my eyes in response as I stifled back a retort. Once Jason was gone, I pulled out of the parking space and headed home. When I arrived home, I parked in front of my house and got out, grabbing my bags. I headed up the front steps of my house and unlocked the door, smacking the door into my brother's forehead.
"Oh my God, Mike. Are you okay? I'm so sorry," I immediately apologised.
"It's okay. I should've known better to open the door at that moment," my brother nodded his head to show all was forgiven.
I entered the house and walked over to the living room. I dumped my stuff on the floor and sat down on the sofa. I pulled out my homework from my bag and started working on it.
"Hey, sis. I'm going to go over to the library to find another book to read. Tell Mom where I am if she asks what I'm up to," Mike said as he poked his head around a bookshelf.
"Alright, good luck finding a book," I said.
"Thanks," Mike said and left the house.
I continued to work on homework until it was 100% perfect and completely finished. When I finished, I put my stuff back in my bag and walked into the kitchen. I got out a glass from an overhead glass cupboard with a cherry wood frame. I poured myself a cup of fruit juice and drained it all in one gulp. God, I was so parched. I should've drunk some water while I did my homework.
I heard my phone ring in my purse in the other room. I poured myself another glass of fruit juice and walked into the other room to answer my phone. I turned my phone on as I pulled it out of my purse. I'd received a text from Spencer.
Can we talk?
I sighed, knowing what Spencer was trying to get out of me. I didn't want to talk to her about the misconception that I was struggling to live with. Some part of me believed Hanna, and the other part didn't believe her. I didn't want to believe that Hanna and Zack were having some sort of whatever-the-hell affair, but I did. That wasn't fair to Hanna because best friends are supposed to be understanding and not misinterpret each other when something that doesn't feel right happens. God, I was breaking that vow. I wasn't being fair to her. I was misguided for all the wrong reasons, and I just couldn't shake those feelings off. It was like A had intentionally arranged this little affair to separate or keep my mom from being happy. It was also as if A was intentionally putting this stupid little scheme between us, tearing our friendship apart piece by piece, but no. I don't think it's all that. At some point, I should just forgive Hanna and move on with my mom's engagement party, but how was that possible? Jason's words from earlier floated back to me.
"You should take my advice and make amends with her," Jason had said.
But how? That's when I decided to contact Jason about what to do specifically to understand Hanna's side of the story. I typed an answer back to Spencer before texting Jason.
Sorry, I'm a little busy right now. I've got family issues right now.
Oh, sorry. Later?
Yeah, sure, okay, fine, whatever.
I pulled up Jason's contact info and texted him.
Hey, can we talk?
About two seconds later, he sent me a response with a winky face.
Yeah, sure. Coming over? ;-)
Yeah, be there in a few.
See you soon. ;p
Author's note: What do you guys think of the new version of Love Is Just a Four Letter Word? I've been trying to put myself in Aria's perspective by being a little bit of how a therapist would understand all this (i.e. Dr Sullivan.) I would love positive feedback and constructive criticism in order to help me become a better writer. There is one note about Love Is Just a Four Letter Word (the old version.) I am no longer continuing that version, for I am working on this version instead. I intend to give this version my all and best understanding of Aria. Please don't go and rant at me in the reviews telling me that I sometimes f*ck things up. Please try to be understandable why I kind of kept the misconception of Hanna and Zack together up. Of course in Pretty Little Liars, when Hanna tells Aria that Zack makes a deliberate move on her because of A's intentions to keep the little affair up, Aria is understandably upset but she refuses to believe her friend at first. Slowly, she regrets having yelled at Hanna and eventually forgives her and moves on with her life. That's basically the whole point of the story I'm trying to write here. I'm sorry if I upset anyone. Thank you for understanding me and taking time to read my story.
Thanks for all your support,
~ NerdWhizz
(Spoiler alert: How in the hell did Troian Bellisario master/keep up an Essex accent throughout the duration of shooting the very last episode of Pretty Little Liars in season 7? Essix accents are somewhat our interpretation of a British accent.)