A/N: So here's the next chapter! In this chapter, we get a little more detail about Rosewood, PA, and the secrets each of the girls have. Thanks to kaitlynchosenisme and Luv HOA 123 for reviewing and advice :) Hope you guys like this chapter!
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 2: Secrets Secrets Everywhere
To outsiders, Rosewood, Pennsylvania, is just a typical, snobby, rich-kid town, with Victorian houses hundreds of years old, large farmhouse estates, award-winning lawns, top-notch schools, and a mall with only expensive, designer stores lining the hallways. The gorgeous, gated community looks like nothing horrible could ever happen to the residents.
But Rosewood is far from perfect. Competition amongst top families gets more and more vicious every day. Scandalous affairs darken family history. The top student won a prestigious award because she cheated. Girls trying to maintain a perfect body develop eating disorders. Someone just broke up with her boyfriend because she fell in love with the girl down the street. And in Rosewood, everyone has a secret.
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Aria Montgomery lounged around on her bed, her blue-black hair pulled up in a ponytail. She flipped through a craft store magazine, picking out yarn colors to feed her knitting obsession. So far she had made a scarf for herself, a pair of socks for her mother, Ella, and various other pieces for her friends. As she was dog-earring a page to remember what she picked out, she heard a knock at the door.
"Come in!" she called. The door opened, and in walked her father, Byron Montgomery.
Byron was a man in his late 40s. His hair was a very dark brown, almost black, but not quite as black as Aria's. He was slender and muscular, and very smart. He held a job as a professor at Hollis College, in Old Hollis near the town of Rosewood.
"Hi, Aria. Ella and I were wondering if you and Mike want to go out for ice cream after dinner," Byron said, stepping slowly into the room.
"I don't care, Byron," Aria replied. Her parents, being the weird, free-spirited people that they were, wanted Aria and her younger brother Mike to call them by their first names instead of the normal "Mom and Dad." The family was very artsy and loosely run, which meant that Aria and Mike could do practically anything they wanted, within reason. Their parents even let them try wine sometimes, even though Aria was only in seventh grade and Mike was only in sixth. Ella worked at an art studio, working on pieces to sell and sometimes landing a small showcase at a nearby gallery. Together, Ella and Byron made a perfect couple. Or so Aria thought.
"Do you mind going to Ice Cream Village?" Byron asked.
"I really don't care where we go. Just as long as you-know-who isn't going to be there," Aria added.
"Aria, you know I apologized for that," Byron said defensively.
"Apologizing doesn't make me forget that you did it. Was Ella not enough? You had to make-out with her? Byron, she's half your age!" Aria's voice was rising.
"Could you keep it down? Your mother is right across the hall. Unless…"
"No, I didn't tell her. I'm still keeping your secret."
"What about-"
"Yes, Alison is too. Don't worry." Aria sighed. It was bad enough her father had cheated on her mother without Alison knowing about it too. She had been with Aria the day it happened and kept asking her questions about it for days afterwards.
"Does your mom know? Did he tell her? What's the skank's name? Are you going to tell her?" Alison (who was actually Courtney) wouldn't let her live it down. And what's worse, she told Aria she should tell her mother about it. But Aria refused. She couldn't do that to Ella, let alone her family. It would tear them apart. Alison was her best friend and all, but sometimes she could really get under Aria's skin.
"Okay," Byron said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "Well dinner is almost ready, okay? Be down in five minutes."
"'Kay," Aria replied. Byron shut the door behind him. As soon as it was closed, Aria dove for her cell phone.
You're still keeping the secret, right? she texted Alison. She hit SEND and waited a few moments. A reply came back almost immediately.
YES. For now…
XOXO
A
Aria gulped. For now? What the heck did that mean? She didn't know what Alison was planning, but she was almost 100% sure she wouldn't like it.
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Emily Fields slowly pulled herself out of the Rosewood Community Pool. She pulled off the blue swim cap, letting her strawberry-blonde hair cascade down her shoulders. She had just finished swimming 10 laps, and had beaten her best time. Emily had been coming to the pool almost every day for 4 weeks now, since it opened for the summer. She was determined to get the only JV spot left on the Rosewood Day Swim Team for eighth grade, even though it had never been done before. So until it happened, she would practice, practice, practice.
Rosewood Day was the town's high school, complete with a coffee bar called Steam for free periods and a state-of-the-art, Olympic-sized pool. Emily had been dreaming about swimming in that pool ever since the second grade. She wanted to be the captain of the Sharks, the Rosewood Day mascot. She was almost sure she could do it too. The only thing keeping her back was… her.
Emily had had a crush on Alison for months now. Only Ali didn't have a crush back. Emily had kissed her in her tree house near the end of seventh grade, and ever since then, Ali wouldn't let her live it down. She would make snide comments every now and then, like the one she had made that morning about Emily having a dream about Beyoncé. Though Ali could be vicious sometimes, Emily just couldn't bring herself to hate her.
But Emily did write Alison a note, pouring out her feelings and letting her know how her comments hurt her. She had put it in Ali's mailbox before she went to the sleepover last night. Her phone buzzed in her swimming bag. She took it out and stared at the screen. It was from Alison.
Hey Em. Got your note. Need to talk to you. Meet me at King James Mall at 4.
XOXO
A
Emily's stomach twisted. This could either be really good, or really bad. Emily would just have to wait and see. She quickly gathered up her things and headed home to get ready for the meeting with Alison.
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Spencer Hastings stared at her reflection in her mirror. Her light blonde hair was perfectly curled around her face, and her lips were perfectly glossed. She turned around to inspect the rest of her outfit. She was wearing a new, sea-blue tank top with beads across the top and white cotton mini skirt. She smiled.
Perfect, she thought to herself. She glanced at the clock on the wall. 3:15. Her sister and her boyfriend, Ian Thomas, would be back any minute.
Though her sister didn't know, Spencer had a crush on Ian. In fact, they had kissed once. Though each swore to the other not to tell anyone, Spencer has gushed the details to Alison. Alison had been the complete opposite of excited. In fact, she seemed… angry.
"You need to tell your sister," Alison had said.
"Why? It was one little kiss. What Melissa doesn't know won't hurt her," Spencer had shot back.
"Spence, they're in high school. He's way too old for you. You and Melissa are just going to get hurt."
"Since when do you care?"
"Since now. You need to let your silly little crush go and forget about him."
Spencer seethed at the flashback. Leave it to Ali to ruin a perfectly good memory. For good measure, Spencer took out her cell phone and started texting.
Ian is coming over. So excited! she texted Alison. Spencer didn't wait for a reply. She ran downstairs to wait for Melissa and Ian.
A few hours later…
Spencer happily climbed the stairs to her room. The afternoon had been absolutely perfect. Ian, in all his blonde haired glory, had paid more attention to her than he had to Melissa, which earned Spencer dirty looks from her sister. But she didn't care. To Spencer, the afternoon had been magical.
It was then that she remembered her text to Alison. Spencer picked up her phone and looked at the screen. She had 5 new text messages, all from Alison.
Spencer, you better not try anything. (3:17)
Don't kiss him again! (3:20)
You'll ruin your sister's life. (3:25)
She'll hate you forever. (3:31)
You better tell her what you did soon, or I will. That's a promise.
XOXO
A
The last text had come at 3:43, ten minutes before Ian had left. Spencer tried to laugh it off, but she knew Ali. When Ali made a promise, she kept it.
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Hanna Marin sat on the couch in her living room, an empty box of cheese crackers sitting in her lap. Her face was covered in cheesy crumbs, her hands stained a disgusting orange. She was watching TV, but she wasn't even sure what was on. She was just sitting around, obsessing over how fat her body looked in the shorts she was wearing. After eating whole box of cheese crackers, she felt even fatter than she looked. Then Hanna remembered something.
She slowly got off the couch and threw the box away. She made her way to her bathroom and grabbed a toothbrush. She was going to make herself throw up.
Hanna had been doing this ever since her father, Tom Marin, called her a pig in front of his new girlfriend Isabel and her daughter Kate. Hanna had been visiting them in Philadelphia and was having dinner. Tom called her a "little piggy," forcing Hanna to self-consciously run to the bathroom. She made herself throw up, using Kate's toothbrush. Hanna had told Alison about it, and Ali had referred to the situation as "The Kate Toothbrush." She told Hanna it was unhealthy, but Hanna didn't listen. Secretly, she was tired of Alison always hounding her about her weight, teasing her about how much she ate. So Hanna continued to do it. She vowed she would one day be as fabulous as Alison in every way. She felt she needed to do this to keep Ali as a friend, because she wasn't quite sure why Ali had wanted to be her friend in the first place.
Hanna and the other girls had been at the Rosewood Charity Drive when Alison ditched Naomi Zeigler and Riley Wolfe, the two most popular girls in school (behind Alison). Ali had walked up and just started talking to them. The next thing they knew, they were at a sleepover with her. From then on they had been best friends. But being Alison's friend had sacrifices. To be her friend, you had to endure her teasing and her vicious nature. But it was worth it, for Hanna at least.
When Hanna finished, she rinsed her mouth and brushed her teeth. When she returned to the couch, she found a new text on her cell phone. She didn't recognize the number, but read it anyway.
Hanna:
I heard about your problem and would like to help you. Come to the Rosewood Day parking lot at 9:30 tonight. I'll leave something there to help you. Just think of me as your secret friend.
The text freaked Hanna out a bit. No one but Ali knew about what she did. But this person wanted to help her, and she needed all the help she could get. So Hanna replied.
I'll be there.
A text came back almost immediately.
Great! Look for a pink envelope with glitter glue on the front. Hope I can help you :)
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Courtney sighed as she lounged on the front porch. Sunbathing was one of her favorite summer activities. She looked at her watch. It was 3:45. The mail would be here. She reluctantly got up and walked to her family's mailbox. Inside was the usual: bills, college rejection letters for her brother, Jason, and magazines. But on the bottom of the stack was a pink envelope with glitter glue on the front. Attached to it was a typed note.
If you don't want anyone to know about what you did, here's your first task:
Deliver this to the Rosewood Day parking lot BEFORE 9:30.
I'll be watching.
Courtney looked around. Though she didn't think anyone could know what she did, she wasn't going to take any chances. She slipped the envelope into her vintage tote bag and tried her best to relax again.
Whoever was blackmailing her was playing games. And Courtney DiLaurentis did not like to play games, unless she was the one making the rules.
A/N: So who sent the text to Hanna? And who is blackmailing Courtney? Find out in the next chapter. HINT: The real Alison makes an appearance in the next chapter :) R/R!
-LP99
