And I'm back! I have a few short points to address, but you don't really have to read them.
Firstly, Undeniable Mystique reviewed the last chapter, pointing out that the Liars shouldn't be acting cold toward Aria if she tried to redeem herself. Thanks for reminding me of that, I totally didn't think of it, but now I've come up with a way to cover that. It should be revealed in several chapters' time.
Secondly, my computer is getting really old and glitchy (I should really get another one), so there may be several typos and some confusing paragraphing in these next few chapters, so please just bear with it until I get a new keyboard or laptop.
Thirdly, a few of you were really shocked with that last chapter's ending. I wasn't a big fan of it either, but it was the only way for the story to flow the way I wanted it. Don't worry; in future fanfics (if any) there won't be any character death. Or will there? ;)
Finally, I know the past few chapters have been really short, but I'll try to lengthen them over the next few chapters.
That should be all the announcements for now, so enjoy the chapter!
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Chapter 4: Reaction Time
Human instinct can have many definitions.
It could mean a "genetically hard-wired behaviour that enhances our ability to cope with vital environmental contingencies". Or it could be revenge, tribal loyalty or greed, or even that tiny voice in your head that tells you to do the right thing. It can also be defined as an instant reaction to a scenario. Or it could even mean denial in the face of bad news.
For Spencer, those last two held true.
After all that Aria had done to them, all the lies she'd told, surely Spencer shouldn't have cared less that she was gone. In fact, she should be celebrating. But given the suddenness of the news and the fact that Spencer had actually wanted to reconcile with her ex-best friend, that wasn't the case.
And indeed, it seemed that all the other girls had the same thought. Because when Ezra stood before them, teary-eyed and sniffling as he announced the news, all of them had their mouths agape, wanting to say something mean but not having it in them to do so. Or their voice, for that matter, which was stuck inches before their mouths, rendering them speechless.
"But… But… She's what?" Hanna stammered.
"Do I need to say it again?" Ezra shot her a glare.
"But… How? She can't be dead, not after managing to stay alive for two years!" Alison said. Ezra was suddenly raging again, furiously staring down the girls. "She can't be dead? Well she is. And it's all your fault! She died wondering why you girls weren't there for her!" Ezra yelled.
"She deserved it, Ezra. You know full well she was working for A," Emily sighed, not fully convinced.
"We all made mistakes, didn't we? Alison was a bitch; Spencer kidnapped my son," Ezra glared at her, who mumbled that Malcolm wasn't even his, "Hanna shoplifted and Aria… Well, she was just as lost as all of us were. Even I wrote that stupid book," Ezra sniffled. "But the thing is, she tried to prove it was all a mistake. She tried to redeem herself. Something that none of you did as well as her," Ezra said, "and in return, you shut her out when she needed you the most, even after she saved your lives. And in my eyes, that's as bad as A.D." And with that, he stormed off, leaving the Liars speechless.
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Spencer sighed tiredly as she put down her bag. Aria, sweet Aria, whom she had trusted so much, was the reason for her parents' divorce. It seemed almost impossible, she would never do that! There had to be something more to it than a stupid file on Ezra that hardly seemed it would get him into jail.
That's it, she thought, I'll just have to go ask her myself. Face to face. Spencer picked her bag back up again and walked out the door.
As she approached her car, she began rummaging in her bag for her keys. "That's weird. I'm sure they were here somewhere," she said to herself, frowning. Deeper and deeper she dug, until she finally found the tiny piece of metal. But when she tried to pull it out, she found it much heavier that it should have been. She tugged at it, finally managing to retrieve her keys… And a small, leather bound notebook with a note attached tied to it.
'Keep your enemies close, and they might just decide to help you, just not for your own good. – A.D.'
Not now. She didn't have the time for this now. Just as she made to dump the notebook back into her bag, she noticed the familiar, small handwriting on it – handwriting that belonged to a short little brunette. Eyes widening, she flipped the book open to a dog-eared page.
'They still don't suspect anything about the master plan, just as we expected,' it read. Spencer frowned. What master plan?
Never mind a stupid book, nothing's stopping me from talking to Aria, she thought.
But if only she had heeded her own words after what happened later that night, when she read the book again, she would have noticed the slightest differences in this handwriting and Aria's, like how the r's were more shaky than they should have been, as if someone was exerting all her effort to perfect it, but got it very wrong.
If only she had listened to the voice inside telling her something was very, very wrong, then maybe, none of the drama two years later would have happened.
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It was just another one of Emily's secrets that she often had very strange dreams at night. Not the kind of Radley-patient-mental kind of strange, but more like situations she wished were real. When Alison went missing all those years ago, she found herself dreaming of the happy day when she was found alive, and now it was happening again.
This time with the death of her tiny, sweet ex-friend.
She found herself in a wide, open moor, deserted except for a familiar barn; the same barn where it had all began. And walking into it, she caught a glimpse of pink. Wasn't Aria's hair pink before she left for Iceland? Gasping, she raced after the figure into the barn… And smashed face-first into a bale of hay.
She heard giggling and pried herself away to find Aria just there, her hair still long and pink, her face still innocent. It was like she'd never worked for A, or even knew she existed.
"Really, Em, can't you look before you run? You'll end up smashing into walls and falling into sewers at this rate!" Aria grinned. She was right there with her… And yet she was gone. "I've gone mental… You're not supposed to be here. You're… You're dead…" Emily stammered.
The younger version of Aria smiled sadly. "And yet I'm here, aren't I?"
"Why did you do it, Aria? What made you turn your back on all of us, and for Ezra and that stupid file? You could have told us! And what made you think that if you saved us that day, we would let you back into our lives so that you could ruin it again? A.D. warned us about you since you deserted her, Aria, and we aren't that dumb!" Emily seethed. Aria just stared ahead blankly.
"Since when do you trust A.D.? After everything she did?" she whispered. Emily froze, dumbstruck. Aria finally turned to look at her.
"You want answers, I know that. But I can't tell you. Not here, not now. So I need you to listen very closely," Aria paused, and glanced over her shoulder, "sometimes, the answers are right under your nose. You just have to look back - way back – to when the truth was first revealed to me." Emily heard a rustling sound. "Aria, what's that sound?" she asked. Aria's eyes widened, and she pushed Emily out of the barn.
"Remember, Em, just because the answer looks obvious doesn't mean it is!" Aria yelled. "I don't-" Emily began.
BOOM.
There was an ear-shattering explosion in the barn, just like the one that night, except now, Aria didn't make it our bloody and hurt, now it was as if she was never there at all.
"NO!" Emily screamed, reaching out in her dream, but finding herself bolted upright, sweaty and teary, in bed. She was back in the real world now.
"Em..? Are you okay?" Alison asked groggily from her side of the bed. "Yeah… I'm fine…" Emily mumbled, yawning and laying back down. What did Aria mean? When the truth was first revealed to her… that could mean many things. Was it that time when Ezra told her about the book? Or when he Maggie told her about Malcolm? No… It had to do with A…
Yawning, Emily turned over and snuggled into the blanket. She would ponder that over in the morning. For now, she needed some shut-eye.
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When you lose a best friend (or even your ex-best friend), most people mourn for days. It was a completely different case for Hanna. She wasn't exactly celebrating, nor was she mourning, it was more like she was acknowledging that she was gone. For the next few days, she was becoming Hefty Hanna again, eating so much that she was almost unrecognisable, or else working out non-stop. But she seemed to be relatively unaffected by it, other than the fact she was either eating or running all day.
Still, she felt there was a piece missing in the puzzle. A piece that was extremely hard to find. If Aria had indeed saved them only do… that… then why risk her life doing it? She died because of it! Unless Alex had lied… It was what she did best, after all!
Then it hit her. Why had she been so stupid? Why had all of them believed their deranged stalker? They were just looking for a whipping girl to vent their frustrations on, who happened to be poor, tiny Aria.
There was definitely a piece missing. Now two of the liars knew it. It was just a matter of who found it first.
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And that was Chapter 4! Hope you liked it! I spent a lot of time on it, and this time I even got the opinions of my friends when I was writing it, because this chapter is a very important on, trust me. Until next time, adios!