Chapter 52

Aria's pov

"So, I'm going to pick you up after I get Ollie when I get out of school." I said to Ezra when he called to check in on me before 7th period.

"Let me guess, to talk to the cops about Mona shooting me?" He asked and I knew that Toby had told him.

"Did Toby tell you?" I asked and I heard him chuckle.

"No, he didn't. But I had a feeling you would say something when Toby told me that you two were telling the cops about 'A' being back." He said and I pulled my binder out of my locker.

"For once my brother didn't open that big mouth of his." I said and Ezra chuckled at that.

"Get to class love, I'll see you after school." He said and as much as I didn't want to, I knew I had to hang up.

"Love you." We said at the same time and I hung up, knowing the cops knew about Mona shooting him made me feel a little better.

...

"Dad?" I called as I walked into the house, I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw Mike doing homework with... Mona.

"What the hell are you doing?" I asked, is my brother this stupid to bring her by Oliver?

"We're studying." Mona said and I stared at Mike.

"Where's dad?" I asked and he had the face he would make as a little kid whenever someone caught him with his hand in the cookie jar.

"Out in the garage, working on moms car." He said.

"She's at the art gallery." He said, reading my mind. I'm hoping Oliver is with my mom, but I doubt it.

"Upstairs... now." I said and made my way up into his room.

"What the hell Mike? My ex stalker? Do not give me 'it's just homework' bull crap! She's hanging all over you, and why the hell would you bring her here when Oliver is here?" I yelled as soon as Mike shut his door.

"I didn't think they'd be home this early!" He said and I stared at him.

"Obviously you didn't think! 4:00 is when I pick Oliver up EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. Of all the girls at school why her? Why my ex stalker, who I may remind you KIDNAPPED ME AND MADE US BELIEVE TOBY WAS DEAD!" I yelled again and I could tell he felt bad.

"I didn't think we would click, Ms. Montez paired us up for a project... and we just sort of clicked." He said and I sat down on his bed.

"Mike, you two did not click. She's faking it! But what did click was the gun she used to shoot Ezra and could possibly shoot you as well!" I said before I could stop myself and Mikes eyes widened at what I said about Ezra.

"Wait, he got shot? I thought he only got mugged." He said and I shook my head.

"Him getting mugged... that was just a cover. I didn't want you to know that 'A' is back." I said softly and he stared at me.

"Toby and I went to the cops today about 'A' and I told them about Mona. It's bad enough you know about 'A' but I will not give her any chance of shooting you too." I said and something flashed through his eyes.

"I'm the worst." He said, barely a whisper.

"Hey, you thought it was love okay? But it's not, I can tell you this right now that it isn't love. But there is a girl out there for you, and she'll have actual feelings for you." I said and pulled him into a hug.

"But seriously, you couldn't bring her to the library?" I asked and he shrugged.

"I'm 15, I'm not Einstein." He said and I motioned my head towards the door.

"Should I just kick her out?" He asked and I shook my head.

"I'll take care of it." I said and went downstairs to see Mona watching the stairs, I knew she was waiting for one of us... most likely me. I grabbed her stuff off the coffee table and went to open the front door.

"What the hell?" She asked as I threw her stuff out onto the porch and I looked at her.

"Get out of this house, and stay the hell away from my brother! I've told you once, go near anyone I love and I will make you regret it." I said, she grabbed her backpack and left.

"Ok, I need to go get Ollie and go pick up Ezra so we can go talk to the cops." I said just as Ella came in.

"Aria, good you're still here. Can I talk to you about something?" She said and I nodded before following her towards the stairs.

"Can you get Ollie ready for me?" I asked mike as I passed him and he nodded.

"This will only be a few minutes." Ella said as we walked up the stairs.

...

"Do you feel better about this now?" Ezra asked as we walked out of the police station and I gave him a look.

"If it means that Mona won't go around shooting you again or anyone else... yes. And if they lock her up again, even better." I said as he wrapped his arm around my shoulder.

"What do you want for dinner?" He asked and I shrugged. I haven't even thought about dinner at all today.

"I honestly don't care." I said and he chuckled.

"I'm not falling for that again. What about pasta?" He asked and I nodded.

"Pasta sounds good." I responded as he placed Oliver in his car seat.

"There's a small pasta place called 'Toscana' that's outside of town, your dad mentioned it earlier today. He's was shocked that we didn't know about it already." Ezra said chuckling.

"That says a lot about our eating habits." I pointed out and he chuckled as we got into my car. He quickly put the address into my phone's GPS and I pulled away from the curb.

...

"How was school?" Ezra asked as our waitress went to go put our order in.

"Let's see... math sucked, history legit put me to sleep, 'A' gave Emily Alison's old diary and I'm pretty sure Toby made me miss out on tater tots." I said and Ezra chuckled then realized I mentioned 'A' and Alison's dairy. Before he could ask about it, both our phones went off and we saw it was a group chat.

Group chat

'Group meeting tonight?' -Spencer

'Can we finish our dinner first?' - Aria

'I don't get off work until 7.' -Chloe

'Maya & I can bring you.' -Emily

'Aria stop bringing me into these damn group chats!' - Toby

'I didn't! Spence, your boyfriend is cranky!' - Aria

'I'm at the library, but I can get there. Just let me know the time.' - Caleb

'Aria and I can lick you up.'

'Damn auto correct, pick you up.' - Ezra

'Hey! Focus guys, does 8 work for everyone?' - Spencer

'8 works for me as long as Ezra doesn't lick my boyfriend.' - Chloe

'I'm not going to lick him.' - Ezra

'I'm done with this chat, come by the loft at 8.' - Spencer

Spencer has left the group chat

"So, 'A' had given Emily Alison's diary... Wait, Mona had the diary when she was 'A' but this new 'A' had the diary?" I asked and Ezra watched me carefully, talking about the time during the Kidnapping is never easy for me. And he can tell that's where I'm headed in this conversation.

"She had shown me the diary and that's how she knew our secrets in the beginning. But if this new 'A' has the diary, that means either 1. Mona gave it to them at some point while locked up in Radley, 2. There was an 'A' team member we didn't know about and decided to restart everything , or 3. Mona is still playing the game." I said.

"This might sound crazy, but is there a chance Alison could be a part of the 'A' team?" He asked and I took a sip of my water.

"We did think it was her playing one of her games when it first started happening, then 'her body' was found." I said.

"If it wasn't her that was found in the hole... then who was it?" Ezra asked and I shrugged.

"Don't know. But when it was discovered that Ian didn't kill her, the case became wide open... which means they should be doing something to see who is really in her grave." I said and he nodded.

"So 'A' gave Emily the diary?" He asked, bringing me back on track and I nodded.

"Alison wrote from her teaching Hanna how to lose weight to Byron's affair, which turns out she was black mailing money from him." I said as my phone buzzed again.

'Too good to be true, Alison knows one of us has her diary.' - Emily

"Once again 'A' gives a little and takes back a lot." I said showing Ezra the text.

"Did 'A' tell her this?" He asked and I shrugged.

"Probably, we'll find out soon enough." I said, I can't wait until we unmask this bitch and get all the answers we want from all of this.