{~~Chapter 3~~}

A/N: skittlelover20 thanks for your continued support and attention! Also, shoutout to pinkcrazyness for being my first follow!

Names: Girard is a pretty common French surname, and isn't all too difficult to spell or pronounce.

Natalia means 'birthday, Christ's birthday (Christmas)', I felt like it fit a bubbly, yet temperamental toddler well, as Christmases and birthdays are mixed pots of emotion.

Angelique means 'Angel, angelic', later on in the story, I'm hoping Angelique's angelic and pure personality (try saying that ten times fast) will contrast against Freya's more complicated, dark conscience.

Aimerice isn't all that vital to the story yet, his name means 'king of work'. I've decided to peg him as the hard working brother who had to grow up too early due to familial issues and is doing his best to support the family he has returned to.

Juliette was chosen because like in Romeo and Juliet she was part of a pretty tragic love story/relationship/marriage that went downhill very fast (more on that in later chapters).

Freya:

The blankets were uncomfortably hot as Freya fisted at the sheets, her dreams had disturbed her already, now the weather was trying to bother her too?! Ugh. Obviously, she wasn't the biggest morning person, as had been proven over and over again through the years by the countless mornings where her mother had to drag her out of bed.

Freya tossed and turned, trying to fall back asleep again in vain. She pulled her blankets over her head, trying to block the sun heating up the room through her curtainless windows. Mental note: buy some bloody curtains today! Giving up, she stretched lethargically and got out of bed. Grabbing her phone, she pressed the home button, the screen lit up, showing the time, it was only eight thirty. Great, I'll go make some breakfast then…

After putting on a pair of jeans and a dark green shirt, Freya examined herself in the mirror. The black choker around her neck contrasted nicely against her pale skin, her black hair was pulled up into a high ponytail, showing off her slim face. Deciding to accentuate her bright green eyes, she quickly lined her eyes and finished up her look.

Stepping out of her room, she noticed Natalia's door was still closed, assuming that she was still sleeping, Freya walked through the hallway quietly, Tali threw the biggest tantrums when woken up too early.

"Merde!" Freya cursed under her breath when she stepped on a creaky stair. A soft giggle came from behind Freya, turning around, she spotted Natalia grinning drowsily at her from the top of the stairs. Laughing, she feigned offense, "You cheeky little thing, I thought you were still sleeping!"

Natalia blinked at her innocently, "I was first up, but I can't reach the cereal, see?" Demonstrating, Natalia ran downstairs to the kitchen to open the cupboard door, Freya followed her sister and saw that the cereal was indeed on a shelf that was too high up for a three year old to reach. "It got too hot so I woked up. And then I waited for a loooong time, and then you finally got up too!"

Deciding that she could treat her little sister for being patient enough to wait for someone to wake up, she got out the frying pan and some eggs as she turned toward Natalia, "Hey Tali, how about I make us scrambled eggs? Cereal is boring. And plus, today is our first day in Rosewood, so we get a special breakfast." Freya suggested carefully.

Natalia didn't like it when people told her what to do, she often rejected other's decisions on her behalf stubbornly, whether it was for her personal gain or not. The Girards knew to 'suggest' things in a way so Natalia could make her own independent decision. Thankfully today she was too hungry and sleepy to object, nodding she murmured a soft, "Okay."

The smell of grease and eggs filled the kitchen as Freya poured the scrambled egg mixture into the frying pan, Natalia sat at the counter patiently, sipping on a cup of glass. "When is maman gonna get up?" she wondered out loud. "I'm sure she'll be up soon, if she isn't up by the time we're done eating, I'll take you to that park we saw yesterday."

Freya switched the stove off and served Natalia her eggs before she proceeded to make herself a plate too. "Do you want ketchup, or salt and pepper?" Freya reached into the fridge, grabbing the ketchup for herself, waiting for Tali to reply. "Salt, no pepper." Natalia answered. Freya grinned, deciding to tease the little girl for a bit, "What's the magic word?"

"Please." Natalia reluctantly tagged on the last word. Smiling, Freya closed the fridge and grabbed the salt handing it to the younger girl.

The two girls cleaned off their plates in a record amount of time, and soon Freya was helping Natalia put on her shoes and jacket to go to the park.

The sun shone as the sisters walked to the park hand in hand. Birds chirped and leaves whispered, the ambient air disturbed only by the occasional passing of a car.

Freya checked out their surroundings, the Rosewood park was still empty this early in the day, no nosy mothers or loud preteens running around, they had the park all to themselves. Perfect.

"Come on! I wanna swing!" Natalia darted towards the swings at the other end of the park. Upon further inspection, Freya noticed that there was someone sitting on one of the swings. "Talia! Wait-" her sister ignored her and continued on with unbridled excitement, undaunted by the stranger watching them. Sighing, Freya gave chase, Natalia had already jumped onto the swing, admitting defeat, Freya called out, "Don't jump off!".

Finally reaching the swingset, Freya walked to a bench where she could keep an eye on her sister. The ash blonde guy sitting on the other swing got up and walked toward Freya, pointing towards the swing he had just vacated he muttered, "That one's free now."

"Oh no, it's okay, really, you can use it." Freya declined hastily, surprised at the friendly gesture.

The nameless boy looked to be around seventeen, the corners of his light blue eyes crinkled as he narrowed them, "That's fine, I wasn't really using it. Sorry, but.. are you new here? I don't think I've seen you around town or school, I'm Jason by the way." Jason held out his hand for Freya to shake.

"We are new here actually," Freya shook Jason's hand, pointing at Natalia and herself while she spoke, "I'm Freya, it's nice to meet you Jason."

Jason opened his mouth to speak, but before he could say anything, Natalia called out to the two teens, "Watch me fly!"

The two started and turned towards the swingset, where Natalia was preparing jump off the swing from the highest point possible. Freya paled, this was not good, the three year old was only ever allowed to jump off with someone there to catch her.

The last time Natalia jumped off the swings without supervision, she had twisted her ankle badly. The doctor had strongly cautioned the youngest Girard against jumping off the swings again unless she wanted an even more severe leg injury.

Freya jumped off the bench, praying to God that she could get there in time, "Talia- no!"

An ear-splitting scream split the air as the toddler hit the ground. Freya and Jason turned toward each other, eyes wide in horror.

A/N: Cliffhanger! Oh, also, familiar faces are entering the picture! Do you think I got our second favorite DiLaurentis sibling's personality right? How will Freya and Jason's acquaintance effect the storyline?

A few more chapters will sum up the backstory, and then I'll probably do a time jump to one year after Alison's "death" (like the TV show did) and pick up Freya's story from there.

I'm still doing my best to give the characters all a separate voice, but with such a big 'cast' there might me an occasional inconsistency. Feel free to point them out and I will fix them. This is my first public story so any support is dearly appreciated.