As Aria's body, now zipped up in a bodybag, is being rolled out of the house by the morgue staff, James, Maddy, and the surviving group are answering questions and giving their statements to the police. DeLuca and Harding are present. Victor runs past the crime scene tape.
"Hey! You can't come past here!" said an Officer.
"It's okay. He's with us." Finn informed the Officer.
"He is?" asked a confused James.
"Hey, guys. I just heard. Are you guys okay?" asked Victor.
While Victor is looking and talking to them all, he is more specifically speaking to Maddy. But he must continue to hide the fact that he's Maddy's boyfriend from her father.
"We're okay." Maddy informs him. But she looks at the bodybag and begins to cry. "But...Aria."
Victor realizes what he is being told.
"Oh, God!" expressed a horrified and saddened Victor.
Not caring if her father sees, Maddy embraces Victor and cries on his shoulder. He holds her tight to comfort her. James sees this and is uncertain how to react or to make out of this. Is this just a caring friend...or is this kid from a poor family with a bad reputation more than just a friend? Is he even anything that people claimed him to be? James is just too upset and devastated over what just happened to worry about that right now. Calvin returns home and is in shock over tonight's events.
"Holy shit!" exclaimed a shocked Calvin. "Dad, are you guys okay?"
"Fine, Calvin. I'm so glad you weren't home to see this." said James.
Calvin is horrified upon seeing a body bag being put into the van.
"Fuck me!" Calvin mutters in shock.
"The bastard jammed the front door and backdoor so that we wouldn't escape." James informs Calvin.
"So glad that you did escape." said Calvin.
The morgue staff places Aria's body into the van and drives off with it.
The next morning felt gloomy and depressing all over Tippecanoe as news of another murder hit the town. Everyone is taking it hard and everyone is beginning to get scared that they'll never find the killer. Aria Shaw's murder was very tragic and her friends are taking it the hardest. When Zachary got up this morning, all he could do was look out his window and try to fight back tears as Aria's death finally got to him. Veronica is devastated. She went to sleep last night crying and woke up crying this morning and hasn't been unable to stop crying since. Though she slut-shamed Aria all the time, she did so jokingly and she loved her very much.
Although Victor didn't know her, he mourns Aria for many reasons for the very fact that she was a close friend of his girlfriend and she was very accepting of their relationship. Even James is having a hard time over this. A minor under his supervision was murdered right under his own roof. His guilt grew upon learning that she was murdered right outside his office window and he didn't know it was happening because he was listening to loud music. After getting ready for work, James avoided looking at his office, which had been taped up by police. The guilt is too much for him to even enter his own private home office.
James is sitting at the kitchen table and drinking a cup of coffee when Maddy enters the kitchen all ready for school. She grabs two pieces of bread and puts them in the toaster. He is surprised to see her dressed for school.
"You know that you don't have to go to school today, right?" asked James.
"I know." replied Maddy.
"Nobody will fault you for wanting to stay home today. You just went through something traumatic."
"I know. But I want to. I want to be with my friends."
"Of course." said an understanding James. "I get it. You guys just lost a close friend. You guys need each other right now."
Maddy just sadly nods. Even though he knows that his daughter is upset and this shouldn't be the time to ask, James has something that he needs to ask about.
"I'm sorry to do this. But I have to ask..." James begins. "Last night when that McQueen kid came over, you hugged him and he held you tight. What was that about?"
This irritates Maddy, who gives her father a disgusted look.
"Are you serious, Dad?" asked Maddy.
"I'm just curious..."
"One of my best friends was just murdered and I was looking to a friend for comfort. And all you can think about is me hugging him?"
"I was just wondering if that meant anything."
"Stop reading into things."
"Okay. I'm sorry."
Maddy's bread pops up toasted and she just grabs them and proceeds to leave.
"I'll see you later, Dad." said an upset Maddy.
"Have a good day, honey." said James.
Maddy doesn't respond to this as she disappears out of the kitchen. James realizes that he's fucked up by questioning her relationship with Victor. He regrets this.
Maddy and Finn arrive at the school with Calvin driving them. They go to get out of the car but Calvin quickly turns to them to get their attention.
"Hey, wait a minute." Calvin called out to his younger siblings.
Maddy and Finn give their attention to their older brother.
"Listen. I know today is going to be extremely hard for you. Just know that I am here for you guys."
Maddy and Finn give him a slight smile, appreciating his words.
"Thank you, Calvin." said Maddy.
"Of course." replied Calvin. "I love you, guys."
"I love you, too, Calvin." said Maddy.
"And I love you, too." said Finn.
"If you guys can't get through the whole day, just give me a call and I'll come get you." Calvin assured them.
"Thank you." said Maddy.
"Try to have a good day, guys." Calvin encouraged them.
"We'll try." agreed Finn.
Maddy and Finn get out of the car and walk for their usual spot at the courtyard fountain. Calvin takes a moment to watch his younger siblings. He knows that they are in pain. He has never lost a friend to murder. But they did lose their mother. So perhaps he has some understanding of what they're going through. After taking a moment to watch them, Calvin drives off.
Maddy and Finn join Rachel, Veronica, and Zachary at the fountain. The girls all cry as they hug each other. Finn and Zachary give each bro hugs.
"Hey, man. How you holding up?" asked Zachary.
"Just doing the best I can." replied Finn.
"That's all that you can do."
"I just can't believe that Aria is gone." said a sobbing Veronica.
"I know. I know." replied a crying Maddy as she hugs her best friend.
"I just can't believe this was done to us by fucking Kevin Lassiter!" stated an upset Rachel.
The name of the Killer gets the attention of a sixteen year old Junior named KAY, who is sitting nearby the group.
"I know. It's fucked up." said Zachary.
"Hey!" shouted Victor as he approached them.
"Victor!" exclaimed Maddy.
Maddy and Victor embrace each other. Then they kiss each other.
During the passing period between the second and third periods, Maddy goes to her locker to put away books and grab other books for her next class. Upon opening her locker, she finds a folded up note with MADDY written on it. Curious about this she opens the note and reads it. The note says:
"MEET ME AT PORTABLE C AT 12:00 LUNCH HOUR."
This sets off an alarm in Maddy. Who sent this to her and why? Was it from Lassiter? Well, the note sender requested her presence in a public place. So maybe it's something else. But what? From who?
Maddy arrives outside Portable C, one of the portable classrooms located on the west side of school grounds. She can see that there are students and teachers in the portable classroom, which means she should feel safe. She sighs before finding the courage to go inside. Maddy walks in to see the group of students and teachers from all grades sitting in a circle on chairs. At the back is a banner that says in big letters; SURFACK.
Kays sees her and smiles.
"Hey, Maddy!" greeted Kay as she approached her. "I'm so glad that you decided to come."
"Are you the one who sent me this?" asked Maddy.
"Yes." replied Kay. "I'm Kay."
"What am I doing here?"
"I wanted you to join us because I know what you're going through."
"What I'm going through?"
"Yes. You just survived a horrifying event last night and we all have been there."
Maddy looks around and recognizes the eyes of those who have survived tragic events. They all give her warm and friendly smiles.
"Welcome to SURFACK; where SURvivors Fight bACK." announced Kay. Maddy finally understands what this is.
"So this is a support group for survivors?" asked Maddy.
"That's right." replied Kay.
"Survivors of what?"
"All sorts of things; murders, rapes, kidnappings, robberies, shootings." Kay informs Maddy. "You name it."
Maddy takes a moment to think about this. This support group might be something for her to get involved with. Especially after last night.
"Come on. Have a seat." said Kay as she escorted Maddy to an empty seat.
Maddy takes a seat and Krista goes to her chair on the other side. Leading the group is Principal Roosevelt.
"Welcome to SURFACK. Today we have a new member. As most of you may know, last night Madison Monroe survived a terrible event last night, which tragically ended a life. So let's go around the circle and introduce ourselves to her. I'll start. Hello, I'm Gerald Roosevelt and I'm a survivor."
"Hi, Gerald!" greeted everyone.
"I survived a road rage crash that took the life of my wife." Roosevelt informs everyone. Roosevelt turns to the person next to him. The introduction continued one by one until Kay was eventually up.
"Hi, I'm Kay and I'm a survivor."
"Hi, Kay!" greeted everyone.
"I survived a home invasion that killed my sibling and a friend. He almost got me. But he was gunned down." Kay informed everyone.
And that's when Maddy understood why Kay invited her. Like her, Kay witnessed a murder of someone close to her in a similar fashion as Aria's murder. The rest of the members do their introduction before they finally get to Maddy's turn.
"Hi. I'm Maddy Monroe and I'm a survivor."
"Hi, Maddy!" greeted everyone.
"Last night I survived an attack at my home that took the life of one of my best friends." informed Maddy. "I'm still trying to..." Maddy is unable to continue. "I'm sorry."
Maddy breaks down. Kay comes to her aide.
"It's okay. We're all here for you. This is a safe place." Kay assures Maddy.
"We're all in this together!" said everyone.
"And why is that?" asked Kay,
"Because we're SURFACK!" answered everyone.
"And what is SURFACK?" asked Roosevelt.
"SURvivors Fight bACK!" answered everyone.
And with that, Maddy officially accepts SURFACK into her life.