Lily's POV:

I can hear loud music coming from my brother's room, nearly blasting my eardrums out. It has just been a hour since he got home, and I'm already tired of his presence.

With a groan, I lift my head off of my desk; I almost fell asleep while trying to do my math homework. Mara Rivers kept making a bunch of snide remarks about how I'm an 'artsy freak' during class, so I couldn't pay attention at all, and now I don't know what to do.

And the loud music blaring from my brother's room is not helping. At all.

I stomp into his room and nearly shout, "What the hell, Tom! I'm trying to do some work here."

He just cranks up the volume with a grin. "Too bad, sis. Why don't you try taking a break and having some fun? Ever heard of having a social life?!"

I chug a pillow at him. "Shut up! I would normally hang with Tay, but she hasn't responded to any of my texts."

Tom's face falls, and noticing his pained expression, I instantly hush up. "What happened?"

He, for once, turns off his music, looking extremely nervous. "She uh… I think you should go and visit her, Lily. You are the closest to her, after all. I mean, well, I don't know how to tell you this, but she—she got hurt."

"What?" I explode, "How come I didn't know about this until now?"

My brother shrugs. "Tay asked me not to tell anyone."

I throw him a confused look. "Then why are you telling me now?"

"Because she… I'm scared for her, and I don't want this to happen again. Maybe you should go talk to her and see how to prevent this."

I pull on my jacket. "Okay. Thanks for letting me know. I'll be back in a few."

Throwing my brother one last reassuring smile, I dash out of my house and clamber into my car, driving to her house quickly and ringing the doorbell. Spencer opens it up with a small smile. "Hey Lily."

"Oh hi Mrs. Cavanaugh. I just came here to see—"

Spencer chuckles. "Oh I know who you're here for. Taylor's up in her room."

I throw her a gracious smile and barge into my friend's room, taking one look at her black eye and bursting out, "What happened to you?"

"I ran into a pole." Taylor mumbles.

I snort. "Yeah right. Tomas told me."

Taylor swivels around in her chair, "He told you? What? I told him not to tell anyone!"

Pure fury emanates from her eyes, so I say, "Woah! Chill, Tay. It's okay; he was just being caring, and he was worried about you, is all. So what really happened?"

Tay sighs. "Promise not to tell anyone?"

"Of course." I offer her a small smile.

Taking a deep breath, she blurts out, "Andy asked me to be his girlfriend, and I said no, so he started trying to assault me."

My eyes literally bulge out. "Oh my god, what? That idiot. I'm going to kill him. How dare he try to do something like that to my friend?!"

Taylor sighs. "Thank god Tomas was there just in time to save me."

"What? Tomas as in my brother? Why was he even at school?" I ask in disbelief.

A look of hurt flashes across her face as she rolls her eyes. "Oh, he was there to apparently see off Selena Rivers."

A dreamy look passes across her face. "But yeah, he seemed like a hero to me then, honestly. I mean, he literally saved my life."

"You really like him, don't you?" I ask, a look of sympathy resting on my face.

She sighs. "Yeah, but please, don't tell him. Or anyone else, really."

I take her hand reassuringly. "Don't worry. I would never betray your trust."

Taylor hushes up. "But that's not even the worst part. There was this person who sent me a text message."

She pulls out her phone and shows me what it says.

You got away with that one, sweet cheeks. But you know what they say about lucky ducks. Next time you won't have the hot college dude to save your neck. Better watch your back.

A

My eyes bulge out. "Who the hell is this? Did you try responding?"

She nods. "I haven't gotten a response yet. And it's a blocked, private number."

I cluck. "This is serious. This person, whoever it is, seems to be, almost, well, threatening you."

Taylor takes a deep breath. "Yeah. When he or she or whoever it is was referring to 'next time', it seemed like she's planning to launch an attack on me."

I furrow my brows. "You're right. What does she mean, next time? That obviously means she's going to get you. Or wait, what if she's the one who sent Andy after you?"

My eyes widen, and I feel astonished, feeling like I've come to the bottom of this.

Taylor spurts out, "Or what if 'A' is Andy?!"

We both look at each other, equally delighted that we have potential ideas and disturbed that someone is trying to hurt Taylor this badly.

I sigh. "Whatever the case, you really need to tell your parents."

Taylor looks thoughtful. "Maybe I do."

Suddenly her phone beeps. As she look down, her face instantly drains of color, and she lets out a little squeak, her eyes widened in fear.

"What? What happened? Did 'A' send something else to you?"

Taylor instantly powers off her phone, nervously saying, "No, she didn't say anything, anything at all."

However, by looking at her guilty face, I can clearly tell that 'A' did send her a message. Noting that Taylor looks totally creeped out, I decide not to push this issue at the moment. "So…how about we tell your parents."

"No!" Taylor screams, "We can't."

I look confused. "Why?"

She looks frustrated. "We just can't, okay?"

I am absolutely bewildered. "But you were okay with it, just like, a minute ago. What happened?"

She snaps at me, "Nothing. Can you stop nosing into my business?"

My jaw drops wide open. "What the hell, Taylor?! I'm your best friend, and we tell each other everything!"

Noting how she avoids looking at my face, I suddenly get suspicious. "Or do we?"

Taylor says, "Look, you are my best friend, but there are some things I'd rather keep private."

"Yeah, but you just told me all about this. Why are hiding something from me, like, a minute later?"

She sobs, "Stop. Please. I can't tell you. I just can't."

"Why?!"

She looks pained. "Because…'A' sent me something. And I can't tell you. If I tell you, everything will go wrong. My life will be ruined."

I let out a long breath. "I'm just trying to help you, okay?"

She nods. "Fine, but please, don't ask me anything else about this. I need to deal with it on my own."

I nod. "Okay, Tay, but I'm telling your parents about this no matter what. I can't risk you getting in danger."

Taylor nearly shouts, "No. Don't! I said, my life will get ruined."

I shout, "Yeah, and 'A' will hurt you again if I don't tell."

My friend growls in frustration. "If you tell my parents, I will never talk to you again. For the rest of my life."

Though it pains my heart, I softly say, "Fine. Have it your way. I care about our friendship, but I don't want you to get hurt. That's the most important thing. I have to tell your parents. I'm sorry."

She just sits there in silence as I storm out of her room, feeling thousands of emotions at once. Passing by the living room, I see her older sister, Carla.

"Hey Carl! Where are your parents?"

She smiles. "Hey Lily. They're just out for a date night."

I grimace. "Oh, well, thanks for letting me know."

I make a mental note to tell her parents tomorrow morning, before 'A' can do any more harm. Once I walk out of their house, I notice my mom and a strange man wearing a brown leather jacket strolling down the street.

"Ezra would get so mad if he knew that I was spending time with you."

I instinctively hide behind a bush, though I know that it's wrong.

The man continues, "Oh Aria, I'm sure he'll eventually come around to the idea."

My mom says, "I just don't know how to break it to him. He's going to be so upset."

The man throws her a look of sympathy. "Well, we're almost at your house. I'll see you tomorrow. I'm sure you'll have figured it out by then."

He waves goodbye to her, planting a kiss on her cheek and embracing her before vanishing into the darkness of the night.

Millions of thoughts are racing through my brain. What the hell just happened? He kissed her! He kissed my mom! It was on the cheek; it could have been a friendly gesture. But what would my dad get so upset. Uh…possibly that my mom is cheating on him. No!

Suddenly, my phone beeps. I pull it out and gasp as I take a look at the text message.

Daddy's not going to be so happy about this, is he? Send this picture to him, or Mommy will bring home the divorce papers tomorrow, pen in hand and ready to sign.

Kisses,

A

Underneath the message is a picture of the strange man kissing a woman whose back is turned. Judging by the face angle and hair style, I can tell exactly who it is. My mom.

What do you think? Is Aria really in a secret relationship with 'the strange man?' Will Lily send Ezra the picture? Will she get the chance to tell Spencer and Toby about 'A?' What is Taylor hiding from her?

Review and let me know what you think (or hope) is going to happen. 5 reviews and maybe I'll consider keeping Ezria together! Just kidding! I love Ezria…

But still…Aria might be cheating on Ezra!

5 reviews and I'll update in 1-2 days.