Spencer opened the message that had just popped on her screen, completely distracted from Hanna's and Aria's conversation.
"What's wrong Spencer?" Aria asked, interrupting Hanna.

"I got a message."
"So what? Are you afraid of contact to other human beings?" Hanna joked, rolling her eyes.

"That's not funny. It says: Roses are red, violets are blue, I'm here and I'm watching you. -A"

Aria coughed, almost spilling her coffee.
"Wait, A? I also got a letter from this A-person? Remember?" Hanna meant, looking around as if she would immediately figure out who A was.

"Hanna." Spencer sighed. "Do you think that person put up a sign so that we can recognize them better? There's a reason why they did not write their name."
"Okay, Okay Spencer I get it. I'm not that dumb."
"Stop arguing." Aria said, re-reading the message. "What kind of stupid joke is this?"
"I don't know." Hanna mumbled. "Probably just some weirdo that thinks it's fun. Nothing to care about, just let A be."
"Well, when you got a letter you did care." Spencer reminded her.

"But that was different. That someone is anyway not here. It's some joke."
"If you think so." Spencer said, knowing that Hanna wasn't somebody to argue with.

Although Spencer looked around couple of times in the first few minutes, she soon forgot about the message.


'Click.' Aria unlocked her car with the remote control when she had turned the street. Spencer and Hanna had left into the opposite direction to go home. She was about twenty meters from her car when she suddenly hurt a sound.

Aria started, turned around and looked for the cause but couldn't see anything. She was surrounded by the darkness and nothing else. At least nothing she could see.

She wanted to continue walking but then heard something again. Steps in the bushes right next to her. Aria wasn't one-hundred percent sure if it were steps and therefor went on.

Another sound. This time behind her.

Aria turned around slowly not wanting to see what was behind her back but as she did, she saw a black hooded person in front of her.

Aria screamed.

She couldn't make out the face or anything and was anyway too nervous to know what to do so she just ran, shouting Spencer's and Hanna's name while running into the other direction.

She could still hear the steps behind her, but the person wasn't running like she tried to but walking fast which creeped her out even more. She knew that it wouldn't be difficult for whoever was following her to reach her. A short-legged girl wearing heels.

"Spencer! Hanna!" Aria screamed panicking.

"Stop." Spencer said holding Hanna back. "What was that? Somebody screamed."
"I didn't hear anything." Hanna answered confused and wanted to walk on but in right that moment she heard it too. Somebody screaming their names.

"Aria." Spencer said, and they turned around simultaneously, running around the corner and to where the screams came from.

"Go away!" Aria shouted. "Leave me alone! Help!" The person didn't react in anyway but got a little faster and closer. Aria tried to scream but was breathless from running.

She stumbled over a stone or something while turning around again and couldn't catch herself anymore but fell. Hitting the pedestrian crossing didn't even bother her because all she could think of was that person. Exactly in the moment she looked up, the hoodie appeared over her. Looking up all she saw was a face covered with a black mask.
"No. No. Please don't." Aria mumbled, trying to slide backwards.

"Aria!" Spencer's voice made the person shrank back, turn around, have a last look at her and then run away straight through the bushes and disappear into the nowhere.


"Aria." Spencer and Hanna reached her only few seconds later. They knelled down to her friend on the ground.

Even in the moonlight Spencer could see the tears running down her face. She didn't say anything but wrapped her arms around her and held her tight.

She knew that Aria wasn't far away from a panic attack. Aria's body was shaking under her crying and it took a couple of minutes until she finally calmed down a little and stopped crying so Spencer could let go of her.

"What happened? Who was that person?" Hanna asked carefully.

"I-I don't know." Aria stuttered. "Somebody was behind me suddenly. I slipped away while running from him."
Hanna's and Spencer glances crossed, both of them directly thought of the message. I'm watching you.

Each of them put an arm around Aria as they helped her back into a standing position.

"Are you hurt?" Spencer considered her worried. She turned on her phone's flash light to check on her.

"Your hands are a little messed up." Spencer meant. "But that's it." She gently stroked her back, leading her to a bench on the side. "You better sit down for a while still, I think."
"Remember that message in the coffee shop?" Spencer asked then.

"Uh-hu. Do you think that was the same person?"
"I think so, yes." Spencer nodded her head. "Did you see the face?"
"Um, no." Aria sighed. "It was covered with a black mask. I don't even know if it was a boy or a girl."
Just by the thought of it, Aria immediately wrapped her arms around herself, looking around.

"It's okay, Aria." Hanna said. "Whoever that was, is not here anymore."
"How are you?" Spencer asked, knowing that no matter what she would say, she wasn't good.

"Okay I guess." Aria mumbled, still unable to realize what had just happened. She didn't even want to imagine what would have happened if her friends hadn't been there.

"It's getting pretty cold." Spencer added. "We can take you home if you want to."
Aria nodded her head. She was very uncomfortable by the thought of sitting around only few meters from where a stranger had been after her.

"I can take her home." Spencer suggested. "You've had so much trouble with Emily being sick lately, you must be very tired."
"Sure?"
"Yes, it'll be okay. You can go home and get some sleep."
"Okay, Spence. But call me if anything happens." Hanna meant.
"I will."
They walked back to their cars together and left Aria's there, wanting to pick it up somewhen later this week.

"Better?" Spencer asked when they were waiting on a red traffic light.

"Mmh." Aria responded. "It was the shock. I'm just asking myself why somebody would do this?"
"I don't know. Maybe somebody who wanted to scare you. I don't think there was anything funny about it but that's what it was supposed to be probably."
"I hope you're right." Aria said, resting her head on the window.

Her hands were covered with blood and mud, her trousers were dirty as well. But most important was that her friends had been there in time.


"Em?" Hanna asked.

"Hey Han." Emily answered the phone.

"How are you?"
"I'm better, I'm going to be back in school again tomorrow."

"All sure you are good again?"
"Yes, I haven't had any fever ever since and also eaten normally again without vomiting or so."
"Okay then. I just wanted to make sure you didn't say you're good so that you can go swimming again."
"I promised you I wouldn't do that again. But how are you doing, Han?"
"I'm good actually."
"You don't sound good, Han. Come on, what happened. You know you can tell me anything if you want to."
"I am good but something weird happened."
"What?"
"We were in this coffee shop and somebody followed Aria to her car. She ran away from him and when we arrived the person was about to reach her because she had fallen."
"Oh god. Is she okay?"
"I don't know. As good as can be expected under the circumstances. Aria was shocked of course, Spencer took her home and I'm on the car too now."
"Who was that?"
"She said he or she wore a mask. We got some message before, saying I am watching you but we thought that would have been a stupid joke. I'm not sure about that anymore."
"Did you go to the police?"
"No, no we didn't. I mean what should we have told them? A black hooded, black masked person followed our friend?"
"Okay, you're right. Did she hurt?"
"Not badly. Just some scratches."
Emily sighed. "Luckily you two were there."
"Mmh. I'm still feeling bad."
"Why?"
"Because we let her walk to her car alone. I mean it was entirely dark we could have thought about that being a dump idea. Especially after this message.

She is really tiny and if somebody would want to hurt her, Aria had no chance."
"Hanna, that's not your fault. That wasn't expectable, you needn't feel guilty."
"Maybe." Hanna mumbled not entirely convinced.

"If you hadn't been there in time, so much worse things could have happened. You know that."
"I do but I think we should have been more careful. Luckily nothing that bad happened."

"Are we seeing tomorrow before school?"
"Of course. I missed you. I hated seeing you sick and not knowing how to help you."
"I missed you too. You helped me very well, Hanna. I couldn't have imagined a better nurse. Okay, not a sexier one as well."
"I'm glad you're good again."
"Me too, believe me. You know what I didn't know?"
"What?"
"That you can carry me."
Hanna blushed a little.

"I didn't know that too, but I could have because you literally weigh nothing, Em. Good for both of us because I don't really know how I would have gotten you upstairs otherwise."

"That was cute of you. I didn't tell you yet, but it was."
"You would have done that too if I had been sick."
"I'm gonna do that when you're pregnant with our kid later. We want a kid, don't we?"
"Of course, we do. Good to know." Hanna smiled. "I would never say no to somebody with your genes."
"You jerk." Emily laughed. "I love you still."
"Love you too. I gotta hang up now, I'm at home."
"Wait."
"Why?"
"I wanna make sure that you're safe before you hang up."
"Oh Em." Hanna whispered as she got out of the car, listening to Emily's breath on the other end of the phone.