It looked longer on Word ¬¬ It's slightly longer... I swear...

Anyway we're getting deeper into the story. I have all planed. When this is all over (I mean the story is finished) I will follow some advices and "rewrite" the whole story (fixing mistakes, and maybe rewriting some scenes).

Well, here it is, chapter 12

DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Arias POV

I arrived school just before second period. I went straight to my locker, and I found a phone and a note inside.

"Meet me at the dinner just in the first motorway exit direction to Philly. 5pm. Leave your phone at home and take this one – M"

So finally I was going to get some answers… And I still didn't have a clue what I would say, or ask… How I was supposed to find out who red coat was, if Spencer haven't succeed on that?
Mona had a lot of information, but talking to her was like playing Russian roulette with a psycho killer, you needed to chose your words carefully and know when to leave.

I was walking towards my next class when Emily came running to me. She started walking beside me, maybe expecting I would say something, which I didn't.

"Aria, I need to talk to you – I stayed silent- I have to talk to you, it's really important and I want to tell you before I tell the girls – I looked at her and kept walking, but she made me stop – it's about Ezra – she definitely got my attention – but we can't talk between classes, can I come over this afternoon?"

"I can't this afternoon…. – she looked really disappointed. If it was about Ezra I could make an effort – what about dinner at The Grille? 7 pm?"

"Sure! I would be there. But Aria, come…. You need to know this…"

I nodded and entered the room. What would be so important that she couldn't tell me between classes? Did anything happened? His message this morning… he sounded so desperate… Did he something stupid? Maybe he had an accident… I started panicking. I didn't make it to my seat, turned around and left heading to the teacher's room, walking as fast as my heels let me.

I didn't even stop to think what to say, I just opened the door and stormed inside, looking around for him. Till I found him, sitting in a chair with a coffe mug on one hand, and a book in the other. He looked up from his book surprised.

Then it reality hit me: I was in a room full of teachers staring at me, wondering what the hell was I doing there. I froze. I noticed Ezra was about to say something to save me, when the door opened again and my mom got inside.

"Honey, what are you doing here?" Saved by the bell! Say something Aria, anything, as coherent as you can…

"Mom! I was actually looking for you… do you happen to have your copy of our house keys with you? I forgot mine, dad's going to be late and Mike has practice after school…." Thank you brain!

"Sure, let me grab them – she walked to her handbag- here. You know you could've just texted me, right?" Her smiled… Right now she was saying with no words "I know you have your keys with you, and coming here was just a excuse to see Ezra".

"I forgot my phone too… I'm really distracted lately. Thanks for the keys mom" I left without even looking at Ezra again.

School hours passed really quickly that day, focusing into my classes and nothing more, really worked for me.

As I sat in my car I realized where I was heading to, and I started getting nervous. Emily got me worried too, if Ezra was ok, what was so important she needed to talk to me about? God, in moment like this I'd like to drive until I run out of gas, as far as I could.

I arrived at the dinner at 4:45 pm. When I got inside, Mona was already sited in a table at the far back. I sat across her.

"Ok, I left my phone at home, and here I am. But why I have to use this one instead?"

"Did you ever ask yourself how could A know exactly where were you all at any time? Well, someone stole them from you, installed a tracking app, and returned them to you before you noticed. We don't want red coat, or anyone else, to know where we are, do we?"

"So how is it going to work? I ask questions and you answer them?"

"I can't give you all the answers Aria… In order to protect myself, as you already said, I need to remain useful to everyone…" I should've seen that coming…

"Ok, give me enough so I could figure out the rest myself. Let's start with how many people are in the A team?" that's a question me and the girls had been trying to discovered for a long time. From our point of view so many people looked guilty, that we ended up thinking almost the whole town took part on this mess.

"I don't really know… I only worked with who I was told to work with".

"That means… Toby? Jenna? Lucas? Who else?"

"Yes, I've worked with Toby, and Lucas. But not with Jenna… You have to understand something Aria. You're not the only ones in this town that have lied to protect themselves or others. You can't trust no one, not even family…"

That creepy smile of her was so disturbing... I knew talking with Mona was going to be a really complicated jigsaw. She could give me a lot of information or create more questions. What was that about not trusting anyone, not even family? Was she talking about my family? About my father maybe? There was a time I regretted destroying that page of Allison's diary, but after a while our relation was getting better and I tried to forget about it. I couldn't say I completely believed my father's version of the story.

And Jenna, Mona said she never worked with her, it meant she wasn't part of the A Team?

"Aria, does ever occurred to you that maybe red coat/A didn't killed Ali? Maybe she/he is trying to help you find out, and playing a really sick game in the meanwhile"

Here we go again, another fact I had for sure crumbling.

"Anyway if A didn't killed Ali, she knows who did. This is not a really sick game Mona, this is my life this bitch is playing with!"

"Ali had a lot of enemies; each and every one of them was waiting for revenge. But Ali was gone, so you were the next in the list. You might not have been as horrible as she was, but you never tried to stop her, you just play along…"

"Are you telling me we deserve this? Of course you are! You were a part of it! You know what Mona, there is a big difference between bullying someone at school, and threatening and murdering people…"

"I'm not here to explain myself to you. You called me remember. I'm sorry if you don't like what I say…"

I was about to jump and strangle her, so I breath a few times trying to calm down. As infuriating she could be, I needed her.

"Jenna was afraid of A. Why? Was she a target or something? She was our first suspect…"

"Jenna, she looks so strong and confident right? But deep down inside she is as scared as you are. And she's got enough motives; she's done some horrible things she rather kept buried. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about... Of course she's scared..."

"You're talking about the videos, right?"

"Sure... the videos..." I knew there was much more about Jenna, but I had the feeling that I wouldn't get any more information pushing her. So I change the subject. I could go back to Jenna later.

"Tell me about Toby... He said he joined you to protect Spenncer. Is that true?"

"I'm pretty sure it was his intention... I know what you're thinking: how to trust him when he took the fall for you on the Jenna thing? I told you to not trust anyone Aria..."

"So it was his intention? And it's not anymore? - she shrugged, it was exasperating - When did he exactly joined you?"

Mona looked at her watch and stood up.

"Time's up, see you next time"

"What? Wait! We've been here barely half an hour!"

"I know, that's all I can give you. In fact I'm protecting you Aria… A's always watching, and it would be really suspicious not being able to locate you, since you carry your phone everywhere. We all know what happens when A feels deceived, right? – She was about to leave when she turned to me – Oh! And keep this phone with you, just in case someone's controlling your messages…"

I was left alone with a thousand questions on my mind. But with that last sentence I realized how could A know everything about us: she wasn't just controlling our locations, she was receiving everything we received in our phones.

I felt like I should tell the girls about this, I needed to. But how, without telling them about Mona?
Suddenly I remembered my date with Emily, and I stormed out of the dinner.

Ezra's POV

I arrived home earlier than usual, hoping I would find Aria in my apartment. I race up the stairs, just to find out an empty apartment.

I leaned in the kitchen worktop, waiting for the coffe machine to end its work, when I noticed that everything was neat and tidy. My clothes were perfectly folded over my made bed. The kitchen was clean; my scotch bottle was inside the cabinet, and my laptop on my desk.

I walked around hoping to find a note, or a sign, or anything she left behind. But I found nothing.

Aria was here this morning, she skipped my class to come here and tidy up my apartment? That didn't make sense! I grab a mug and filled it with black coffe, and sat on my couch.

After a while it hit me, maybe that was his way of saying that she was here even if I couldn't see her… That was her answer to my message?