Disclaimer: Still don't own it
Mona noticed that Spencer seemed distracted. She could tell that after years of observing the teen, plus Spencer was chewing on her own hair, a nervous habit she had come across a few times.
Mona had spotted Noel Kahn hanging out near Spencer's locker after leaving her and heading to her locker. This was unusual since Noel ran in a completely different social circle than both of them, he was up there with Alison as part of the monarchy of the school. Something was up, and Mona was curious to what since she didn't want to lose Spencer.
"What's wrong?" Mona asked, deciding to be direct. There wasn't enough time to dance around the subject, hoping that Spencer would just blab about what happened in the hallway.
"Noel Kahn asked me to homecoming." Spencer answered, her tone full of wonderment. It was good that the car was stopped at a light because Mona would have swerved into something, she was so shocked.
"What?" Mona nearly screeched, completely caught off guard by the answer. It also concerned her since it was obvious that something was going on.
"Yeah, he wants me to go to Homecoming with him to get back at Alison." Spencer informed, still unsure of it herself.
Mona frowned and drove through the green light, deep in thought. Noel could get back at Alison a dozen different ways with far more effectiveness than taking Spencer to the homecoming dance. No, this had to be something else and Mona suspected Alison's hand behind it. Especially since Alison somehow managed to hold a leash over Noel in some way that Mona had yet to figure out.
"What are you going to do?" Mona inquired, keeping her tone neutral.
"I don't know. It's tempting to do it since I want to get back at Alison, but I am just not sure about revenge." Spencer admitted, really not sure what to do.
"Well I would be careful, Noel wanting revenge just seems off to me given what I know." Mona stated, baiting Spencer. Mona had her own plan being formed that could use this to her benefit.
"What do you mean? What have you heard?" Spencer asked, curious and looking over at Mona from the passenger seat.
"Before I got committed, I had heard that Alison had something on Noel and he was her lapdog," Mona told Spencer; telling her the truth would work in her favor.
"Really? I never saw that " Spencer said, unsure on whether to believe what Mona just said. Alison had always considered Noel a dumb jock, or at least that was what she told the girls, and never bothered with him except for Halloween.
Then again, maybe Mona was right and Noel was in Alison's shadow all along; like the rest of them. Spencer had never learned any of the Alison's secrets but had told Alison all of hers; which had put her in a position of weakness in regards to Alison. Even now, Spencer did not know how Alison managed to acquire that much power in the school.
"Alison is good at making sure no one crosses her. Her family isn't the only one with wealth in this town after all," Mona stated, hoping that Spencer got the hint.
"So this could be a trap?" Spencer inquired, almost like she was asking Mona's opinion on the subject.
"I am saying that you need to be careful. Alison is a very vindictive person and she has been too quiet," Mona told the taller teen.
Mona was torn on what she wanted to do and what was the right thing to do. Though she had a quest of justice against Alison that knew no bounds, Mona did still retain somewhat of a moral compass; though diminished over the years with her psychosis. It would have worked more in her favor to stay silent about the whole thing, since it was obvious to her that this was definitely a trap by Alison.
But letting Spencer get hurt deliberately by Alison just didn't sit right with her for some reason.
"I told him that I'll think about it; I have a few days," Spencer said, not yet making up her mind. What Mona said might be true, but she couldn't know for sure since she had been in Radley and out of the loop like Spencer was.
"So I was thinking that maybe we could study together this weekend at my house for the history test next week, I can provide dinner if you wanted." Mona offered as they neared Spencer's house.
"Umm…..sure; that sounds good." Spencer said and was almost thankful to get out of the house since it meant that she would be away from her family. They were having some sort of party for Melissa and Wren, and she did not want to be involved in it.
"Cool, I'll pick you up Saturday afternoon?" Mona inquired.
"Umm….pick me up in the morning, there's a party at my house and I want to be gone before it starts," Spencer said and Mona nodded. Now the challenge was to convince her parents to let her go; although it was Melissa's party with her friends, so it might be easy.
The car stopped in front of Spencer's house and she got out after thanking Mona for the ride. Mona nodded and told Spencer that she would see her in the morning. While Spencer walked to her house, Mona pulled out her phone and texted her mother that she would be a little late due to an errand for school. It was a lie but Mona had won enough of her privileges back not to arouse suspicion.
Plus Mona wasn't planning anything nefarious; just visiting an old friend. After getting a response from her mother not to miss her curfew, Mona drove away from Spencer's house.
The last time Mona had seen Lucas was before she had been committed to Radley by her mother; after he had walked out on their partnership.
There had been a fight between the two of them on how to deal with Alison and her posse; with Mona wanting to extend their attacks to the rest of the group while Lucas argued that they should only focus on Alison. In the aftermath, Lucas had left that night and the next day, Mona had been discovered by her mother.
Thinking about it in Radley, Mona had wondered if it had been a coincidence that her mother had found out about her just after Lucas had left.
He had seemed adamant about not going after the rest of the girls at the time, and he had even threatened Mona, which made her wonder if he had acted on it and tipped off her mother or arranged for her to be home that night.
Mona originally planned to confront him about it on the first day of school, even considering some sort of revenge if he had outed her. Mona had lost a lot of time possibly because of Lucas, and she was quite angry about it. However, she learned on the grapevine that Lucas was now being homeschooled and stayed pretty much to himself nowadays, keeping himself off of Alison's radar.
Mona was now curious to what Lucas was up to, and if he still had contacts close to Noel Kahn. While Mona was sure that Noel was planning something with Alison in regards to Spencer, she had to be sure before deciding whether to intervene or not. She had done her part by warning Spencer but she could do more if she wanted. Hopefully, Lucas could provide some answers.
Lucas lived in the most glamorous neighborhood in town; due to his family being the richest and his father being the mayor for two terms now. Mona's mother was an advent supporter and donor which meant that she had met Lucas's parents before; they thought of her as a nice girl, perfect for their son. Mona however had no interest in Lucas and vice versa.
Getting out of her car, she walked over to the wooden gate on the side of the house and let herself in. Lucas was no longer living in the house, but in a small guest cottage in the back which his parents gave him as a birthday gift. The early lair had been located there before Lucas had supposedly tossed everything after she had gone to Radley.
Lucky for her though, she had been smart enough to keep backups of all of her information.
From the first appearance, there was no one home. Mona had heard that the Mayor and his wife was out of town for some official visit to Washington; leaving Lucas home by himself. Opening the gate, she let herself in and proceeded to the back where Lucas was, curious to see what he was now up to. She had been so distracted by things at school and staying under her mother's radar, that Lucas was an afterthought.
As she approached the cottage, Mona noticed the light of a screen either from a computer or television coming from the window. The cottage itself was small but designed for one person to sleep in. While it lacked a kitchen, it had full bathroom and living area to keep anyone comfortable as well as privacy. It allowed Lucas to operate his schemes without anyone's notice.
Mona was probably the only one in Rosewood who knew Lucas's secrets. Contrary to popular belief, Lucas was just as much of a schemer as she was.
He had side operations with gambling and selling test scores that Mona had known about for a long time; she even had proof of his deeds that she was tempted to reveal out of spite after getting sent to Radley.
But she hadn't; since Mona still had some use for him.
Walking up to the cottage door, Mona could hear the sounds of Lucas yelling something from inside. Hearing the sounds of gunfire, she concluded that he was gaming with people online; something that they had both enjoyed at one time. Mona might like what the rest of the girls in school were into, but she was still a nerd at heart.
Smiling, Mona raised her hand and knocked three times. The yelling stopped and the sounds of the television lowered as footsteps approached the door. When the door opened, Lucas's eyes almost popped out in the way they bulged at the sight of Mona. While she just smiled, Lucas just stared at her while dressed in only a pair of red boxers and a white shirt.
"Hello Lucas; it's been such a long time," Mona said with a tone mixed with anger and sweetness. He had nothing to say and appeared quite afraid which made Mona even happier. Despite the months, he still appeared to be afraid of her; which suited Mona just fine since she relished in his fear.
"What are you doing here?" Lucas asked, almost demanding while still trying to compose his thoughts.
"Just thought I would come by and visit an old friend," Mona answered, shoving her way past him and into the cottage.
The place was different since the last time she had been here. While it wasn't quite a dump, it was a little messy and stank just a tad. The grey carpet needed to be vacuumed because of the dirt, there were empty cans on the computer desk, books not stacked very well on the shelf, and a few boxes of pizza stuffe trash can in the corner. The bed was a mess with the sheets all over the place and the pillows were on the floor. The bathroom looked clean, though Mona suspected that someone else was responsible for that.
As she suspected, Lucas was indeed playing games; Call of Duty Modern Warfare to be exact. Mona had put her gaming habit on hold a long time ago, putting her focus on school and revenge. His large flat screen was at the end of the bed and his computer was turned off, on a desk near the door; which provided a view to the house in case someone came when he was doing something inappropriate.
"Listen, I had nothing to do with you going to Radley," Lucas explained with traces of panic in his voice.
"Really? So it was just a coincidence that my mother just happened to come home and catch me because you called to tell me that you had changed your mind, saying that there was something that Alison was doing that I needed to see," Mona stated, the sarcasm dripping from her voice.
"And I did; I was not responsible for you getting caught by your mother," Lucas argued, eyeing the cell phone on the table. Mona saw him looking at the phone and just rolled her eyes.
"Relax Lucas; I am not here to do anything to you. I don't buy your story for a second, but I forgive you," Mona said, sounding sincere. It was a lie of course since she was still angry, but he was still an asset; whether he liked it or not.
"Really?" Lucas asked, caught off guard and sitting down on the chair he used for his computer. He was still uneasy and on guard which Mona saw, causing her to roll her eyes again.
"Really; in fact, you did me a favor even though you did betray me," Mona said, emphasizing the betray part in the statement.
"Umm…how?" Lucas inquired, his tone a mix of curiosity and puzzlement.
"By allowing me to gain as asset even more valuable and a potential partner since you are out," Mona answered, narrowing her eyes at him.
"So you are not here to force me back in," Lucas said, more of a statement than a question. He was fully on guard now since Mona was unpredictable.
"Nope; I just can't trust you and you are too much of a coward. But you can be of use to me right now and I will leave you alone once we are done," Mona said and Lucas was once again caught off guard.
"What do you want?" asked her former partner, somewhat excited that she was going to leave him alone.
Lucas had hoped that Radley might cure Mona given her psychotic tendencies, but that was now out the window. He originally had been expecting her to show up almost immediately once he heard she was out; especially since he was responsible in some way. When a few weeks had past and no visit, he had hoped that she had forgotten about him.
So much for that belief.
"Do you still have a line on Noel Kahn?" Mona asked, taking a seat on the bed. It was dirty but Mona had sat on worse when watching Alison.
"Kind of; we still game together online and he comes to me every now once in a while when he needs something," Lucas told her.
"Good; he is planning something having to do with Spencer Hastings and I want to know what," Mona said.
"And how do I find that out? Noel isn't just going to tell me," Lucas objected, not sure what she was after.
"Figure it out; I just need to know if Spencer is walking into a trap," Mona said, narrowing her eyes at him.
"Why do you care? Isn't she a part of Alison's posse?" Lucas asked, puzzled.
"Not anymore; Alison kicked her out and has basically made her persona non grata at school," she informed him.
"And you've befriended her and want to make her your new partner," Lucas stated, figuring out her plan.
"That is her choice; and you are not going to say anything," Mona said, almost like a threat. Lucas, suddenly nervous and nodded since he had no desire to get involved with what she was planning. Besides, Spencer getting stuck with Mona would be sweet justice since she was once a part of Alison's posse and Lucas could hold a grudge.
"If I do this, you'll just leave me alone?" Lucas asked, looking her into the eyes.
"You are going to do this, unless you want to incur my wrath; but yes, I'll leave you alone. This will be our last thing together," Mona promised him, giving him her word. Lucas nodded and went to his computer.
It had taken a while and every contact he had with the social monarchy at school but Lucas had delivered. Mona then left with what Alison was planning on hand. It was pretty brutal and would probably break Spencer, even send her back into rehab. This had to be the most twisted thing that Alison had ever planned unless Mona intervened.
That is, if Mona wanted to intervene.
Please R&R and once again a thanks to Paraddicted for the pre-read!