I'm back! Finally. To be honest, I kinda lost interest in PLL (and hence the story) during most of season 4 because the plot was just getting old and I thought they dumbed the girls down a bit too much for the sake of more twists and whatnot. But I did catch up eventually, and with what's currently happening season, I got back into it. Season 5 seems off to a good start and will hopefully continue that way, so I was inspired to resume this! Thank you all for sticking around even if I don't update as often as I used to.
Same disclaimers as always.
They were given the next four days off, to their surprise, and they had all decided they would stay with the Hastings family, since her family owned the biggest property – property that would rival that of the Malfoys. Dressed in their funeral garb, Aria, Spencer, Hanna and Emily climbed aboard the carriage in complete silence, while another carriage followed with their ample-sized suitcases. Aria wore an strapless black, 70s-style jumpsuit with long bell sleeves she'd sewn on herself and black platform shoes; meanwhile Spencer chose a knee-length tea dress that accentuated her lean frame, complete with black tights and matching shiny flats. Hanna, as a rebellion against Ali and her memory, chose a revealing, form-fitting black dress that had a bustier top, made her breasts look two cup sizes bigger than they really were, and topped off her outfit with 3-inch red stillettos.
"Hanna!" Spencer had reprimanded her before they left the castle.
"What? I'll wear a cardigan. Duh." She rolled her eyes.
Emily wore a dress similar to Spencer's except more streamlined and with a higher neckline. Per her mother's rules, her necklines were to always be at least one inch above the starting point of her barely-existing cleavage. Pam Fields was so obsessed about women's bodies being "sacred temples," that to say she loved their Hogwarts uniforms was an understatement.
By the time they got to the boarding deck, nobody had broken the silence. Aria and Spencer automatically paired off – a habit they'd unintentionally developed from being dorm mates and having the past three years' worth of classes together – while Hanna awkwardly paired herself with Emily, trying not to make eye contact. Deep down, she felt terrible for the way she shunned them after she'd stood up to Alison, but her pride kept her from openly apologizing to any of them.
"What happened to us?" Aria asked Spencer after a few moments of silence as they situated themselves across from each other in their compartment. Hanna and Emily chose a compartment a few doors down.
"Us? What do you mean us?" Spencer's perfectly defined eyebrows furrowed lightly.
"Our group," the petite girl clarified. "We used to be best friends. Ever since she died, it hasn't been the same. Please tell me I'm not the only one."
"You're not," Spencer assured her. "Personally, I'm a bit more bothered… flabbergasted is more like it, actually…that one person – who we all know deep down is a total bitch – could bring so many people to their knees. Who has that kind of power?"
"Obviously she did," Aria exhaled. "Do you remember that conversation we had in our first year?"
"Which one?"
"When you received that Howler from your parents. You told me that just because we were friends with Ali didn't mean that we were friends too."
"You know I didn't mean that," Spencer's shoulders bounced up and down as she cocked her head to the side slightly.
"I know you didn't," she said. "You apologized, even. It's just…friendship goes both ways, you know? It's sad how we couldn't pick up where we left off without her."
Before Hogwarts, Aria had not been blessed with many friends. It was hard to find people who shared her passions of reading, writing, drawing and unbeknownst to her at the time, magic. The moment she discovered she was a witch, the few friends she did have suddenly turned on her, thought she was crazy, when her temper would occasionally get the better of her and the nearest plant would catch fire, or the pipe from the water fountain would break and start overflowing, to name a few disasters.
"That's because she made us," Spencer said quietly. "Well, not directly, but think about it. If she hadn't entered our lives, where would we be right now?"
"Still here?" she shrugged. "Noel and I probably wouldn't be together, that's for sure."
"Whatever happened with that?" the taller girl sat up straighter. "I don't think you ever told me the whole story."
Aria was the last to leave the Ravenclaw Tower. Unlike Spencer, who was off to the library to study for the midterm two months away, or Mandy, Holly or Rebecca, who were off to find some cute boys to ogle over, Aria missed home. And when she missed home, she'd draw, so that's what she was going to do. Draw what? She didn't know yet. And whenever she didn't know, she would find some happy medium and let her creative juices flow.
Hogwarts was a majestic place, she observed. So much ancient architecture and enchantments; it wouldn't have surprised her if it was at least a thousand centuries old. The arches surrounding the quad would've been ideal, with their intricate detailing along the trims, but she was fairly certain she would look crazy, for she would need to get up close to capture all that.
Then she spotted him: Noel Kahn. She couldn't think of a single first-year girl who didn't have a crush on him. Something stood about him, though. On the outside, he was a manly, charming young lad who was a constant girl magnet, but to Aria, he was just like her: someone who stood out without trying to stand out, and equally oblivious of doing so.
"And that's when Alison caught me drawing him and basically blackmailed me into showing him," she finished.
"So Ali," Spencer finished.
"Pretty much," she nodded. "I don't understand how someone could make you feel weak and strong at the same time."
"It's in the delivery," Spencer thought aloud. "She had this way of talking that made you want to listen, made it hard to resist what she was saying even if it was the most cruel thing in the world."
"What about you, Spence? Where do you think you'd be if you hadn't met Ali?"
"We would've ended up meeting one way or another because my sister used to date her brother," it was such a relief to say that out loud. It had been one of her sister's and Alison's secrets she'd been forced to keep since she found out, but since Ali was gone, it was fair game, as far as she was concerned.
"Okay, then, in some alternate world where Ali never existed, where do you see yourself?"
"And no Melissa?" she added hopefully. Her parents, she could deal with. Her parents and Melissa? Then things got complicated.
"If you want," Aria shrugged. "Is she really that bad?" Her only encounter with Melissa was the slumber party at Ali's two summers ago, when they'd all waved to Melissa to distract her while Ali flirted with Ian.
"You have no idea," she shook her head. "In a world without Ali, I wouldn't have straight O's."
"You're the only person I know who's had straight Outstandings since first year!"
"I'd have a couple E's, too. And maybe one A. The practical Defence Against the Dark Arts Exam always kills me."
"Precise, much?" Aria raised her eyebrows.
"But that's not the point. The point is, I wouldn't give a shit whether I was top of the class or not," she went on, "though I'd still be pretty good, I think. And my parents wouldn't be breathing down my neck because they actually support me."
Spencer paused for a moment, smiling briefly at her own "What if?" What wishful thinking that was. That her parents recognized her as her own person, her sister actually treated her like a sister, that her grades weren't perfect (by her parents' standards). The list could go on.
"So I guess it wouldn't be too much different, but I'd be doing things for myself because in some alternate Ali-less world…I'd just be happy that I was able to give it all I've got, and all I've got was enough."
So this chapter is a two-parter. I felt like of the four girls, Spencer and Aria would be the ones to have one of those "What if?" conversations because although Aria is more open to expressing her creativity, Spencer has a creative, imaginative side in her own right that she just doesn't tap into very often. Feel free to tell me your thoughts on this. Stay tuned for what happens in the other compartment with Hanna and Emily!