A/N: Hey everyone! Here's the next chapter of Pretty Little Secret Keeper! In this chapter we get a little more detail about the characters and what's going on (think blackmail;)). I'd like to thank kaitlynchosenisme for reviewing and giving me some advice for my story (you guys should read her stories, they rock!).
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Pretty Little Liars or any of the characters. They are property of the author Sara Shepard, Alloy Entertainment, and HarperTeen. I'm not doing this for money, only for practice and fun. So no suing please.
Chapter 1: What Happened Last Night?
Spencer Hastings awoke to the sound of the barn door slamming shut. She sat up and groggily looked around. Light seeped in from the partially closed shutters, and the television was still on in the corner of the room, the channel turned to the news.
Courtney (A/N: or as they knew her, Alison, but we'll call her by her real name so there's no confusion) walked into the living room of the renovated barn-turned-house, confident and poised. No one would be able to guess that the incident outside ever happened.
"Ali? (A/N: remember, they think she's Alison) Where were you?" Spencer asked, brushing a piece of her light blonde hair away from her face. Courtney seemed startled, but regained her composure quickly.
"Oh. I was trying to look for a place to take my new profile picture around this rathole you call a yard," Courtney replied. Spencer blinked at her insult.
"Well why didn't you wake us up? We could have all changed our profile pictures," Spencer replied, pushing her anger away.
"Because, Spence, a new profile picture isn't enough to bring your friend numbers from 4 to 5," Courtney smirked. Spencer glared at her. Typical Alison, always trying to beat her at everything. First it was for the only spot on the JV field hockey team, now this. Alison was just irritated because Spencer was the only one who ever stood up to her.
"Alison, not everything is a contest," Spencer said through her teeth.
"But I it were, you know I'd win," Courtney sneered. Spencer was just about to say some sort of retort, when they heard the rest of the girls start to get up.
"Spencer...? Ali? What's going on?" Aria Montgomery asked, confused.
"Nothing. Spencer was just telling me how fabulous I look this morning," Courtney said, giving Spencer a wicked smile. Spencer glared back at her.
Emily Fields yawned. "Oh I had the best dream! Beyoncé was in it!"
"Pfft. No surprise there, Em," Courtney mumbled, but loud enough for Emily to hear. Emily looked down as her face turned red. Hanna Marin crawled out of her sleeping bag.
"Mmm... Is it time for breakfast?" she asked excitedly. Courtney gave her a faux-sympathetic look.
"Hannakins, they only make pants so big," Courtney said. Hanna self-consciously covered up her rolly-polly belly with her chubby arms.
"Ali, you don't have to be so mean," Aria said.
"Aria, hon, I'm not being mean. I just have your best interests at heart," Courtney said innocently.
"But seriously, Hanna's right. I'm getting hungry too," Spencer said. The rest of the girls agreed. Courtney rolled her blue eyes.
"Fine. We'll eat," she said reluctantly. Spencer led them out of the barn, across the award-winning, picture-perfect lawn an to the main house. As they entered the front door, the smell of chocolate chip pancakes wafted in from the kitchen.
"Mmm... Chocolate..." Hanna whispered dreamily. The girls drifted into the kitchen, where Mrs. Hastings was flipping pancakes and cooking bacon. They sat around the table, Courtney at the head, and Spencer and Emily on either side of her. Mrs. Hastings passed around plates.
"So how did you girls sleep?" she asked cheerily.
"Fine," Spencer replied.
"Ugh. I was woken up early by those contraction workers working on the gazebo in my backyard. I can't wait till that thing is finished. They're always eyeing me when I walk around my house," Courtney complained. Mrs. Hastings gave her a sympathetic look, then turned to Spencer.
"Hey, Spence, I need you to clean your stuff up quickly this morning. Melissa and Ian are redecorating today," she said.
"Again? But Melissa just redecorated last month!" Spencer replied.
"Spencer, it's your sister's house, she can do what she wants with it," Mrs. Hastings scolded. Spencer sighed and rolled her eyes, but quietly went back to eating her pancakes.
She thought about the night before their end-of-seventh-grade sleepover. They had all gathered on the Rosewood Community Playground, discussing their plans for their summer bash. Alison had been acting weird, like she didn't remember any of their secrets. She even forgot about The Jenna Thing, of all things! How could she forget about the night they accidentally blinded Jenna Cavanaugh? They had promised to keep it a secret for the rest of their lives. And then suddenly Ali took off and left. They didn't see her again until the next day, when she seemed to have forgotten their whole conversation the night before.
Something weird is up, Spencer thought. And I will find out what.
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Later that day, Courtney was gathering up her designer sleeping bag and her brand new makeup case when she heard someone at the barn door. She glanced over just as a sealed envelope was slipped underneath the crack in the door.
Probably another secret admirer, she thought to herself as she made her way toward the note. She sighed contentedly as she ripped the envelope open. But her smile faded when she read the first sentence.
I know what you did last night. And soon, everyone else will too unless you do as I say.
No signature, no contact information. She couldn't even identify the handwriting. Courtney looked around, feeling as if someone was watching her, but no one was around. She ripped the note up and threw it away, trying to laugh it off as a fake. But she couldn't shake the uneasy feeling she felt as she walked herself home.
Someone knew what happened last night. Someone who would tell. She couldn't have that happen. It would ruin her life.
A/N: So there you go! The first chapter! Who do you think sent the note? What do you think happened that Courtney is so worried about? Leave me a review to let me know what you think!
-LP99
