Loud, cheerful laughter filled the warm summer air, but was soon over-powered by the intense shouts created by none other than Jason DiLaurentis. Alison came from the wooded area at a quick pace, Jason closely following behind.
"Dammit Alison, come here! Come here, HEY!" Jason's tone was harsh and his handsome face had an angered expression written across it. He gripped the tanned arm of his sister and spun her around, so the siblings were now facing one another. "Stop messing with my stuff, alright? You and the Powerpuff Girls just stay out of my room." Jason began up the porch steps, but stopped abruptly as Alison's question sprung from her pale, pink lips.
"What are you afraid I'd find in there?" Alison rolled her crystal blue eyes, which followed Jason as he began his journey up the porch steps.
"Look, just stop messing with people." He gave her an intense look full of loathing, before once again turning around and taking one more step up the various porch steps.
"No challenge with you and your little stoner buddies. All you need is something shiny on a piece of string," Alison snapped as she flipped her hair and folded her long arms. The various girls watching the scene all snickered at Alison's response, causing Jason to grow even more furious. His eye's met with one of the chuckling females, Aria Montgomery, which caused her to grow slightly pink in the face while quickly turning her head away from the strange boy. Turning around, Jason extended a hand for the doorknob as Alison's final words boomed throughout the air: "Watch him, ladies. He's got trouble with doorknobs." Aggressively turning the knob, Jason entered the dimly lit and fully furnished house and slammed the door behind him, causing him to disappear from sight. Smirking to herself, Alison slowly began to strut toward her group of friends that occupied the front yard.
"What's wrong with Jason?" Aria asked curiously, her face now back to it's original pale color.
"He just thinks I stole one of his Japanese cartoon porn books," Alison replied, chuckling softly.
"Did you?" Hanna asked, her brows rising.
"Of course I did." A wide smirk once again stretched across Alison's beautifully structured face.
"Aren't you afraid he's going to rip apart your room?" Emily questioned in amazement.
"Won't do him any good. I have hiding places all over the house." Flipping her hair, Alison plopped down onto the grassy terrain. "The yard too. When I hide something, it stays hid; Until I want it found." The rest of the girls looked at one another curiously; what objects could Alison possibly need to keep hidden? "That's why your secrets are all so safe with me." Grinning, she eyed her friends and jumped slightly as a loud 'CRASH' was heard from within the house. They all turned to face the area, but Alison quickly changed the subject. "Anyway, are we all still on for tomorrow? You know, Fourth of July shenanigans?"
Spencer shrugged nonchalantly and nodded firmly. "Yeah, we're all meeting at Emily's at around six." Suddenly, they all began whispering softly and talking with excited tones about their plans for tomorrow. Aria, however, had her attention on Alison's house where Jason had entered only moments ago. Slowly standing, Aria traveled across the lawn and entered the vibrant red victorian house. Heavy metal music instantly filled her ears; it was booming from Jason's bedroom. Aria carefully walked through the living room and into the brightly lit kitchen, only to nearly stumble over Jason himself, who was on his hands and knees cleaning remains from a broken glass plate.
"Oh - sorry." The pink singed her face once more and she looked down into the hazel eyes of Alison's older brother. He didn't utter a single word and instead turned his attention to the shattered glass. Aria awkwardly opened the refrigerator which was filled with alcoholic beverages, probably belonging to Jason, and a few bottles of water. She gripped onto the ice cold bottle and was about to exit the kitchen when he spoke.
"Hey, Aria."
She spun around rather fast and raised her brows. "Yeah?"
"Would you mind sliding over that garbage can?" He raised a hand to point to a small, black cylinder that stood in the darkened corner. Trying not to look disappointed, she did what he asked and he nodded in thanks. Seconds later, Aria exited the kitchen, this time with no interruptions. She wasn't sure what she had expected; Jason was Alison's older, mysterious brother who rarely left his darkened bedroom. Arriving back into the brightly lit yard, Aria noticed Spencer's long mane of straight, brown hair disappear behind a collection of trees, along with Hanna.
Alison's perfectly curled hair whipped around and her voice sounded incredibly snarky when Aria arrived behind her. Almost as if Alison had read Aria's mind, she answered her unasked question. "As usual, Spencer doesn't agree with me on anything. Where the hell were you anyway?"
In response, Aria held up the now dripping water bottle and twisted the cap, causing water to leak rapidly all over her hand. "I should probably get going too. My parent's are having this dinner party and I promised I'd help set up." Before she could manage to walk away, Alison grabbed a hold of her pale arm.
"Aria, if you don't tell your mom, I promise you, I will."
"What? Ali, why are you doing this? Thing's are going fine. My dad promised me he would never -"
"I knew he'd manage to talk you out of it. It's been months, Aria. And if she doesn't find out from you, she will find out from somebody else. You wouldn't want that, would you?" Emily gave a questioning look at the pair and stood from her seat on the soft grass.
"What's going on with your mom and dad?"
"Don't worry about it," Aria snapped. At that moment, she looked up at the DiLaurentis house and noticed Jason looking at the scene. Spinning around, Aria tucked a loose strand of black caught in-between a pink highlight and started up the paved street, a single tear silently sliding down her cheek.
Six o' clock the next night arrived slowly for the five girls. Anticipation built up and time seemed to be passing ever so slow. Aria, Spencer, Hanna and Emily were all looking at the now ticking clock; it was now a quarter to seven and Alison had not yet arrived at Emily's. Within another five minutes, Alison swiftly moved into the pale yellow bedroom, the door shutting a little too loudly behind her.
"It's about time you show up. I – we, were starting to get worried," Emily softly uttered before looking around at the other girls.
"What? Oh... I was just doing a few things." Alison had a knowing sort of smirk written across her face and flung her soft hair behind her shoulder. "So, shall we get dressed ladies? I was thinking we'd hit up a frat party."
The last time the group of girls had spent their night at a frat party, a woman was pushed down a flight of stairs and Spencer's sister's boyfriend was found near the scene of the crime; however, nothing could ever be proven. Alison had dragged the group to the party and provided them with fake I.D's, but had strangely disappeared for the amount of time spent at the party.
Within moments loud music was bouncing off the walls as the girls all began undressing and attempting to put together an attractive attire. Suddenly, as Alison was looking in the mirror she angrily shouted. "I can see you!" Hurrying toward the window, she hit it hard, but not hard enough to damage it. Whoever it was vanished the second the other girls wandered toward the window. "Oh my god, I can't believe it!"
Emily had flipped the music off completely and cocked her head to it's side. "What was it Ali, what did you see?"
"He was in that tree spying on us! I am so creeped out!" She folded her arms and bit down on her lip.
Aria and Spencer exchanged a look of confusion. "Who was it?" Spencer asked.
"It was that perv Toby Cavanaugh!"
"Are you sure? Should we go and tell somebody?" Aria looked back at Emily's closed door and back at Alison.
"And I bet he saw us all naked." Alison contemplated Aria's question for a moment before answering. "I mean, we could... But I have a better idea." Smirking, she rammed open the bedroom door and whispered, "Spencer, bring the lighter." Spencer grabbed a hold of the small lighter she kept within her own bag and watched Alison delve an arm into her perfectly neat bag, retrieving an object the girl's could not see.
Minutes passed, and the group found themselves walking through the small wooded area next to Emily's house. Fireworks boomed enthusiastically over-head and they walked in silence until Aria gained enough courage to speak. "Are we sure he's not in there?" She pointed a slim finger toward the abandoned shed that Alison referred to as Toby's hideout, which he used frequently to spy on the female neighbors.
"He's not, okay?" Alison snapped, turning her focus toward a slightly frightened looking Spencer and Emily. "You got the lighter, right Spencer?"
"Yeah..." Spencer muttered, clearly debating whether or not she should suggest returning to Emily's house.
"Let's wait a second." Emily gripped onto Alison's arm and frowned.
"What, Emily?"
"I don't want to do this."
"Fine, go back, you're on your own." The rest of the girl's stopped walking altogether at this point and each exchanged a worrisome look; all except Alison.
"Okay, maybe Emily's right. We should just call the cops, they'll take him in and they'll take care of it." Aria quickly muttered. She had a horrible feeling about this.
"Where's the fun in that?" For some reason, Alison sounded satisfied and she wore the smirk the rest of the girl's knew only too well. "Girls, Toby Cavanaugh is a freak! And we need to teach him a lesson. If he thinks he can go and spy on us, in your bedroom Emily, he needs to know that his domain is no longer a safe little hideout. I mean, who knows what he does in there all day, that little freak." She nearly snarled as she finished her sentence.
"Are you sure that it was Toby?" Spencer replied uncertainly.
"Yes! And it's a stink bomb for gods sake, we're not nuking the place! Now let's do it!" Alison continued the journey toward the odd looking shed and quietly edged the door open. "Give me the lighter."
Spencer stood rooted in her spot and contemplated for a moment; under Alison's harsh stare, Spencer let out a small sigh and extended her frail arm, the lighter in hand. She quickly grasped the little black object, but concealed the actual object she was to light up. The fire light illuminated under the dark sky, as the fireworks were currently at rest for the time being. Alison looked inside the pitch black shed and only saw tons of clutter – or so the girls thought. Once the object was thrown inside, Alison bolted away and tugged the nearest of the girl's arm. "Let's get out of here!"
They all sprinted up the paved driveway and screeched when they heard an explosion behind them. At the end of the driveway leading away from the shed, they saw the building in flames.
"Ali, what the hell did you do?" Spencer screamed, her small brown eyes widening into perfect circles. They all exchanged nervous glances.
"We have to get out of here!" Hanna bellowed, yanking Aria's arm.
"Come on, let's go!" Emily squealed.
Hours later, the five girl's found themselves shaking in Spencer's living room. They were wrong; the building was not unoccupied. Jenna Marshall Cavanaugh was inside the shed and had nearly died. The trauma she suffered had caused her to become blind. However, they had not been arrested or anything due to Alison getting Toby Cavanaugh to take the fall for his step-sister's accident. Aria, Hanna, Emily and Spencer all felt extremely guilty for several reasons; Alison, however, never got along with Jenna Marshall, therefore did not feel as awful as she probably should.
Almost the whole neighborhood rushed outside to get a good view on the tragic fire and the police and firemen running rapidly around the area. Alison's house was only a few blocks away and Jason along with the people attending his party, all hopped inside their cars to see the giant commotion. Aria had been hiding in the nearby woods along with the other girls, when she swore she saw Jason looking her way – almost as if he knew.
"You guys, this is bad, like really bad!" Hanna mumbled, before shoving a giant brownie down her throat.
"Everything has been taken care of," Snapped Alison, and she eyed the giant tray of junk food that occupied the table in front of Hanna. "Listen here Hefty Hanna, if you ever utter a single word about this, you'll pay." Seeing Hanna's expression of disbelief, she continued. "Dammit, Hanna. Don't make me sorry I ever included you in the first place! You know, I have gone out of my fucking way to make your big wannabe butt into this group. You better keep your mouth shut! Unless you want to go back to spending your weekend's alone with Dance Dance Revolution and a jumbo bag of chips."
"Ali, stop it!" Aria cried, looking at Hanna's now watery eyes. Throwing herself off the sofa, she ran toward the nearest bathroom. Instead of apologizing, Alison just rolled her pale eyes and looked at the rest of the girls. "I guess I better go intrude my sick and twisted brother's party and get my things."
"Why don't I go?" Aria asked quickly, causing Alison and Spencer's eyebrows to rise, as Emily ushered toward the bathroom to check on Hanna. "I need to get my book that I left at your place anyway." Aria felt a pang of guilt as she lied to her friends, but she was curious as to what Jason's party's were really like.
"Cool. Just don't take too damn long, the Chinese food should be here soon." Alison responded and flew onto the plush and extremely expensive couch that stood in front of a beautifully structured fireplace. Aria nodded and practically ran toward the back door, floated across the carefully mowed lawn and onto the cobbled pathway through the wood's that led to Alison's house.
Aria was slightly surprised to see the DiLaurentis house was completely dark, almost as if not a soul were home. However, loud music burst from behind the walls and two college men who she had not recognized were smoking on the large porch. She noticed them wiggle their brows at one another and she swallowed hard as she turned the doorknob and found herself inside a foggy hallway, the smell of alcohol strongly inhabiting it. Only seeing a few more strangers, she shrugged nonchalantly and slowly walked up the staircase. Alison's bedroom door remained closed and Aria entered; the room smelt of expensive perfume and flowers. Aria scrunched her nose and began searching for random articles of clothing that Alison would need for staying the night.
"Looking for something?" Jason asked, stepping out from the dimly lit hallway and into the bedroom, which was bursting with light.
Aria jumped and dropped the makeup bag she was preparing to place inside a small bag located on Alison's vibrant electric blue armchair. "O-Oh, Jason. You scared me." Chuckling nervously, she bent down to retrieve the bag. "Yeah, we're all staying at Spencer's tonight."
"And what, the Princess couldn't grab her own shit?" He took a long gulp of the newly opened beer that was gripped firmly in his hand. "Well, Ian will sure be disappointed."
"I-Ian? Melissa's Ian?" Aria tilted her head and examined the mysterious boy who stood before her.
"Sure." He reached for Aria's hand, but only so he could place the beer in it. "Drink that. You seem... like you had a rough night."
Aria looked down at the bottle and opened her mouth, but words failed to pour out. As Jason spun around to exit the room, she managed to utter: "Rough night is an understatement." He adjusted his head so their eyes met and he grinned.
"There's plenty more where that came from. Follow me."
Aria smiled toothily and grabbed the bag she was to take to back to Spencer's, but didn't head toward the front door; instead, she found herself wandering after Jason, who wound up in the empty kitchen, smoke still surrounding the bottom floor. A few guys whistled as she passed, but Jason turned around and gave them a piercing look, which made them all go back to minding their own business. "Sorry about them. Some of them have just had way too much to drink. Not that their sober personalities are much better." Aria had quickly consumed the substance he had given her upstairs and allowed him to hand her another. A few drinks later and Aria found all her troubles slipping away rapidly. She had accidentally knocked over Alison's bag and both her and Jason bent down to retrieve it. Their drunken eyes met and before she knew what she was doing, their lips met. Coming back to reality, Aria and Jason both backed away at the same moment and she quickly stood and flung the bag overs her arm. Her face was burning and she gulped hard, before spinning on her heel and rushing toward the door. "I b-better go." She flung herself outside and sped down the path rapidly. She found herself inside Spencer's living room within minutes and plopped down onto the sofa beside Hanna instantly.
"Where have you been? And where's Alison?" Spencer asked and her eyes began examining Aria up and down.
"Alison? She was here when I left..." Placing a large amount of Chinese food on her fork, she shoved the delicious meal into her mouth and felt as if she were basking in the tragically beautiful moonlight.
"She said – Great, she probably left us for some stupid boy."
"I wouldn't put it past her." After devouring the exquisite food, Aria had quickly fallen asleep not too long after and the three others followed pursuit.
The next morning, Aria had awoken with a pounding headache and a terrible stomach ache. She looked around the room to see the girls, now accompanied by Alison, passed out at various places in Spencer's bedroom. The frequent vibrations coming from her cellphone had woken her up and she quickly began gathering her items; her father said there was a family emergency and he would be picking her up in ten minutes. Aria quickly scribbled a note about her whereabouts and the second she opened the back door, she nearly walked right into Jason DiLaurentis. "Jason.. What are you doing here? Alison is still asleep if-?
"I'm not here to talk to Alison. I'm actually here to talk to you. You got a minute?"
"No, I don't. My dad will be here any second. But listen, you don't need to worry about it. I didn't mention it to the other girls. And I especially won't be telling Alison any time soon."
"Oh, right. Yeah, good. I just didn't want things to be awkward between us. I mean, you practically live at my house." He flashed a small smile and ran a hand through his floppy, light brown hair.
"Right.. I'll see you around Jason." Grinning in return, Aria slipped passed him and hopped into her father's car. In the rear-view mirror, she could just make out Jason walking home and she felt a frown creep onto her pale face.