Disclaimed. Still might have spoilers if you haven't read Wanted.
Reflections
Spencer reflects on how she felt back in seventh grade when Alison first spoke to her. She remembers feeling surprise that Ali knew who she was, and that she knew her by name. She was the only one too-where Ali asked if she was Spencer, the others had to introduce themselves to Alison. She remembers wanting to steal the flag, to show Ali that she wouldn't always have things handed to her on a silver platter.
She thinks about how she was sucked in so thoroughly, and feels a pang of guilt for feeling relief when Ali disappeared. She thinks over how stunned she was to figure out that she and Alison were sisters, and then later, finding out that Ali had had a twin, meaning now that Spencer had three sisters. She remembers how it felt realizing that she had lost her sister as well as her friend.
She wishes she'd known that Ali had a twin, especially if they were all sisters. She remembers Melissa saying she knew about the twins, but almost no one else did. She wonders what she would have done if she'd known about the hidden twin. Would she have continued to live her life, knowing that she had a sister in the hospital, or tried to reach out to her sister? She thinks about how she never knew about the blood relationship between her and Alison, and tries to understand how the thought never occurred to her.
She remembers the slight sense of relief she felt when Alison went missing: relief, that no one else knew her secrets and that no one else could know, unless she told them. Until A came along and threatened to tell all, that is. A would have too, if Spencer had given the bait for her to do so-after all, A demonstrated what she could do in telling someone's secret, both with Emily and Aria. She thinks about the consequences of A's actions both times, and wonders if maybe it was for the best. Things worked out okay in the end: Aria's parents split, which surely was better than living a lie, and Emily's family made more of an effort to accept her for her.
She thinks about having Ali in her life. Things might have been at their best then, even with the knowledge that Ali knew almost everything about her. Before she'd been adopted into Ali's clique, she'd been there, but not standing out much. She was well liked, but often living in Melissa's shadow. Being in with the most popular girl in school was the ticket to standing out, and she was more her than when she was being compared to Melissa. She was smart-always had been-but got eclipsed by others who stood out just that little more, those who got A+ grades when she got an A.
She wishes she'd been able to stand up to Ali more, and take the lead from time to time, but is grateful that she didn't. She remembers what she found out in the Poconos and counts herself lucky that she never angered Ali to the extent that Courtney had. If she had, she too might have been buried years ago, having been killed by her sister.
She considers the effects Ali had on both their families-and, for that matter, several other families around Rosewood. Families split up, friendships and relationships damaged, people killed needlessly. She finds it slightly ironic that Aria, Emily and Hanna are probably thinking the same thing. Despite the subtle differences each of them had in the friendship with Ali, they would all probably think some of the same things.
Spencer reflects on how ironic it is that it took years of fighting and competing with Melissa, then several months of stalking and a few near-death incidents courtesy of her other sister, before she and Melissa began to get on better.
This chapter is the last one in this story. Hope you liked it.
I'm already working on another story kind of like this, and a few one-shots. And of course, my favourite PLL story I'm writing, That Night.
Constructive criticism, advice and suggestions all welcome.
By the way, if you're reading this, it means I am back at university, which means more updates in about all my stories. Or, faster updates anyway.