Aria's POV
I walked into the church for the funeral. One thing that I really wanted to do was see the body because I wanted to make sure it was Alison. Even if I couldn't tell from the bones, I could tell by the smell. There was an advantage to being a werewolf and that was an enhanced sense of smell. It would also assure me that I didn't kill Alison. I had woken up with blood on me after turning, but I couldn't even be sure that it was human or if it was someone else's. The idea that Alison came back only to be killed by a werewolf did seem ludicrous to me
At that point, I came across someone that I wasn't expecting to see at the funeral.
"What are you doing here?" I asked Ezra. I wasn't sure if I should call him that or Mr. Fitz. I couldn't believe that I had sex with my teacher. Granted, at the time, he wasn't my teacher, so there was nothing illegal about it. If I had sex with him again, it would be illegal. I still didn't know why he was there because he didn't know Alison.
"Well pretty much everyone in town is and I thought you would be too." He remarked. "I need to talk to you. You told me that you went to Hollis."
"No, you assumed that I went there." I stated. "I said I was thinking of majoring in English. Look, nothing we did was illegal. We can just forget about it and move on."
"Maybe I don't want to move on." He declared.
"You do realize that you could go to jail if we were to get caught, don't you?" I remarked. I wasn't going to lie and say that he wasn't hot, but he also seemed kind of predatory.
"There's also what would happen to me if people find out." I added. I would become a pariah at school. There really was no happy ending for such a relationship.
"How about I give you an offer?" He suggested. I hesitated. "This isn't me bribing you with good grades or anything. All I'm asking for is a kiss. If you don't like it, I'll back off and strictly remain as your teacher."
I went over and kissed him, and it got heated. I did pull apart because I wasn't going to have sex in a church. I probably didn't have to worry about a long relationship because he would probably bail when he found out what I was.
I went over to the pews and began to look for a place to sit.
"Aria." Mrs. DiLaurentis called. I looked over to her. "You should sit here. I figured that Alison would want you all sitting together."
I looked and saw Hanna, Spencer, and Emily. We were all in our black dresses. I still would have to try to find a chance to get closer to the coffin, but I wondered how to do that without looking like a psycho. I could play the goth card. It wasn't like I wanted to take selfies with the corpse or anything.
For the first time in a year, the four of us sat together. It was a little awkward but maybe we could actually become friends again. Just as the service was about to begin, I heard the sounds of something hitting the pews. Everyone turned around and saw Jenna Cavanaugh, who was blind, with her walking stick and her stepbrother Toby next to her. I didn't know that she was back in town too. That wasn't good.
The funeral was…nice. I wasn't sure what you were supposed to say about a funeral. I didn't get a chance to go near the body. I still wasn't convinced it was Alison and I would also be able to determine if I was the one who killed her.
I walked outside with the rest of the girls.
"So, this isn't how I expected to see you again." Spencer declared before she gave me a hug.
"Yeah, I'm sorry I haven't reached out but Emily told me that you guys aren't really friends anymore." I told her.
"I still can't believe she's gone." Emily said.
"I'm not sure that she is." I replied as they all looked at me. Fortunately, before I had to explain myself we were interrupted.
"Aria, Emily, Hanna, and Spencer. I'm Detective Wilden of Rosewood PD." A man declared. Okay, maybe it wasn't that fortunate. Hanna particularly didn't look happy to see him. "I'll be needing to speak with all of you."
"We already gave statements a year ago." Spencer replied.
"That was when it was this was a missing persons case. Now it's a murder." He declared. That didn't make any sense.
"It was an animal attack." I pointed out.
"We're not so sure of that." Wilden declared. "The circumstances are too strange. Plus we'll need to check to make sure your statements match."
Hanna's POV
After the funeral, the four of us went to get some coffee. I couldn't believe the same guy was handling a shoplifting case and a murder investigation. Also isn't it illegal to have sex with one of the suspects' moms?
"Do you think he knows about the Jenna thing?" Emily asked.
"No, Em. We vowed to never talk about that again." I remarked. I was there when we made that promise.
"Well she could say something now that she's back." Emily pointed out.
"We don't even know if she knows we did anything." Aria declared. "I don't think we should be worried about Jenna right now."
At that point, Aria flinched. We looked at her in confusion before we noticed Jenna walked in. That was weird. Did she know that Jenna was outside or something? She wasn't looking at the window. We all got quiet at that point. We also decided that we should leave and go our separate ways. I wasn't sure if I was glad that we were hanging out again.
The next morning, my mom and I were in the kitchen getting ready for the day. I wore a white blouse with a white mini with green flowers on it and a pair of gold flats. We were going through normal routines while the TV was on. Suddenly, they switched to breaking news where Officer Pervert said that while Alison had several scratches and bite marks to indicate an animal attack, she actually died of suffocation. Mom then turned off the tv.
"Are you okay going to school today?" She questioned.
"I'm fine." I declared as I brushed my hair to the side.
"You shouldn't think about what the police are saying." She told me as I finished my makeup.
"I'm sorry you had to do that thing." I stated.
"It's over and we won't have to deal with that anymore." She declared as she walked away. I didn't know if she actually believed that but I definitely didn't.
Aria's POV
"You know Hanna looked amazing at the funeral yesterday." My mom told me. We were eating breakfast. I was wearing a leather jacket with a white lace dress with tights and black heels with dark eyeshadow. I was a bit surprised. I wasn't sure if it was appropriate. "That was some dress."
"Mom, I'm not sure if we should be talking about this." I declared.
"Talking about what?" Dad interrupted as he entered the kitchen.
"Nothing. Are you not eating breakfast?" Mom asked.
"No, and I'll probably be late tonight." He added as I sipped my coffee.
"Why are you working late?" I questioned. "The semester just started."
I knew there were professors who taught night classes, but my dad generally wasn't one of them. He hadn't said anything about doing it this year.
"I have faculty meetings, changing my curriculum and getting to know my students." He replied. I wished he hadn't said it like that.
"Well maybe your family should come first." I suggested. You know I couldn't help but wonder if he had taught Ezra/Mr. Fitz. "I need to get going."
Emily's POV
I sat outside reading before school. I wore a white tee with a red leather jacket and a denim mini with red stripes down the sides and red and black Nikes. Suddenly, Maya walked over.
"So, are you okay with all of the craziness going on?" She asked. I looked at her. "Don't answer that. I thought about going to the funeral, but I figured it would be too weird. Can I have some of that?"
"Yeah, let me get you a glass." I responded as I started to get up. She forced me back down.
"I'd rather have some of yours." She stated.
"Are you okay? You seem tired." I commented as I noticed the bags under her eyes.
"I haven't gotten a lot of sleep. Police are still searching the backyard. It's hard living at a crime scene. "Not to mention there are posters of her everywhere."
"Someone needs to get of them." I declared. "She's not missing anymore and I don't wanna keep seeing her everywhere I go."
"I'm so sorry." Maya declared before she gave me a hug.
"You didn't tell me that you made a new friend." My mom interrupted.
"Mom, this is Maya St. Germaine." I introduced.
"Hello, Maya." Mom declared as she held out her hand. Something seemed a bit off with her. Maya instead hugged her and she looked really uncomfortable. I wasn't sure what was up with her. "You lived in the old DiLaurentis house, don't you?"
"Yeah and the police are still there." I explained.
"Are there still doing that?" Mom inquired with interest.
"Maya hasn't been sleeping that well." I replied. "Can she stay over here for tonight and maybe the next night."
"Um…sure." Mom responded with a smile that looked kind of fake. "You can stay with Emily."
We then went to school and found Spencer on the field hockey field.
"So, you're gonna be the varsity captain this year?" I asked.
"Well I have to earn it." Spencer stated. "I know my parents want me to be the captain and the MVP this year."
"Spencer, this is Maya." I introduced.
"Also known as the new girl who lives in the dead girl's house." Maya quipped. Both Spencer and I were silent. "I make bad jokes when I'm tired."
"Well we're trying to find ways to deal with it." Spencer declared. "Me I personally take pleasure in hitting these little balls."
"Well mine is coffee. Maya and I were going to Krispy Kreme." I explained.
"Oh, I'd kill for a donut right now, but I need to practice." She declared before the two of us walked away and Spencer started hitting the balls again. It was a good thing she had good aim.
"So, both of you are jocks?" Maya asked.
"No, Spencer just comes from a family that wants to be the best at everything." I told her before we headed to class.
Aria's POV
I was at school when I ran into Mr. Fitz in the hallway.
"We need to talk." I declared.
"About what?" He questioned.
"I'd like to transfer out of your class." I explained. It was the right thing to do. I still couldn't have a relationship with him if he wasn't my teacher, but that was the point.
"Can you come inside?" He asked me. I walked inside his classroom and he closed the door. "I understand what you want to do, but I think you should reconsider."
"If I'm not in your class, I won't be tempted to do things that I shouldn't." I pointed out. "I understand that you may be a good teacher, but it would be better if we didn't do this. The consequences are too high."
I handed him the form and he signed it.
Hanna's POV
"Hey look, your BF is here." Mona declared as I noticed my boyfriend Sean. He was a year older than me with dark hair. He was the pastor's son, so we weren't having sex. We kissed before going to class.
Emily's POV
I closed my locker door and was suddenly ambushed with a kiss from my boyfriend Ben. It made me a little bit uncomfortable.
"What's wrong?" He asked.
"You startled me." I pointed out.
"Do you still want to go to the movie tonight?" He questioned.
"I invited Maya to stay over." I explained.
"Would the following students please come to the office." An intercom interrupted. "Emily Fields, Spencer Hastings, Hanna Marin, and Aria Montgomery."
Aria's POV
Detective Wilden tried to question us in the office.
"No." I declared. "You don't have the right to do this here."
"I do have the right to question you." He remarked.
"You have the right to question us at the police station with our parents present." I declared.
"Yeah, anything you get from us would be inadmissible because it was not obtained legally." Spencer added. "My parents are attorneys and you don't want to end up on their bad sides."
I then headed out and I saw a familiar face. It was the big man on campus Noel Kahn.
"What are you doing in the principal's office, Montgomery." He asked.
"Just dealing with an either corrupt or incompetent cop." I explained. "It's nothing you have to worry about."
I then started to walk away from him. The two of us never really got along. He stood in front of me.
"I've got this party coming up this week and I would love it if you'd be there with me." He stated.
"I'd rather not." I declared as I pushed him aside. This was an advantage to having super human strength. I could probably be better than Spencer or Emily, but I wasn't an athlete. I was a writer and I was someone trying to solve the mystery of Alison's disappearance.
At lunch, I sat together with the girls. It really was nice that we were sitting together again. I wanted to be friends with them.
"Do you think he'll try again?" Emily asked.
"Yeah, I don't think we'll be seeing the last of him." Hanna replied.
"We should tell him about the Jenna thing." Emily said.
"We don't need to tell him anything." Hanna declared. "We didn't do anything, and it was an accident anyway. It's already been solved, so we don't have to do anything else."
"We could have stopped it but we didn't." I pointed out. "Nothing we can do now is going to fix it."
"Oh my god, she's back in school too?" Hanna asked.
I thought back to the night of the accident. It was 4th of July. We were in Alison's room trying on clothes when Ali shut the window suddenly. Alison said that she saw someone with a camera and thought it was Toby. So, we went to his house and she decided to play a prank by throwing a firecracker in his garage. Unfortunately, Jenna had been in the garage at the time and that was how she lost her eyesight. Toby was arrested for starting the fire.
I then headed to the office because I heard they had made a decision on my transfer. It was declined. Well that fucking sucked. I headed to class and put the form on the desk.
Hanna's POV
After school, Sean and I were doing our homework together. He had to be the only guy in the world who took the term study date literally. I supposed it was good that we were doing it, but I wanted some action. Girls have hormones too. I decided to refill his soda for him. I really just wanted an excuse to get up.
"Thanks." He declared. I then started to kiss his neck and rub his chest. "Hanna, I don't know if we'll be able to stop if we go there."
"Why do we need to stop?" I asked before kissing him again.
"Hanna, please stop." He requested. I sighed and took a seat.
"You do like me, don't you?" I asked.
"Yes, I do." He responded.
"Well, I sometimes feel like you think of me as just a friend." I told him. We pushed some hair out of my face and kissed me.
"I would never kiss a friend like that." He stated.
"I don't know. I would pay to see you and Noel make out." I joked.
"Look, I am attracted to you, but you know I want to wait until marriage." He pointed out.
"Is there really any benefit to waiting?" I questioned.
"Yes, there is." He confirmed.
At that time, my mom walked into the room. I supposed that I would not be hearing about the benefits of staying abstinent right now.
"How's the studying going?" She questioned.
"Fine." I replied.
"Sean, please tell your dad that we've been trying to make it church, but I've been working on the weekends and Hanna's not supposed to drive without me in the car."
She promised she would take me to get it soon.
"It's okay." Sean replied. "He works Sundays too."
At that time, the doorbell rang. To my shock, Wilden walked in with a bag of food.
"Look who stopped by with dinner?" Mom replied. "Sean, you should probably head home."
"Can I go to dinner with him?" I asked. It would be a lot less uncomfortable.
Spencer's POV
I was having dinner with my dad. He was on his phone. I wasn't sure where Wren and Melissa were. I told him about the class that I wanted to take, but I wasn't interested in credit. I saw Aria walk in.
"I'm picking up for Montgomery." She said as the host went to get her food.
"Hi." I greeted her.
"Hey." She reciprocated.
"So, why were you late to Mr. Fitz's class today?" I asked.
"I was just trying to switch to a different class." She replied. "I wanted someone less attractive so I could focus on the lesson."
"Seriously?" I inquired. Having attractive teachers was one of the perks of high school.
"It doesn't matter because it got denied anyway." She answered. At that time, Marissa walked in with Wren. "Is that Melissa's new fiancé? He's different than most of the guys from around here. He's cute though. Is he as uptight as Melissa?"
Rosewood was a mostly white town.
"He's not. I guess opposites attract." I explained. "I should get back."
"Yeah, I should get going." Aria agreed as her food was put in front of her. We both headed on our ways.
Emily's POV
"So I get why you and Spencer are friends." Maya said. We were in my bedroom, "You both like to win."
"I really just like being in the water." I countered.
"What about Spencer?" She asked.
"Winning is mandatory for her." I quipped.
"How did all of you meet?" She questioned as she looked at a picture of the five of us.
"It was through Alison." I answered. "She brought us together."
"Do you have a side of bed?" She asked. "Some people like to sleep on the right and the left. I don't really care."
"I like to sleep in the middle." I explained.
"I sleep in the middle too." She said. You know if I didn't know better, I would think that she was flirting with me. The good news was that I slept pretty well.
Hanna's POV
In the morning, I woke up to find that Officer Pervert had spent the night and my mom was making him breakfast. I realized the arrangement. He was blackmailing my mom to be his girlfriend.
Emily's POV
"So, it looks like you've gotten farther than I have with Emily now that you've slept together." Ben quipped. "Is there anything that I should know about her?"
"Good girls don't kiss and tell." Maya responded.
Apparently the two of them were conspiring to make me uncomfortable and it was working. I didn't say much until Maya left.
"Lighten up. We were just messing with you." Ben declared. I then started to make out with him and I felt even better after it. "Wow, you took a lot out of me. If you're this good, I can't wait until later."
Aria's POV
That weekend after school, I was with my mom preparing to see a showing of It Happened One Night.
"Aria." Ezra greeted me.
"Mr. Fitz." I replied. Why did it seem like I was running into his everywhere? At that point, Mom walked over. "This is my mom, Ella."
"Mr. Fitz, the new English teacher." She said as she held out her hand.
"Yes, it's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Montgomery." He stated as he shook it.
"Please call me Ella. We're very informal around here." She replied. "Are you here for the movie?"
"Yes, it's one of my favorites." He answered after looking up. "They don't make them like anymore, though the title is a bit of a misnomer."
"It's one of Aria's favorites too." Mom explained as I blushed. I supposed as long as she didn't know we had sex, it would be fine. "She didn't mention how young you were."
"We should go. The movie's about to start." I interrupted before I dragged her inside.
"You also forgot to mention how hot he is." She added.
Of course, things got worse when she invited him to sit with us. It was like the universe was trying to force us together.
Emily's POV
I sat alone in my room as my mom brought in the laundry. I was doing a lot of thinking.
"So, Maya's not like your other friends." She commented.
"What do you mean by that?" I questioned.
"She just seems more touchy-feely." She declared. It sounded like she made that up on the fly. "You all of this stuff with Alison will pass. In time, you won't miss her as much."
Spencer's POV
I was in my room working on a paper when I noticed Wren in the doorway. He was holding laundry.
"How's your shoulder?" He asked.
"It feels better." I told even though it still hurt a little.
"Are you sure because I could rub it for you?" He offered.
"No." I explained. "I have a History test on Monday and a paper due on Tuesday, so it's gonna be an all-nighter."
"You know, my family wasn't like yours, so I don't know anything about the pressure you deal with, but I imagine it can too much sometimes."
"Well you're not exactly Joe Schmo, Dr. Kim." I pointed out. "That drive had to come from somewhere."
"It came from me. I wanted to be a doctor. My parents are proud of me, but they would be proud of me if I owned a Korean Barbecue restaurant."
"Well, you're lucky." I replied as he walked over.
"You know this is some gorgeous architecture." He commented as he looked at one of my magazines. "I really appreciate beauty."
I wasn't sure if it was because we were caught in the moment but the two of us started to make out.
When I woke up, I saw Wren carrying a box outside. It looked like I had just broken up my sister's engagement.
Aria's POV
I was heading home from the coffee shop when I realized it had started raining and I didn't have an umbrella. Perfect. It meant I would smell like a wet dog. At that point, Ezra pulled up. Was he stalking me or was this just coincidence? I got in his car and I couldn't help but wonder how he managed to afford a Prius on a teacher's salary. He decided to stop because the rain was getting heavy. He probably didn't heal like I did. It was then that I gave in and started to kiss him.
I had to admit that I was smiling when I walked into the house. I noticed someone was in the living room.
"We need to talk." Dad said. "We can't keep doing this. You're not very good at hiding your feelings."
I began to think about what he said before it hit me. He wasn't talking about Ezra. He was talking about the affair.
"Well I'm just worried that it's going to happen again." I replied. "Are you seeing her again?"
"I see her. She teaches at Hollis in the same department, but I love your mom." He explained. I sighed and took a seat in a chair.
"Did you love her? Were you in love with her?" I asked.
"I had very strong feelings for Meredith, but I didn't love her." He stated.
"Wow, that rain is a doozy." Mom replied as she and Mike came in with Chinese food. "We got Kung Pao Chicken."
"Are you going out tonight?" Dad asked.
"No, I think I'll stay with my family." I declared as I started to eat.
However, after everyone was asleep, I went out. I went to the crypt. I had to be discreet. If anyone saw me, it would look very weird. I went up to where she was supposedly buried and took a sniff. It smelled foreign to me, which I figured was a good thing. It led me with one conclusion. It wasn't Alison!
So Aria found out that Alison is alive and something is up with Emily besides being gay. It's interesting cutting A out of the story. Noel is played by Jake T. Austin, Jenna is played by Joey King. Toby is played by Nick Robinson, Sean is played Patrick Swarzenegger and Ben is played by Dylan Minette. Please don't forget to review.