One year later…
Aria
The paperboy threw a newspaper on the front porch. On it, a picture of Alison DiLaurentis was on the front page. The paper lay in front of the red house of the Montgomery family. Up the stairs, a petit girl with long, brown hair was studied herself in front of a full-length mirror. She wore a red and grey patterned dress that covered her knees and brown boots. Unopened boxes surrounded her, the contents waiting to be put back in their proper place. The girl continued to look at the mirror with a frown, almost in dread.
"Aria, are you okay?" The girl Aria turned to face the person who spoke. At the doorway of the bare bedroom stood the girl's mother, Ella was leaning against to doorway.
Aria shrugged, then took a look in the bare room she was standing in. "It's weird to be home." She took a seat on one of the sturdier boxes.
"We were gone a year," Ella pointed out. "When you're sixteen that seems like a long time."
"I still think about her everyday." Ella did not need to ask who Aria was talking about.
"Why don't you call your friends?" Ella walked into the room and sat on another box. "They don't know we're back from dad's sabbatical."
"On the news, they're calling it the anniversary of Alison's disappearance," she stated in disbelief, "like it's a party or something."
"Why don't you give them a call?" Ella held out a white iPhone 5c to the girl. "You six were inseparable and those feelings don't just go away." At some point, Aria's little brother Mike ran past the door.
"I need a ride to lacrosse," he yelled, before he ran again. Both mother and daughter smiled at the younger boy's antics.
Aria grabbed the yellow iPhone C out of her mother's hand. "I'll take him." Aria got up, walked out of the room, and down the stairs. Mike was going through opened boxes. Their father, Byron Montgomery paused from his work in the living room.
"Is lacrosse practice today?" Byron asked.
Mike nodded. "Yes, but all my stuff is in about a hundred boxes."
"A hundred?" Ella asked mockingly as she walked down the stairs.
"You know what I mean!" Mike exclaimed.
"Let's look in the garage then." Ella and Mike walked down some stairs that led to the garage. Aria managed to find a black, leather jacket and her bag out in one of the boxes. She was about to exit the house herself when her father stopped in front of her.
"I know coming back must bring a lot of memories for you," Byron said. "Are you okay-."
"Don't worry dad," Aria stated coolly, "I'm still keeping your secret. Okay?"
Byron hesitated. "I meant, are you okay with… Alison?"
Aria just watched him silently. Eventually Mike and Ella came back with all of Mike's equipment. Mike walked out of the house, Aria followed without saying anything else. Ella walked over to her husband, the couple watched as their children got into the car. Ella smiled. "And now their running off." She leaned on Byron's shoulder. "We are now officially home." Byron only smiled strangely and watched the car drive away.
Aria drove the car towards Rosewood High. When she stopped, Mike quickly exited the car. "When am I picking you up?" Aria asked her brother before he closed the door.
Mike shrugged. "Six."
"Alright, I'm getting some food then." Mike nodded. He closed the door and ran into the school. Aria started the car and drove around until she found this bar and grill restaurant. She got out of the car and walked into the place, sitting near the counter. "Can I have a cheeseburger please?" She said to the person behind the bar.
"You got it," said the guy.
Aria looked around her surroundings, bored with the prospect of waiting, until she spotted another poster with Alison's picture on the bulletin board. Aria still couldn't believe that she was still missing after all of this time, and she couldn't help but wonder where the girl was.
"You alright down there?" Aria turned towards the person who spoke. A man sat at the counter, two stools away. He had curly, brown hair. He had a book opened in front of him.
'He's kind of cute,' Aria thought to herself. "Yeah," she stated. "Just a little jetlagged. I just got back from Europe."
The man focused his brown eyes on her. "Where in Europe?"
"Iceland."
The man smiled. "I went to Amsterdam one time. Great city."
Aria smiled. She was really starting to like this guy. "So do you go to Hollis?" She turned to face the man.
The man closed his book. "Actually I just graduated. I start my first teaching job."
"I think I'd like to teach." At that moment, a song Aria recognized started playing. "I love this song," she stated blissfully.
The man looked up the speaker where the song was playing. "Beat 26."
Aria started in shock. The band that did the song was Indie; not a lot of people know who they even are. She couldn't help but to be impressed. They shared a smile.
"What's your major?" The man asked. Aria almost flinched when she realized that the man thought she was a college student herself.
"I-uh," Aria started. "I'm leaning towards English."
The man's smile got bigger. "That's what I teach."
The man slid over to the seat closer Aria. The more they spoke to each other, the more Aria really began to like the guy. They spoke about writing, music and other things. At some point, they had ended up in the bathroom, making out with each other. The only thing Aria regretted was that she might not ever see him again. Why couldn't boys her age be like him?
Hanna
Hanna Marin stood in the mall studying her reflection in a small mirror. She was wearing a pair of really cute sunglasses as she turned her face from side to side. After a few moments, Hanna took the glasses off. After speaking with the sale's rep, she managed to convince the man to let her try another pair without taking the first one back.
"Hey is this me?" Hanna turned towards her bestfriend, Mona Vanderwaal. She was trying on this pink, white and black striped scarf that she wanted Hanna's opinion on. Hanna hated it.
"Too much your mother," Hanna stated casually before trying the prada sunglasses on. She turned towards Mona, who had replaced the first scarf with a red one.
"Love those glasses," Mona said. "How much?"
Hanna grinned like the chesire cat. "Three fifty." Mona grinned before walking back towards the mirror. The only one who didn't know what was about to happen was the sales rep trying to sell the glasses to Hanna. Before she turned back to the counter, she looked up to the second floor and saw a familiar face. Hanna frowned. She turned back to the sunglasses rep. "I'll be right back," Hanna said with her most charming smile. The rep smiled widely and started wiping the glasses in his hand. He was so into Hanna, he didn't even realize that she had walked away wearing the merchandise.
Hanna went up the escalator and towards her target; a taller girl with brown hair. She was looking through clothing more conservative than she would ever consider wearing. "Oh my god," Hanna stated. The girl turned towards Hanna smiled. "Who knew that Spencer Hasting had time to shop? I mean you're interning for the mayor, taking classes at Hollis and redoing the barn. Not to mention Facebook and Tweets on the weekend."
The girl, Spencer Hastings smiled. It went without saying the Spencer Hastings was an overachiever and did everything she needed to do to get the best grades, the kind of activities that looks good on college applications and resumes. "You know me," she stated, "I like to keep busy."
"It's called a summer vacay Spence," Hanna stated.
"And I bet you spent yours sunning and shopping," Spencer stated.
Hanna grinned. "Tweet tweet." Everyone who knew Hanna knew that scholarly achievements never meant as much to her as shopping and looking good.
At that moment, Spencer stopped smiling. Confused, Hanna looked towards the same direction Spencer was looking. Walking towards the escalator was an African American girl with brown hair cut in a short pixie cut. She was wearing light blue skinny jeans, a green short top with a brown cardigan on top and black high top sneakers. She rode down the escalator without sparing the two a glance.
The two girls stayed silent until the girl disappeared. "I guess you haven't spoken to Ada recently." Spencer asked
Hanna shook her head. "Ever since we decided to break up the friendship, she really spoke to me. I've seen her share some words with Emily, but I don't think they're on regular speaking terms either."
Spencer sighed. "It was for the best…"
They fell into silence again. Not really sure what to say to each other anymore.
"Did you see the paper today?"
Hanna nodded. "Yeah."
"She's gone but she's everywhere." Hanna didn't need to ask who Spencer was talking about. Alison DiLaurentis, a former best friend; the girl who held their friendship together.
"I still can't believe that it's been a year," Hanna whispered.
"Do you remember what Alison said that night? About secrets keeping us close?"Hanna nodded. Spencer smiled sadly. "I think it was the opposite."
The girls fell into an awkward silence. Hanna wanted to say something that would stop all of this from being dug back up again. "So," she said with false enthusiasm. "What's the occasion?" She nodded towards the cloths Spencer had been looking at.
"We're meeting Melissa's new fiancé."
Hanna laughed. "So Ms. Perfect finally met Mr. Perfect?"
Spencer pulled a white blouse off the rack and walked towards the nearest register. "He's a med student so everyone's thrilled," she explained sarcastically. Melissa Hastings, Spencer's older sister had always been considered the perfect daughter; she got a 4.0 GPA instead of an 3.8 GPA; she had served as student body president while Spencer had only served as vice president. She always seemed to be the best, and no matter what Spencer did to catch up, it was never enough. Spencer put the shirt on the counter.
"That is not the right top." Hanna walked towards the closest rack. "You need to turn heads."
"Away from Melissa?" Spencer asked skeptically. Was such a thing even possible?
Hanna held a dark red sleeveless top. "She doesn't always have to win." Hanna stated knowingly and held the top towards her. Spencer accepted to top with a smile and Hanna went down the escalator. She smiled as she walked past the escalator and put the sunglasses back on. Hanna had almost cleared the building when the same security guard she had smiled with ran towards her and pulled her arm. Hanna's heart started beating erratically. 'I just got busted…'Hanna turned towards the security guard, who held up a bag.
"You forgot this," the guard explained.
Hanna smiled. "Thank you." She walked towards the exit and Mona sauntered right next to her.
"I so thought you got caught," Mona stated.
Hana smirked. "Nice scarf."
"Nice glasses." The two friends walked out of the mall.
Next day…
Ada
Adana, or Ada for short, used her key to open the door of the art room. Since she and the art teacher shared a common love for painting and creativity, the art teacher trusted her with her own key to the classroom, to use for whenever she feels the urge to just paint and make air. Since then, Ada has come used the classroom either before or after school to paint; sometime she has even come during the weekend to just paint. During the summer, this place had become her safe haven; a place where she could take her frustrations and do something creative with it. Right now, Ada came to finish her painting just before school officially started.
Ada put her portfolio case and shoulder bag onto a desk. She pulled out her purple and white Jawbone Bluetooth speaker. She pulled her green iPhone 5c out of her pocket and immediately picked a song. The right song always helped with her work. She opened her portfolio case and pulled out her supplies. First she pulled out some of her paintbrushes and a piece of paper with a sketch of the image that she planned on painting. Ada had created a wooden canvas at home a whie back and left it in the art room during the summer. 'I am so glad I thought to take the car,' she thought to herself. Her mom had allowed her to take the car, so long as she dropped her off at work and picked her up for the day. That was fine. This was the only car the family had. Normally Ada would have taken her old motorbike, but the canvas was just too big for that to be a good idea. Her younger sister, Taylor, was currently at a friend's house and the friend's mom was going to drive them to school. Ada just needed to drive her back home after school.
Ada walked into the closet behind the art teacher's desk. She knew where the unused watercolor paints were. She left a $20 bill in the teacher's desk to replace it; they were hers to keep. Ada pulled one of the stools, a jar of water and some newspaper on the desk next to the radio. With the music playing and the sketch right next of the canvas, Ada put one of her big brushes in the water and then put a generous amount on purple on the brush and spread it widely on the center of the canvas. In the peaceful atmosphere, Ada let her mind wonder to everything.
Alison DiLaurentis. Like always, she was at the center of everything. 'She's missing, but she still finds time to control everyone else's life.' There wasn't a day Ada didn't think about that night; the night that seemed to change everything. Her smiling face was everywhere- in newspapers, hanging on walls and billboards. Even now she looked so perfect and smiling; one would never guess that Alison had a mean streak or that she could be a bully. No one would ever guess that the smiling face in those posters would have a dark secret.
She hadn't guessed it either when she first moved to Rosewood.
Flashback
Ada kept playing with the bit of thread that was coming off her shirt. As she stood in front of the class, waiting for the teacher to get the attention of the class, she couldn't help but to think it was sort of unfair. Her parents decide to split up so her mother decides that the best decision is to move us from our home to some foreign state filled with these preppy kids? What the hell did she do to them?
"All right class. We have a new student with us today." The older woman turned towards her. "Why don't you tell us something about yourself?"
Ada shrugged. "I'm Ada." What else did she really need to tell them?
Everyone seemed to wait for her to say something else. Ada just stared back at them. "That's it?" Ada looked towards the person who asked that. She was white, had blonde wavy hair and blue eyes. The girl was smirking at her with a one perfect eyebrow raised, as if challenging her.
Ada just stared back unperturbed. "You're just going to have to find out." Ada in the closest seat and the lesson started.
Ada just got off the lunch line. She looked around to find any available seats.
"Hey new girl!" It was the same girl from class, smiling at her. She was sitting at one of the tables, with four other girls. "There's a seat right here!" Ada smiled back. She walked over there; thinking that maybe, this move wouldn't be so bad after all.
Present
From that very moment she had met them, Ada and those girls had been the best of friends. She really couldn't believe that Alison had been missing for a year. Ada dripped one of her bigger brushes in the water and brushed it across the canvas. She then used some of the red to outline the face in the center. She made sure to use more red paint to catch more of the details like the mouth and eyes. Once she was done with the center, she used other colors for the smaller faces.
A large part of her thought that Alison actually ran away in order to get more attention; it's the kind of thing that she would do.
But there was a small part in the back of her mind, telling her that maybe… just maybe that this wasn't one of Alison's tricks. That something dark… something sinister was going on. A loud bang could be heard. Ada flinched and turned towards the door.
A boy that Ada had never seen before was standing by the door. He was close to her age and had light skin, brown eyes and shaggy black hair that went down to his chin. Eye held his hand up in a placating matter and smiled at her. Ada noticed that he had a nice smile.
"Sorry about that," the boy said. Ada heard a distinct European accent- Scottish maybe? "I'm new here and I'm not sure where exactly my next class is."
Ada quickly checked the time on her phone. "You do realize that you're still half an hour early right?" She asked, eyebrow rose.
The boy laughed. "I know. Just thought I could figure it out before everyone else came through." He walked into the classroom and held out his hand in front of Ada. "I'm Markus, by the way."
Ada blushed. "Ada. I'd shake your hand, but I've probably gotten some paint on them by now," she quickly explained, gesturing towards her station.
Markus waved it off. "It's alright." He looked down at the canvas that she had in front of her. "Is that what you're working on now?"
Ada nodded. Usually, most people didn't see any of her work before she was ready to show it. On the canvas was a female figure outlined in purple. She was smiling in a secretive way that Ada remembered so well. On either side of her, outlined in different colors, were five smaller figures. The background had a lighter shade of purple, around all of them. 'Always the center of everyone's universe,' Ada thought grimly.
"It's fantastic," Markus said. He couldn't seem to look away from it for some reason. "That girl," he said, pointing at the central figure. "She looks really familiar…"
"I bet," Ada said to herself. Time to let it dry for now. "So you needed to find your next class right?"
Markus pulled out the class schedule. Ada quickly scanned through it. "Looks like your first class is in here." Ada got up and began cleaning up her brushes in the sink.
"You don't have to leave," Markus said quickly, walking towards Ada.
Ada waved her hand. "It's time I got to my own class anyway."
"Well… can I at least get your number? I'm still new here and you're about the only other person I know in this place."
Once Ada put her Jawbone in her bag she gave Markus a look of disbelief. "Really? You asking for my phone number and that's the best you can come up with?" Ada laughed.
Markus blushed. "That depends," Markus smiled, "did my ruse work?"
Ada smiled. Normally, she wouldn't do this but… what the hell? Ada ripped out a piece of paper from one of her notebooks and quickly scribbled her number with her name on it. "Now I should really get going." Ada handed him the paper.
Markus smiled as he took the paper. "I guess I'll call you later."
Ada smiled. "I guess you will." With that, Ada walked put her canvas on a rack to dry and left the classroom. Just as she had closed the door and walked away, her phone beeped; a text message. Ada pulled it out and read the message.
Déjà vu. Maybe you should stop giving out your number, unless you like having bad things happening to your dates. –A
Ada continued to read the message over and over.
'What the hell?'
Aria
Aria managed to finally get out of the car and escape her father. She watched as the car drove away, and she couldn't escape the memory of discovering her father in that same car with some blond bimbo that used to be one of his students. Alison had been there as well.
"Aria?" Aria turned towards the one calling her name. A taller girl with tanned skin and dark hair in a ponytail was walking towards her. She wore a blue cardigan and a jean skirt. Aria smiled when she recognized her.
"Emily?" Emily jogged forwards with a smile and the two shared a hug. The two friends chatted happily together.
"You should have called," Emily stated. The two girls were walking towards the school. "It's so weird running into you here."
Aria stopped smiling. "We kind of lost touch Emily…"
Emily lost her smile as well. "It was what we had to do," she stated defensively.
Aria shook her head. "I saw a poster of Alison yesterday."
Emily held the strap of her bag tightly. "That's awful. I mean, we all know that she's dead." Aria looked at her in shock. Emily looked back to her. "Right?"
The bell of Rosewood High rang. Aria opened and closed her mouth then she opened it again. "I've just never heard anyone say it." The two walked into the building and into their first class together; English.
"I hear that the new teacher is hot." Both Emily and Aria got seat right next to each other in the third row. Other students were walking in and taking seats. One of the students was a girl with wavy blond hair and dressed to impress. Aria gasped.
"Is that Hanna?" She asked. She almost didn't recognize her former friend.
"She's the 'it' girl now," Emily explained. The both watched as another girl, with dark hair walked over to the blonde. "And where there's Hanna, there's Mona."
Aria's eyes widened. "That's Mona?" She turned towards Emily. "Wow. Talk about a makeover." At that moment Hanna turned over to Aria. While Aria raised her hand to wave, Hanna barely passed her a glance before turning back to Mona. Aria turned towards Emily again. "Did you guys have a fight or something?"
Emily smiled strangely. "We didn't just fall out of touch with you Aria," she explained. Aria frowned in confusion. At that moment, Spencer walked into the classroom. Aria and Emily watched as she walked past Hanna without saying anything to her and sat one of the seats in the front. "They don't speak to each other either."
Aria stared at Spencer. "So they're all friendly, but not actual friends."
Emily shrugged almost helplessly. "For most of us it's like that." Aria was about to ask her what she meant, when Ada walked into the classroom. She was wearing grey high waist jeans and with a black tank top that said: I hate getting up at stupid o'clock in the morning. Aria wanted to laugh; finally something that hadn't changed too much. She wore black high top converse sneakers that looked like they had seen better days. Her hair was almost as short as Aria remembered. Ada had a purple shoulder bag and she was hold the portfolio case that Aria had bought her for her birthday. Aria was glad to see that Ada still painted.
Ada walked into the classroom and just looked into the classroom. Aria looked around. At this point, everyone was here and seats were taken. At this point, the only seat left was in the back of the classroom, right behind Emily. Apparently Ada noticed this too, because she looked like she just barely stopped herself from cursing. She squared her shoulders as if she was walking towards her execution. She walked towards the seat and sat down, without acknowledging Emily or Aria in any way. Aria just looked at Emily, as if waiting for an explanation. Emily shrugged helplessly. "Not everyone took it well," she said in a whisper, as if afraid to attract Ada's wrath.
The bell rang. The teacher walked into the classroom and started writing his name on the black board; Mr. Fitz. Aria had taken out a pen and a notebook. Mr. Fitz turned towards the rest of the class with a smile. When his eyes locked on to her, he gasped. "Holy crap." Everyone turned to see what had the new teacher so spooked. Aria looked up and froze. It was the same guy she had made out with. Her phone started ringing. Aria pulled out her iPhone from her bag.
"Sorry," Aria whispered. The weirdness had finally ended and everyone started the day.
The English teacher smiled. "I am Mr. Fitz." While the lesson had gotten started, Aria finally looked at her text that she received. When she did, she couldn't believe what she was reading.
Maybe he fools around with students all the time. A lot of teachers do. Just ask your dad. –A
After reading that text a few more times, only one thing crossed her mind. "Alison?"
Emily
School was over for the day. Emily opened her fridge and pulled out the orange juice. Her mother, Pam Fields was finishing up the finally touches of a welcome basket she was created. "I can't believe they sold the house," Emily said.
Pam Fields looked at her daughter. "There were just too many memories for the DiLaurentis," she explained gently.
"It's hard to imagine someone else living in Alison's house." It was. Even though Emily has accepted that her friend was gone for good, she still had times when she expected her to come back and act as if nothing had happen.
"I know honey," Emily's mom said gently. Before putting the finishing touches on the basket.
"Aria's back," Emily said.
"Does she still have that pink hair?"
"No mom."
"I never understood why her parents allowed her do that."
Emily just sighed. Her mother was sort of conservative, so ideas like girls dying their hair, or even cutting it like Ada tended too didn't make sense to her. "Maybe because they consider their kids their equals and not their property."
Ms. Fields looked shocked. "Honey I don't think of you as property," she explained, "but I am your mother and I wouldn't be a good one if I allowed you to look like a Goth That kind of thing may be alright in Europe, but it doesn't do well in Rosewood."
It's the same old argument. "Not everyone wants to make it in Rosewood mom."
Emily's mother looked at her, as if the very idea of people not wanting to make it in this town was too crazy to consider. She kissed Emily on the cheek and left the kitchen.
"Some people want to make it out," she said once her mother was gone. She took the basket and walked towards the familiar house. Movers were working vigorously, bringing property into the house. When Emily walked closer to the former DiLaurentis home, she noticed a bunch of boxes filled with things that were still outside. In the boxes, Emily recognized a lot of Alison's old stuff. Emily pulled out a medal that Alison had won.
"Do you want that?" A girl with curly hair came towards Emily. "Maya St. Germain, aka new girl."
Emily smiled. "I'm Emily," she said holding out the basket. "Welcome the neighborhood."
"Thanks." Maya took the basket. "That stuff was in my room, you can have any of it."
"They belonged to Alison," Emily said.
"Was she a friend of yours?" Maya asked. Emily was almost shocked that Maya hadn't heard about Ali in this town.
"She was," Emily said. "A long time ago."
Maya raised an eyebrow. "Is that all I get?"
Emile smiled. "There were six of us that used to hang out, but now we don't anymore."
Maya smiled. "Would it be wrong of me to ask you to help me with my last two boxes?"
"Yes." Emily said, deadpanned. "But I don't mind."
Emily put the medal back into the box. The two girls walked into the familiar house.
"So why are you no longer friends with the girl that used to live here?" Maya asked.
"You ask a lot of questions." Both girls put down the boxes in Maya's bedroom. 'Alison's bedroom,' Emily thought.
"How else am I supposed to get to know you?"
"See? Another question."
"Fine," Maya smiled. "Ask me anything."
Emily looked around the room she knew but seemed completely foreign to her. She noticed a smiling face in a picture frame. "Is this your boyfriend?"
Maya folded some green material. "His name is Justin."
"He's cute," Emily said.
"He's also three thousand miles away," Maya pointed out.
"My boyfriend's name is Ben."
"What's he like?"
Emily thought about it for a moment. "He's a swimmer, like me."
Maya stared at Emily. "I bet your good. You have the body for it." They spoke about other things for a little bit. While they stood near the window, Emily noticed that they were getting rid of the gazebo. At some point, Maya managed to convince Emily to try some weed with her; the start of a pretty good friendship.