OH MY GOD I'M SO SORRY. I've been SOOO busy and I haven't updated in FOREVER. I will continue this story, and I will finish it, no matter how much cramming I have to do. Well, FINALLY, happy reading! -sototallyrandom
Since I haven't updated in a long time, I'm putting the last few paragraphs in as a recap:
Ezra's POV
For once I finished all my grading during a planning period so I get to leave at the same time as Aria. I try to catch up to her. I walk outside and look around for Aria. My head snaps into the direction of someone honking their car horn like a maniac. I look over and see a car speeding out of control right at an unaware Aria. I drop my books and start to sprint across the parking lot. Please let me get there in time. I beg the universe. And stop trying to kill my girlfriend! I add to the prayer. I leap out towards Aria at the last second.
Aria's POV
I'm just walking when something slams into me from behind me. I drop all my books and try to stop my fall, but I'm partially under someone. I am still in shock after smashing into the ground with someone smoothing me from above. I soon realize it's Ezra and start to sob, wrapping my arms around him tighter. WHY IS IT ALWAYS ME? I scream in my head.
Era's POV
I scramble off of Aria as quick as I can. She hugs me and I wrap my arms around her. I saved her. She's not gone. She's shaking uncontrollably between sobs. I check her for any broken bones and sigh in relief when I don't find any. I help Aria get up on her feet while she wipes away tears.
"Are you ok?" I ask, forgetting yet again that she can't hear. She nods and smiles. What?
"You can understand me?" I say it slowly because I know she must be lip reading. It makes sense considering how much she lip read in class before everything. The other girls rush across the parking lot and they all start frantically asking her if she's ok. She looks back and forth nodding while processing words. We walk back into the parking lot and pick up all of her books. I had her the pad and pencil. She quickly scribbles something and holds it out.
"This has to end." It says. I totally agree, but how? And then I come up with a genius plan.
Aria's POV
His plan is great, but it has one fatal flaw. Jason gets taken down along with all the others, and something inside me just can't let that happen. He saved my life; the least I can do is return the favor.
"No way!" Spencer protests. I can easily tell what she said because when she's upset her mouth makes exaggerate movements, making every syllable easier to understand.
"I'll be fine." I write on the pad and hold it up, facing towards my boyfriend, my best friends, and their boyfriends (and girlfriend).
"We're not going to use you as bait!" Spencer complains. I've become quite good at this lip reading thing.
"Spencer… point." I make out the words Emily is saying. She is harder to read because her mouth doesn't move much when she talks, unlike Spencer and Hanna. She had to have been saying something about Spencer having a point, because she looks disturbed.
I write on my pad in hopes of assuring my friends that this will end A's reign of terror and I won't even get hurt. I ignore their arguing and flailing hand movements as they debate over whether or not to use Ezra's plan.
"There's no possible way I could get hurt! The plan is perfect! Ezra and I fake a fight and I walk off into the woods near the high school alone. A is desperate enough now to chase after me as soon as they get the chance, so they'll follow me. The rest of you will be waiting at the rendezvous point, and Ezra will run a faster route to get there too. You'll call the cops and fight the A team until the police arrive, we can win because now that Lucas is arrested and there are more of us. There are eight of us and five of them." I hold the pad up for everyone to see, but they're too busy arguing to even notice. I roll my eyes and slap the pad against the coffee table in front of me. Seven heads turn to face me and I hold up the pad again and wait for them to read it.
"What if… doesn't work… could get… hurt." Emily says. I don't need to make out all of her words to understand what she means.
"All of you will be there." I write.
"Six of them." Spencer says with her arms crossed in front of her chest. I shake my head. There's only five.
"And you're absolutely sure you want to do this?" Ezra asks, not wanting to put me in any uncomfortable situations. Ezra is the easiest to understand because he talks slowly, but not too slowly, and makes sure to make the movements of his mouth more obvious and recognizable as certain sounds.
I nod, because I don't need to write every single reply or thought down on the purple pad of paper, some things I can say with easy symbols like a nod of the head, a pointed flick of the eyes, and other movements that can indicate certain emotions. Like when I'm asking a question or I don't understand, I'll raise my eyebrows and my expression clearly shows that I need something repeated or explained.
I am capable of talking physically, but it makes me uncomfortable to speak when I can't tell if I'm doing it right. Being deaf is like being underwater, where the silence is unbreakable and everlasting, no matter how hard you listen.
Spencer's POV
Aria stares off into space as the rest of us discuss whether or not we're going to go through with the plan. It puts Aria at risk, but like she said, we'll all be there. Eight to six gives us a pretty good shot at holding them off until the police get there. We're all meeting up near the creek; the one Aria once threw a file folder into to keep A from gaining information.
There ARE six people on the A team, no matter how much denial Aria is in. She's been through a lot in the last month, so her head isn't exactly clear. Sure Jason saved her, but he's also almost killed her.
"I don't think we should let her do this." Emily says. I'm glad to have someone agreeing with me. It's dangerous to have Aria alone with A following her, even if it is only for a moment until she reaches the meeting spot.
"We can have an SOS text set up on her phone to us so all she has to do is press send." Hanna suggests.
"That's a great idea." Caleb adds.
"I don't know…" Emily says. Paige puts a hand on Emily's shoulder to comfort her.
"I think Aria will be fine." Toby throws in his opinion. I glance at Ezra out of the corner of my eye. He hasn't really said much about the issue.
"What do you think, Ezra?" I ask. He seems to snap out of a trance and he looks at Aria before replying.
"She's going to be in danger anyway if we don't take down the A team, so putting her in a little danger to put them away for good is worth it." He says. He makes a good argument.
"I think she should do it as long as she has a text ready like Hanna says." I tell everyone. I look back at Aria, who just seems distant and in deep thought. I hate to interrupt her, but we plan on carrying this out tonight.
"Aria." I call her, remembering just a second afterwards and feeling stupid as everyone watches me. I tap her shoulder with two fingers and she looks up at me, her eyebrows raised in question. I try to speak slowly and clearly so she can understand everything I say because it's extremely important.
"Aria, we're letting you do this on one condition: You have to have an SOS text one button away from sending so that you can let us know immediately if something goes wrong." I say, realizing that I've just told her a long sentence that she probably only got half of, because she's looking at me with an annoyed expression.
"They'll know it's a trick if my phone is in my hand the whole time." She shows me her pad and I can practically hear the jeering tone that goes with her comment. Apparently she did understand me.
"Fine. Keep it in your pocket. But keep a text open and ready to send." I compromise.
"Are we ready to do this?" Ezra asks, but we all know the question is mostly for Aria. She nods and we all get up from where we were sitting without another word.
Aria starts typing something on her phone, probably setting up the text message. When she looks up from her phone our eyes meet and I know she's hiding something when she quickly shoves her phone into the pocket of her jacket. I give her a look so she knows I've seen her and she looks away. As long as we can take down the A team she can do whatever she wants on her phone.
Aria's POV
I know I shouldn't, but I HAVE to. Jason saved my life, I owe it to him. I pull out my phone and begin to text him a warning, even though I know Spencer would kill me if she found out.
Pretend to be sick, run away, do anything, but DON'T be with the A team today, they're being taken down. –Aria
When I press send and look up from my phone I notice Spencer watching me. I quickly shove it in my pocket so she doesn't figure it out and look away towards Ezra's car. I'm riding with him to where we're going to pretend to have a fight, and the others are going in a separate car to get to the edge of the woods and walk the rest of the way to the meeting spot. I know that the A team will be watching me because they seem to want to get rid of me. Ezra and I make eye contact while both of us are sitting in his car and I give him a small nod. He turns the keys in the ignition.
Well I'm finally back into this story and I'll be updating soon! Thanks for sticking with it!