Aria:

It's been some days since the girls revealed their secrets to each other.

Aria lay sat on her bed and checked her mails when her mum knocked the door and came in.

"Hey, darling. Do you have some time?"

Expecting her mother to talk about her father, Aria directly answered: "Yes, of course. What's the matter?"

"I just thought we could invite some people at the weekend for a barbecue: We haven't for a long time. What do you think?"

"Yeah, good idea. Why are you asking?"

"Because I thought about inviting Mr. Fitz, I know he's your English teacher and this might be weird for you but he's also my colleague and seems to not have many friends. I thought it would be nice if I invited him."

"I…Yes, I'm okay with that. Just do it."

"All sure? You seemed to be hesitating?"

"No, fine. Invite him." Said Aria. What she thought was: Shit, how am I gonna survive that evening. She couldn't disagree because she didn't want her mother to ask why. Probably the rumors had also reached her because when there's anything rumors reach, then it's many people.

Her mother left the room, leaving Aria with a bad feeling behind. She texted Ezra and asked him if he had time to talk.

She received the answer a couple of seconds later.

"Sure. Wanna come over to me tonight?"

"Yes, I'd love to."

Telling her mother, she'd go to a party with the girls, Aria left the house and drove her car into a parking lot next to Ezra's flat. She walked upstairs and rang the bell. Ezra opened the door.

"Hey." He said kissing her forehead. "I made dinner for us, sit down at the table. I'm almost done with it. Hopefully you're hungry?"

"Always am." Aria answered, smiling and sat down at the table in the living room which was already laid. Hearing sounds out of the kitchen, she asked raising her voice: "Shall I help you with anything?"
"No, it's fine. Wait over there, I'm coming." Right then, Ezra entered the room, carrying to plates with him.
"It's a vegetarian lasagna." He explained putting the plate in front of her. "But better wait with starting to eat, it's very hot."
Nodding her head, Aria asked: "Did you leave out the meat because of me?"
"I did. I knew you didn't eat meat and therefor I thought of making a vegetarian dish for both of us. I still have to warn you, I'm bad at cooking and can't guarantee for anything."

"Then we're already two." She laughed.

"What was it you wanted to talk about?"
"Umm, my mum wanted to invite some people at the weekend for a barbecue and because you two are colleagues, she asked me if I was okay with you as my English teacher being invited."
"What did you say?"
"I hate lying to her but of course I agreed. I didn't want her to think about any possible connections further than teacher and student between me and you."

"I needn't come, Aria. I know you're not comfortable with it and honestly me neither. Could say I have got awful cold or whatever. We can get out of it. It's just a barbecue."
"I don't even want you to decline." She mumbled.

"Aria, I didn't tell you because it wasn't safe but I applied for jobs as a teacher in other high schools. And yesterday, I received a letter. If I want to, I can start next months. It's only quarter an hour from here."
"What? Why didn't you tell me? That's awesome. It would mean, we'd be legal? Oh, Ezra. I can't believe it…"
"It would also mean, we could make some steps."
"Steps?"

"Like tell your parents. If you want to."
"I'd love to, Ezra. Oh, I don't know what I shall say. That would be incredible, we could finally be a normal couple."
"Yes. I have already written a termination. I just wanted to ask you if you want me to. Then we can fax it to the principal."
"Of course, I want it. Being able to walk on the street and holding your hand, is what I had always imagined doing. We could drink a coffee without having to think about being seen by people we know."
"We can. Soon we can, Aria. And then, we can also do something else."
"What?"
"This." He whispered, picking her up from the chair and lying her down on the couch and kissing her.

"And we can do this." He continued, opening the first buttons of her blouse. A smile hushed over her face, she undressed his T-shirt, throwing it away.

"I like what we can do then." She whispered.

"And I like you." He responded, having finally opened all the buttons.

Emily:

Although it was Friday and most of her friends were busy with other stuff, Emily had swim practice. Having trained hard, Emily went to the shower afterwards exhausted. The shower's warm water relaxed her muscles a little. She was just washing her hair, when a girl entered the bath room. Emily had seen her at practice many times but never really talked to her. Of course, she had seen her, she was one of the team's best athletes.

"Hey." The girl mumbled standing under the shower opposite of Emily's.

"Hey." Emily answered. She didn't know what else to say but continued because the silence was weird. "Good practice today. Swam your season's best time, didn't you?"
"Oh, yes, I did. Honestly, I don't like Friday night's practices, they are always the most exhausting ones."
"True, they are." Emily answered, surprised of hearing this from somebody like Paige who she had expected to be very motivated. Reaching for her head band which had fallen, she felt her shoulder hurting.

Having stood up, Emily grabbed it. The muscle felt very tense, she would need a work out in the next days. She soon left the shower, saying bye to Paige.

After dressing, Emily dyed her hair and then went outside were she unlocked her bike. It was already very dark because swim practice had taken longer than usual. Swinging herself on her bike, Emily started cycling.

She had driven for a while, when Emily heard an engine behind her. Emily drove closer to the pedestrian crossing because the car seemed wanting to overtake her. But it didn't. Turning around, she couldn't see much because the car was black and it had tinted windows.

The longer it stayed behind her, the more uncomfortable go Emily with the situation. She turned right to leave the main street but the car stayed with her.

As she wanted to get onto the pedestrian crossing, it suddenly speeded up and hit her bike from behind. Then it overtook her and drove down the street, where it disappeared in the darkness.

Hidden by the car, she lost the control over her bike and landed on the ground. She hit the cold asphalt and kept laying there without a movement. Everything around her was spinning and then she lost her ability to keep awake.

When Emily opened her eyes slowly, she saw a shadow of a person knelling in front of her. Looking up, she spotted blond curls. "Alison?" she mumbled, trying to sit up. "Keep laying, Em." She whispered.

"Is this real?" Emily asked not knowing if she was awake or still unconscious. A smile hushed over Alison's face. She bent down to her and kissed her lips. "Do you really have to ask?"

Emily shook her head which directly hurt. She reached for her temples. Alison had a worried expression on her face, when she stroked her friend's head: "It's always been real, Em. Every single time."

"Why did you leave?" she asked confused. "I had to. Somebody threatened to kill me."
"A. Do you know…who A is?" Alison nodded her head, not saying anything at first.

"I do. Of course, I do."

"You have to tell me." Emily whispered. "I can't. The person is watching us all the time, Em. A is everywhere."
"Do I know her?"
"You always think you know people and then they surprise you." She got closer to Emily's ear and whispered: "Pay attention who you talk to."

"Did A do this to me?" Emily asked.

"Probably yes but I didn't expect her to do things alike to you. It's my fault this happened."

"You have to return." Emily said in response.

"I can't Em. Not yet. But just because you don't see me, doesn't mean I'm not there."
"My head." She mumbled, about to lose it again. "Alison. Don't leave."
"I was never really gone." Was the last thing, Emily heard before everything went black again.

Some minutes later:

Emily opened her eyes. She still lay on the street with her bike next to her. "Alison?" she mumbled. She was sure that she'd been here. It hadn't been a dream, it was real. Sitting up slowly, she could still taste the sweet perfume Alison had always used. Emily looked around, to check if she was still there. She wasn't but she had been for sure.

Reaching for her bike, Emily saw that its wheel was damaged. She wouldn't be able to drive with it and anyway she wasn't sure if it was a good idea to drive now.

Instead of standing up, she grabbed her mobile phone out of her bag and dialed Spencer's number. Luckily, she answered the call after only a couple of seconds.

"Hey, Emily. What's up?"

"Spencer. I had an accident which wasn't an accident. But can you pick me up?"

"What? Where are you? Are you okay?"
"At the main road about one kilometer away from school. I don't know."
"I'm coming. But don't hang up. Stay where you are. What happened?"

"I don't remember for sure. I was driving home from practice and a…a car followed me. I felt uncomfortable and got closer to the pedestrian crossing. Suddenly it hit my bike and overtook me. I must have lost the control and hit the ground."

"Oh god. Could you see the driver?"
"No. Tinted windows."
"I'm there. I can see you." Spencer said, hung up and jumped out the car to run over to her friend.

She was sitting at the ground. Spencer knelt and hugged her.

"Are you hurt?" she asked worried.

"My head hurts and my back too but I'm okay. Thank you for coming."
"God, your bike. It's totally damaged. I'm putting it into my trunk." She said, picking it up.

"Wait." Emily mumbled. "I must tell you something."
"What is it?" Spencer asked sitting down next to her.

"I was unconscious but when I woke up for the first time, I wasn't alone."
"Wait, somebody was here and just left?"
"I was with Alison. She was here, Spencer. She is alive."
"Em, you hit your head, she is dead. She…" Spencer stopped talking. "This taste, it's her perfume."
"Yes, it is. I'm sure, she was here. She talked to me and…and she kissed me."

"What did she say?"

"Somebody threatened to kill her and she had to leave. Plus, she knows A but didn't tell me her name. She said, I shall pay attention who I talk to and she said she couldn't return yet."

"Can you remember what she said exactly? When you asked if she knew who A was?

"Of course. She said of course. Then, I asked if I knew her."

"Go on."

"It was something weird, one of these sentences nobody else would say in this situation. You think you know people and then they surprise you."

"Em, you know what that means?"

"Honestly, Spencer, my head is spinning and I never understood what she wanted to say anyway. Now that I have just been hit by car, not at all."

"It means, you know A and you think she's a good person."
"Oh."

"Yes, oh but Em, how shall Alison be alive? We were at her funeral, we read her autopsy report and we saw the pictures of her corpse."
"We did read the report but we didn't see her face at any of these pictures. It's Alison we are talking about and she combined with A…"

"You think somebody else is laying in her coffin?"
"I don't know what I shall think but all I know what she isn't dead and I also know that we never saw her corpse."
"Whose funeral did we go to then?"
"Don't ask so many questions, Spencer. If A threatened her to kill her, it's very clever to fake the dead."
"What else did she say?"
"A is watching us all the time, she is everywhere.

"Do you think she is watching us right now?"
"I rather don't think about some things, Spence. Oh, she said something else. Just because you don't see me, doesn't mean I'm not there."
"Sounds like a bible psalm. What do we do now? We must call the others. If Alison knows who A is, we have to meet her."
"We would lead A directly to her if she's always following us. And, before you make any plans, could we get into your car? Because I neither like the temperature out here, nor the idea of being watched by somebody who had just driven me down."

"Sorry, you're right. Can you walk?"
"I think so." She said, standing up and reaching for Spencer to keep standing. "I'm okay, let's get to your car."
On their way home:

"Why would she come back? If she's alive, it was really risky."

"I didn't tell you everything she said. I asked her if it was real and she said it's always been."

"Oh. Did she mean the two of you?"

"I wasn't sure about that, too, until she…kissed me."

"She kissed you?"
"Yes and Spencer, her lips were warm and I could feel her breath on my skin. It wasn't a dream, I didn't wake up from it or anything. She stayed with me until I lost my consciousness."
"It would be unbelievable."
Emily nodded her head. "I'll text the others. They must come over so that we can talk. They gotta know what I saw. You believe me, don't you?"

"At first, I didn't because I thought you'd lost it and then seen something that wasn't there. But it was her perfume in the air and it sounded realistic. Too realistic for what somebody who's been hit by a car dreams."
"I have texted them, they are coming over to you."
"To me?" Spencer asked wondering.

"Of course. My mum would throw them out if she saw my bike alike. We would have to go to the police and explain things, we can't explain."
"You're right. Dunno if my mum is there. But doesn't matter. Em?"

"Yeah?"
"Did she change?"
"It's been almost two years, Spence. She got even more beautiful. Still blonde and tiny. But her expression was different."

"What do you mean?"
"Before she disappeared, she always had this self-confident look on her face, arrogant rather fits."
"And now?"
"Worried but…also sad."
"Of course, Em. Her friend lay in front of her and had an accident, who wouldn't be worried? She must be sad because I don't think that faking your dead is fun. We don't know what happened to her in these two years. We don't know what she's been through."
"It wasn't just sad, Spencer."
"What was it then?"
"Broken." She said. "She was broken."