'Tweezers', Caleb wrote down on paper again as he went to check out the phone's hardware. Scurrying off to get them, Hanna handed him the silver utensil. The three of them stood there at the kitchen island watching. It was unbelievable how small the bug was that the person used. Aria would have never guessed that that little black dot would have been a bug.

Disposing of it quickly, Caleb made sure it was completely destroyed before talking again. "That would explain the crackling you have been hearing Aria."

"You think whoever it is has been listening to my phone calls?"

"Possibly," Caleb guessed. "Who knows what else they did. I'll run a bunch of tests on your phone and make sure everything is in place. Do you know who would want to do this?"

Both Hanna and Aria looked at each other carefully, trying not to give away too much to what they already knew.

"What's really going on here?" Caleb wondered, catching the look. "Is something going on with you guys? Are you in danger or something?"

"What? No," Hanna scoffed, moving away to find some more food or something. "Caleb, you watch too many movies."

"Something is going on," He stated, looking between the two girls. "And if I'm going to be doing any more work on this phone, I think I have a right to know about it."

"It's just some stupid prank or something they are trying to pull on Aria," Hanna fibbed again.

"Aria?" Caleb wondered as the couple fought. She had stayed silent, unable to give a yes or no. She didn't like to lie and she wasn't very good at it either. But did Caleb really have a right to know? Was it really in his best interest to know?

"I really would just like my phone fixed. Right now I don't care who it is, all I want to know is what else he or she has messed with," Aria spoke truthfully. After a moment of silence or two, Caleb gave in.

"Fine, but if I come across anything else, I expect some answers."

Treading on thin ice now, both Hanna and Aria left Caleb alone to work on the phone while they went to talk in the living room. Hanna turned up the TV fairly loud so they could talk in whisper like voices about what was going on and how to handle it.

"This is honestly crazy! 'A' bugging your phone?" Hanna hushly exclaimed.

"What are we supposed to tell Caleb?" Aria asked panicked.

"I don't know, just let me deal with him okay?"

Nodding, Aria picked at the nail polish on her nails. AS the two girls continued to talk, the doorbell rang and Hanna went to get it.

"Hey guys," Aria said over the back of the couch as Emily and Spencer joined them.

"What is Caleb doing with your phone?" Spencer questioned.

"Yea, I thought you lost it?" Emily wondered.

"I did," Aria said, turning as the three sat down. "Your mom already knows it was returned to me."

"Returned?" Emily questioned.

"Yep," Hanna said with a hidden meaning. The girls all looked at each other and clearly understood.

"So Caleb is fixing it?" Spencer asked pointedly. It was not a good idea, she was saying, but they couldn't say that while he was here.

"He actually found a bug in it. So he's running some other tests, making sure its all checked out before I use it again."

Raising an eyebrow, both Emily and Spencer gave her a look. 'A' really tapped her phone?

"How are you feeling Em?" Aria wondered, changing the topic.

"Better," she smiled a bit. "My mom has been freaking out, putting those monitor things all around our house, but other than that, I'm back to my old self."

"Did Paige forgive you for missing the dance?" Hanna teased.

"She better have," Spencer commented, "she couldn't seem to leave her bedside."

The girls chuckled. "I actually had to step out of the room for a while to give them some time together. It was a good thing I ran into Wren," Spencer stated.

"Ooo, Wren," Hanna teased. The girls laughed again as Spencer blushed.

"So what did you guys do? Make out in the storage closet?" Aria joked. Spencer shifted in her spot again and the girls went wide-eyed. Laughing harder now, the girls teased Spencer some more.

"Aria, can I see you for a second?" Caleb asked coming into the room and breaking up the girl talk. Silence started to settle in, and as Hanna went to go and protest, Aria gave her a look and walked alongside him towards her phone.

"What's up?" she asked.

"So I fixed your settings for your background," he stated, "it was encoded or something, I don't know. I also broke into your phone's history and nothing seemed tampered with there."

"So I didn't miss any calls or anything."

Watching her carefully, he shook his head, "not unless someone went through a lot of work to erase their back trail." Aria was immediately brought down. That meant Jason had stood her up on purpose. "Its possible I guess, but it would take someone pretty smart to do that and a person with a lot of time on their hands. Were you expecting a call or something? Someone specific?"

"No," she said shaking her head, "don't worry about it."

"Alright," he said allowing her to get away with the answer. "I amped up your phone for maximum battery usage and memory. I also made sure to run a few more programs to make sure nothing else was tampered with, so you should be good."

"Thanks Caleb. I don't know what I would be doing without you right now. I definitely owe you one."

"Yea," he said hesitantly. As he gave her back her cell phone, he decided that this was the best time to ask her. "What's going on?"

"Hmm?" Aria wondered preoccupied with her thoughts. "Something is going on with all four of you – Hanna especially."

"I-I don't know what your talking about Caleb," she stated.

"Oh please Aria, you're the worst liar out of all of them. And not only that but you did just say you owed me. So what's really going on?"

"Nothing," she swallowed hard. He was pushing and pushing and Aria wasn't sure what to say anymore.

"Well then who did this to your phone?" he asked her.

"I don't know," she sighed. "I didn't even know it was bugged. All I wanted was the picture off."

"Something is going on here Aria. You have to tell me. If Hanna is in danger…"

"Caleb…no. Its okay, we can handle it."

"So there is something going on," he guessed. Mentally slapping herself, Aria bit her lip. "Look, I'm not sure what I'm supposed to say here. I don't know who did this to my phone and it's hard to tell when it comes to Ali. People in Rosewood are just…they think it's a game or something, I don't know."

"Its sick," he spat while shaking his head. "She was your guys best friend. Why would they do this to you all?"

"Because people don't have anything better to do," she shrugged.

"I don't want to lose her," Caleb admitted, looking over to the living room where Hanna was.

"No one said you were going to. Caleb, you are the best thing for Hanna, she would never want to lose you. And maybe she'll tell you when she's ready. There's a lot going on right now and sometimes, its best when people don't know."

"You've lost me," Caleb said with honesty.

"Its better that way," she smiled. "Thanks again," she said holding up her phone. Nodding he watched as she went back into the living room with her friends, while also setting a picture of her and Mike on her phone.

"What did he want?" Hanna whispered to her as Aria sat back down.

"Just telling me what he fixed on my phone and stuff."

"Did he ask why?" Spencer wondered.

Aria hesitantly nodded her head. Her friends began to freak out. "But I didn't tell him anything. He's confused and hurt, but he's okay," Aria rushed out. Hanna's face went glum and Aria felt bad for her. "He's worried that you might get hurt," she told her, "and he's worried if he keeps pushing he's going to lose you."

"What do I do you guys," Hanna sighed.

"I told him he would never lose you," Aria added in softly. "But I think if we are going to keep this whole thing going and talking about it, he needs some of his questions answered."

"No way," Spencer spoke up.

"Spence," Aria started.

"No Aria!" she quipped. "If we start telling Caleb things then who is next? Jason? Wren? What about Paige? Should we tell her too? If we start sharing things about 'A' who knows what's going to happen."

It was a low blow to hear Jason's name, but Spencer was partially right.

"I'm tired of keeping secrets," Hanna mumbled.

"We all are," Emily sighed.

It ended up being a sleepover for the night; with Caleb leaving and saying he would be back in the morning for breakfast for all. As the girls all sprawled out falling asleep, Aria stayed awake thinking about Jason and everything that had happened. She never really explained why she decided not to go to the dance, and it was never brought up amongst her friends And those facts were not what bothered Aria – its not like she wanted to explain to her friends that she was stood up by her boyfriend (or ex now anyways). It was the question to where Jason was right now. Her mind was swirling with questions only he would be able to answer. Where was he? – Hiding out at home or at the center maybe? Did he have to do something for his family? But then if he were, why wouldn't he call her? Or maybe text her? Why did he make it seem like everything was okay when it clearly wasn't?

Time seemed to be passing by quick, and as Aria glanced over to the clock, which read 3:15 am, she knew se had to get some sleep. Letting out a large breath, she covered her hurt, wiped her few fallen tears and went to sleep.

A week and a half – That's how long it's been since Aria had been stood up. There was still no call or text from Jason and her friends were starting to wonder why she hadn't been hanging out with her boyfriend. Aria had chalked it up to helping her mom when her friends asked. Even though Ella had been doing great as a single parent, now quitting her teaching job and helping at one of the local cafes so she would have a good shift for when Mike or Aria needed her, Aria still felt like she needed to be around and help.

It was surprising; not only to her mother and friend when she got a job at a photography studio downtown to help around the house and for some extra cash, but it was fun. Aria enjoyed that kind of thing, and she was good at it too. It was also a good excuse to get away from her problems with 'A', her sad and miserable thoughts of Jason, school and her home.

School had been a hellhole. After the sleepover weekend with the girls and Caleb, Ezra had come back into the picture, teaching English again. He was of course her teacher, for senior year and she despised it. Again, she requested for a transfer into a different class, one he wasn't teaching; and she told Ezra when she asked him to sign that it was a conflict of interest between the two, but it didn't seem to work. Her request had been denied. So for the rest of he school year, she was stuck with him.

Life wasn't any better at home either. Her dad had started to call the house now, stopping by occasionally to see the kids. Even though it was clear her mother was to look at him, she still peacefully acknowledged him in and called both Aria and Mike down to see him. Together, Aria and Mike hated when their father came around. The two hated what he did to their mother and it was hard to look him in the eye. But Mike had an easier time to cooperate with him than Aria did. Ella had begged and pleaded with them to be civil so they wouldn't have to have a custody dispute, and Mike did – but Aria couldn't. She couldn't seem to stand her father and it was good to have a job so she could run away from him or use it as an excuse when he wanted to see her.

But tonight Aria had the night off and her and Ella went shopping around the downtown area with Mike in tow behind them.

"Yea, I liked that," Ella smiled to her daughter.

"Ella?" a man called to her.

"Ron?" Ella said back, walking forth while furrowing her eyebrows. Coming into view was Ron Strauss with his son Holden, who Aria had been good friends when they were little. The two of them used to have playdates and get togethers when the parents also got together.

"I thought you two were in Portugal for your sabbatical," Ella smiled while giving him a hug.

"We were, we just got back this morning," Holden said with a smile as Ella hugged him too.

"Hey Holden," Aria smiled.

"Aria," he smiled back. "Hey Mike," Holden added as her brother came into view. They gave each other a manly head nod as the parents talked some more.

"We should get together some time," Ella added.

"Sounds great," Ron chirped.

"Dinner maybe? We would love to have you."

"Sure, I'll call you?" he asked her. Smiling brightly, Ella gave them her cell phone number before they each went their separate ways.

"Aria!" her mother called up to her. Aria groaned, running to the stairs to help her mother with tonight while also trying to figure out what to wear.

"Where is the–"

"Here," Aria said handing her mother the turkey baster. Her mother had been working frantically around the kitchen trying to get the food ready for their company tonight. Holden and his parents were coming over for dinner and dessert. Luckily they were bringing the dessert, Aria thought in her head.

"Anything else?" she wondered before trotting back upstairs.

"No, thank you!" her mother called after her.

"Aria, what am I supposed to wear tonight?" Mike asked her as he caught her in the hallway.

"Nice shirt and possibly a tie. Dress slacks too."

"Great," he groaned, waking back into his room. Chuckling to herself, Aria went back to her closet and pulled out a dark floral patterned dress. This was going to have to do. Quickly showering, doing her makeup, curling her hair and adding some jewelry to the dress, she grabbed her heels and walked downstairs to help her mom.

Just as dinner was getting put on the table, the doorbell rang. Swiftly walking to get it, Aria opened the door.

"Hey," Holden smiled at her.

"Hey, come on in," she beamed back. Him and his family stepped inside and shed their coats. "You have a beautiful home," Ron commented, taking it all in again after years of not seeing it.

"Thank you," Ella smiled and guided them to the table.

"So Aria, how do you like school?" Mrs. Strauss asked while cutting her turkey.

"Its…school," she chuckled.

"Holden will be starting there in a couple days. Maybe you can show him around?" Mr. Strauss asked her.

"Of course," she said glancing to Holden. Not only was he embarrassed but he was shaking his head.

"Do you have your schedule yet?" Aria wondered to her friend.

"Yea, we picked it up this afternoon. I have the usuals pretty much, although I did meet my English teacher. Mr. Fitz I think his name was?"

Aria froze a bit and then resumed picking at her cooked carrots. "Oh. How do you like him?"

"He seems pretty cool. Kind of young though," he commented.

"He actually just came back some time ago too," Ella chimed in, "he used to work at Rosewood High – as Aria's teacher too then in fact. During halfway through the semester though he got a better job opportunity at Hollis College and switched there. But now that I'm not working at the school, he came back to teach my job."

"Oh, that sounds wonderful," Mrs. Strauss added. "And how do you like having some time away from the school?"

As the parents talked, Holden and Aria snuck each other looks. It was playful in the beginning. Most of the time it was Holden mocking their parents, but after the doorbell rang his looks became more concerned.

Aria was the one to answer the door after it rang. They hadn't been expecting anyone else here so when she swung the door all she wanted to do was close it.

Byron Montgomery was standing on the doorstep with flowers in hand ready to say something to Aria. But before he could, Aria took the initiative and stepped out on the porch slamming the door behind her. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I'm here to see our company. The Strauss's are in there aren't they?" he asked her.

Aria went silent. "Aria, I know the last few times we saw each other we haven't gotten along. But for tonight can we just…"

"Don't," Aria spoke with hardly any anger in her voice. Looking out at the night sky she folded her arms towards her body and shook her head.

"We don't want you here."

"Your mother invited me," he told her.

Aria furrowed her brows. That wasn't true. There wasn't another setting for him. But there was one on the counter…

Feeling sick, Aria swallowed hard and moved some hair away from her face.

"I messed up Aria. I know that. But there are only so many times I can apologize." Byron took in a breath, "and you can be mad at me for as long as you can possibly be. But your mom wanted me here and these are our friends."

Again, Aria was quiet. She felt so much anger boiling inside of her, but there was also hurt too. Never in a million years had Aria felt so burned with the men in her life.

"Lets talk after this okay Aria? Just you and me."

"No thanks," she murmured, and went inside, leaving the door ajar. Byron sighed and walked into the house. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't get through to his daughter. He wanted to make up not only for lost time, but the way he scared Aria. His anger got the best of him and that was never a way a father should act around his daughter. Aria was hurt and he saw that, but there wasn't much he could do about it. Aria was like Ella. Until she was ready to forgive him, he was powerless and was going to stay that way until time healed her soul.

Through the rest of the dinner, Aria and Mike sat uncomfortably at the dinner table as their dad joined them. Ella had not been surprised, only commenting that he was late. Setting out the pace setting at the other head of the table, she took the flowers he carried in and put them in a vase.

Holden couldn't stop looking at her, seeing the masked pain on her face. Finally when the kids were off to do whatever, Mike going upstairs while the adults talked, Holden pulled Aria aside. "You okay?"

"Yea," she nodded while keeping her arms wrapped around her waist. Catching the fib, he dragged her to the top of the stairs where they could sit down and talk privately.

"You don't have to tell me," he commented, "but I do have to say that when your dad walked in – I think it was one of the most awkward moments of my life."

Aria cracked a smile and let out a laugh. Holden was right. After Aria walked back inside the house fully ticked at her mother and upset her father was here, Byron walked in slowly after he. He shut the door behind him, held up flowers for Ella and said hello to the Strauss family. He was very family man like, but the way Aria had previously slammed the door and stayed outside for a while, everyone knew something was up.

"What are you doing on Friday?" Holden wondered.

"Nothing why?" she smiled.

"Do you want to catch a movie or something? Or maybe go somewhere and catch up on old times?"

Grinning even more, Aria quickly nodded. Even though she hadn't seen Holden in years, he was still the same old funny guy she liked. He always made her laugh and do the craziest things. They were great friends the two of them and she couldn't wait to hang around with him again.