"Alison, what exactly did that note say?" Spencer finally gathered enough courage to ask what all of them had been wondering. She was a bit apprehensive that Ali's reaction may be less than accepting to the question, but she felt she had a right to know, being as she was as involved as Ali.
Alison didn't react as bitterly as Spencer expected though. She was actually quite calm, as if the whole ordeal had taken place months ago instead of one mere hour. Alison shrugged as she fetched some nachos out of the microwave. She picked a piece of cheese off of one and licked it off her finger before answering. Then, she placed the plate down on the kitchen counter where Aria, Hanna and Emily were sitting in stools. Spencer stayed leaning against another counter though, her arms crossed.
"It's not important Spence. It was just a few little lies, nothing crazy."
"Ali, just tell us. Were as involved in this as you are so if we're every confronted about it, I'd kind of like to be able to defend myself in a way a bit classier than 'I don't know.'"
Alison turned away from the plate of nachos and narrowed her eyes at Spencer.
"Does it really matter? All of you are so smart, that's why you're my friends. If anything we ever do comes back around to us, I know you can fix it. I trust you guys."
Leave it to Alison to find a way to ease anger and replace it with shame for ever being foolish enough to ask.
The answer was satisfactory it appeared for the other girls, as they dove back into their late night snack, but Spencer didn't feel at all reassured. She felt she had to force it out of her.
"If you trust us so much, you should be able to tell us what was in that note," Spencer countered, tightening her arms against her chest as if they were armor against Alison's inevitable retaliation.
As Alison turned around and made her way to Spencer, the other girls' eyes shot up from the nachos and watched nervously. Alison stopped just short of Spencer's ear and a twinge of unsteadiness burrowed through Spencer.
Every so softly, Alison whispered "Don't make me regret letting you into this group. You were nothing without me, and it's very, very easy, to go back to that." She backed away, smirking with an evil glare in her eye. Spencer wasn't dumb enough to say anything else. If Alison was right about anything, it was that. As much as Alison got on her nerves and made her uneasy with all her secrets, Spencer knew going back to pre-Alison life would be unbearable, especially now since instead of ignoring her, Ali would find a way to personally and viciously target her and make her miserable. So Spencer stood, saying nothing and swallowing hard. As much as she pretended to be tough, Ali easily saw right through it and was well aware that Spencer was still under her control.
The situation taken care of, Alison turned and made her way back to the nachos. Aria, Emily and Hanna quickly darted their eyesight back to the plate, pretending as if they weren't intently watching the entire scene.
"Listen girls," Ali finally said a few minutes later. "I would never do anything that would hurt you guys." She picked up a nacho and dipped it fiercely into some extra cheese and then held it in her hand before adding "You guys trust me, don't you?" She then smiled and took a bite of it with a crunch.
None of them denied it, but still, only silence answered her.