Hey Liars! Here's another chapter for you guys.

I do not own anything Pretty Little Liars related.

Sara Shepard and Freeform own.

It's now the beginning of November and today is my first day of JV basketball practice. I am now the official captain of the team. Before tryouts even started I already had a feeling that I was going to end up on JV. One reason was because I was supposed to be Captain this year since the last one is now a senior and was pretty much guaranteed to be on Varsity. Also according to Mr. Brooks, I'm the best shooter on the team. He wouldn't let me slip by him until senior year.

If anyone was wondering how Andrew did with his tryouts then I'll tell you that he made the team. He was so excited that it made me smile like an idiot when he told me. I'm happy that he finally joined in on sports. Maybe he'll be better to himself on not always thinking he'll be judged for being a bit nerdy. Now that he plays sports he should rise to the top and be respected. Of course coming from me he wasn't very confident considering the fact that I'm going through a rough time despite being popular. In which I told him that having bullies who have hated me since we were kids or are being racist doesn't really count as a downfall for sports and popularity, because bullies don't usually change just because they're punching bag made a name for themselves. But I'm hoping his luck is better than mine.

On top of basketball, the dance-a-thon is tomorrow night and I'm freaking out about it. The point is to help raise money for our class trip to Washington D.C. Someone sponsors you (parents or guardians) and for however much they put down that's how much you make for every dance you have. For example, Uncle Byron is sponsoring me and Aria ten dollars a dance each. Aunt Ella is also making it ten each. So put that together and I'll be making a good amount for my trip. Man this is going to be a long night of me having to do what I suck at doing...dancing.

Now if you are wondering what happened throughout the time after Hanna's surprise party then I'll tell you that Toby (who had been on the run after he attacked Em) was finally found and arrested the same night of Mona's party. He was charged for Alison's murder because of new evidence that they had found. Then he was told to stay home with an ankle bracelet because he's on probation until they can get a case on him. On top of that, Noel got himself suspended for having the answers to three midterms in his locker. He swears it wasn't him but there's not much that can be done now.

Need more interesting news? Then how about this? Melissa eloped with one of her ex boyfriends from high school. Yea...that's a long story. All you need to know is that this guy, Ian Thomas, moved back to Rosewood not too long after school started and became the coach for Spencer's Field Hockey team. From there they got back together (yes, it was quick after breaking up with Wren) and then decided they wanted to get married. Crazy right? But other than that, things were pretty normal. Or at least normal for me.

Throughout that time I started having my bad moods, which is nothing new. I would keep to myself and then have to apologize for being a pain in the ass...as always. Aria says that a lot of my anger probably has to do with the fact that so much has built up from the time school started till now. For example, her moving back triggering all the emotions I probably was holding back because her family reminds me so much of my own. Also finding out that Fitz was the one who pulled me out of the car. Oh, and I did find out that Amber was at the accident and does in fact have the same type of dog. But she didn't agree nor deny the memory I saw in my dream of her dog being the one to run in front of our car. Mostly because she was being an ass and dodging every question I asked and that lead to us almost getting into a fist fight. Mr. Fitz and Mr. Brooks both heard us yelling from the teacher's room and had to calm us down. I didn't bother having that convo with her again.

Yea, things have been very hectic and I have been a bit of a pain but I'm doing my best to overcoming being this way. It's hard for sure, but I want to change. I really do, because as I went through my bad days of being upset at everyone and not knowing any other way to get what I felt out besides to snap at people I always ended up feeling worse at the end of my outbursts. I realize that there is a possibility that the Montgomery's are probably going through the same as me but are just hiding it to keep me from breaking down. I feel like a heartless person being the way I am but never asking Aria or Mike how they are, or even Uncle Byron and Aunt Ella. Them and my parents had always been the best of friends, the way me and Aria are and yet I never bothered to ask. Not once.

"Ready for practice?" Mr. Brooks asks when he pulls me aside before I left for free period.

I smile and nod. "Oh yea. Can't wait to start my official position as Captain."

He smiles a bit. "Well are you physically read too?" I raise an eyebrow. "Miss Marks told me that you've still been having a hard time with that hand during gym. I noticed it at tryouts as well."

I take a deep breath and flex my hand/wrist. "I think I am." I say. "I've been going to the court at the park to practice every day since tryouts had started and I think I'm good now."

He starts to nod but then takes me off guard by tossing a glass brain shaped paperweight at me. My heart drops but I manage to react fast enough to catch it with the hand that has been giving me a tough time.

He smiles. "Good. You haven't lost your reflexes."

"Coach." I say, my face probably looked like I was ready to have a heart attack. "That was crazy."

He smiles. "Yes." He says nodding. "Well, I am the Chemistry teacher after all. Mad Scientist is my middle name."

I start cracking up. "Ten points to Gryffindor?"

He raises his hand for a fist pound and whispers while people walk in. "All day every day Miss Brant."

I return the fist pound and just smile. "Later coach."

"Don't be late."

"Am I ever?"

He laughs. "Never."

I walk off towards the door and see Aria waiting for me by one of the walls outside the classroom. I go over to her and we start to head off to help Hanna decorate for the dance. Since it's our free time we are now excused from our classes for the rest of the school day, and Hanna is finally out of that cast so she's been back in school now.

As we walk we are both a bit quiet, mostly because we've both been a bit distracted all day. Her because of her parents and whatever else she seems to be going through that she refuses to talk about. Then I'm just trying to figure out how to get her to talk to me while doing my best not to freak out about the dance.

"So..." I start awkwardly. "Is your mom helping with decorations?"

She nods. "Yea. Her and a few other teachers are meeting for lunch."

Aunt Ella became a substitute teacher sometime before the SAT exams. It's been a bit weird whenever we would walk into a class and see her standing at the teacher's desk. She's hoping to be certified soon though. Uncle Byron and her met in college but she wasn't able to pursue what she wanted to do since she had kids. The separation inspired her to start painting again and to start teaching. Sad that bad things can get people to do what they want to do, yet it's good too.

I nod. "That's good." Then I add. "How's Em?"

Let's back track a bit. Not too long ago Emily's friend Maya had gotten shipped off to some rehab or something for doing drugs. We know that it was Emily's mom who found the stash of whatever was in Maya's backpack one of the days she went over and left her backpack behind. So now Em's pissed at her mom for doing that and telling her parents.

I'll let you in on a secret that no one knows about at the moment besides her parents and close friends. We found out that Emily and Maya were a thing, yes like being a couple type of thing. Emily's mom didn't agree with this, her dad (who had come back from the army at the time) gave it a chance and was fine after awhile, but her mom was a different story. Her dad was the one who was able to keep her mom open minded about all this but after he left to go to Texas for more army stuff her mom seemed to give up at giving it a chance. Now Em thinks that that's the only reason her mom went through Maya's things.

I had no idea that Em was into girls. She kept that to herself for awhile, even after she told the other girls and her parents about it. She was afraid to tell me because she didn't know how I would react. It doesn't change how I see her, she's one of my closest friends and I wouldn't change that for anything. She's been so supportive and had been there for me when I was going through a rough time after the accident that no matter what I'll be there for her. I know she's having a tough time with Maya being away and everything so I've been trying what I can to take her mind off of it.

Aria shrugs "Honestly, Jessie. I'm not sure. She acts like she's okay but you can tell she's just hiding it."

I nod. "Yea. I know the feeling."

She watches me, seeming to wonder whether I was talking about myself or her. Then she says. "We just need to keep her mind off of things. Especially tomorrow when there are going to be couples around."

We reach the bottom floor. "Well it's a dance. Just keep her busy by doing that the..." Before I can finish I get distracted from trying to avoid running into Jenna, which doesn't work and I have to grab her so she wouldn't fall over. "My bad, Jenna."

"Jessie?" She says.

Like an idiot I nod out of habit to a blind person and quickly say. "Yea."

She smiles a bit. "It's okay. How are you?"

I look at Aria and she raises her eyebrows. Jenna and the girls don't really get along anymore. Apparently she blames Emily for Toby running away in the first place and since the others blamed Toby for Emily getting hurt and think he killed Alison, Jenna wants nothing to do with them. So sometimes Jenna doesn't talk to me because of them, which is probably why it seems that Aria is avoiding letting her know that she's here.

"Fine." I get out. "Yourself?"

I give myself a slight face palm as I realize how stupid a question that is. Her stepbrother is the suspect of Alison's murder and I'm asking how she's doing? Obviously not okay.

However, she nods and says. "I'm good. Thanks for asking."

"Yea. You're welcome."

I was just about to tell her that I hada go but then she says. "You know your aunt is in town."

"Which aunt?"

Even though I can't see her eyes because she wears sunglasses I'm still able to tell that her face got a little cautious. "The one that hit you." She says softly.

My face drops and I feel sick all of a sudden. "How do you know that?"

"It's a small town." That's everyone's answer here. Then she adds "I heard that the Hastings had to come down here because she was trying to see you and got sent to Hackett's office."

Panic fills me and I turn to make sure she wasn't anywhere near me. "I...I gotta go."

"Jessie, I didn't mean to upset you." Jenna says.

"No worries. I just...gotta go."

Then I take off down the hall and into the bathroom. I don't even wait for Aria to catch up as I lock myself in one of the stalls and sink down onto the floor, trying to catch my breath. I know I shouldn't let her get to me but ever since Katie came to visit, my anxiety has been a bit harder to handle when she's mentioned.

I'm not sure how long I sat there for, but when I hear the door open sometime later I see through the crack in the door that Emily walks in. She seems to be searching the room then she lays eyes on my door, walks over and knocks.

"Jessie?"

I don't answer but that doesn't keep her from knocking again.

"Go away, Em."

She's quiet for a second. I'm still trying to figure out how any of them handle me. I can have every emotion in one day sometimes and somehow they tolerate that like it's no problem. The whole "you're going through a lot" reason to why they do is getting old. Everyone is going through something, themselves included and yet they rather help me. Yea, I've had a rough year but that shouldn't be why they let my attitude slip by without question.

"Aria told me what happened. She's worried."

"Oh yea?" I say. "Then why is she not the one trying to get me out of here?"

"Because I told her to give you space for a bit. Plus I insisted on trying, even though Spencer is usually the best at getting you to relax."

"Where is Spencer?"

"She can't get out of class till later." I don't answer but I see her crouch down. "Can we talk?"

"I don't want to talk."

"I know. But you know it helps."

"No." I shake my head. "Talking about her makes it worse."

"Jessie." She says in a way that I know is trying to keep me calm. "You have to talk about this. You never really let out those feelings the day she came around. You just played it off like it never happened and bounced off jokes every time we tried to bring it up. It's been weeks since it happened that you've kept all those emotions to yourself. It's bad enough that you don't like talking about your feelings in general but if she is around at this moment then it's not good to keep it bottled up, because if you see her, who knows what you'll do."

I sat there and listened to what she was saying without interrupting. When she finishes I slowly unlock and open the door. I don't get up but I open it enough that I can see she had shifted into a sitting position up against the wall by the stall. Her body language makes me know that she's hesitating whether to get closer.

"I don't want to run into her, Em." I try to keep my breathing calm. "Why do you think I'm hiding in here? She scares me."

This time she gets the courage to move and sits near the opening of the stall. "You can't let her see that fear. It will just make her seem more cocky because she's able to control you. She may be your family but in a way she's also a bully."

I watch her. "I just don't want to run into her. You know I have a hard time controlling my panic attacks lately and seeing her will just make it worse."

She leans in and wipes a tear that I'm not able to hold back with her thumb.

I take a deep breath. "She makes me feel the way Amber and her crew do...like I'm a child. Small, weak and useless."

"You may be small…" She raises her eyebrows and makes me smile. She knows that's not what I mean by that but I'm glad she's able to turn into a bit of a joke. "But you are definitely not weak or useless. You are your own person. You have your own ways of being powerful and useful. Just because a bully makes you feel otherwise doesn't mean it's true. You just need to find a way to show that you can take care of yourself."

"Don't you think I try?" I say. "It's like no matter what I do they take it as a joke. I defend myself by showing no fear and talking back, or even fighting back if I have to and somehow it's still funny to them. I think they really do take my height as a sign that they can overpower me whether I piss them off or not. How do I compete with that?"

"Look." She says. "You just have to go with the flow, take one problem at a time. Right now..." She stands "It's helping us with the decorations before Hanna has a fit."

I start to smile. "She's being a drama queen again?"

"To the point where Aria wants to break her other leg."

This time I laugh and nod. "Okay." She helps me to my feet, I wash up my face and we head out the bathroom.

When we walk into the room there really isn't too much done. I was expecting it to be decently done by now. It looks exactly the same as it always does and I realize it's because there isn't really anyone helping out.

Hanna's yelling at whoever is here and giving orders. So we walk over to her.

"There you are." She says when she sees us. "I need you to put those streamers up." She says to Em, who nods. "And I'm going to need you to help Sean set up the DJ section." She says to me and points over to an area where all the DJ stuff is.

"Han." Emily says. "You do know that Jessie is having a hard time lifting things with that wrist right?"

"Is that stopping her from playing basketball?"

"There's a difference between heavy objects and a barley weighted basketball, Hanna." She says.

"It's okay, Em." I say. "I got it." She gives me a look but I don't pay mind to it.

I walk over and a few minutes later Sean comes to help me out. Not too long after that Aria walks over to help us test the DJ things out. Then her mom walks in with a familiar face.

"Simone?" I hear Aria say.

I look up. "Holy shit." I whisper as Aria hops down and walks to her mom.

"What?" Sean asks.

"Oh. Sorry." I look back as Aria and Simone let go from a hug. "That's Aria's and Mike's old babysitter."

He looks over at them. "I think she graduated with Noel's brother."

I nod. "You may be right."

I look away and we continue what we were doing.