I do not own.

PLL was made by Sara Shepard.

ABC Family also owns.

The day started out a bit awkward because I saw Mr. Fitz and I had to do my best not to think to much about what he told me. But once he started class it got better. He interacts with everyone as if you are a friend and does his best to make something boring more interesting. Everyone hung onto every word as he talked. Looking around the room you could tell all the girls were drooling over him. I mean who can blame them? He's young and I have to admit, he's pretty cute. But what really got me in a good mood was Art class. I finished the drawing I had started from the day before. The teacher was extremely impressed and grabbed it from me. When she looked at Arias she was also very pleased as she put both of our stuff up on the board for everyone to see.

"Now this is perfection." She says. I look around the room and I could tell the rest of the class wasn't too thrilled. Most of the kids in this class were either under classmen with less experience or had been thrown into this class for credit.

On my way to my locker at the end of the day Spence had taken off. She forgot to mention that she had Field Hockey today, so she was just going to hang at the Brew till it was time. I told her I'd find something to do after school and not to worry. Andrew volunteered to help Mr. Brooks clean up his class a bit. He's not the most organized person and already had his desk a mess. It's only the second day and you could barely see the top of it.

"Hey Em." I say as I got to my locker.

She looks over and smiles. "Hey."

"Got any plans today?"

She nods. "I have Swimming at four."

"What are you doing till then?"

She opens her mouth to answer. "Hey." We both look. A girl was walking over. I haven't seen her before.

"Hey Maya. How was your day?" Emily says.

She nods. "As good as school can get I guess." Em smiles. "Walking home together?"

"I have Swim practice later."

"Exactly, later." She smiles at her.

She half smiles. "Right." I was watching her as she turned a bit red. She looks at me and changes her expression. "Uh. This is Jessie."

I put out a hand and she hugs me. "Hi, I'm Maya."

I'm taken a bit by surprise. "You're friendly." I look at Em who is trying to hide a laugh.

She backs away and laughs. "Yea. Sorry."

I shake my head. "No. It's fine." I get a bit speechless and see Aria behind them. "Well. Ima go. I'll see you tomorrow Em." She smiles and I hug her. I turn to Maya and half smile. "Nice to meet you." And I take off.

I walk over to Aria. "Who's that?" She asks when she sees me.

"Who?"

"That girl who hugged you?"

"Oh." I shrug. "One of Emilys' friends."

"So you don't know her?"

I shake my head. "She's just very friendly."

She laughs. "I see." I nod. "Where's Spencer?"

"At the Brew. She's staying there till Field Hockey."

"Oh. Andrews busy too?"

"Yea. He's helping Mr. Brooks with something."

"So all by your lonesome."

I laugh and nod. "Yea."

"Wanna walk home with me?"

"You didn't drive?"

"Dad dropped us off."

"Oh. Well..." I feel a shove and accidentally knock into Arias locker. I rub my shoulder as she helps me stand straight and we both look to the side.

"Watch where you're going Four Eyes."

My eyes narrow as I see Amber, Tommy and two of their friends walking down the hall. They were all laughing and staring at me but I didn't bother saying anything.

"You okay?"

I nod. "I'm good."

"They still bother you?" I nod. "Even being popular?"

"That doesn't really matter to them. I'm not at the top of the poplar list so they could care less about starting with me."

She reopens her locker and rearranges some things. When she's done we head outside and start walking home. We cut through the park like we used to when we were kids. Which was a bad idea because about halfway through we noticed Amber and her brother walking ahead of us. Just as we were thinking of backtracking to take a different way through the park we saw them starting to pick on some Junior High kids.

Tommy gives one of the boys a wedgie and I yell. "Do you guys have nothing better to do with your lives!" This makes them stop and turn.

"What?" She says.

For a second I think whether I really wanted to argue. "Are your lives so boring that you have to make everyone else miserable?" I get out.

They both look at each other and start to walk over. The Junior High boys wasted no time as they ran off. She doesn't show much emotion as she says. "We make you miserable?"

"No I..."

"That's not what we meant to do." Tommy cuts me off. Then looks at his sister.

I look at Aria in confusion. "Uh."

"Because if that's the case I'm sorry." Now I was really confused. "We were aiming for making your life a living hell." They both start laughing.

I inhale deeply and compose myself. "Well aren't you guys hilarious."

They smile brightly, yet evil was in their eyes. "Aw Brant. You have no sense of humor."

"I think we have different opinions on what's funny."

They watch me for awhile. Slyly smiling. "Hey Gothy." Amber finally says.

"Hows it feel to be a loser again?" Tommy adds.

She doesn't answer and I look over at her. I see that even though she's changed her image she's still the same scared kid that was afraid to say anything when people pick on her. I couldn't blame her. I used to be the same.

"Leave her alone will you."

"Were we talking to you?" Tommy says.

"Well I'm talking to you...and I'd prefer if you stop being pricks."

Amber still had no idea what a prick was and this pleased me. Tommy on the other hand seemed to have figured it out and got closer. Aria grabs my arm and pulls me back a bit.

"Watch your mouth smart ass." He says.

I half laugh. "That's more of a compliment than an insult Tommy boy."

"Don't call me that."

"Well, well, well. Someone doesn't like being called names. Sounds like someone I know." He gives me a look and I just smile.

Tommy may be a jerk but when it comes to hitting girls he won't do it. He has some manners. This is why I talk back to him without a filter. I know he won't do anything to me. Amber is a different story. I watch her like a hawk because she usually gets you when you're not looking. I know, a coward right? But also I know she wants a fight so if I let my guard down it'll turn into one before I can stop it.

"Guys!" We all look and I see their younger brother standing at the end of the park.

"Hi Pete!" I yell over to him. He smiles at me and waves.

Their brother loves me. He's six, so he doesn't really understand that me and the twins aren't exactly friends. One time last year I was playing basketball with Jeff and he wanted to play. I didn't think twice as I put him on my shoulders and let him slam dunk.

"Don't talk to him." Amber says.

"Can't really stop me without making him upset." I smirk.

They just watch me carefully. "Watch your back Brant." Amber says and they both turn away. We watch them walk over to their brother and out of sight.

I start to smile at Aria and notice the expression on her face. "What was that?" She says.

"What?"

"You were kind of an ass."

"I don't know if you noticed, but so were they."

"Stooping to their level isn't the way to go Jessie."

I start walking. "I didn't stoop to their level. I was standing up for myself."

"Since when?"

"What does that even mean."

"Since when do you stand up for yourself?" She gives me a look. "Huh? Because you used to cry and run away when someone picked on you. I was always there to calm you down."

I look at her. "It's called growing up." I said it in a bit of an attitude without meaning to.

"What happened to you?" I don't answer. She stands in front of me and stops. "Jessie. What..."

"My family died. THAT'S what happened." I get around her and quickly walk away.

I'm not sure why I was so mad but I was. My first thought was to just go straight back to the Hastings. Then I remembered that no one was there. I wasn't really in the mood to sit in an empty house. I mean Melissa and Wren are probably there but they are in the loft. Plus it would be awkward. I don't know Wren, and Melissa is like five years older so I never really spent enough time with her to feel comfortable.

Eventually Aria caught up and convinced me to go pick something up for lunch at the Grill, then maybe hang out at her house. I was hesitant at first from being a bit heated by anger but then I cooled down and agreed. She didn't bring up what just happened after she apologized for judging, but I could tell by the look in her eyes that she was concerned about me. This new attitude wasn't who I was when she was around and I don't think she knows how to react.

I don't know how anyone tolerates my bad temper these days. I know as well as anyone that the death of my family changed me. But if I was them I would give myself a slap over the head for it. Especially if it's for no reason and don't deserve it. But of course they won't because they understand that I'm going through a hard time. Fine, okay, I'm going through a hard time. But does that really mean that I should be an ass to my friends months after it happened? No way. Friends are there to help and support you, not to be yelled at for no reason. They need to snap me out of being angry at the world.

The walk was a bit quiet. I was looking down at my feet most of the time. Wasn't sure what was so interesting about my feet but it kept me from having to look at Aria. I'm starting to notice quickly that my attitude is making things between me and her more complicated than it should be. Our friendship is exactly the same as when we were growing up but once I get upset things change and we both get really quiet.

When I decide to look up I can see the Grill straight down, a few blocks away. "Jessie?" I slowly look at Aria. "I was wondering...well." She hesitates and I wait patently. "Do you think we can go to the Rosewood Cemetery sometime this week?"

My heart sinks. "I..." I take a deep breath. "I knew I forgot to mention something to you."

She raises an eyebrow. "About what?"

"You're asking so we can go to the graves...right?" She nods. "Well...they aren't buried here."

Her expression changes. "Why wouldn't..."

"They are in New Jersey." I pause for a second. "My entire family lives there. So that's where they wanted to burry them...I pretty much had no say."

She stops me and stares. "Wait. So you don't get to go see their graves unless you visit?" I nod. "And when was the last time you did?"

"The funeral."

Her mouth starts to drop. Then she says. "That's not fair."

"That's another reason why me and Aunt Katie haven't talked since. I was mad at her for agreeing that it was better for them to be buried there than here." I look at her. "She said it was because mom and dad were born and grew up there."

"But Jeff grew up HERE."

I nod. "I know. But I wasn't paying for it so it didn't matter what I thought. Plus I'm a minor."

"That's not right."

I shrug. "Nothing I can do about it now."

"Why haven't you been there since February?"

I shrug. "I was going through a lot."

"Family usually helps."

"Well my family was doing the opposite." She watches me and I start to walk. "Everyone tried to get me to move back to Jersey. That wasn't what I wanted but it didn't seem like they cared." My mind was racing a mile a minute now. "When I refused and had the Hasting interfere they all got upset with me. When they won to keep me around it got worse. I don't talk to most of them as much as I used to."

I hear her take a deep breath. "So I'm guessing that means you never called your aunt back?"

I shake my head. "Not really in the mood to hear what she has to say."

"Maybe it's important."

"If it was she would have either left a message or kept calling me." She continues to look at me.

It was probably the right thing to call her back but what was there to talk about? Every time we talk it turns into an argument. Its always been like that and I'm kinda tired of it. Even when I was living in Jersey we would argue. We butt heads a lot and I think it's because she's closer in age to me than my other aunt and uncle. Dad has an older brother in his mid forties and a twin sister in her early forties. Aunt Katie is moms younger sister. She's about ten years younger, in her mid 20s. She's protective like an adult but she still acts like a college kid. Going out parting, hanging out till late, not being a good influence basically. That was one of the arguments that the Hastings used to keep me here.

"So you haven't seen any of your friends from there either?"

"Sam and Bailey have come to visit a few times."

"That's good...right?"

I smile. "Yea. I just feel bad that they have to drive almost two hours to see me."

"Would be the same if you go to them."

"Well...I mean yea. But I have family there. That's the reason why we used to go down there often. There's really no reason for them to come here besides to see me."

"I think that's the best reason to come here." She smiles and I start to blush a bit. "But you should start going to see them." I went to interrupt. "I know. You're not on the same page as your family and that's why you refuse to go back but you have to reconnect eventually. Even if it's not to do that you have to see your other friends."

I shrug. "I really didn't have many friends. You know that."

"I know you had a hard time making friends but I'm sure you made a good amount besides those two." We reach the front doors of the Grill and head inside. "Let's talk to mom and dad about taking a visit soon." We stand behind some people in line in front of the counter. "It'll be more than just to see your friends. We can go to the Cemetery and maybe...maybe you can find a way to forgive your family. Because you may not want to admit it...but you need them."

I look at her. "I've managed six months without seeing them, barely even talking to them. Why would you think I need them?" She opens her mouth. But then seems to be lost for words and closes them again. "Look. If I needed them I would have changed my mind on staying here. But I didn't. I stayed because I grew up here. I'm comfortable with the surroundings of this town and the people here. This is my home. That will never change."

She half smiles. I'm not sure what she was thinking. She seems upset about me not going to my family. I mean I get it, family is important. Especially for something like this. But if they don't make much of an effort either then why bother? I talk to whoever wants to talk to me, most of them being cousins who weren't part of the decision to force me to leave or to have the funeral out of Rosewood. But there were times where I tried to have some kind of conversation with the others. They just never appreciated it at the time. Now that I make almost no effort at all to keep in touch they all of a sudden care? That's not how it works.

I lean up against one of the walls, waiting as Aria orders the same food we used to always get for lunch to go. I stare over at one of the tables all the way in the back of the restaurant and smile to myself. Before our lives changed I used to sit at that table with Aria, talking nonsense and laughing our heads off the entire time. Things seemed so much simpler back then. We were only twelve at the time but it felt like we conquered the world together. No matter the problems the other may have been going through at the time, we were always there for each other. Why did us moving away change that so much? Did growing up in different parts of the world really have such an impact on our personalities that we no longer know how to talk to each other about what's on our minds?

I look at her and she brightly smiles at me. I slightly smile back and look away. Then I realize. She hasn't changed...I have. More than I probably thought.