Pretty Little Liars: Paying the Cost

Chapter 7 of my Pretty Little Liars story, enjoy.

Reviews

Boris Yeltsin: Thanks, not exactly, it was a simple keyboard botch since b and n are next to each other, it happens sadly.
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pretty Little Liars or its characters.

Season 1: Episode 7

It was another day at school with Hanna, Spencer and Aria meeting up and getting ready for what they assumed would be another day, with them being anxious about watching what they said or did because they had seen what happened with Emily. But they were beginning to grow wary of Mona and her rather harsh actions. They were beginning to feel, controlled. It was at that moment that the girl herself had arrived.

"So...what have you three been up to?" Mona asked, a little too casually.

They shared a look and then Hanna spoke up.

"Nothing much." She said. "I mean, we've all been kinda busy with our own thing after all."

Mona quirked an eyebrow at that. "Oh...are you sure about that?"

That startled them, her tone especially made them worry and they began to wonder. Did Mona somehow know they had met last night, worse, did she know they had met with Emily too, who was supposed to be 'invisible' to them due to her exile from the group. After eyeing them for a moment, Mona laughed and shook her head.

"C'mon guys, lighten up." She said, with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "I just like to know if you guys get up to anything interesting."

They weren't convinced however and couldn't help but note that Mona was a lot friendlier towards Amber when she came up to join the group.

XXXXX

"Okay, that's it for today." Mr. Fitz said as the bell rang to dismiss the English class. "Now remember, some of you still have to hand in your dissertations, so please try to do that before the end of the week."

There was a nervous titter amongst some of the students as some left, a few trying to sneak out but Ezra spotted them and called out.

"Yes Mark and you too Francine, that means you as well."

They both cringed but he still smiled encouragingly as he turned to note one of the few students still present and commented.

"Oh and you too Aria, please don't disappoint." He said gently.

Aria bit her lip, but didn't know what to say. She was then startled by the buzz of her phone and she checked it, her eyes widened.

"Poor Aria, can't tell your teacher about daddy playing around with his side piece, that you can't focus on work because of it. You know, you really should tell mommy, unless you want me to tell her, because I will. A."

She froze in horror, looking up and around, but seeing only a handful of other students were present and none of them were even looking in her direction.

She wasn't the only one however, at that moment, three other phones would soon indicate text messages, the owners of these phones were all currently at different parts of the school as they were passing between corridors to their next classes and such. Hanna was the first to react to her message, she checked it and tensed before looking around frantically.

"Better hurry Hanna, don't you have to get to the bathroom quickly to throw up your lunch? A."

She couldn't believe what she had just read, it couldn't be, she hadn't done anything like that in long time and also hid it as best she could. Grimacing she pocketed her phone and power walked to her locker, almost walking into Spencer on the way.

"Whoa, Hanna?"

She turned and shifted. "Um, sorry Spencer. I just...I'm kinda in a hurry."

"Oh, um, alright, but-" Before she could finish she heard her own phone beep and pulled it out while Hanna hurried away.

Spencer then checked her phone and felt the blood drain from her face.

"Naughty, naughty Spencer, imagine stealing your sister's essay and pretending you wrote it. You know when you go to get that prize you'll get found out. Some people will find it very familiar, now won't they? A."

Spencer knew right away something wasn't right, she had been careful, but someone clearly knew what she had done and was now mocking her with it, probably blackmailing her about it. She knew right then she had to figure something out, before things got out of hand. The only one who did not check her phone when it buzzed was Emily, she had been in class and knew she couldn't check the phone there and by the end of class she'd actually forgotten about.

XXXXX

Arriving home Aria flinched as she was almost immediately accosted by Mike, briefly.

"About time, where have you-?" He stopped himself and stammered. "Oh. Oh Aria, sorry."

Aria was taken aback by this. "What...what are you talking about?"

Mike just shook his head. "It's cool, never mind."

Aria couldn't help but feel suspicious about this, unsure what to say or do. She spotted her mother and bit her lip, recalling the text and feeling awkward.

"Aria, good you're home." Ella said with a grin. "Can you help me with the table, it's almost time for dinner."

Aria nodded, still awkward and then realized just what Mike was doing when his interaction at the door, he was impatient for their dad to get home. He wasn't here and Aria froze, realizing what that might mean, considering what she now remembered, about Meredith.

XXXXX

Ryan grit his teeth as he sat, the anxiety practically etched into his face as he tried to focus. He had on a rather dated pair of headphones, but they were perfect for this kind of task. At regular intervals a beeping noise would occur, coming from either the left headphone or the right headphone, he would raise a finger, left or right to try and match the sound. This strange, impromptu hearing test was brought to a sudden stop by his phone vibrating. He quickly checked the phone as he removed the headphones.

"I wonder if she knows where you are, that very person you're trying to avoid...after what she did to you. Wonder if I could find out more, about her and you? A."

Ryan froze, eyes wide as fear clawed at his heart, he couldn't help but wonder, who was this and how did they know about that terrible secret, the one he hid about his past.

XXXXX

Tony was trying to focus on the project he was working on with Spencer. But it wasn't easy, Spencer seemed tense, on edge and so was he. Seeing Spencer had left the room, he glanced at his phone again, grimacing.

"You seem stressed, Anthony, why not have a drink to calm down...if you can handle it. A."

He couldn't understand it, how could this person possibly know anything like that. It was crazy and worrying. But he was distracted by sudden shouting and looked up, almost groaning when he saw Melissa was arguing with Spencer.

"You honestly think you can lie about this!?" Melissa was yelling.

Spencer shook her head. "Hey, I don't know what you're talking about, I didn't do anything with Wren and you're clearly-"

"Stop lying to me, I can't believe you'd do this, why do you continually try to ruin things for me."

"For God sake Melissa." Spencer growled. "I didn't do anything."

Melissa then held something up which left Spencer humiliated, especially with Tony there, watching all this.

Melissa didn't care as she then snapped. "Oh so I suppose your panties just magically appeared in Wren's sock drawer?"

Spencer was not only humiliated, but horrified, for she had no possible idea how that could have happened, at least not one that would appease Melissa.

XXXXX

Unaware of all the drama currently going on, Emily sighed as she sat on her bed. She pulled out her phone and noticed a text, she opened it but before she could actually read it, the door to her bedroom burst open and her mother stood there.

"Mom, what-?" She began to protest.

Pam held out her own phone and blurted out. "Emily, what...what is this?"

Emily froze, eyes wide, mouth dry as she saw on her mother's phone a picture, taken at Noel Kahn's party. Showing her and Maya kissing with the caption 'Sorry you had to find out like this Mrs. Fields, but this is what your daughter's been up to behind your back.'

"Mom…" Emily choked out, horrified at this.

She looked down at her own phone again, seeing the message.

"I think you better come out to your mom if you know what's good for you...or I could do it for you, I have the means to do so. A."

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.