I sat in the barn with my friends just laughing about the latest gossip at school.

"It's bad, huh?" Aria asked Em, and Emily handed the shared glass of alcohol with Spencer. We all laughed again before the power in Spencer's barn cut off stopping the music from playing.

"Whoa, what happened?" Hanna asked.

"It must be the storm," Spencer told us. We turned on the flashlights we'd brought with us when we heard a noise outside.

"Guys, something's out there," Aria whispered to us. The door slowly opened behind us, and we all turned to it fearfully.

"Guys," Hanna whispered as we all stood up and stood together. Something shattered outside, and we all screamed before moving towards the door. We could almost touch it when...

"Gotcha!" We all screamed at Allison, who just laughed at us.

"That's so not funny, Allison!" Spencer told her.

"I thought it was hilarious, girls," she laughed, and we all joined her contagious laughter.

"Ali, did you download the new Beyonce?" Hanna asked her as we all sat down again.

"Not yet," Ali sighed.

"I'm loving her new video," Em told us.

"Maybe a little too much, Em," Ali said, and Em looked into her lap. Ali held all of our secrets not only from the world but from each other. That's why she was the queen bee to our group. If anything had happened to her, I don't know what I'd do. "Your turn." Ali handed Aria the orange glass and me a water bottle. I opened the bottle and smelled inside of it. Just water. "Go on." I guzzled down the water as if my life depended on it.

"Careful Aria, Evie," Spence warned, "Take too much, and you'll tell us al your secrets." The other girls giggled.

"Friends share secrets," Ali told us. "That's what keeps us close. Drink up." We all giggled as Aria drank more of the alcohol in her hands.

I woke to thunder crashing outside the barn. Em, Aria and Hanna were all still asleep, but Spence and Ali were missing. Aria slowly started to wake up and shook Em awake.

"Em," she whispered.

"Whoa," Em said quietly as Hanna also started to wake up.

"Where's Ali and Spencer?" Hanna asked.

"I don't know," I said standing up.

"None of us do," Aria added as they also stood up. I looked around in the barn as Aria moved towards the door. "Ali?" She called out, and I turned to see someone walking up to us.

"She's gone," I heard Spencer say.

"What do you mean she's gone?" Aria asked her.

"I've looked everywhere for her," Spencer told us. Em, Hanna and I shared a look. "I think I heard her scream."

It's been a year since Ali disappeared from the barn and I still can't help but feel like any minute she's going to strut through the doors and ask what the latest gossip was and why our little group wasn't still together. After she'd disappeared, mom thought it'd be best if we left Rosewood for Ravenswood before coming home. Mom and Dad separated in that time, but we still came back with a new addition to the family. Claire, my new baby sister. So now it was me, mom, my twin, Marcus, and Claire. Dad stayed in Ravenswood with promises to visit and daily check-ins, but I wasn't holding my breath. Hanna, along with Mona, became the new Allison. Spencer dived into the extracurriculars and studies.
Emily dropped swimming and kept to herself. Aria and her family moved to Iceland. Our group never stood a chance without Ali. She was our glue.

"Evelyn, I need to to take Claire to her room," Mom told me while pouring over books in front of her. My mom was a doctor at Radley Sanitarium so she had to make sure she was up to date with all the latest shrink mumbo jumbo.

"Sure." I picked up the crying baby and rocked her as I took her to her room, which used to be the guest room. Clarie quieted down a bit before I put her down in her crib, turned on the baby monitor, and closed the door. I walked back downstairs, the other monitor in my hand, and went to the kitchen to grab a snack.

"Are you okay?" Mom asked me and I turned to see her standing in the doorway.

"Why wouldn't I be?" I asked her. We'd been back in Rosewood for a few months now and I did my best to avoid the general population.

"It's been a year," mom started and I groaned.

"I know how long it's been, mom. Thanks." I grabbed an apple and placed the monitor on the island close to mom before walking past her.

"Evelyn, you need to talk to someone about this."

"About what?" I asked her.

"All of it." I turned and looked at her before shaking my head and going upstairs.

"What good will that do?" I shouted down to her.

The next day I rode my bike to school to avoid mom's talk. I went straight to my locker and grabbed what I needed for English before walking to class. When I got there, Emily and Aria were talking to each other and I stared at them for a second. I didn't know Aria had come back to Rosewood. Hanna and Mona were talking and Spencer was sitting alone. I sighed before picking a seat and planting myself in it. The new teacher wrote his name on the board when the bell rang before looking out at the class.

"Holy crap." We all followed his gaze to Aria, who wasn't paying attention. When she finally did, she just stared at him until her phone went off.

"Sorry," she said once she'd dug her phone out of her bag.

"Uh, I'm Mr. Fitz, you new English teacher," he introduced. Awkward much?

On the way home I rode by Ali's place and saw the moving truck outside. A sign next to the sidewalk said it'd been sold and I sighed. There were so many memories tied to this house, for all of us.

I was sitting in Ali's room as she tried on bikinis before we went to Spencer's place for a dip in the jacuzzi. Hanna was meeting us in a few minutes, most likely sporting her swimsuit and a shirt over it. She was losing the pounds but still seemed self-conscious about her body. I looked up from my book as Jason, Alison's older brother walked by the doorway. He was shirtless and I couldn't help the small smile that grew on my face.

"Don't do that." I jumped and looked up at Alison.

"Do what?" I asked her.

"Stare at him like that," she told me. "It's gross. He's damaged goods sweetie."

"I'm allowed to look, Ali."

"Not at my brother like that," she said going to the door and slamming it shut.

My phone went off and I pulled it out of my pocket and stared at the confusing text.

At least now you won't be tempted to look or touch.

-A

"What the hell?" I looked around confused before riding home as quickly as I could.

When I got home, Marcus was standing in front of Mom with a letter in his hand. I actually started to get nervous about what was on it now. That stupid text actually got me scared.

"Hey," I greeted. "What's up?"

"Nothing," Marcus said with a smile on his face. "Just a note from Coach." Marcus was on the field hockey team with Spencer. Even had a small crush on her back in the day.

"About positions on the team?" I asked him and he nodded.

"How was your day?" Mom asked me with that look in her eyes. She was always on doctor mode, as Marcus and I called it, which meant we were always being analyzed by her shrink brain. Honestly, I'm surprised Dad lasted as long as he did with her.

"Same old Rosewood High," I told her. "New English teacher though, so that's different."

"How are your old friends?" she asked me and I shrugged.

"Aria's back from Iceland and the others are the same, I guess. It's not like we hang out or talk. Ever," I reminded her. She just smiled at me before turning back to Marcus.

"What position are you going to try for?" she asked him.

"Probably goalkeeper," he answered. "At least that way I won't have to compete with Spencer. She's a beast on the field."

"And the field is all your thinking about?" I teased him.

"Evelyn quit teasing your brother."

"It's in the job description," I reminded her.

"Oh, is it?" he asked me and I nodded with a smile on my face. "Well, so is this!" I scream/laughed as he jumped at me and started to tickle me. I managed to push him off before running out of the room with him behind me.

"Take it outside!" Mom shouted at us.

A few nights later, and no new strange messages, I got a call from someone I hadn't expected to hear from.

"Hey, Spencer. Long time no call."

"You need to get to the DiLaurentis house," she told me quickly.

"Isn't some else living there now?" I asked her confused.

"Just get over here! They found her!"

I flew to Ali's house in time to see a body bag being rolled away on a gurney to the coroner's truck. I stopped next to Spencer who was standing in the dark watching quietly. Aria drove up in front of us and watched them load up the bag before walking to us.

"I heard they took Hanna to the police station today," Aria told us.

"Wait, you don't think she'd ever talk about..."

"The Jenna thing?" Hanna asked walking up next to me. "We made a promise."

When I got home, Mom was feeding Claire a bottle while watching the news.

"Current owners of the residence were in the process of demolishing the structure to make room for a renovation project when workers made the gruesome discovery. The parents of the deceased were unable to comment, but a family spokesperson has confirmed the gazebo was under construction the summer 15-year-old Alison DiLaurentis disappeared. Tonight, the family is asking for privacy as they come to terms with the sad ending to a year-long mystery, and local authorities are coming to terms with the fact a killer is at large in Rosewood."

"Thank you..."

"Mom..." She turned to me with tears in her eyes.

"Oh, Evelyn." She put Claire down in her swing before rushing to me. "I'm so sorry baby."

The day of Alison's funeral, I did my best to ignore the news crew outside as we hugged our old friends. I saw Emily hugging Spencer for a long moment before parting and looking at me. I moved to their sides and we all hugged each other. We walked inside where Mrs. DiLaurentis was greeting people before seeing us.

"Emily, Spencer, Evelyn. It's good to see your girls all together." She gave us each a hug before smiling down at each of us. "Would it be a bother for you girls to sit up front? You all meant so much to her."

"Not at all," I told her with a smile on my face before walking with the other two to the front of the church. I stared at the coffin until Spencer pulled me into the pew next to her. I sat next to her, her hand in mine until Hanna joined us. We all moved over to let her in and I held her hand to. If we were going to be altogether one last time, this was the place for it. Aria soon stood next to us, staring at Ali's picture before Hanna grabbed her hand. We moved over again so she could join us.

"Poor Ali," Em said.

"Can you believe what a scene this is?" Hanna asked.

"Alison would have loved it," Aria added.

"Popular in life and death."

"Not to mention beautiful," I added. Hanna soon opened her clutch and pulled out a flask handing it to Em.

"No thanks. I don't-"

"Today, I think you do," Hanna told her. Aria's phone went off and I stiffened looking at her. Aria opened her phone and stared at the message. "Anyone we know?"

"No, it's just my mom sending me a text." Aria quickly responded before putting it down. She stared at us when something dawned on her. "Emily and I weren't the only ones who got messages from "A", are we?" We all shared looked as the people behind us murmured in silence.

"Oh, my God." We looked at Spencer before following her eyes. I gasped lightly as Jenna made her way up the aisle on her brother's arm. "It's Jenna." When Mrs. and Mr. DiLaurentis joined us we moved down again so they could sit next to Aria.

"Did you see Jenna Marshall was here?" she asked us. "I didn't realize her and Ali were friends."

"They weren't," Spencer told her before the preacher started his service.

Afterward, the five of us walked out as quickly as we could from the church before being stopped by someone.

"Emily. Spencer. Aria. Evelyn and Hanna."

"Do we know you?" Spencer asked him.

"I'm Detective Wilden," he introduced getting his badge out to show us. "I understand you were all good friends with the victim."

"Yeah, we were," Aria confirmed.

"I'm going to need to talk to each of you." I looked up at him confused.

"Why?" I asked him.

"We talked to the police when Alison went missing," Spencer reminded him.

"And I intend to go over every one of your statements," he informed. "This is no longer a missing person investigation. It's a murder, Rest assured I will find out what happened that summer," With that he walked awya from us and we watched Jenna get into a car before seeing he was watching us closely.

"Do you think he knows about-" Aria started asking.

"No, how could he?" Hanna asked her. All of our phones went off at the same time and we pulled them out to read the incoming texts.

"Oh, my God."

"It's from-"

"I got one too."

"We all did."

"I'm still here, Bitches. And I know everything.

-A"