Alison DiLaurentis was found dead the other day. I still can't believe that the Queen Bee of the town has been rotting in the ground for three years. What makes it worse is that they found her in the backyard of her own house. The fact that her poor family didn't even know she was there the whole time is a bit heartbreaking to think about. When the new people had moved in a couple weeks before school started they decided to take out the ground cement from the gazebo and it turned out that Alison had been buried underneath it when it was filled in the summer she went missing, and her family had no idea. I may not have liked her but I'm glad her family is finally getting the closure they deserve. Their entire family is a nutjob and bullies but no one should go through what they did.

Today is the funeral and the entire town has a free school day off for people who want to go. For most of the night before I was wide awake, debating whether I should actually go to this. I mean, she basically kept Aria and Spencer for herself the whole time that they were friends by bullying me away. Not to mention she had the meaner popular kids calling me Four Eyes Brant or beating me up just because she could. But in the end I decided I would go. Why? To support the girls. What kind of friend would I be if I didn't show up for them?

"Ready?" I look over from my bed as I just put on my shoes, seeing the sadness in Spencer's eyes.

I nod slowly before I get to my feet. My red hair is in a normal ponytail today, but I'm wearing a black blouse and black slacks with black flats. Despite the fact that I feel totally uncomfortable, I know I have to suck it up for her and the girls. "I'm ready."

We walk outside and meet her parents, both getting into the back seat of her dad's car. Then I grab her hand and smile sadly at her when she looks at me, giving her a silent reassurance that I'm here. She smiles back at me gently before looking out the window when the car starts to move. She knows that I hated Alison, but the fact that I'm willing to go with her I know she's grateful.

They find a parking spot down the block from the church, a whole bunch of reporters standing across the street as we walk back to it. There are more people than I thought would be here if I'm being honest. Almost no one in this town liked her because of the type of person she was. I mean, if I had to guess on who killed her it would be hard to tell you. Because literally it could have been anyone in this town.

Before I can get inside I hear my name, turning my head and notice Aria walking up the steps with her parents. Her first reaction is to practically tackle me into a hug and I just wrap my arms around her right away. I look over at Spencer and she gives my arm a soft rub before she heads inside with her parents.

I rub Aria's back before I pull away from her as her parents pass us, giving my head a kiss for being there for her. "Breathe." I finally say, seeing her anxious eyes on mine. "We're gonna go in there and it's going to be hard to be in this situation, but I'll help you move forward."

She does take the breath, watching me with a thank you. I've unfortunately gone through this already and I wouldn't let her feel as bad as I had when I was at the funeral for my family. Then she grabs my hand and we walk inside, heading through the aisle with her arm looped through mine now. We get to adults that are hugging, shaking hands and thanking people as they pass them and I realize that it's Alison's parents.

"Mrs. D." Aria says when we get to her and then looks at the man beside her, smiling a bit.

"Aria." Mrs. DiLaurentis says and hugs her as I give the father my condolences, "How are you?"

She slowly nods, "I'm okay."

Mrs. DiLaurentis smiles, thanking her for coming and then tells her that she can sit up front with her, her husband, and the other girls. She says that Hanna, Spencer, and Emily are already sitting there. I give Aria a smile and tell her that I'll find her parents so I can sit with them. She nods and walks off down the aisle to be with the others just as I spot the Montgomery's. I'm about to take off down the aisle too when Mrs. DiLaurentis grabs onto me, her face getting a bit dark.

I watch her, not sure how to react because she doesn't say anything for a while and it's creeping me out a bit. "Jessie Brant?"

I feel a little awkward that she knows me, but I smile nonetheless. "Yeah. I'm sorry for your loss."

"Thank you." She stops, "But you need to leave." she kind of raises her voice this time, making some people look at us.

My face drops in shock, "What?"

"Alison told me of the cruel joke you did to her a week before she disappeared."

Aria must have heard her yell and ends up beside me, "I…."

"How you tricked her into an abandoned house and locked her into one of the rooms for hours."

I look at Aria in shock, then I look back to Mrs. DiLaurentis. "I never did that." I shake my head, "She's the one…"

"Don't lie to me, dear." She tries for a smile, "This was the reason she was late for a very important dinner date by an hour and had me worried out of my mind."

"Mrs. DiLaurentis…." I try to get in.

"Please leave." She says, her voice very calm but her eyes look mad. "She didn't want me interfering, but she isn't here now. So go, before I throw your name to the police for possible suspects."

My mouth drops as I look at Aria, her face just as worried as I am about that threat. I see Aria's parents standing up in their seats and I wave them off so they wouldn't be too concerned. Then I look back at Mrs. DiLaurentis, slightly angry of the lie Alsion told her, because the thing is that me and Aria both know that this event did in fact happen. Except I was the one who got locked into that room, not Alison. I had gotten a text from who I thought was Aria that day asking me to meet her at the park across from that house, but when I got there she wasn't the one I met up with. Alison had used Aria's phone while they were hanging out and text me, Aria not realizing what she did. She ambushed me with two of her older girl friends from another town and they dragged me inside, locking me into one of the bedrooms. I was in there for over an hour as they tormented me and made threats that if I didn't stop trying to hang out with Aria or Spencer one of them or all of them would kill me.

Finally I take a breath and nod, "Okay."

"Jessie." Aria says.

I smile, "It's okay. I'll meet you after."

She watches me for a few long seconds, "Do you want to sit in mom and dad's car?"

I half smile and shake my head, "No. I'll head to The Brew and wait for you guys. It's fine." I give Mrs. and Mr. DiLaurentis an apologetic smile and then leave the church.

When I head outside I'm not fully paying attention as I accidently bump into someone. Whoever I hit catches me before I can topple backwards. "Sorry." A deep voice says.

"No, it was my fault." I look up and see a tall light skinned guy with medium brown toned skater hair, light blue eyes and wearing a suit. "Toby?"

He seems confused for a second, then he smiles. "Wow. Jessie."

"It's…been a really long time."

Toby Cavanaugh. He's someone who used to go to school with us and is a year older. But a few years ago or so he stopped going to Rosewood and ended up in Juvie instead for blinding his stepsister. Now it seems he's back.

"Yeah." He nods, "It has."

"Toby." I hear a girl's voice say from behind him.

I look and my mouth drops. It's the stepsister he blinded, Jenna. She is wearing sunglasses and has a cane as she loops her hand between his arm. She's my age but has been gone for a while too since she was sent to a school for the blind.

"Hi, Jenna."

Her face is confused for a second, then she smiles. "Hello, Jessie." She seems to recognize my voice.

"You're going inside?" Toby asks.

I shake my head, "No." I look at the church. "There was a tad misunderstanding between me and Mrs. DiLaurentis. I'm not allowed inside."

"You're not going to miss much." Jenna says, no sympathy in her tone of voice at all.

I just nod a bit, "Yeah. I'm sure I won't."

After a few more minutes of talking I say goodbye and walk down the block, bypassing people who were heading to the church and make my way to The Brew, grabbing a coffee and muffin before finding a corner table to myself.

...

Getting kicked out of the church for supposedly doing something horrible that was actually done to me made me feel like an idiot. Then being at a cafe for an hour with nothing more to do besides daydream until I got a text saying that I can come back made me feel like I wasted my time getting up this morning. But what has all that leave my mind almost instantly is when I get to the church again and see the scared looks on my friend's faces as they stare down at their phones. I've never seen someone seem so terrified of their phone like that unless someone is getting a lecture from a parent or something, and for all four of them to have the same look was weird. But I'm not one to pry, usually trying to let people come to me when they are upset. So when they finally see me they walk over my way, however, none of us say a word about it.

They all apologize on behalf of Alison's mom, not understanding how she could do something like that. I just wave it off as grief and they give a half smile knowing that I'm definitely mad about the whole situation. Then after a while they leave one by one with their parents until it's just me and Aria. We are waiting for her parents to come over to us 'cause they are in the middle of talking to Mr. and Mrs. DiLaurenttis. But I can't tell if it is about me or about Alison though.

"Mom and dad said that you can come over. They aren't going to the burial." Aria says to occupy my mind, but it doesn't help too much.

"Sounds good." I say, half paying attention because I know if I wasn't allowed inside the church, I wouldn't be allowed at the cemetery.

After a few more seconds of silence she says, "I'm sorry Mrs. D did that to you." seeming to notice that my eyes are still on Alison's parents, eyeing them like I'm craving answers.

I shrug a bit, before looking at her now. "It's no biggie. It's her daughter's funeral."

"Yeah, but you didn't do what she says you did."

"It doesn't matter anymore. It was years ago."

She shakes her head, "It may have been years ago, but clearly she thinks you're aggressive enough to hurt Ali."

"Aria, I got so pissed the other night I wanted to swing at Mona." I take a breath, "I am aggressive."

"I don't believe that."

"You didn't see what happened, Aria. I almost lost my cool."

"But you didn't."

"Because I was pulled away from her. I was going to lose it."

She gives me a sad look, "Mona egged you on, Jessie."

"That doesn't mean she deserved to be attacked like that."

Now she takes a soft breath, giving me a nod so I know she's at least listening. "But the point is that you didn't kill Ali. That's what matters."

I slowly nod, "I may not have killed Ali but to her mom thinks I'm the asshole who locked her kid in an abandoned house even if it was the other way around."

She just gives a sad look and grabs my hand in hers, trying to comfort me into not feeling so bad about myself. "Whoever thinks you're a mean person doesn't know you at all."

In all honesty, I wish that were true. But she hasn't been here in three years. She doesn't know me anymore, the person I've become. I'm not the same person she left behind. I mean, okay I'm not a mean person, or at least not intentionally. But my temper rises more easily than it used to and my patience is very thin, because I've lost hope when my family passed. I always felt like I should have died in that car, half wondering what the point of surviving was without them here because it's like my life hasn't meant much. When I start fights it almost gives me a reason to punish myself for living, and even when I try not to start it my cool isn't as stable as it once was, that much was noticeable when I lost it with Mona. Granted the liquor made it worse, but I've started fights in the past and it rarely ever ended without fists being swung. If Spencer and Hanna hadn't pushed me away I don't know what would have happened between me and Mona.