When I walk out through the doors of the gymnasium from having PE as my last class of the day I plan on going to Aria's to check on her. The other girls got a head start because I got held up by my basketball coach to talk about the upcoming season and me being captain for the first time. It was a nice chat, he gave good advice and helped me know that I can handle it. Not only is he my Biology teacher and has been my coach since last year, but he also used to be my babysitter from the ages of 5-9 during his years of high school. So it's always like talking to a friend. He is just as hyped as I am for this season and for me to dip my feet into being in charge of the team. He knows I have it in me to be a great leader. Other than me being one of the last girls on the team that is in my junior year of high school, I'm also one of the best three point shooters. I had the most shots last year and made a lot of progress throughout the year on hitting my layups since I'm shorter than the average height of a basketball star. He had no hesitation to give me the position, but he didn't make that call for being bias since we are old friends. So he had the upcoming team from last school year decide based on the upcoming juniors who should be team leader.

I hear my name being called behind me as I get down the hallway and turn my head towards the voice to notice that Noel is running after me. He's weaving around the last minute people still hanging in the hallway, one of them being a girl from the swim team with Emily named Paige McCullers. Paige's head turned to me when Noel said my name, her bob-cut brown hair swishing when it does and I see her hand shoot up into a wave. I smile and wave back at her, being friendly from us both playing sports and having a couple classes together. From what I can tell she's a nice girl, but I always get this vibe that she's a little too competitive when it comes to Emily and it doesn't sit too well with me.

Now I'm aware that Noel is getting closer when my attention is back on his speedy body running over towards me. I'm guessing he was last out of the locker room like I was. He usually has football practice but today because of the dance all of our coaches for sports gave everyone the day off.

I fix my backpack onto my shoulder and wait for him to catch up, smiling at my guy best friend. "Hey, Noel."

He smiles back and hugs me, "Hey. I saw you with Coach Brooks, what was that about?"

I hug back and then pull away, heading to the door where the stairs are to head upstairs to my locker. "Was just talking about basketball season. Now that I'm captain he wants me to be prepared for a big adjustment."

He laughs and nods, "He's not wrong. It is a lot of work."

"Oh, I'm sorry Mr. Captain of every sport he plays." I say sarcastically with a smirk.

He gives me a playful nudge and shakes his head, "Shut it, Brant."

I laugh and shove him back, now climbing the steps. "Who are you going to Homecoming with by the way?"

He shrugs, "Abby Stewart." His voice seems a little bored as he says it, "She plays soccer."

I raise an eyebrow, "You don't sound thrilled about it."

He laughs and waves a hand, "Well there's really only one girl I wanted to ask, but she has a boyfriend. Don't want to mess with that."

I raise an eyebrow slowly, now walking through the doorway to the main floor. "Who is it?"

He smirks, making me know he isn't going to tell me. "Only the most beautiful girl at school." Very vague and very Noel like to leave people hanging in mystery.

"Wow. Thanks for the hint. That narrows it down by 0%."

He gives an oops face/hand gesture, "Gotta keep people on their toes, Brant. You'll figure it out some day." He laughs and then gives me a fist bump before backpettling down the hallway towards his locker, "I'll see you at the dance! Bet you'll look amazing."

...

When I get to Aria's, Aunt Ella is the one to let me inside the house and her expression is tired looking. She seems upset, which doesn't surprise me considering her and Uncle Byron are basically on bad terms since his cheating surfaced. I still don't know how to handle that part of my life, knowing that the second best couple I grew up with is falling apart in the matter of weeks. But I don't bring up her exhaustion and instead I hug her and tell her that I love her. She smiles, seeming to appreciate that I said this and tells me that Aria is upstairs with the other girls. Before I go up there though I walk over to my uncle and give him the same treatment as her, a hug and an "I love you". Then I head to the stairs and walk up them to get to Aria's room. When I'm there I see the door is closed and voices inside. So I knock.

The door opens seconds later, Aria being the one to answer. I smile at her, missing that face. For a second it's like she has to compose herself, because her face has this worried look before it switches to her smile and flings her arms around my neck. I hadn't expected such a greeting since she's been in such a bad mood. However, I'm not going to complain, so I hug her tightly just before she pulls away and grabs my hand to drag me inside.

There's an odd vibe when I walk into her room, noticing that all the girls look a little taken off guard, their faces seeming scared, the usual look they have when their phones go off or if something is bothering them. I still have no idea what to make of this behavior. This started to come about after the funeral and there is nothing I can do to get the reason behind this out of them. Knowing this I take a mental note to keep an eye on them as I sit on the armrest on the armchair she has by her bed while she's sitting in it. I half smile as they give me their hellos and seem to be adjusting to their moment of distraction. I of course ask what is up and they all just shake their heads the way they always seem to do and tell me that they got Aria to join the dance. So this manages to get me to focus on her again. I will get to the bottom of their jumpiness.

"So I don't have to bring out my lecture of missing you too much if you stay home to convince you to go to the dance?" I say as I stuff some noodles into my mouth because they ordered Chinese food.

She laughs and shakes her head, "They beat you to it. But I appreciate that you would have dragged me out of here even if they hadn't."

I smirk and laugh, "Damn you know me too well."

She shrugs, "I mean, I've only known you since the age of 3." She says sarcastically.

I purse my lips softly and nod, "Touche."

She smiles and hugs me, making me laugh. Despite the fact she had just looked upset I see that has changed. The light in her eyes is incredible to see, her smile bright for the first time in weeks. God I hope getting her out to the dance helps with everything that's been going on.

Once we're all done I head back to Spencer's, hating that I have to get "dolled up" for it. Spencer helps with the basics of finding me something to wear, which unfortunately for a tomboy like me, it's a dress. I had helped pick the color when we went shopping, it being a bluish-green and the length being below my knees with black flats. I stopped her at the whole makeup thing once she got me to agree to at least wear my hair down too, groaning in annoyance.

"Breathe, okay? You look beautiful. Andrew is going to drop his jaw when he sees you."

I blush softly at that, letting her finish up before I grab my glasses and look at myself in the mirror. I blink from seeing the unrecognizable girl staring back. I don't like looking this way, but every dance has a theme and unfortunately this homecoming is basically a prom like aspect with carnival games built into it. Spencer had been slaving away to finish decorating it. I even helped a bit towards the end.

"Ready?" Spencer asks, smiling at me from her chair as she slips on her shoes.

I nod and smile, "Ready."

From here Spencer drops me off at Aria's house since she is in charge of the committee for the dance. She had to be there early while I caught a ride with Aria and Andrew. Not to mention that Aunt Ella and Uncle Byron wanted both of us to take pictures with them, feeling more like a Prom than anything. We of course humor it, especially since it's been the first thing they've agreed on in weeks. Then from there we head over to the school.

The only thing that will keep me sane through this dance is the fact that my friends will be around to keep me from freaking out, and of course my handsome boyfriend. My God MY jaw dropped when I saw him earlier. It was like we were twins in that moment when he pulled up in his car to pick me up wearing a black tux, matching his color tie to my dress with a fresh haircut that no longer gave skater vibes. On top of that he wasn't wearing his glasses, which showed his bright blue eyes a lot more and it just melted my heart when I saw him.

"Dance with me?" He asks almost as soon as we walk through the doors, making me wanna punch him in the face slightly.

I laugh a bit, nodding. "Yes. But Spencer wants to introduce us to her date first." Not to mention that I want to see who Mona set Aria up with. She told me and Hanna that one of Noel's friends had been thinking of asking her out but she always seemed uninterested.

He smiles and kisses my cheek, "I'll hold you to that." He sees some of his friends and gives me a soft look and I just laugh and tell him to go on. "Be right back." Then he walks off.

After a couple hours I head over to the food table to grab a drink of water from Andrew having me dance with him for the last hour, now watching him dance with some of his friends instead. I hate the aspect of dancing, but I just smile at him being excited to be here. He seems more at ease than when he goes to the parties my friends throw. Then a few minutes later I spot Spencer walking my way with her date named Alex. He's from a different school in a different town but they met at the club she plays tennis at with her dad.

"Jessie, can you do me a favor?"

"Only if you stop for a minute to actually hang with me " I put a cheesy smile, knowing she's busy with being in charge of the dance and not having time to relax.

"Hey, don't feel bad." Alex says, "I'm right next to her and we've barely talked all night."

I give an ouch face and then stare at her, "Dude, give the man a metal."

She just laughs and grabs the water I hand to her, "I know. I'm sorry. I haven't had time to do pretty much anything."

I just smile before looking back at Alex, "Welcome to the life of Spencer Hastings." I say to him in Spanish, knowing he's Hispanic as well.

He laughs and stares at her, "She's worth it." He says back in Spanish.

By the look on Spencer's face I know she didn't really understand what was going on. She doesn't really know much of Spanish since she takes Latin as her language for school. But there are times where words are similar and she'll pick up on it.

"Awww." I say and nudge her playfully, "He's adorable."

She asks what he said and I just play stupid and act like I have no idea while he says she has to figure it out for herself. Then I laugh and after a few minutes of her begging for him to tell her she gives up and punches in her favor, asking for me to keep Ezra company at his game booth. So I go over and help him out for about an hour. While there I see that he got a haircut, not looking like a guy who just got out of college, but more of someone who is taking the job seriously.

Once things slow down I decide to sit on the ledge where the people stand to throw the bean bags into the spin wheel inside the booth I'm at with Ezra. We talk for a little bit and he tells me that he got a call for an interview for a writing job in New York. He scheduled one for a few weeks from now but he isn't 100% sure about it because he has a lot to lose here. I would definitely be super bummed out if he left, but I know he always wanted to be a writer not just a teacher.

After a long silence between us while the music drowns my brain in loudness, I smile a bit at him. "Are you hesitant about not wanting to do the interview because of me?" I ask the one question I had been trying not to blurt out.

He bounces the bean bag in his hand a few times before saying, "Yes and no." He tosses the bag at me and I catch it with ease, "When I got the call I didn't immediately hop on wanting to do it. I hesitated as I looked through my calendar for a date. It's my dream job though, and you're important to me as well but I needed to set that plan in motion just in case and see if I can get it."

I half smile and nod, knowing he would say that. "I would miss the hell out of you if you leave." I toss the bag back at him, "But I understand why you need to do this."

He smiles and catches it and then walks over to sit beside me, "I would miss you too. But hey, at least you'd have a place to stay if I move there."

I just laugh and smile at him, shaking my head from his ability to make a messy conversation better.

He hands me the bean bag again and says, "Having fun?"

I half smile and shrug, watching his blue eyes. "Eh. Dances aren't my thing. I have two left feet."

He smiles and laughs, "So do I, but when I'm with my friends that thought melts away."

I give an impressed look and then shake my head, "The only time I don't think about dancing is if I have a bit of alcohol in me." My heart sinks as I say that, staring at him and I blink. "I didn't say that. You heard nothing."

He watches me for a few long seconds, as if he's debating how to answer that. For one, he's now my teacher so I shouldn't be blurting random stuff like that out. Then two, he's so protective that his brotherly instincts kick in and will give me lectures. But before he can reply Spencer thankfully has her timing right and pops up to tell us we can close the booth till the next teacher can take over. So we head out of it and he seems to switch out of being "adult" Ezra by not asking about the alcohol situation, but instead annoyingly asks me to dance and I just laugh from his ridiculous question before saying yes.

As we get onto the dance floor I see Aria dancing with one of Noel's football friends before she ends up with Sean because Hanna keeps disappearing. The whole dance was a complete mess honestly, even when king and queen were called Hanna was nowhere to be found. If it hadn't been for Andrew and Ezra it would have been ten times worse for me. So by the end of the night I'm beat from entertaining Andrew on the whole dancing thing. I may be half latina but hell, I can't dance even if my life depended on it. He was lucky I humored this dance for him, that's for sure. So once the night comes to a close I start looking for the girls, not finding them right away. When I do find them they seem a bit freaked out but make it seem like everything is okay before they all slowly leave, Aria telling me she needs to head to the bathroom before we can go. All night they had kept disappearing, not finding them for minutes at a time and this is making it more suspicious. The only time I was really able to talk to any of them for more than a few minutes was when Spencer asked me to help Ezra since people were catching the flu and a lot of them ended up not showing up tonight to volunteer. She had been rotating students all night.

After she's gone for a bit I tell Andrew that I'll meet him at the car. He nods in agreement and goes off towards the main doors and I walk down the hallway to the bathroom to see if Aria is okay. The problem is that when I get there she isn't, so now I have no idea where she is until my phone vibrates in my hand and l see her name pops up as a text to say that she's at the car with Andrew. How did she manage to get outside without me noticing? I get that out of my head though, still looking at my phone to reply to her text just as I get another notification of someone else texting me. When I click on it I notice it's from an unknown number and my face gets confused very quickly as I read it.

"Pretty sure your best friend is lying to you on more than one occasion. Be sure you can trust her. Wouldn't want you to get hurt."

"What the fuck?" I whisper to myself, not sure who this is or how to go about it. This is the second time I get a text from this unknown number and it's starting to freak me out.

"Jessie..." A hand grabs onto my elbow slightly and I turn to see Sean giving me a gentle smile, but it seems forced. "Have you seen Hanna?"

For a second I'm processing what I just read, then I shake my head at him. "Not recently. Maybe a half hour ago she had been with Spencer." I give him a sad look as his eyes narrow a bit in annoyance, "I'm sorry you got left up there by yourself."

He shrugs as if it's no big deal, but it obviously was. She embarrassed him by making him stand up there alone. "It's whatever. I didn't even care about the title. Only did it for her." He just shakes his head in annoyance, "Let her know I left. She can find her own ride."

I sadly smile at him and nod, "Sure thing." Then I look at the crown in his hands, "Don't let that get your head too big. We peasants still want to like you."

He presses his lips together and then laughs, an actual laugh. "You are a charmer, Jessie Brant."

"Just a light hearted person is all."

"Well I appreciate that side of you. I'm glad your sense of humor and good heart has always been with you." He hugs me and rubs my arm softly before pulling away, "I'll see you at school on Monday."

I watch him walk away, hating that he went through that. Hanna better have a good excuse for ditching. I know she has been waiting for this day ever since they started dating during the summer and now that she got her wish it all just melted into chaos. What is going on with her?