So sorry for getting behind on this story. Thank you for your patience, I'm going to try my best to get back into it. Enjoy!

It is now the following day, the day of the dance-a-thon. The dance is what the school thought would be perfect to save up for our junior class trip to Washington DC. Each sponsor (parents or guardians) puts a certain amount of money down for each dance their kid has. Uncle Byron and Aunt Ella have two kids they are sponsoring now instead of just one, so Uncle Byron is putting down $10 a dance for me while Aunt Ella has Aria for $10 a dance. As much as I love them it still feels weird that they have to pay things for me as if I'm their child. It was bad enough they spoiled me when I was just living next door, but now I'm actually part of the family. I of course appreciate everything they do for me, I just have to readjust

Despite all this, I. Am. Not. Ready. I really hate dances but I humor it for the sake of Andrew since he loves them. Who am I to decline a date from the person I adore? Luckily I'm not worried about what to wear to this one because it is casual attire. Which means I can be in jeans this time around with a plaid shirt, buttons undone, the sleeves pulled up to my elbows, a tank top shirt underneath and black sneakers. This is my element when it comes to being in my comfortable clothing.

As I roll out of bed this morning I see that Aria isn't here. It's an hour till noon on a Saturday, so I just assume that she probably woke up earlier than me (naturally) and is downstairs. But when I get to the kitchen after using the bathroom no one is here but me. Uncle Byron is at work, Mike at practice and Aria is who knows where. The best guess I have is that she's running around with the girls because of this anonymous person still bothering them. I know on occasion she'll just up and bolt out of the house at weird hours of the day or night and I can't do anything about it. The last few nights especially she has been acting odd. She hasn't said why, but I can of course guess the reason now. But she looked really shook up and it alarmed me so badly that I told myself I'd get to the bottom of it. It makes me nervous knowing something that no one else does. This situation seems delicate and hard to figure a way out of it, which I understand why she begged me to keep quiet but the longer I know the harder it is to stay out of it. I feel like I need to help somehow but I wouldn't even know where to start.

After some breakfast I take the opportunity to go into our room and start to search around her section. I'm not sure what I'm looking for but I'm hoping something pops out enough to give me some type of clue that maybe, just maybe I can figure out the specifics. So I go through her bed, her dresser, our closet. Basically anywhere things could be hidden with no such luck. Then I see a pile of her books at the bottom of her bed on top of a trunk and walk over to it. I start to open them, seeing if anything falls out. That's when my phone buzzes, making me pull it out of my pocket.

"If I were you, sweetie, I'd stay out of this. Keep your trap shut and head out of the clouds of this mystery. Otherwise everyone will know what oh so loving Auntie Katie did."

My heart sinks deep into my stomach and I gulp. Not only does it seem that their mystery friend found out that Aria told me regardless of keeping quiet and being sneaky, but they somehow know about my situation with Katie when I hadn't told a soul about the specifics. This is insane and makes me feel weirded out as I look up from the phone and start to look around, even staring out the window. It's like I was being watched this whole time. I feel like I should have seen this coming, but it definitely doesn't sit well with me.

Now I jump practically out of my skin as my phone rings this time, getting me out of that daze and I see that Mona is calling me. I'm so not in the mood to speak to her, but I answer the phone anyway. Luckily all she wants to know is what color is my outfit. She knows that I'm not dressing up the way I had last time, but sometimes she likes to at least match her best friends in some aspect. She even does it with Hanna. Once she rambles on for a while from her excitement of the dance she hangs up and I'm back to being aware of how hard my heart is thumping from the fact that someone is watching me. How else would they know I had just been looking for clues in my own room?

After a few long minutes of standing here, scared out of my mind I shake my head in dismissal and try to relax before I take a deep breath and change out of my pajamas. When I'm done I head downstairs, making sure I have my phone, wallet, keys and a string bag with me so that I can leave the house and grab my board. I had text Spencer a few minutes before to see if she was free and shockingly she said she was. I let her know I was going to pass by and brought my dance-a-thon clothes to change there.

Now, however, I know the theory of Aria being with the girls had been wrong and have no idea where else she could be. I thought I had her odd behavior figured out when she told me about her stalker. But...I'm convinced there's more. When she leaves at weird times of the night I assume it's to see the girls. But when she goes to hang out with anyone other than them she seems super secretive and vague to tell who she's meeting with. I wouldn't have an issue with this of course if she'd just say that she's hanging out with new friends, or whatever her excuse is. But there are times she says she'll be with one of the girls and then turns out she's not with them after all. So where could she be and is she safe. That's the only thing that I don't like about her vague description. Is she in trouble?

...

"Jessie?" Spencer's voice echoes in my ears a bit, making me blink hard and stare at her from her back door. That's when I realized that my dumb ass probably has a glazed over expression because the look of concern on her face is strong.

By that look alone I realize quickly that my mind is racing and that I hadn't noticed how out of it I had been until now. Considering I had skateboarded all the way to her house and even knocked on her door I had no idea that my focus was practically nonexistent. Now the fact she saw right through me as soon as the door opened isn't a good sign on my part. This mystery person holding over my head the incident with my aunt and that I know about their secret is hoarding my brain. On the way here alone this thought kept making me overthink whenever I got to a corner if someone was going to be there watching me. This one message has made me scared of my own phone now, just like them.

"Hm?" I blink again, now focused on her completely.

"What's going on?" She says in a soft tone, her eyes glued to mine with a raised eyebrow. "You barely even realized that I answered the door. It's like you didn't even register it."

I try to smile and shake my head, "Sorry." I rub my forehead, "Just tired. I woke up not too long ago."

Even though it's kind of true, she narrows her eyes now at me, making me purse my lips. I know that look, she can tell I'm lying. "I've known you way too long and lived with you, Jessie. I can see right through you."

I take a breath and smile a bit more, now forcing it. Then I shake my head in defeat, because it's hard to avoid when she's persistent. Battling my way through these talks or her begging me to open up after my accident never went well and I learned to give in. "It's…." I shouldn't be telling her, but I don't know what else to do. "It's….hard to explain, Spence."

She turns her body to the side, ushering me into her family room. "Try me."

My heart sinks a little bit as I walk inside, God Aria is going to kill me. So I take a breath and debate in my head what would be the best way to explain things without spilling the beans. If I bring up the text I just got then I'd have to show her, and not only will she ask about what happened with Katie but she'd ask what it means by keeping out of things. I have no alternative out of this mess.

"Okay..." She says patiently and sits on her sofa, tapping the spot beside her. "What happened? Are Amber and her friends bothering you again?"

I half smile, hating that basically everyone knows about that as I set my things aside and walk over towards her with a shake of my head, taking a breath. "No. They've been leaving me alone for the most part. As shocking as that seems."

"Then what's got you looking so spooked?"

Spooked. That's an understatement as I laugh gently, racking my brain for an explanation, but I have nothing. "Someone has been bothering me though…" I try to be as vague as possible to give myself more time to think.

Her eyebrows go up, "Who?" Her voice sounds a little scared as it squeaked, making me know that she's thinking of their stalker. This was Aria's fear. That this person would get to me too.

I shake my head again, rubbing my forehead softly. "I…" I take another breath, freaking out a little because I don't want to betray Aria's trust. So finally I just blurt out the only thing I know I need to say in order to keep Aria out of trouble, but know that this will get me into deep shit with the Montgomery's. "K-Katie." I flinch as I say it, hating myself for telling her something I hadn't even told the people closest to family.

Spencer's face scrunches up and then drops a little bit, "She hasn't left you alone since she went back to New Jersey has she?"

I suck on my lip, my eyes downward as I stare at my hands because she said it so matter of factly as if she's had a feeling this whole time. "I had to block her number."

Her hand goes to my hands, squeezing my fidgety fingers to relax. I know she wants me to calm down so I look at her and close my eyes for a second before staring back at her. She smiles at me lovingly before saying, "You never told anyone what she said when she was here."

I half smile, licking my bottom lip a bit. "I...I know. It wasn't important."

"It must have been if she won't leave you alone."

"I just...I never told the Montgomerys. I didn't think they needed to know."

"Needing and deserving to know are their priority to raising you, Jessie." Her hand goes up and she smoothes my bangs behind my ear, "Your aunt and uncle are there to protect you in a way my parents couldn't. Allow them to understand." She squeezes her hand to mine again, smiling at me as I smile back. "As for Aria and Mike. They are basically your siblings. They'll be there for you in ways an adult can't. But they will all be there for you because they love you."

I bite my top lip gently, my eyes on her so deeply I could cry. I miss this girl so much. "I love you. You know that, right?"

She smiles at me and nods, rubbing her finger gently to my cheek. "I love you too. I'm always here for you."

After a few long seconds of silence and her seeming to be waiting patiently for me to continue, I take one last breath and tell her everything that happened with Katie. Recapping the little talk we had when she walked into my store that night, to her picking me up for a day of just us to catch up, how it went well. She seemed shocked that she was so nice to begin with, but then I got to the part where we were talking in the car and how her mood switched back to her old ways.

"That's insane how she went from super sweet to having an attitude."

"I...I kind of egged her on."

"Don't give her the benefit of the doubt for being mean to you, Jessie."

I gulp now, taking a breath. "It gets worse, and I keep blaming myself."

Spencer watches me for a while, like she's trying to look into my soul to feel my emotions, or trying to read my mind. Then she just shakes her head again, as if reassuring me that anything she did would never be on me. "Not a chance in hell would anything she's done to you be your fault."

I take a deep breath, closing my eyes and rub my head a bit. This is not what I hoped would be happening, to tell her or anyone what she did. "Spence...I kept giving her an attitude from my years of anger. I saw her boiling up and I kept going."

"You had every right. Stop, Jessie. Seriously."

I grit my teeth a little bit now, then slowly press my lips together as I continue to listen to her try to calm me down and help me see myself as the good guy. But not being able to hold it in anymore I cut her off finally, "No...Spencer. I pushed her over the edge and she put her hands on me!"

The rambling of her voice dies down in an instant, her eyes wide in fear. Her mouth opens and closes several times, eyes locked on me and I feel myself ready to lose it before she says, "W-What?!"

I flinch a little bit from her yell, closing my eyes and trying to block that out to the best of my ability. I've always hated people yelling at me, especially since I was bullied basically my entire life and that would normally be people's go to. Then I feel her hand land onto my shoulder with a soft apology for yelling, making me look at her now.

"Please tell me you didn't just say that, Jessie? That your own flesh and blood didn't actually hurt you that way."

I half smile and a small laugh pops up, flesh and blood felt like too kind of words for someone who's barely even loved me. "Katie has always had a bad temper. I should have known better."

"Don't you dare." She says with a hint of anger, "There is no excuse for this. Not even you mouthing off."

The pure fear and concern in her eyes makes me a little uneasy. I've seen this look before of course, from when I was living with her and going through the worst days of my life, but I never got used to seeing her this worried. Seeing this look in anyone's eyes, especially people I want to protect with all my heart pains me more than anything in this world. I've always been the one who felt the need to protect them and somehow it turns into them being there for me and protecting me.

So after a few long minutes of letting her get herself relaxed and the fumes behind her eyes easing off I just smile and grab her hand, "I know. I just...I'm used to being the one to blame."

She sadly smiles and inhales deeply, "Growing up in this town definitely does not help with self confidence." I half smile at her saying that and agree as she adds, "You need to tell them."

My heart sinks to my stomach, my breath hitching for a second before shaking my head. "Are you nuts?"

Now she shakes her head, "They are your family. They NEED to know, and they need to take action to keep her away from you."

Now THAT I do not like the sound of. Being told to take legal action in this way against my biological family is not how I expected this day to go. This type of conversation was the last thing I expected when my brain was just swarmed with the dance and this mystery stalker. Instead, this is where my nosiness has gotten me. Probably stirring the fire where I should not be stirring it at all.