Well, I really tried to stay away from writing for a while, but apparently I failed… The first two exams are over, and the next is in two weeks (which I can't even study for, on account of it being a listening test), so why not update this story? :P
Before I begin the chapter, I'm going to go ahead and shamelessly promote a new story I'm writing, in collaboration with my good friend noodlesfanatic, called Stranger Beasts, which will be posted very soon! It's a Harry Potter Universe/Stranger things crossover. (I don't watch Stranger Things, but I was dragged into writing the fanfic because we were really bored and I needed answers about what the Veil does.) Anyway, if you aren't already bored half to death by my rambling, please check it out! (It's posted on noodlesfanatic's account, not mine.)
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Chapter 11: Hurdles to cross
We often face problems in our everyday lives. Of those problems, a large percentage of them often turn out to be mistakes that we have trouble owning up to – but those mistakes we make are mostly small ones, like forgetting to turn in a paper, yet we still overreact about them.
Oh, how Aria wished she had that privilege to freak out about a paper right now.
"I can't do this," she stated for the umpteenth time, crossing her arms and sitting in the car like a spoilt child.
"We talked about this, like a million times on our way home! Just walk in and out, okay?" Hanna yelled, as she and the other girls stood outside the car, trying to drag the petite girl out.
"Fat load of good that did Ali. She ended up getting grilled by the cops for weeks, and I don't want that! The last thing I need is getting a doctor or two fired because I bribed them to change the medical records!" Aria shot back.
"You bribed a doctor?" Spencer cried.
"Shut up, Spence. We're here to get Aria to tell the cops, not to make it worse," Hanna snapped.
"Okay, all of you stop. If Aria isn't going in now, I'm doing it for her," Emily said, turning towards the station.
Aria's eyes flew open as she realised what Hanna was about to do. "Em, wait! I'll do it okay? I don't want you twisting the story!"
Emily smirked as Aria practically ran up to the door, then caught Spencer, Alison and Hanna staring at her. "You just have to threaten them sometimes. Gently, of course," she explained.
.xXx.
"So, let me get this straight. You ran off, trying to start a new life someplace else, then came running back when your friends saw you? You are well aware that faking your death is a criminal charge in this country, right?" Tanner said.
"Yes, I am."
"And you still went ahead to do it, knowingly putting the jobs of two doctors on the line in the process?" Tanner continued.
"Yes, I did."
"My, my, Aria. I always thought you were the innocent one. But you being alive has brought up a new breakthrough in our latest murder investigation," Tanner watched Aria closely, examining her every move, "So, Aria, where were you three weeks ago, when Mona Vanderwaal was murdered?"
Aria gasped. Mona was dead? She'd always assumed she was happy in France, being Mona and running for president or something. But now, she was dead, and it was most likely Alex who had done it.
"I… I was at the Lost Woods Resort… Hiding out…" Aria stammered. She shouldn't have been so nervous, it was the truth, but somehow she knew Tanner would take the truth and twist it like a pretzel, until it was as gnarly as an old tree trunk.
"Really? Well, on account of the motel having been blown up as of tonight, we have no way to confirm that. Any idea who did that?" Tanner asked.
"No, I don't!" Aria exclaimed.
Tanner looked Aria intently in the eye, thinking hard. A famous philosopher once said that eyes were the windows to the soul – sense the slightest bit of hesitation in them and you can spot a lie. It seemed that Tanner was trying to make use of that concept, staring Aria down so intently that she was surprised there wasn't a hole burned through her face.
"Alright, Miss Montgomery. You're free to go for now, but I suggest we leave your family and fiancée a message," Tanner finally said.
"That's it? That's all you're gonna ask me?" Aria said, surprised.
"For now, that's all. But you should get a phone. I might need you to come back," Tanner said, walking out of the room to make a few calls. And the very first person she called was Officer Barry Maples.
"Meet me in the office. There's been a new suspect added to the list," she instructed as she picked up a blue marker and uncapped it, writing a few words on the whiteboard in her office.
Aria Montgomery – Guilty?
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"Yes, Mr Montgomery, she was found today by her friends. She'd bribed the doctors to fake her death."
"Can you get her on the line, please? Is she available? Why did she fake her death? Was there a complication, or… is that monster back?"
"We don't have the answers to those questions, either, sir. But Aria is over here, if you want to-"
"Damn right, I want to talk to her! Put her on the line now!"
Aria was handed the phone by Tanner, who was already trying to phone up Ezra.
"Dad?" she whispered timidly.
"Aria! Oh, you're alive! We can't tell you how happy we are to hear that, in fact, your mother is already packing to come back! We'll be back in two days!" Byron said on the other end of the line.
"You don't have to, Dad. I'm fine here, really, I just-" Aria began.
"Where is she? Put her on the line right now! I need to talk to her!" Aria barely had time to register the furious voice in the background before she heard the voice again and a yelp of disapproval, "You think you can just fake your death and come back to life like we're going to be okay with it? You can't give me the excuse that you had to; we're not in high school anymore! You made us go to your funeral, and now you're back. We're not your dolls; you can't just disappear and come back like we'll be okay with it!"
And with that, the line went dead, beeping monotonously. That person, which could only have been Mike, was more than angry with her for doing what she did – he was utterly furious, and Aria could understand why. He'd already been through all this once when Mona faked her death, and now his own sister had done it, too.
"Miss Montgomery? I've contacted Mr Fitz, but he's unable to come down to the station right now and is waiting for you in his loft. Is there anyone else we should be contacting?" Tanner asked.
"No, not right now," Aria replied, still shaking from her scolding.
"Then I suggest you go home. Don't waste any more time here," Tanner smiled.
.xXx.
The girls had offered to give Aria a ride home. She'd readily accepted, of course, for she didn't want anyone seeing her walking home. It would only cause more trouble.
The ride home was one in silence. No one spoke, and it seemed no one was breathing, either. Still, Spencer managed to convey the message through a series of glares – don't mention Aria's family.
Hanna, of course, being Hanna, paid no heed to her warning. "You know, Aria, it really isn't fair that Mike yelled at you. I mean, he doesn't understand what happened or anything," she commented casually.
Spencer glared at her, and Alison said, "Thanks for the insight, Han, but can we please move on now?"
Hanna ignored them and continued, "But Ezra should have come to the station. If Caleb was found alive, I'd ride on a lightning bolt if I had to just to see him quicker. Why couldn't he come again?"
Emily kicked her, saying, "Moving on, Han!"
"Ow! Why'd you kick me? And I just started talking about this, there's no need to move on!" Hanna complained.
At that moment, Aria promptly burst into tears.
"That's why we need to move on," Spencer sighed, watching the whole scene from the rear-view mirror.
"All this trouble started when you faked your death," Hanna grumbled, loud enough for all to hear.
"If I'd gotten some sign that you'd forgiven me, I wouldn't have had to do it!" Aria yelled.
"So it's our fault now? After you chose to work for Alex? Don't say you were protecting us, because we would rather have gone to jail than you betray us!" Hanna yelled back.
"Han! That's not true!" Spencer chided, pulling over.
Within seconds, the whole car was noisier than a shopping mall on Christmas. Everuone was screaming at each other, not knowing or caring if they heard it or not. Frustrated, Aria shoved oven the door and slammed t shut after getting out.
"Aria, wait! What are you doing?" Alison called after her disappearing form, which offered no reply as it stormed towards the Brew.
"Leave her, Ali. Let her fake her death again," Hanna snapped, sulking to the side.
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The Brew was long since closed when Aria arrived, but she still kept a spare key with her. She fumbled slightly with her ring of keys, trying to find the right one while pondering her predicament. Maybe Hanna was right, maybe she should have stayed gone. None of this would have happened otherwise.
Aria finally found the right key and entered the café, locking the door behind her. She trudged up the stairs, faintly aware of voices coming from the loft. Was Ezra on the phone? No, he couldn't be, there were two voices, a male's (definitely Ezra's) and a female's, and both were whispering intimately, although Aria was right outside the door and could hear them.
No, he wouldn't be seeing someone so soon… He was ready to murder Spence and Em a few days ago because they didn't come to see me… But maybe he moved on… Maybe that's why he left immediately after I died, Aria thought.
Breathing in slowly, Aria opened the door tentatively. What she saw inside would never really be erased from her mind.
Ezra was on the couch, but he wasn't alone. Sitting next to him, captured in a passionate lip lock with him, was a very familiar looking, short, Australian brunette.
"Nicole?" Aria gasped out loud, causing the two heads to turn in her direction.
"Aria? You're… You're really alive! I thought it was a prank call, so I ignored it, and… and…" Ezra stuttered, but there was no need to explain.
"And you seized the chance to make out with your ex-girlfriend just two days after my funeral," Aria cried, tears welling in her eyes, "Let's face it, Ezra. You could never love me the same way again after you met Nicole. I wasn't good enough for you, was I? I never was."
"Aria, I thought you were dead," Ezra stated.
"And I understand that, Ezra! What I don't understand is how you could bear to move on just two days after my funeral, when you should at least be nearing the end of your grief! You shouldn't be jumping onto the Nicole train so soon when you waited five years to do that with me!" Aria yelled.
"Right, I think I'll go now," Nicole said, getting up.
"No, stay. I think Ezra's made his feelings for you very clear," Aria cried, running off.
Ezra called her name, but she didn't hear it. She couldn't. She didn't even notice that he was taking off after her as she ran across the road, nearly getting hit by a car.
She should really have stayed gone.
.xXx.
"That was rude of you," Spencer sighed.
"I know, I was a bitch, but I was just tired and cranky and-" Hanna began.
"Okay, tell that to Aria later. Right now, we need to find her," Alison cut her off as Spencer drove towards the high school.
"Wait, guys, is that someone on the roof?" Emily gasped suddenly, pointing at the school. Hanna peered at the figure, not very tall, with brown hair flying in the wind.
"That's Aria! Stop the car!" she exclaimed, practically jumping out and dashing to the entrance. The door was open (most likely lock-picked by Aria), so Hanna run up as fast as she could, desperate to stop her friend from doing something terribly idiotic. Aria was standing at the edge of the building, looking like she could fall any minute.
"Aria! You don't have to do this! I'm sorry for what I said, okay? Don't do something stupid just because of my crankiness!" Hanna screamed over the wind.
Aria turned around, her face and nose red, tears flowing down her face from eyes reflecting the sorrowful life of one who had been wronged over and over. The others arrived on the rooftop, all trying to get her to stop, and climb down from the edge, that she shouldn't die like this.
Aria heard nothing. There was no purpose in life anymore. With eyes suddenly filled with defiance and determination, she turned back, took a deep breath, and jumped.
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Obviously, that isn't the end of the story. But what do you guys think – does Aria really jump, or is this just a scare, like the one in 6x10? See you guys soon, hopefully!
