Chapter 3
The five girls walked through the woods together after Catelyn received a message from Spencer. She climbed up a small hill right behind Emily while her other friends trekked behind them. Hanna was complaining about the mosquitos flying up her nose, while Aria kept telling her that they were gnats. Catelyn couldn't help but smirk at the pair.
"Alright, guys. We get it. They're gnats, and they're attracted to Hanna's perfume and lip gloss," Catelyn said before turning to Spencer. "How much further is it anyway?"
"We're here," Spencer pointed to a tree up ahead. "I remember that tree. It's the halfway point. There's 136 steps left to the shed."
That was when Emily turned to her and asked, "have you been out here since...Alison?"
"Me? No way."
"But, you remember that tree," Aria argued.
Catelyn did think it was strange for Spencer to remember it at first until Hanna pointed out, "you guys, it's not that weird. I mean, we came out here in the eighth grade like, every day...even after-"
"I think this is totally the wrong place to do this. Whatever you call it...shrine," Spencer said.
"It's not a shrine," Emily replied, looking annoyed. 'It's just a place to remember Alison. What's wrong with that?"
"Doing it out here makes it look like we have something to hide."
Catelyn knew enough to know that it's better for something to be hidden rather than be out in the open for all to see. Her time with Jason taught her that.
"Spencer's right." Catelyn gained their attention and ignored how some of the girls looked at her the wrong way. Her arms were already crossed as a way to give herself some comfort. "I mean, just think about it. We don't want anyone to get the wrong idea on what we're doing. You really want the detective to keep asking us those questions?"
Hanna started to walk away, making the other girls look at each other before following after her. "Hanna, why are you so quiet?" Emily asked.
"I'm trying to keep the bugs in my nose and out of my mouth."
"You're allowed to have an opinion on this."
"You want my opinion?" Hanna finally turned around and faced the girls. "I say we hold off and not remember her 'til we know for sure she's not still here."
All of the girls either look confused or shocked. Even Catelyn couldn't believe what came out of her mouth. "What are you talking about?" Aria asked.
Emily furrowed her eyebrows further as she asked, "you think she's still alive?"
When Hanna looked away, all Catelyn did was stare at her, completely taken aback by Hanna's announcement. It then made her question why her friend thought this way. None of it made any sense to her.
"You can't be serious, Hanna," Catelyn told her with a slight panic in her tone. "She's dead."
"Stop." The girls then turned at Aria as she said, "I'm officially scared. Can we just not..."
Catelyn wished that Hanna would drop it, but she kept going on to say, "you asked for my opinion. I don't believe she's really gone."
"We went to her funeral!" Spencer finally snapped and trailed her as Hanna walked away with Aria, Catelyn, and Emily behind them.
"Yeah, and when we left, we all got a text from her."
They maneuvered through the thin trees by shoving the branches out of their way while Emily said, "it wasn't her. Someone is messing with us."
The girls then tried to figure out who A really was as Hanna pointed out how weird it was for A to text them things that only Alison knew when it came to their secrets. Catelyn herself had no idea what to think. She also thought it was weird how A knew about her and Jason's relationship before they broke up. No one alive knew they were together.
A rustling sound alerted them as they looked around. There wasn't any way for someone to be out here unless they were watching them. That thought alone made Catelyn even more nervous of the situation. This was a horrible time for someone to be spying on them while they were talking about Alison and A.
"Can we leave now?" Catelyn breathed heavily, unable to take it anymore. "I don't like this."
"Hello?" Hanna said, looking around while the rest of the girls looked afraid. "Is anybody out there?"
Spencer tried to soothe the tension by trying to convince the girls that it was a rabbit, but that didn't seem to help Catelyn as she thought that someone was really watching them. For everyone's sake, Catelyn hoped it was a rabbit.
"Can we just get to the shed?" Emily asked.
Before the girls had time to respond, they heard more rustling and twigs snapping. It made them more vigilant than ever. Their eyes wandered around the woods only to find nothing.
At that moment, they knew that it wasn't a rabbit as Spencer mentioned earlier. Someone was watching them. There was no doubt about it.
As soon as they turned around to leave, their phones went off, so they dug out their phones from their purses to read an unknown message on their screens.
"Heads up, BFFs. It's open season on liars and I'm hunting. - A"
Catelyn said her goodbyes to her family before she shut the front door behind her. She then unlocked her car door until she heard a honk. Her head whipped around to see Noel Kahn grinning at her with one hand on the wheel.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
"I told you I'd pick you up, remember?"
She shook her head yet amused by his behavior. "I never agreed to that."
"Well, I'm here, so you wanna hop in?"
Catelyn smirked at him and played along with it as she shut her car door and went over to him. He grinned from ear to ear as she got inside his car and felt his arm go over her shoulder. Surprisingly, she leaned into his touch and welcomed it as he drove her to school.
By the time they made it, Noel maneuvered through their classmates who passed by them while he looked for a parking spot. He then sped past a car in his way to claim a spot while the car behind them honked and lowered its window to curse at them. Catelyn couldn't help but laugh as she called Noel crazy for doing that. He smirked back at her and told her that she loved it.
When they got out of the car, he went around to wrap his arm around her, but she didn't mind. They walked into the school together, and right before they made it through the doors, they were greeted by Hanna's boyfriend, Sean.
"Since when have you two been dating?" Sean asked.
Catelyn wanted to step in and say that they haven't, but Noel beat her to it. "She's coming to the party tonight."
She couldn't help but smile thinking about her date as they strolled through the halls, and Sean had a sheepish grin on his face as he said, "wow. Going out with Noel Kahn, Catelyn. You up for it?"
At that moment, she smirked when she saw Hanna and Mona going through the entrance and gestured to her as she turned back to Sean to say, "don't you want to give your girlfriend a kiss?"
Sean turned around and excused himself as he went over to Hanna to talk to her and give her a quick kiss. Catelyn was just glad that Sean was away from them, because she didn't want to get teased anymore since her cheeks were already red. It wasn't that she minded he teased since she could dig right back at them, but she didn't want Noel to see the heat radiating off her face.
"So,..." Noel stopped by one of the lockers as Catelyn's back was against it with his arm over her head. It was then that she realized that he pretty much towered over her as he looked down at her. "You excited for tonight?" Noel asked.
"Well, that depends. What should I expect at the party?"
His smirk grew as he replied, "I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you."
"Ah. We wouldn't want that."
"No, we don't."
Before Catelyn walked away, Noel made her blush as he almost whispered, "be sure to wear something really nice."
Her ears turned more red hearing his sultry voice, so she pulled away from him. "I better get going. I'll see you tonight though."
As Catelyn walked away from him, she couldn't help but look back to find Noel staring at her with amusement. She had to look away from him. There was no denying though that she had a huge grin on her face as she thought about her date for tonight. She still couldn't believe that Noel Kahn asked her out. It's been a while already ever since Alison told her that Noel's been interested in her, but she wondered why it took him so long until now.
Her thoughts were immediately cast aside as she saw Toby shutting his locker. He noticed that she was staring at him, so he stared right back at her. Toby then walked past Catelyn. At that moment, Catelyn heard the sirens wailing from her past while the fire shot out into the sky from Toby's garage. Catelyn could never forget how he carried Jenna out of danger. It was a horrible scene for the girls to witness. She still wished it never happened.
That was when Catelyn noticed her friends gathering together, so she approached them. "He's back too? When did that happen?" Aria asked.
"Yesterday," Catelyn answered. "He's in my history class."
Hanna then gestured to Jenna as she said, "maybe she needs help sending radioactive e-mails."
"Yeah, or he may be sending a few of his own," Spencer said.
There was no way Toby could be A. Catelyn didn't want to believe it. She understood that Toby may not have liked Alison and probably resented Catelyn for abandoning him as a friend, but she never thought that Toby would do anything like this. Now that she thought about it, he was nice to her during their time in class. Maybe he thought it was time to forgive her.
"Can we just change the subject?" Catelyn gave them a worried look. "I don't even want to think about that."
"Catelyn," Spencer began, "we get he was your friend, but I think he'd have more reasons than anyone else to do this."
"We don't know that." Catelyn snapped. "Not without proof."
Spencer shut her mouth right away since she knew that Catelyn was right. There was no way that they could prove that Toby was A without any evidence to back up Spencer's claim.
Aria looked past their shoulders as she said, "cops on campus too."
They all looked to see Detective Wilden heading their way with his badge shining at his hip. "Hanna," he said. "I just spoke with your principal, asked him if we could have a chat."
Hanna shook her head with an awkward smile on her face. "No, I have to get to class."
"Don't worry. You've been excused. Let's go."
He made his way for her as Hanna walked past him to go to the principal's office. All of the other girls stared at them, wondering what was happening. "What is going on? Why just her?" Aria asked.
"Probably thinks she's the easiest to crack," Emily asked.
Spencer agreed with her by saying that she is before Catelyn stepped in to say, "whatever it is, it can't be good."
They then heard something tap against the floor, so they looked to see Jenna Marshall walking past them. "Whisper, whisper, whisper. Almost feels like Alison's still here."
The girls all waited by the lockers for Hanna. Catelyn was just as nervous as her friends waiting impatiently. At least Aria took the time to go through her phone by trying to post on Hanna's wall to see if she would read it. Thankfully, Hanna already came their way.
"What's going on?" Hanna asked.
"We've been trying to get a hold of you," Aria replied. What happened in there?"
"Nothing, just the same old stupid questions."
Spencer then jumped in while Hanna went into her locker. "You were in there for over an hour, Hanna. What else did did he ask?"
"Nothing. He just took a coupe of calls, and I just sat there, waiting for him to shut up."
"So, what?" Catelyn said, crossing her arms to provide herself comfort. "Does that mean he's going to question all of us one by one?"
"Who knows? Look, let's do this at lunch, okay? I have to hit the ladies before my next class."
As Hanna walked away, Catelyn and her friends looked at each other as Catelyn said, "is it just me, or is she being weird?"
"She's being weird," Emily agreed. "I'll see you guys at lunch."
They all said their goodbyes to each other as they walked away, heading to their next classes.
Sometime after her classes, Catelyn was in the school library reading Outsiders with her headphones in. There was no one in the room at all with the exception of the librarian, but she was further away from her. She couldn't believe that Johnny killed the boy who drowned his friend, Ponyboy. But, then again, it was probably his only way of saving him from getting drowned. Catelyn never would have imagined being in a situation like that with her friends.
She was so invested in her book that she didn't notice Toby walking through the doors. He stopped when he saw her, but seeing how distracted she was, he walked over to her and pulled the chair out across from her. At that moment, Catelyn looked up to see Toby, and froze as did he when he looked at her. She then pulled out her headphones to hear him ask, "mind if I sit here to study?"
Catelyn was taken aback as she didn't know why he bothered to sit at her table when there were plenty of others that were vacant. However, Catelyn didn't want to be rude to him, so she gave him an awkward smile as she said, "go ahead."
He willingly sat in the seat and pulled out his history textbook and his notebook out. She watched him take out a pen and opened both his textbook and notebook as he started writing. Catelyn tried to ease her nerves by clutching her fabric as she turned back to her book while putting her headphones back in.
Instead of concentrating on her book, she kept glancing back at Toby. She thought this situation was strange. Sure, he helped her in her history class, but Catelyn still never forgot all that she did to him. How could he be so calm towards her?
Having enough of it, she closed her book and took off her headphones. Toby immediately looked up to see her put her book back in her bag and stand from her seat. She didn't want to acknowledge him, so she left without another word. But, as soon as she walked through the doors, Toby followed behind her.
She felt something beat against her chest, and it was excessively drumming against her ears. Catelyn had to stop to see what he wanted. He had to want something. It was too much of a coincidence for Toby to show up at the library, sit at the table Catelyn was using, and followed her out the door. "Is there something you need?" she asked.
Nervous was what she felt as Toby never took his eyes off of her. There was almost a pained expression on his face, but his eyes turned into hollow shells gazing at her. "You don't have to be nervous around me. I would never hurt you, Catelyn."
Sweat molded into her palms as she clutched onto her bag. How could he promise something like that after what she's done to him, but then again, they've been best friends until Alison came along. She wanted to ask him how he could be so nice to her. But, before she had a chance to say anything, their heads turned to the girl's locker room to hear a familiar feminine voice, "stop! Get off me!"
Emily? Catelyn dashed ahead of Toby when she heard her friend. She knew Toby was following her after hearing him call her name while catching up to her. Catelyn was the first to enter the locker room, and she was horrified to see Ben shove Emily against the lockers with a wicked grin on his face. Grabbing Ben, Catelyn did what she could to get him off of her, while telling him to leave her alone.
When Ben turned to her, he clenched his teeth and pushed Catelyn into the lockers after seeing who it was, forcing her to yelp. Emily shouted her name, while Catelyn held her shoulder, feeling a searing pain shooting through her arm. That's when Toby charged at him, grabbed him, and shoved him against the lockers at a safe distance away from Emily and Catelyn.
Emily helped her friend up with Catelyn not minding that she was wet. She couldn't believe that Toby was protecting them. He was actually defending them by punching Ben straight in the face, causing his mouth to bleed through his gums. It terrified Catelyn to see a devilish grin on Ben's face as he faced Toby. Both Emily and Catelyn kept telling them to stop fighting, but they just kept going at it.
When Toby pushed him against the wall, Ben grunted in pain as Toby used his arm for support by putting pressure against Ben's back to keep him from moving. "Is this creep a friend of yours? Is he the reason why you're acting like this?" Ben said, turning to Emily.
Emily was horrified to hear him say such a disgusting accusation, so she shot back at him to say, "Ben, get over yourself."
"Get over myself?"
"It's done. We're over." Catelyn took one glance at Toby and noticed how he was watching her, but Emily pulled her focus away by grabbing her things and leading her out of the locker room to ask her, "are you okay?"
"I think so, but I should be asking you that. I still can't believe Ben tried to take advantage of you like that."
"Please, I don't want to talk about it right now. Let's just get out of here."
Catelyn agreed, and they left school as they walked home. As they said their goodbyes to each other, Catelyn still couldn't believe what Toby did. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad being friends again.
She couldn't deny how excited yet nervous she was to go to Noel Kahn's party. She scurried through the clothes in her closet, holding them up against her frame and looking at herself in the mirror before putting it back in the closet. All she did was roll her eyes, thinking how the outfit wasn't cute enough or was too simple.
"Someone's anxious to get ready." Catelyn whipped around to see Elijah by her door. "Going somewhere?"
"Noel Kahn invited me to his party."
"Noel Kahn?" he said, leaning away from the doorframe. "I didn't think jackass was your type."
"Trust me. He's not." She shrugged her shoulders, brushing his comment to the side. "I just thought I might take my mind off everything that's going on."
Elijah nodded his head in understanding as he replied, "just be careful around him, alright?"
She smirked as she asked her brother, "please don't tell me you're going to give a speech that you'll beat him up if he tries anything."
"Oh, come on, Cate. You took the fun out of it."
They both smirked at each other as Catelyn shook her head at his answer, but her smile quickly faded when she heard someone else at the door, "What's going on here?"
Catelyn looked to see Jason beside Elijah, surprising Catelyn as they stared at each other while Elijah explained, "Catelyn's getting ready for uh...Noel Kahn's party." As Jason listened to him, he processed the words coming out of his best friend's mouth, and Catelyn got very uncomfortable when Jason stared at her hard as Elijah said, "he invited her."
"Really?" Jason breathed deeply, taking her in. "Not surprising."
All she did was stare hard at him before swallowing a small lump in her throat as she saw Jason's eyes growing intense. "Why'd you say it like that?" Elijah asked.
"Everyone knows his reputation in Rosewood."
They both couldn't take their eyes off of each other, making it more awkward. Thankfully, Elijah stepped in to say, "I don't even want to think about that."
Jason took his eyes off Elijah to look at Catelyn. She knew that her ex wasn't thrilled to hear that she was going out with the biggest playboy in school. If only Elijah knew about her past relationship with Jason, but both Jason and Catelyn knew what that meant. Nevertheless, Jason didn't say one word about her being with Noel, so he walked away and headed downstairs to the living room.
"You sure you don't me to drive you?" Elijah said, but it turned into a smirk when he saw Catelyn rolling her eyes and telling him that she can take care of herself. "Just making sure."
When he walked out of the room, Catelyn shook her head and chuckled before looking over her wardrobe again. She ultimately picked a burgundy ruffled layered crop top with a floral print skirt, cute sandals, and a necklace. Catelyn then put on some lip gloss and mascara to make her face look more natural before heading downstairs where Elijah and Jason were surrounding the island in their kitchen grabbing some soda cans from the fridge. They both noticed her, and Catelyn noticed right away how Jason may have looked calm to her brother, but his eyes were just eating her, making her feel hot for a second.
"Alright, I'm heading out."
"Let me know if Kahn tries anything," Elijah said, making Catelyn shake her head as she headed out the door while tuning her brother and Jason out.
As she shut the door, she noticed that Jason was staring at her. She wished that her ex didn't make it so awkward. It's already bad enough that Jason was living with them, and now he was showing that he didn't approve Noel. It was beyond frustrating for Catelyn. She didn't think Jason should get involved since they weren't together anymore. Catelyn had a right to meet with whoever she wanted to as a single girl.
When she walked the first few steps away from her house, she saw Toby working on his motorcycle, getting it tuned up. With a huff, she headed across the street with her hands crossed as her shoes tapped against the ground. He stopped what he was doing and looked up at his former friend heading his way.
"Hey." When he didn't say anything, she said, "I just...wanted to say that it was great what you did for Emily. I mean, who knows what would've happened if you didn't step in." Instead of saying anything, he just stared at her, making the conversation awkward between them. "I'm just glad that you're both okay."
He didn't say anything again, which didn't bother Catelyn, but she couldn't deny that it made the conversation even more awkward, so she nodded her head and turned to walk away until she heard Toby ask, "what about you?" As she turned back to face him, he had a somewhat concerned look, so he rephrased his question, "are you okay?"
She nodded her head and gave him a small smile. "Yeah. Thanks."
When Toby looked her up and down, she watched him carefully, and surprisingly, she was at ease, almost as if she knew he was a good person. He almost reminded her of someone she knew all too well. Someone who was simply misunderstood and in the wrong place at the wrong time.
"Are you going somewhere?" he asked.
"Um, yeah. Noel Kahn's party. Emily and I are heading there together. I'm just waiting for her."
"You don't sound too excited going to his party."
He took her by surprise almost as if he could read her mind. Then again, it was Toby's gift when they were friends. All he had to do was simply look at her and know what was going through her head. It reminded her of old times.
"Well, he wants me to go out with him, but...I don't think I want to."
"Then why are you going to his party?" Toby asked.
Catelyn thought about it for a minute as she didn't really have an answer herself. She admits that Noel Kahn is very attractive, but everyone knows what Noel Kahn is really like. At the same time, Catelyn knew that there were several other reasons why she didn't want to go out with him.
She shrugged and replied, "maybe a distraction."
Toby furrowed his eyebrows in confusion as he asked, "distraction?"
"Yeah. With everything going on with Alison, I thought it'd be a good way to forget about the whole situation for one night."Catelyn looked to see Emily coming out of her house, so she turned back to Toby quick to say, "I better go. Again, thanks."
With those final words, she turned to walk away and headed towards Emily as Emily went down her steps. Emily looked between her friend and Toby as Emily grew suspicious when she asked Catelyn in the car, "what were you doing at Toby's?"
"Just thanking him for what happened in the locker room."
Emily didn't say anything even though it wasn't a surprise to Catelyn. No matter what, all of the other girls were uncomfortable around Toby, but when Catelyn looked out the car window to see Toby staring at her, she thought about his action in the locker room and the conversation they had. None of the girls would ever understand that the friend who was the most affected by the Jenna Thing was Catelyn since Toby and her were best friends. It hurt her the most to keep her distance from him after the whole incident.
All this time she thought that Toby hated her friends, especially her. After all, she ignored him when she got closer to Alison and her friends. After seeing what Toby did for Emily and her and how her conversation reminded her of her old friendship with him, it made Catelyn miss him even more. She thought that maybe it was time to set things right when she got back from the party.
After they picked up Maya, they headed to Noel's party. Catelyn didn't really think much of Maya. She seemed friendly enough, and she always spoke her opinion, which was refreshing to Catelyn. It almost made her think of someone she once knew. However, Catelyn most likely didn't find much fault considering how much praise Emily gave her when she talked about her on the way to Maya's house.
When they reached Noel Kahn's lake house, almost everyone from school was there, which wasn't surprising to Catelyn. Being invited to Noel Kahn's party never disappointed anyone. Everyone was either boozing, having a few laughs, or making out somewhere.
As they headed to the front door, Catelyn heard Maya say to Emily, "come on. Lighten up."
"Maybe I should have stayed home."
Catelyn looked at Emily, understanding why since Ben was part of Noel's group, so she let him know. "Don't worry. If you see Ben, just ignore him. He can't do anything to you here."
The girls then saw Noel giving Ben a red cup by the foosball table, and Emily pointed him out to Maya. All Catelyn did was stare at his reddened cheek that Toby gave him. She still couldn't believe that Toby defended them like that. He looked so enraged that both of them were getting hurt, especially Catelyn as Catelyn noticed that he could not stop staring at her.
They then headed inside when Hanna greeted Emily and Catelyn across the room, alerting Ben and Noel as Ben turned to Emily and said, "so, you decided to come after all."
"Yeah, I did," Emily replied. "Just not with you."
Emily, Maya, and Catelyn brushed past Ben as he was left speechless, and Noel smirked, making his way over to Catelyn. "You always did know how to throw a party," Catelyn told him.
"Or maybe I'm just tryin' to impress the girl I invited."
She felt the heat radiating off her face again, so she looked away for a moment until she caught sight of the foosball table. "You up for a round?"
He gave her his signature smirk and said, "oh? Challenging me, huh?"
"Yeah."
"You don't know what you're getting yourself into."
She shook her head, amused by his playfulness as she replied, "maybe you should put your money where your mouth is."
"Alright." He led her over to the foosball table on one end while Catelyn went to the other side. "Let's see if you got what it takes."
Catelyn was pretty competitive when it came to games, but she wasn't the type to rub it in someone's face when she won. She did, however, want to wipe the arrogant smirk off his face, especially whenever he looked at her, probably thinking that he already won when she challenged him. All it took, though, was one twist of the rod for the ball to fly in Noel's goal.
This time, Catelyn grinned from ear to ear while Noel seemed amused as he took the ball from his pocket and set it back in the center of the table, saying, "looks like someone's here to play."
They played for a good time, and Catelyn was actually enjoying to be with Noel Kahn. There were times where he acted tough by talking a big game, while there were other times where he would flirt with her. Sometimes Noel won, but most of the times, Catelyn scored more goals than him.
"Wow, Noel," Sean said, coming over to Noel's side. "Someone gave you a run for your money." Catelyn couldn't help but smirk when Noel told him to shut up, and she looked at Sean when he asked her, "Hey, Catelyn, you mind if I give it a whirl."
"Sure," she told him.
When Catelyn stepped aside to let Sean play against Noel, Noel and Catelyn couldn't take their eyes off each other. He even had a cheeky grin on his face, watching her move away from the foosball table before turning back to Sean so that he could face him as they played.
As Catelyn stood by the sidelines, she saw Hanna roll her eyes and leave, so Catelyn went over to Noel and told him that she would be right back before catching up to Hanna outside. "Hey, Hanna. You okay?" she asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine, Cate," Hanna replied. "It's just annoying how he'd rather spend more time on his game than be with me."
As Hanna and Catelyn continued walking together, they found the other girls outside talking to each other. "What's going on?" Hanna asked Catelyn.
"I don't know."
They made their way closer to them, but they couldn't really hear what they were saying. Catelyn could have sworn she heard Toby's name in the conversation, but she wasn't exactly sure. However, when they got close enough, they heard Emily say, "Alison's the one who saw him do that. We never did."
"What's up?" Hanna asked them when Catelyn and her reached the group.
Aria then turned to them, explaining, "Toby Cavanaugh got into a fight with Ben over Emily."
"Guys, he saved Emily." Catelyn felt the need to protect Toby given everything that happened between them, especially with how he's been so nice towards her. "Maybe, he's turned a new leaf."
Spencer crossed her arms and gave her a skeptical look, "did something happen between you and Toby?"
All of the girls looked at Catelyn, and it made her feel a little uncomfortable how all eyes were on her. She had to tell them the truth since there was no getting out of it, so she did. "He's just been so nice to me lately. We even talked a couple of times."
"Catelyn," Spencer began, which made Catelyn get a little irritated by her tone. "He's dangerous."
"If he's such a bad guy, then why would he take the fall for us?"
All of the girls were at a loss for words by Catelyn's argument, especially Spencer as her mouth gapped open, so Aria turned to her and asked, "is there something you know that we don't?"
When Catelyn looked at Spencer, she then realized that Spencer knew something more about The Jenna Thing, but she had no idea what. She wanted to know what Spencer was hiding, and before she had time to ask, Hanna jumped in to say, "guys, why don't we just chill and talk about this somewhere else...like when we're alone?"
"Yeah, let's just forget about it for now," Emily agreed. "I'd rather not have people listen in."
"Let's talk it tomorrow, okay?" Hanna said, whipping back to her friends when she saw Sean coming outside. "Are we still meeting up at the shed?"
"Yeah, sure. Why not?" Aria replied as Hanna left the group.
"Where are you going?" Emily asked Aria.
"The gallery. I promised my mom."
The girls nodded and watched Aria leave, while they saw Noel heading their way with two blue cups, making Catelyn's face feel hot. "Hey, I've been looking for you," Noel said.
"Well, you found me," Catelyn replied.
Spencer and Emily looked at each other with a knowing look before Noel offered her a blue cup and put his arm around her shoulders as he led her away from them.
Firefighters swarmed through Catelyn's neighborhood, and Catelyn couldn't help but feel so anxious. She had to cross her arms to stop her trembling. She still couldn't believe what happened; she never wanted anyone to get hurt. The worst part about all of this was seeing Toby's face across the street. He looked so devastated that she had to get away from the scene with the other girls.
Alison told them that she would take care of everything, but when she took a while, Spencer said that she would check on her. Finally, they came back, making Catelyn huff out a breath as Aria and Emily kept asking Alison what happened. Alison simply told them that she took care of the situation, which made Catelyn worry even more as she knew it meant that Toby would take the blame for the situation.
She wanted to defend him, but she was too much of a coward to say anything, and when her eyes watered up, Aria noticed right away. "Catelyn, you okay?" she asked.
Everyone then stared at her when she asked, "yeah, but Toby...I mean-is he gonna be okay?"
"Forget about him, Catelyn," Alison snapped at her. "I told you. He's not your friend anymore."
"I know that."
"So why do you keep acting like he's more of a friend to you than me?"
Catelyn shook her head and replied softly, "he's not."
Catelyn didn't want to admit it that ever since she had been in Alison's group, Alison always tormented her in some way. In fact, all of the girls had been tormented by her. But, just like Catelyn, they were too afraid to stick up to her. Alison was the Queen B after all, and going against her was a perfect way to be an outcast in Rosewood. It made Catelyn hate herself for it as she wanted to defend Toby, but she was too much of a coward to say anything.
"It's done, okay?" Alison then ushered the girls as she grabbed Catelyn's arm and was about to lead them away as she said, "let's go."
This time, it was Hanna that spoke up, "but-"
"But what?" Alison asked, getting annoyed at Hanna.
"What if we said it was an accident?"
"No, we're not telling anybody anything. Damn it, Hanna. Don't make me sorry I ever included you in the first place. I have gone out of my way to bring your big, wannabe butt into this group. You better keep your mouth shut, unless you want to go back to spending your weekends alone, dance dance revolution and a jumbo bag of chips."
All of the girls were disgusted by Alison's words towards their friend, so Aria spoke up to defend her, "Ali, stop it! Just leave her alone."
It was rare for Alison to be stumped, and when Aria called out on Alison's behavior, Catelyn was a little happy that someone called her out on it, but she dared not to show it. She didn't want Alison to take her aggression out on her again.
Alison placed a comforting hand and genuinely apologized, "I'm sorry, Hanna. I didn't mean that. I'm just freaked out, guys. This is bad. Really bad. I never would've done it if I thought someone was in there. I just... I don't know what's gonna happen... to us. Can we just go? Come on."
All of the girls followed Alison's lead, except for Spencer who stayed behind to watch Toby being taken by the police. Catelyn was absolutely horrified to see the police car take Toby away while Alison kept urging her to leave.
Noel led Catelyn away from the party. They were sitting down at the end of the dock near his lake house. Thankfully, no one was nearby them, but they could still hear everyone having a good time at his party. And, to be honest, Catelyn was having a good time with Noel. They were boozing a bit and having a few laughs.
"I gotta admit," Noel began. "You at the foosball table. You could've robbed me blind if you bet money on yourself every time."
"That would've been the highlight of the party. Noel Kahn hustled in foosball by Catelyn McKinley," Catelyn said, laughing. "I like a guy who can take the heat."
"Oh really?" Noel smirked. "How many guys are you looking at?"
Catelyn rolled her eyes at his question, but at the same time, it made her nervous. She swore she would never tell anyone about her past relationship, and she sure as hell was not going to tell THE Noel Kahn. She learned from Alison that the less people know her secret, the better.
"Come on, Catelyn," Noel urged when Catelyn looked out on the lake. "How many? Two, three boyfriends?"
"None."
Catelyn had to lie, because she knew if she admitted that she had one, then it would simply raise the question of who it was. She couldn't afford anyone to find out that it was Jason Dilaurentis.
"You've never had a boyfriend?" Noel asked with a peaked interest.
"Shut up!" Catelyn grinned when she saw the smirk on his face. "So, I've never played Spin the Bottle. I never suffered through Seven Minutes in Heaven."
"Never...kissed anyone?"
Catelyn shyly looked away for a moment as she knew the truth, but when she turned back to Noel, she saw the desire in his eyes. And, when she saw him leaning in, she leaned in too. Their lips slowly brushed against each other until finally they touched. His mouth moved against hers, taking it in slowly until her lips slightly parted, giving him access to delve inside her mouth using his tongue. She honestly didn't mind how he kissed her. It actually felt nice.
Eventually, Catelyn pulled away, which confused Noel as he asked, "what's wrong?"
She shook her head and smiled at him. "Nothing. It's just. I need to get home soon. I don't want Emily to leave without me."
"I could take you home."
She smirked and gestured back to the lake house. "What about your party?"
"It's not goin' anywhere." He then got up and helped Catelyn back up. "Come on. You can text Emily that I'll take you home."
With Noel's suggestion, she took her phone out and texted Emily saying that Noel was giving her a ride home and not to wait up for her. As soon as she put her phone away, she heard her phone buzz. Expecting it to be Emily's reply, she took it out right away only for her smile to vanish in an instant when she read the screen.
"I bet Noel's lips are as soft as Jason's - A"
Thankfully, Noel's back was turned, but he noticed that she wasn't walking by his side right away as he looked back to see Catelyn's expression. "You okay?" he asked.
Catelyn nearly flinched when she heard him, but she composed herself right away by putting on her mask with a smile on it and put her phone away immediately as she said, "yeah."
To Catelyn's relief, he didn't question her anymore as he walked by her side with his arm around her shoulders as he led her over to his car to drive her home.
When she made it to back to her neighborhood, she got out of the car and thanked Noel for the ride before he told her that he would see her in school and drove off. Catelyn then turned her attention to Toby's house and saw that he was still working on his motorcycle, so she discreetly went over to him.
At one point, he stopped what he was doing and turned his head a bit as Catelyn drew herself closer to him. Finally, he turned to face her, and she saw him wiping off some grease off his hand with a rag.
"Hey," Catelyn greeted him. "You're still working on that?"
"Just tuning it up. I'm almost done though." Catelyn then froze for a second when she heard him say, "looks like you had a good time if Noel drove you back. I'm guessing he...distracted you."
She nodded her head and almost sounded giddy as she replied, "you could say that."
When Toby heard her say that, Catelyn noticed how he looked down at the rag he was holding. It really upset Catelyn how she wasn't a friend to him when he was arrested. Toby was completely ostracized from Rosewood society, and there was nothing Catelyn could do anything about it. She never wanted to lose Toby as a friend. He was always patient whenever he listened to her and offered her comforting words. He was also the one who always defended her whenever someone picked on her when they were in pre-school together.
"You know I really hate this." That caught Toby's attention as he listened to his old friend. "I hate how awkward it is between us. We used to be best friends. And, I feel like you've been more of a friend to me than I was to you when Alison was around."
"So are you saying you regret being her friend?"
She shook her head, admitting, "honestly, I can't say that. If I did, then it'd be like saying that I regret being friends with Emily, Aria, Spencer, and Hanna." All Toby did was stare at her when he saw her eyes watering a bit and heard her say, "my only regret for being friends with Alison was that I never defended you. I'm sorry." Toby didn't say anything. He just kept staring at her. Catelyn thought that he was most likely at a loss for words for Catelyn to apologize to him for recognizing her mistake. "Anyway, that's all I wanted to say. Bye."
Catelyn walked away from him, but Catelyn knew that he was watching her. She was just finally glad that she told him how she felt. Maybe a part of Toby hadn't forgiven her as she saw his conflicted expression when she talked about not defending him against Alison. At least apologizing was a step in the right direction.
When Catelyn headed back inside her home, she set her bag down on the counter and looked out in the backyard to see two lawn chairs outside facing away from her. She opened the screen door and froze when Jason turned his head to see her, but her brother wasn't anywhere around.
As she slowly made his way over to him, she asked, "where's Elijah?"
"Basement. He's getting sodas."
"What about my dad? Is he home?"
"Yeah. He just came back about half an hour ago. He's sleeping now." Catelyn nodded her head in understanding and turned to walk away, but Jason stopped her when he asked, "how was the party?"
"It was fine. I felt like I needed it."
"Yeah, and why's that?"
Jason typically made Catelyn tell her everything. He had a knack for it, similar to Alison, except that he genuinely made her feel more comfortable. "It helped me get away over everything that's been going on with Alison."
She wasn't expecting him to ask, "you sure that's the only reason?"
When she looked back at him, she saw the intensity in his eyes. The same kind whenever they were alone together. But, Catelyn wasn't going to have any of it. She refused. That was why when she saw his expression, she was not going to go along with it anymore given how much trouble it could get them as they had been caught once a long time ago to the one person who's buried and is the talk of Rosewood.
"Why are you asking me that, Jason?"
He then stood and took daunting steps toward her. Even though Catelyn was nervous, she stood her ground and held her breath as he got closer to her and stood only a foot away from her. "Why'd you go to Noel Kahn's party?"
There was still an underlying chemistry between them. There was no denying that, and the distance between them was not helping Catelyn ease the tension. She knew exactly why he asked her that since Noel was the one who asked her to go, and every girl in Rosewood wanted to be with him. Even Catelyn would never forget that she got a little excited when Alison told her that Noel Kahn was interested in her when they were changing in her room.
Catelyn swallowed a small lump in her throat as she replied, "were not together anymore, Jason. I can be with whoever I want."
He looked away for a moment, almost lost in thought, until finally he turned back to her and asked, "you sure this is what you want?"
To be honest, Catelyn still wanted to be with him, but that would be like opening Pandora's box. A disaster waiting to happen. However, it didn't stop her from admitting, "Jason, I still care about you, but it wasn't just the drugs you were using after Ali disappeared that made me break up with you. When she found out about us, she was going to tell my family. I can't afford for anyone to find out. You have to understand that."
Jason didn't have enough time to say anything, because Elijah came back with a couple of sodas and handed one to his friend. "Hey, Cate." When he stopped to see Jason and Catelyn staring at each other, he asked, "what's going on?"
"Nothing," Jason replied too quickly. "She was just happy coming back from the party."
Catelyn then excused herself by saying that she was too tired and headed upstairs to her room to go to bed. She practically slammed her door and heaved out a breath while taking in Jason's words. She couldn't believe that Jason wanted to be with her again. Catelyn couldn't understand why he couldn't see how much trouble they were going to be in the past when his sister found out about them. She wasn't going to be so careless this time by being with Jason.
The girls headed back to the woods and formed a circle as they talked about Toby. Spencer admitted that Alison had something on Toby, which made Catelyn enraged as Spencer never said anything to the group before.
"Why didn't you say anything?" Catelyn asked.
"I don't know. Ali made me promise, and... I guess I was scared. I thought if we never talked about that night again, it would just go away," Spencer admitted.
Hanna then said, "Well, it's not going away. Not unless we toss our phones and join the Navy."
As the girls began walking away, Emily told the group, "look, there's four of us and one freak sending messages. If we just talk to each other like this, I feel like it makes it easier to deal with everything.
"I think Emily's right," Aria agreed. "There's way too many secrets. We shouldn't do this in the middle of nowhere. We should do it where we can see it every day."
"You mean, like, somewhere in school?" Hanna asked.
"No. In town," Aria replied. "We should ask if we can put a bench somewhere. Wait, and you know what? Whoever did this to her, if they're still in Rosewood, we should make them look at it every day, too."
Catelyn couldn't help but agree with her friend as she admits it wasn't a bad idea. "That might actually work if we're careful enough."
When Hanna sighed, Spencer turned to her and asked, "what, you hate the idea?"
"No. No, I just... I had a rough night."
They all froze when they heard a rustling sound. The girls immediately dropped their bags to find the culprit only to find a bunch of branches and trees. Hanna then looked down and gestured for the girls to look at the ground. There on the dirt was a purple bracelet that had the name ALISON written on it.
Looks like Catelyn's story is spicing up a bit. Let me know what you all think so far.