5
CHAPTER ONE
From A to Be
"AND CAN YOU TELL ME EXACTLY WHO'S DOING THIS TO YOU?" Emily Field's asked, twisting her pen between her fingers.
"The bully at school," An anonymous voice murmured behind his cell phone. "I didn't do anything to him but he always makes fun of me, I'm innocent, that little bitch needs to die or fall into the ground or something! I swear I want to kill him!"
Emily sighed. "Don't talk like that, there's no need for violence, that's not the answer."
"But he started it! He never leaves me alone, he's always around, even when I don't see him, and he knows EVERYTHING! It's like he has cameras everywhere, he texts me everything I do." Emily stayed silent for a while. Her breathing was an obvious sign that she was still on the phone, though. "Hello?" The voice said. "Are you still there?" Emily did not respond. She was stuck in the flashback of her past remembering what she'd never been able to forget in ten years. Her face turned pale through her dark skin as it all came back.
"You're scared of what we might have found in this box," A young Emily hesitantly said. The only thing that kept her going was the fact that her friends were waiting to capture the harasser that had been bugging them for so long. Little did she know that each of her friend's had gotten a distraction and wouldn't make it when they needed to. "It's nothing," she screamed at the hooded figure in front of her. "We found nothing!" The figure lunged at her, going directly for her throat. She screamed.
Emily screamed, just as a hand grabbed her shoulder. "Jesus Christ, lady," The caller shouted back. "What the hell is wrong with you?" The phone suddenly went dead. Emily turned her chair; above her was her boss, Leslie Howard. She sighed.
"Emily?" Leslie shook her head. "Get back to work." She demanded from her workers whose focus had turned to Emily when she screamed. "What is with you? You said you needed to help people but every time something big comes up, you complete lose track of where you are."
"I'm sorry, Leslie," Emily looked down at her feet. "I do really want to help people but-"
"There's no but's in this job, Emily," Leslie interrupted. "It's either you help or you don't and you haven't."
"You're right." Emily did what she could to avoid her boss's eyes. Once again, she'd messed up her chance and she'd have to do what she'd hated doing in order to keep it. "Please, I kno-"
"Nuh uh," Leslie interrupted, smirking and pressing her index finger to Emily's lips. "Follow me in five." Leslie walked away, looking at all of her workers before stepping inside her office and closing all of the blinds. Emily looked around, nobody had seen. Emily had given up lesbianism when her parent's passed away – she'd always felt that if she would be the one to carry on the Fields name, she would do it without disappointed and giving up Maya would've been her only way of doing it. Rosewood is a very small town and it was never easy to get work – but meeting Leslie in a coffee shop paid off. That was until Leslie realized why Emily couldn't be the exception to getting a job – she was always weak and unfocused, never the brainy or leader type, however, there's always a way to keep your job and unfortunately, Emily was a fine example of what your life would be like if you let something take over your life. She'd never let it go and now she had to pay for it. Emily brushed her black hair behind her ear and sighed, looking at the time, it was now 3:47 PM and she was already passed her five minute wait. She looked up at the windows to Leslie's office; she was already peeking through the blinds. Emily did her best to avoid her deathly stare. Seconds later, Leslie's high pitched voice came back. "Oh, Emily," She called. "Can I see you in my office for a moment?" Everybody stared as Emily stood up from her chair. She walked toward the office slowly just as her phone vibrated against the fabric of her grey coat. She lifted her phone, opening her recent message.
Oh, Emily, what would your parents think? Oh, oops, accident. You're making the biggest one of your life right now. xo –A
Emily felt her heart stop instantly. She looked up at Leslie, who was staring at her waiting for her to enter. Emily turned, looking at her co-workers. Half of them were on their phone, the other half staring at her with puzzled expressions. "Today, Ms. Fields." Emily slid her phone back into her pocket and slowly walked into the office, taking one quick look behind her before she entered. By the time she'd turned, the door had already been shut. Leslie smiled.
Aria Montgomery rushed into the Rosewood Cup of Day Café, looking around anxiously. Her breathing was heavy and her long brown hair whipped against her neck as she looked side to side. Just turning from the counter was Hanna Marin, who'd never lost complete touch with Aria, but they weren't as close as they'd been before. All the girl's made an agreement none of them would talk to each other anymore for their own safety, in case –A returned, but Aria and Hanna always had a unique bond that wasn't noticed until what was supposed to be their last day as a clique. They'd be secretly seeing each other every week day when Hanna would be grabbing her pre-work coffee and Aria would be picking up her daughter, Roan Montgomery. They would always act like they weren't together, but they'd sit at different tables and text each other. It was never the easiest task, especially when they always laughed at the same time, but it was good enough to fool anybody who may have taken on the role of –A, if it were to happen again. "Hanna!" Aria shouted, running toward her friend. "I need to talk to you,"
"Whoa," Hanna responded, looking around cautiously. "I thought we agreed we wouldn't be seen together in public. –A could be anywhere."
"That's exactly what I'm worried about." Aria lifted her phone up to Hanna's face. After backing away from the phone and getting a good look, she read:
You don't have to be afraid to tell your daughter who you really are Aria; you only have to be afraid about her finding out who she really is. –A
"This can't be real," Aria slid her phone into her pocket. "It has to be a joke, right?" Hanna wasn't sure what to say. Was she supposed to say what happened when she was with her fiancé, Brighton the other night? It'd only be fair to be honest with her, if anything happened to her daughter, Aria would break completely. Ezra had left her when he found out she was pregnant, he said he never wanted anyone to know that they weren't supposed to be together and a child would only bring up thousands of questions that Ezra just couldn't lie about anymore. The most Roan had ever seen of her dad was a picture, nothing more.
"It's real." Hanna said. Aria's face froze and her heart beat through her chest. "I got one too."
"What, what did it say? Let me see it!"
"No," Hanna interrupted. "I deleted it before Brighton could get through my phone."
"Well then just tell me what it said, was it bad?"
"No, it was nothing, just a warning and stuff about not being buried forever; I think they're pretending to be Alison."
"Well, what the hell." Aria sighed. "Do you think Emily and Spencer got anything?"
"How should I know?"
"Well, maybe you kept in touch with them too, I don't know."
"No, I didn't. Emily was a main target and I don't want to be near that. She was the weakest of us all."
"Ouch Hanna."
"Well it's true..."
"I think we need to get together and talk about this. Emily and Spencer included."
"You don't think that's dangerous?"
"Of course it's dangerous but-" Aria stopped. She looked over to the Café's entrance just as her daughter walked in. "Hi, honey, you were supposed to wait for me to cross the street with you, remember?"
"I know," Roan smiled with a bubbly spirit. "But Jenna's mom was crossing the street to her car and I saw you here so I just went with her!" Her smile grew wider and Aria just giggled. "Can I get an apple juice, mom?"
"Sure," Aria approved. She reached into her pocket and handed her daughter a bill. "Get whatever you'd like."
"Cool!" Roan ran to the counter with as much spirit as an eight year old should have.
Hanna shivered. "She has a friend named Jenna? Creepy."
"I know," Aria shivered also. "At least you don't have to hear about when they play Grounder."
"What's grounder?"
"You close your eyes, hold your arms out in front of you and try to find the other girls. She describes the game mostly like, 'When Jenna's it, it's like she's blind and can't see any of the other girls!'"
"Oh God,"
Roan ran back. "I like that you guys are finally talking to each other now, mommy, she's pretty and your game of hide and seek looked boring!" She ran back to the counter and Hanna just smiled.
"You told her?" She chuckled.
"Of course," Aria scoffed. "I tell my daughter everything."
"Is that safe?"
"I know that –A is usually someone screwed up, but I don't think anybody would hurt an eight year old girl.
"I'd hope not." Hanna looked down at her watch. "Shit, I have to go. Call me tonight; we'll talk more about this."
"Alright, go."
"Bye!" Hanna shouted, heading out the door.
"Bye pretty lady!" Roan waved ecstatically with her sandwich in one hand and an apple juice in the other.
Only a day or so had passed since Hanna and Aria reunited and it was finally time to get back into the swing of things – like old times. If –A knew they'd spoken the other day, talking now would definitely not make a difference. Aria ran to the door when she'd heard the doorbell go off. She opened it and Hanna jumped into the house quickly. "Are you okay?" Aria asked, closing the door quickly.
"Yeah, just paranoid." Hanna answered, taking the scarf that was covering her face off, followed by the removal of her large Gucci sunglasses. "Where's Roan?"
"She went to Jenna's."
"I'm still not over that." Hanna laughed, setting her stuff down on the countertop. "So, how are we going to do this?"
"I was thinking Facebook."
"Smart." The girl's headed toward the living room while Hanna explored Aria's new home. It was all dark wood, much like her old house from high school. There were photos of her family everywhere and on one of the shelves; there was even a picture of her and Ezra. It was better not to ask why she hadn't gotten rid of it.
"Alright, log on." Aria gestured toward the Mac Computer on her desk.
"Me?" Hanna's eyes widened. "Why me? I deleted my account after we split up."
"So did I. I didn't want –A getting any more dirt on me than he, she, it already had."
"Wait, what? I saw you're account."
"Are you stalking me now?" Aria joked.
"No, but I like to check how my friends are doing." Hanna sat down at the desk chair and quickly typed in the information necessary to create a new account.
"I'm going to get a drink, do you want anything?" She began to walk away.
"I'm fine." Hanna continued staring at the screen.
Aria opened the fridge, taking out the jug of purified water and putting it on the counter beside her. She took out a cup and poured the water into it, then put the jug back in. "Aria," Hanna called out. "You have to see this." Aria turned around and gasped. What was in front of her sent chills down her spine, her cup dropped to the floor, crashing dramatically.
