So, I did want to keep you all in suspense for a little while, but I was blown away by the response last chapter so I figured I'd just go ahead and update now. Thank you to everyone who reviewed, and welcome to the new followers. Now, somehow nobody managed to guess who was at the door, so if you want to find out, you're gonna have to read on. And if you like what you see, leave me a review; I promise it'll make my day. So here you go, and enjoy!

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There were no words to describe how utterly humiliated Hanna had been by the stunt A pulled at the assembly. A had been messing with them for a while now, and, foolishly, Hanna had assumed that she and the girls would be able to handle anything their tormenter threw at them. Now she realized her mistake, but it was too late to do any good.

After the assembly Hanna had fled to the nearest empty classroom, unable to face anyone. Part of her very quietly pointed out that if she'd just gone with Emily's suggestion and been open about their relationship, A wouldn't have been able to take advantage of it like this. But another, louder, part of her reminded her why she hadn't come out. She hadn't been ready; and she still wasn't ready, but now she had no choice but to deal with the consequences of a choice she had no control over.

Once the teachers realized the assembly hadn't actually been called by any of them they'd herded the students back to their classrooms, and Hanna could hear the buzz of shocked conversations filling up the hall like slow-flowing poison. She kept her eyes closed and her head down, hoping that if she refused to acknowledge the world, it wouldn't be able to get her in here.

This strategy served her reasonably well for a while, because it was almost twenty minutes before somebody found her.

"Hey," Mona said gently, softly closing the door behind her. "You okay?"

Hanna looked up, and wordlessly shook her head. Mona's expression softened and she came to sit beside her friend. Hanna slumped sideways, letting Mona wrap her up in a hug. With A out to get her, Hanna was relieved that she still had someone on her side. Mona didn't try to comfort her, which was just as well because Hanna wasn't in the mood to listen. They stayed there silently for the rest of the period, and by the time the bell rang Hanna was feeling just a little bit better.

For the rest of the day she kept to herself, and Mona stayed by her side, and she avoided all of her other friends. Both Spencer and Aria tried to approach her, but Mona shooed them away before Hanna could say anything. Although Hanna was grateful for her friends, she knew she couldn't face them; not after she'd been lying to them for so long. There was no way she could face anything.

The next day she was sorely tempted to skip school altogether, but her mother would notice and ask all sorts of questions that she didn't want to answer. So to save having to come clean or lie to her mom, Hanna got dressed and went to school, all the while feeling like her heart had been ripped from her chest.

It was strange, to be walking around without a heart. For months now parts of it had been chipping away, as she and Emily grew further apart and the silence took longer to break through. But now she knew there was no way they could continue, and the thought of breaking it off made her feel sick.

She managed to make it to lunch without coming across any of her friends, but she knew it was only a matter of time before Aria and Spencer tried to talk to her about it. They only wanted the best for her, to make sure she was okay, but right now she couldn't honestly guarantee that she was, and she didn't want to hear questions or condolences or even her friends telling her that it was okay not to be okay. The thing was, it wasn't okay. She needed to be okay, because if she wasn't she was likely to fall apart entirely.

She didn't even want to talk to Mona, even though she'd been incredibly supportive. Hanna sat by herself at lunch, in one of the toilet cubicles. She wasn't sure exactly what rumors were flying around now, but she didn't want to know. She and Emily were sure to be the talk of the school, and she couldn't stand all the curious looks and whispered comments she was sure to endure if she as around people.

Unfortunately, Emily had the same idea, because Hanna had only been in there a few minutes when she heard footsteps, followed by the sound of a sob. She'd been with Emily long enough to know not only her laugh but the sound of her tears, and there was no mistaking that's who it was now. Hanna waited a couple of minutes, but it didn't sound like Emily was leaving, so she left her lunch tray on the toilet seat and then walked out of the stall.

Emily whirled around, apparently not having realized she wasn't alone. When she saw who it was, so many emotions flashed across her face that Hanna felt dizzy trying to keep track of them. Eventually Emily settled on a reserved kind of pain, like she wanted Hanna to know she missed her but didn't want to let her know how much the distance was hurting her.

They skipped the greetings and smalltalk and went straight to the thing they knew was on both of their minds.

"Are you okay?" Emily asked, leaning against the sink.

Hanna folded her arms, as if by doing so she'd be able to block off all of the negativity that A's little reveal had brought upon them. "I'm fine," she said without thinking, and then wondered why she'd lied to Emily, of all people – the one person she should be able to be honest with. "You?"

Emily shrugged, as eloquent an answer as she could give. "Do you think we should talk, about what happened?"

The very mention made Hanna queasy, but she knew they couldn't avoid it forever. "Yeah," she admitted. "We probably should."

Despite their agreement, neither of them knew where to start. And Hanna had the horrible feeling that the reason for this was because they both knew they were reaching the end.

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It was Spencer who found her voice first, who choked out the name the others couldn't quite manage. "Paige?"

The dark-eyed swimmer stood in the doorway, a block of wood in one hand and her phone in the other. She tossed the wood away, and Hanna realized it must have been what was being used to jam the door.

"What are you doing here?" Aria asked when the other girl didn't speak.

Paige blinked. "What are you guys doing here?"

"We're…" Spencer trailed off, shooting an uncertain glance at her friends.

Hanna stayed silent, wondering how much they should reveal. Paige was one of Emily's closest friends, and it didn't feel right to keep this from her. On the other hand, they all knew that once someone knew about A, they would automatically be in danger. Once you were on A's radar, you stayed there; and the closer you got to A, the more likely it was that you were going to get seriously hurt. The thought flashed through Hanna's mind that maybe Paige was A – why else would she be here?

Before the girls could decide how much to reveal, Paige said something that none of them were expecting. "Did A send you here?"

Hanna tensed. Wherever this led, it probably wasn't going to be somewhere good.

"What do you know about A?" Spencer asked cautiously, not even bothering to feign ignorance.

Paige's eyes darted around the locker room, as if she was only just realizing that here was not the most normal or logical place for a conversation of this nature. "We shouldn't talk about this here," she said hesitantly. "Why don't we go back to my house?"

Spencer and Aria started to follow her, but stopped when they realized Hanna wasn't following. "You coming?" Aria asked, turning back to her.

Hanna ignored her friends and spoke directly to Paige. "How do we know you aren't A?"

The words were harsh, and her tone even more so, but under the circumstances her friends were understanding. Paige, however, was shocked – or at least, she acted shocked. She took half a step back, her eyes widening in indignation at the suggestion, but Hanna didn't take her words back. All she knew was that A wasn't herself, Spencer, Aria, or, obviously, Emily. As hard as it was, that left everyone else in their lives. Paige loved Emily, and the two were close friends – but Hanna didn't know her quite as well, and she didn't want to take it on faith that she wasn't in on this.

"Me?" Paige said, looking from Spencer to Aria and back again as if she hoped they would jump to her defense. "Why would I be A?"

"Why would anyone?" Hanna countered, folding her arms. Paige hadn't actually denied it, which bothered her – then again, she doubted she'd believe it even if Paige swore her innocence by everything that was sacred.

"Emily is one of my best friends," Paige said helplessly, apparently not expecting such venom from the people she just saved. "Why would I have kidnapped her?"

"Wait." Aria took a step back, so that she was standing beside Hanna – and further away from Paige. "How do you know Emily was kidnapped?"

Paige's eyes widened even more, and without a word she reached into her pocket. She withdrew her phone, clicked a couple of buttons, and then held out her cell for the others to see. Spencer, Aria, and Hanna crowded around, not sure what they were expecting. Hanna's heart dropped as she saw an achingly familiar picture: the one A had sent them the night Emily had been kidnapped. It was exactly the same, right down to the message.

"I got this last night," Paige explained.

"The same time we got ours," Aria said grimly.

Spencer flicked her eyes back up to Paige. "Why didn't you say anything to us when you got it?"

"Why would I have?" Paige asked, and then her tone softened as she saw the hurt that flickered across each of the other girls' faces. "I just mean, I'm Emily's friend. I thought maybe this was personal, that it was directed specifically at me. It didn't occur to me that anybody else would have gotten it, or that anybody could help – at first."

Spencer narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean, 'at first'?"

Hanna's misgivings began to grow. Paige's story was plausible, but she wasn't quite believing it. She knew Paige and Emily were close, but that didn't mean Paige wasn't involved somehow. There was something in her eyes now, and it could well just be concern for Emily – but it could also be guilt over having done something to her.

"Caleb came to talk to me," Paige admitted. "It turns out he got the same message. So we've been… looking into it. I have some information I could share with you guys, if you want."

While Paige put her cell back into her pocket, Hanna thought it through. So they weren't the only ones who had gotten the message – A had brought more players into the game. But why? "Are those the only messages A's sent you?" she asked.

Paige nodded. "We haven't gotten anything else - except one that told me to come here," she said. "Why? Have you guys gotten any more?"

The other girls shared a look, silently agreeing that it was okay to let Paige in, at least a little. If she really was on their side, they'd appreciate all the help they could get.

"We've gotten a couple," Aria said, trying to stay vague. "One of them led us here too, but we think it was probably a trap."

"So you're no closer to finding Emily?" Paige's face wilted slightly, and Hanna felt some of her doubts melt away. How could someone who cared that much about Emily ever hurt her?

"I'm sorry," Spencer said, knowing how close the two girls were. "We're doing the best we can."

"I don't mean to interrupt," Aria said slowly, "but don't you think we should continue this conversation elsewhere?"

Paige and Spencer looked around, as if they'd forgotten where they were. Hanna, however, was painfully aware of it – and also of the fact that they weren't any closer to finding Emily. She might be around here somewhere, but it was impossible to tell. Anywhere within about a ten minute radius was a possibility, but there were too many buildings to check – not to mention the danger of being caught, which was a major deterrent.

"Right," Spencer said, giving the room a sweeping look before leading the way down the hall.

Hanna fell into step beside Paige as they made their way back out into the parking lot. She still didn't entirely trust her, but if there was a chance Paige could help them, she was going to take it. Anything if it meant they could get Emily back.

The ride to Aria's house was quiet, and nobody spoke until they all – Paige included – were settled in Aria's room, with the door closed and privacy ensured. Then, as one, the three girls turned to face Paige, who suddenly looked nervous at being the center of attention.

"So," Spencer said, "tell us everything you know."

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Hm. Should they trust Paige? What kind of information do you think she has? I love reading your thoughts/theories, so have at it in the reviews, and I'll see you all next time!