"Alison, is this really necessary?"

"Come on Spence, chill out ok? She's never going to know."

Alison continued making her way closer and closer to Mona Vanderwaal's house. Given the gorgeous exterior, complete with cobblestone walk way and professional gardening maintenance, it was hard to believe that someone as dorky as Mona lived here. Ali drifted into an alternate reality momentarily where Mona could actually be the perfect comrade. Of course, this dream was quickly crushed when reality regained its grip on her as she caught a clueless Mona dancing around in her living room window, shaking a wii remote furiously while playing Just Dance.

"Pathetic…" Alison scoffed.

The four girls followed her lead, shaking with a mix of apprehension and chills. Ali on the other hand continued slyly up the pathway, ducking behind the perfectly manicured shrubs until she reached the front doorstep.

"Ali, what if she finds out it's us?" a nervous Hanna asked, pulling her coat tighter around her, looking about the lawn as if she feared someone was watching them.

"Don't worry Hanna. There's no food involved so I'm sure she won't suspect you."

Hanna looked down dejectedly. None of the friends dare comfort her for fear of Alison's bitter retaliation, so silence lingered for a few moments.

Ali, unaware or uncaring of Hanna's shattered self-esteem, peered over a bush to make sure Mona was still preoccupied with her game. Of course she was.

Suddenly, her infamous smirk graced her face. It was the smirk the girls always identified as an omen that Alison was about to begin some sort of dirty work. Even though they all knew it was wrong and cruel, none of them spoke up.

Ali pulled the letter out of her back pocket with a swift tug and unfolded it.

"Oh Em," she called mischievously.

Emily's heart pounded, as it often did when Alison directly spoke to her.

"Y-yes," Emily managed to stumble.

"Be a doll and bring that flashlight over here, will ya?"

Emily slowly made her way to Alison with the flashlight. Suddenly, Emily's mind fluttered with possibilities; possibilities she knew were naïve but couldn't help. Like the fact that Aria also had a flashlight but Ali chose to request Emily instead. Emily couldn't help but allow herself to believe that Alison did so on purpose because she wanted to be close to her.

"A little closer," Alison beckoned. "I don't bite," she teased, scrunching her nose.

Emily gave an apprehensive smile and obeyed her fearless leader. She came as close as she could to Alison, overjoyed by the fact that there shoulders were touching as Emily faced the flashlight towards the paper in Ali's hand. Emily's heart fluttered as she noticed Ali moved closer to her. She knew it was probably just for the light, but it still made her jump.

"What are you doing?" Spencer asked, clearly growing more and more agitated. Alison gave her a glare to warn her she was coming awfully close to pushing her to the edge of annoyance. She then peered back down to the note.

"I'm just checking to make sure there aren't any mistakes. How embarrassing would that be? Then again, I guess we all make mistakes…right Spencer?" Spencer's eyes narrowed under the indirect insult that the other girls seemed not to notice.

"Nope, perfect." Alison said, lifting her head with her smile; the kind of smile that only Alison had. The smile that seemed to say "I'm Alison Dilaurentis, and I am fabulous."

Alison then refolded the letter. She seemed to be waiting for something, so they all stood, waiting with her.

"Um, a little close there Em, aren't you?" Alison finally said, raising an eyebrow at Emily. Emily took a step sideways, awkwardly putting a loose hair behind her ear.

"Sorry." She whispered, nearly inaudibly. Alison didn't seem to notice, and made her way to the front porch.

"Wait," said Aria. Alison rolled her eyes.

"What?"

"What if her parents are home?"

"They're not. Ok? I'm not that stupid. Her parents are out Aria. They're probably out together too, which is more than can be said for…"

"Alison, please!" Aria said, her voice a mixture of desperation and resentment.

Alison smiled again, knowing very well she had won. She went back to the task at hand.

She bit her lip. This was her favorite part. The pure adrenalin she felt right before she committed the act.

She placed the letter on the doorstep, clearly visible and impossible to miss.

"Are you ready?" She whispered fearlessly over her shoulder, her smirk plastered on her face once more.

Before they could respond, Ali knocked on the front door. They immediately heard the Katy Perry song that had been playing on the wii pause.

Alison laughed and raced down the steps and out of sight. The girls followed suit, hiding behind the shrubs. Aria and Emily switched off their flashlights, trying to contain the nervous breaths echoing inside them.

All eyes were on the front door, except for Spencer's, which eyed Alison with intense anger. Like usual, Spencer found herself questioning exactly why she was friends with this monster anyway. And like usual, she couldn't really find a good enough answer. But as always, she never looked into it much further and her eyes too darted up to the door as it opened and Mona stepped out.

Alison could barely stifle her laughter as Mona clenched her arms, overcome by chill. She was wearing a blue turtleneck with baggy green pajamas with little puppy dog faces all over them. Aria also noticed she wore some very unique rabbit slippers that she actually found to be kind of cute and was almost certain she had the same brand of slipper at her house, only frogs instead of rabbits. Of course, she'd never let Alison get a hold of that secret.

"Hello?" Mona called sheepishly into the darkness. Of course, no one replied. That's when she looked down and noticed the letter. At first, a slight smile appeared over her face.

That's when Emily started to feel slightly guilty. Poor Mona actually believed the letter was going to hold something good inside of it. She probably thought it was secret note from a shy admirer, or an invitation to a classy party. Emily knew once she read it, all of her hopes would vanish though.

She was right. Mona unfolded the letter and her eager smile faded into a frown. They watched as her eyes scanned every line of it until they reached the bottom. She then peered over top of it and momentarily inspected the yard with a nervous, hurt expression.

Hanna didn't know whether or not Mona had any idea who wrote the letter. She did know, however, that had the same thing happened to her and had it been Hanna Alison and her friends were watching instead of Mona, she'd have a pretty good idea who would be cruel enough to set up such a prank. Still, what could she do? The damage was done and Alison was quite content with herself.

Finally, after what seemed like ages, Mona backed up into her house and shut the door behind her. Alison continued watching though, noticing that Mona pulled the blinds shut to her living room to keep out any wandering eyes. With that, Alison knew the game was over…for now.

"Well," she said, turning to her posse and snatching the flashlight from Aria. "I'm starving. Let's go eat." And with that, the deed was done. Alison brushed past the four girls who watched in a temporary daze as Alison made her way boldly down to the street, not caring enough to stay off of the perfectly upheld yard, stomping defiantly through the grass.

One by one, the others followed her. It would be so simple to split off, to run away in the opposite direction and not follow her. Yet, although each of them thought it, not one of them strayed from the footprints Ali had made ahead of them.