"Red or white?" Ashley Marin asked over the kitchen island to her newly legal daughter Hanna. While Hanna had gone through the stereotypical college phases and her looks had changed, Ashley had stayed the same, long dark scarlet hair and a penchant for wine.
"Hmm, red. Like mother, like daughter." The blonde chuckled as her mother handed her a pear shaped glass, "how has everything been treating you? The job, the men of Rosewood?"
"Life has been the same as usual without you, except my nest is very empty and I don't really know what to do to fill it." She sat in the chair next to Hanna, grasping her daughter's hand.
"Shouldn't you be doing stereotypical mom things? Joining committees, knitting sweaters, and watching Netflix. I don't want you to be lonely."
"Oh Han, I'm the opposite of lonely, it's just sometimes phone calls aren't enough to fill the Hanna shaped hole in my heart."
"Well I'm here now, and that's all the matters. Aria invited all of the girls down here, it's Mike and Mona's big wedding, and you know Mona, she's pulling out all of the stops." As Hanna took a sip of the wine, a look of sadness filled Ashley's eyes.
"When you said all of the girls, does that include Emily?" Hanna inhaled deeply before she answered, trying to think of a calculated answer. She fidgeted with the arms of chair nervously.
"Yes Mom, Em is here, but we've both moved past everything, she's dating Alison now and I am focusing on college. It's water under the gates." She tried a muster a smile, but Ashley saw right through it.
" Look Hanna, you don't have to be okay, she was your girlfriend of four years, you were in love with her. It's understandable to still have feelings, especially now that she's dating Alison, your former best friend. You can let yourself be hurting for a while." Hanna grinned at her mother, who had just delivered one of her classic Ashley Marin motherly speeches.
"I know, but thanks Mom. This whole lunch meant a lot, I got to spend time with Rosewood's most eligible bachelorette. I have to jet off to Mona's three hours of torture that they call a pre wedding party, wish me luck." The blonde embraced her mother, and began to exit her childhood home, that had been full of fond and not some not so fond memories. As she cracked open the door to leave, she noticed a yellow sticky note stuck to the banister of the stairwell. In block handwriting it read, "A, Just ran out to get you a coffee. Hope you have a good time with Hanna. Love you more, J." Hanna was bewildered but full of glee, her mother had someone but who was this J? She thought of this as she pulled her tiny white car out of the driveway, and glanced at a black Sudan peel into the entryway of her house, and an incredibly familiar blonde guy stepped out. Was that… It couldn't possibly be… Jason?
"I know that sounds like I imagined it but I didn't." An exasperated Hanna explained what she had witnessed earlier in the day to a bewildered Aria. They across from one another at the Rive Gauche, which was so upscale it pained them. Mona, clad in a sparkling black mini dress with silver hoop earrings, was in full popular girl mode, sending fake smiles and winks to the incoming guests. "Mike could be marrying worse, what if Mona was Bridget Wu?" Aria giggled and hid her face behind her hands, not wanting to embarrass her brother.
"If he was marrying Bridget Wu, Ezra and I would have to relocate to Alaska." Hanna, looking for a quick escape from hurricane Mona, snuck into the bathroom. It was full of golden gleaming stalls and glimmering mirrors, and standing in the middle was Alison admiring herself in the mirror. Hanna turned around and tried to escape the wrath of the former queen bee, but was already caught.
"Hey Han, what are you running from? I'm not that scary." Ali's bubblegum pink smile snarled into a grimace, and she tapped her heel foot.
"Ali, I don't want a fight. I just wanted to have some peace, but I guess that's not in the cards for me."
"Do you hate me because of Emily? I saw the look you gave her when we were at the Brew, and I want you to know one thing." Alison took a domineering step toward Hanna, and held up one manicured finger to her face. "Emily will never be with you again, so stop holding out hope. I was her first love and will be her only, she's over Hefty Hanna and onto me, she thinks that she's made me better, you were just an Ali replacement. That is all you will ever be, so have fun in my shadow." Letting her shattering words sit in the air, Alison slammed the door behind her and left a crumbled Hanna on the floor. Her tears were spilling out onto her cheeks, and mascara stained them. Alison hadn't changed, and Emily was being played by the one person who could break her heart completely. As Hanna contemplated what to say to her former and slightly current love, a ghost from her high school past waltzed into the room. Paige Mccullers, who had grown up gorgeous, her former bowl bob had grown into waves of brown with blonde highlights, and her eyes were framed with dark, lush eyelashes.
"Hanna Marin, is that you?" Paige crouched on the ground next to the bubbly blonde, a worried expression on her face. "What's wrong? Did you have too much of that sketchy shrimp, I knew it was dangerous." This made Hanna laugh slightly, and she stared up at the swimmer.
"You probably won't understand this, but Ali's back and I.. I just don't know how to deal with seeing the girl who made my teenage years hell again." Paige reached a comforting hand on Hanna's arms, making her feel a dizzying sensation, which she chalked up to a mixture of alcohol and sadness. "Do you maybe want to get out of here, grab a drink?" She sniffled, steeling for rejection.
"I'd like that actually, I know a place we could go." As Paige led Hanna out of the bathroom and into the parking lot, she caught a look of Emily. Looking like a true goddess with her dark makeup emphasizing her smoldering eyes, and wearing a violet body hugging gown, she was possibly the most beautiful women Hanna had ever seen. They exchanged a loaded glance full of astonishment on Hanna's half, and pained surprise on Emily's to see her with one of Emily's famous exes. What was going to become of these two lovesick women?