A/N: Sorry about the wait. But here's the next chapter in honor of the winter premier tonight (anyone else freaking excited?)! I just got the new book Ruthless so some of the elements in that book will make their way into my story (AKA, THE SECRETS!). R/R!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Pretty Little Liars or any of the characters. If you read it in the book, then it belongs to their author and creator Sara Shepard, Alloy Entertainment, and HarperTeen. Any and all brand names mentioned in this story are not mine, they are owned by their respective companies. I am not doing this for money, just for fun and practice. So please don't sue me.

Chapter 2: Watch Your Back

Aria Montgomery shut the front door to her house, a small but quaint little structure nestled near Old Hollis. She dropped her yak-fur bag onto the floor leaned against the door, running her hands through her blue-black hair. She caught a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror across the hallway. She looked like a zombie. Of course, she felt like one, too, what with her living her own nightmare and all.

A was back. A was back. How could A be back? And how could A possibly know everything? A was supposed to be dead, for crying out loud! Aria stared at her note again. You never know what I'm gonna throw at you. To A, all of this was just a game, played solely for their entertainment. But to Aria, Hanna, Spencer, and Emily, this was life or death. They were the puppets, and A was the master.

"Aria?" Aria jumped at the sound of her name. She turned her head to the side to see her mother, Ella Montgomery, entering the foyer.

"Oh. Ella. You scared me," Aria said, putting a hand over her heart, feeling it pound faster than it should be. Aria's parents liked her and her younger brother, Mike, to call them by their first names instead of the standard 'Mom and Dad.' Why, though, Aria wasn't quite sure.

"Sorry, honey. There's a message for you by the phone. It's from Noel," Ella replied, continuing into the living room. Aria bit her lip. She hadn't talked to Noel Kahn, her boyfriend, for quite a few days now. She made her way into the kitchen, and looked at the piece of paper by the phone, a message scribbled in Ella's messy-but-somehow-neat handwriting.

Aria:

We need to talk. Please call me ASAP.

-Noel

Aria's stomach dropped. We need to talk, wasn't a good sign. Boys always said we need to talk before they dumped someone. Knowing she'd regret it, but doing it anyway, Aria picked up the phone and dialed Noel's number. It rang four times before he answered.

"Aria?" Noel asked.

"H-hey, Noel," Aria replied, the butterflies in her stomach doing cartwheels. "What's up?"

"Um, we need to talk… about what happened on that ski trip."

"Look, Noel, she told you and I told you, she slipped and she fell. It was an accident!" Actually, that was a big fat lie. Klaudia Huusko, the Finnish foreign exchange student who was staying with the Kahns', told Aria to her face that she was going to hook up with Noel. The whole ditzy, fake, I-have-no-idea-how-to-speak-English-and-I-thought-all-Americans-skinny-dipped-in-hot-tubs-together attitude was just an act. Klaudia's English seemed clear as day to Aria when she told her she was going to get with Noel. So Aria got angry. In her blind rage, she accidentally pushed Klaudia off the ski lift and caused her to get a broken leg.

"Aria, I know you two said that, but there was no way that she could have slipped from that ski lift. She's gone skiing a bunch of times," Noel countered.

"Why don't you ever believe what I say?" Aria asked, her tone rising slightly.

"Why are you so threatened by Klaudia?"

"Because she's trying to steal you from me, that's why!" Aria yelled back.

"Where would you get that idea?"

"Hmm… maybe it was when she told me to my face on that ski trip. Yeah, I distinctly remember her telling me she was going to hook up with you."

"Please, Aria. She's foreign. That probably means something totally different in her country."

"Just like it means something totally different in her country when she skinny dips with boys in the hot tub?" Seriously, sometimes Noel could be an idiot.

"Aria, you know that's what all people in Finland do."

"No, they don't!" Aria screamed. "God, Noel, why are you buying into this crap? Why can't you see that she's trying to break us up?"

"Aria, the only one I see trying to break us up is you," Noel replied, his voice ice-cold.

Aria was silent for a moment. "You think I'm trying to break us up?"

"Yeah, it sure sounds that way."

A tear slipped down Aria's cheek, but she quickly wiped it away. "Well, if you won't believe your own girlfriend, then maybe we should break up."

"Fine," Noel said.

"Fine!" Aria hung up the phone without another word, then slid down to the floor and burst into tears.

"What have I done?" Aria asked herself. Suddenly, her phone bleeped. She looked at the screen. ONE NEW TEXT MESSEGE. The sender was just a jumble of random letters and numbers. Oh no.

Aria clicked READ.

Aria, hun, just because you and Noel are no longer dating, doesn't mean your secret is safe from him. In fact, maybe I'll tell him tomorrow. Kisses!

-A

Aria's heartbeat sped up. Noel couldn't know about what happened in Jamaica. If he knew, there would be no chance of Aria and her friends ever living semi-normal lives ever again. Noel would tell the cops out of spite from the breakup and her and her friends would be sent off to prison faster than you could blink. Aria quickly composed a reply, her fingers flying frantically over the keyboard of her phone.

Please don't tell Noel. I'll do anything.

A reply came back almost immediately.

I'm going to hold you to that.

-A

Aria's breath came out short and fast. What did she just get herself into?

A/N: Remember to leave a review and let me know what you think! Thanks!

-LP99