Chapter 1

My mom always told me not to tempt fate, so that small saying, or question that people usually asked themselves to feel better hadn't worked so well for me. I should have known better than to tempt fate, or in this case the bitch we called A. At this point I was feeling pretty stupid, after all I should have known better than to trust another cop.

You would have thought that after everything my friends and me have gone through we would have learned that no one was in our side except for us. For just a moment there I had really thought that he was one of the good guys, that he wanted to help us. After all he had helped Travis's dad. At the time it had seem like there was no ulterior motive, but now I knew better. He had been playing me, trying to get me to trust him and like an idiot I had fallen for it.

"You haven't listen to a word I've said" Aria's annoyed voice snapped me out of my self-punishing thoughts. I looked at Spencer and Emily, that were also looking at me with a worried on their faces and I felt myself flush. Aria let out a sigh "Hanna, this is important. We need you in this 100%"

"I'm sorry" after all it wasn't their fault that I was felling all messed up "I'm just worried about all the college stuff and the fight I had with my dad"

I still hadn't told them about the little encounter with detective Gabriel Holbrook. They would probably have a heart attack if they found out that not only did I hit him, but that I also gave him a piece of my mind. Like he wasn't dangerous enough, I had to know and give him more ammunition to hate us. It was just luck that someone hadn't seen us, having a "friendly discussion".

"We know that you have a lot of going on and believe me, we understand" Emily said looking at the others before continuing "but if we don't solve this A thing and get rid of that bitch, then we can say goodbye to our college dreams, or any dreams for that matter"

"I know and you have no idea how much I hate agreeing with you on this" I had to let them know that I was with them. After all if A opened her big mouth all of us were going down, without any hopes of coming back for air. I let out a frustrated sigh "Don't you guys miss being simple teenage girls? I'm so sick of all the secrets and the problems. I just want one normal day when I don't have to look over my shoulder"

"You are not the only one" Spencer snorted and threw the history book on her bed "I forgot what high school was supposed to be about. I always thought that my only worries in high school would be to get good grades, beat my sister and get into a good college. Now, none of that is going to happen. I'd be lucky if I get accepted at the community college"

"A has ruined all our lives" Aria stated the obvious once more "but I can't let that bitch do the same to Mike. He has nothing to do with, except for the fact that he is related to me, and I'll be damned if I let A bring my brother down"

"You don't have to worry Aria" I needed to focus more on the fact that there were more serious problems than me having feelings for a crooked cop. I took her hand and gave her a smile "We are with you on this. We won't let A ruin Mike's life"

"Thanks guys" Aria smiled, but I noticed that the smile didn't reach her eyes.

We spent the next hour making plans and trying to figure out a way to help Ali without going to jail ourselves. I didn't tell them I had gone and seen Alison earlier, I was sure they would find out sooner or later, but now I had no intention to have a two hour conversation about what had going on between me and Ali.

Next Day

I was happy that my mother had already left. I was glad that things between her and Ted had finally gone back to normal, but I really didn't want to be involved in all that happiness right now. My mom was on cloud 9 and I was really happy for her, but talking about wedding plans wasn't what I had in mind for Saturday morning.

Aria was dealing with her brother's situation today, especially after what she had found out about him and Monna. Spencer was handling her own drama with Toby and Emily had things going on with her new friend and I was not touching that one with a ten foot pole.

I had decided to stay at home and had a quiet day, I haven't had one of those in a while and I was entitled to one. I was supposed to meet Monna's friend later on and try to get more information out of her. She seem pretty nice, but I had learned my lesson. I wasn't trusting her until she did something to show me she was trust worthy.

My phone rang and I looked at it before deciding that whoever it was could wait. I was in the middle of preparing myself a bowl of cereal when I heard the doorbell. I groaned and shook my head. Why couldn't I just have a moment in peace?

I didn't even bother to ask who it was before I threw the door open. A soon as I saw the person on the other side of the door I wished I had taken a moment to ask. What the hell had I been thinking? I should have known better.

"What do you want?"

"Hello to you too" Gabriel Holbrook smiled sarcastically at me "Are you going to let me in?"

"Do I look like an idiot to you?" I kept talking before he had time to answer "We said all we needed to say to each other. I don't think that being seen here would help your reputation, I mean you are kind of screw up at the moment, so help yourself and leave"

"Believe me, you are going to want to hear what I have to say" he raised both hands palm out, like that was supposed to make him seen less scary. He raised an eyebrow "I swear I have no intention of harming you, all I want to do is talk and explain some things"

I really should say no and slam the door in his face, but apparently my mouth and brain weren't very well connected. I opened the door wider and moved aside to let him in.

"This better be worth my time" I closed the door as soon as he walked in and turned around to glare at him "Believe me, I have no problems hitting you again.