In the last week a few things have happened. One Melissa and Ian got married, they eloped and are now expecting a baby. I know that came out of nowhere, so it was a shock for everyone. Then Hanna had been seeing this bad-boy type named Caleb Rivers. She seemed to really be into him, very different from Sean in the way that Sean's an athlete and Caleb hacked into things for cash. That is until something he did made her break up with him and wanted nothing to do with him. She never elaborated or confided in me about this, so I didn't pry. Then the next thing we all knew he was gone, left Rosewood completely. She said she saw him hop on a bus a few days ago and hasn't come back. When it comes to Aria, she's still dating Ezra. I don't condone the relationship whatsoever, but it's not my business to interfere. They are old enough to understand their actions, so I need to let this play out. But hanging around with him now feels too weird, especially since he's okay with us both hanging with him at his house from not being worried about hiding this from me anymore. I humor it of course, but I don't exactly like it.
Now here's a kicker. When Toby got let out on bail till his trial everyone avoided him except for me and has become one of my good friends despite the town thinking he's the blacksheep and a murderer. Emily here and there tried to see him but he was upset with her, thinking that she ratted him out when he saw her the night he got arrested. Turns out that the person who actually told the cops was his sister, Jenna. She wanted him to stop hiding and making it seem like he was guilty when she knew he was innocent of killing Alison and assaulting Em. So once he was on home arrest he couldn't go anywhere. That is until one day the charges were dropped from someone contaminating the evidence against him. Obviously a lot of people were not happy about this, but I sure as hell was, and so was Spencer. Yes, Spencer, the one person who was gunning him for murder for all this time. She finally warmed up to him when she offered to tutor him since he was kicked out of school from this situation and they connected on a deeper level. She likes him, and I mean LIKES him. They've been dating, hiding their liking of each other from basically everyone except for me and the girls. That is until one day the town had a carnival pop up and she made it known to everyone when she kissed him in front of whoever was looking, making it known they are a couple. I could not be happier honestly, it was adorable and such a badass move.
Another thing that has changed is that the girls found out that I know about their stalker, known as A. This mystery person is the same one who has been anonymously texting me, but now I started getting the signature they leave for the girls when I get messages. So naturally when Aria started keeping me a bit more in the loop here and there so I wouldn't be completely worried this person spilled the beans to the others that Aria let me in on the secret. They were obviously furious and even terrified that I'm involved, but once we explained that it was an accident from one of her overwhelmed nights at home and I talked it out of her they calmed down slightly. They still don't know who this person is, but they've had their share of thoughts to possible suspects. Their recent one is Jenna, or possibly Ian. I'm not sure why they would think Jenna, they didn't tell me that much, but now it makes more sense from the night of the dance-a-thon when Emily was drunk and talked about someone framing Toby that it would be Ian. I slightly remember when Aria pulled her away that it had been in the middle of them and Spencer talking to him. The reason they think this is because Ian is known for being a ladies man, even cheating. A sent a video to them showing that Ian had been with Alison the night she went missing. It shows Alison holding the camera to show Ian, how they were talking and then what looks to be like him hitting her, because she fell to the ground and didn't move. All they saw was her arm flopped out in front of the camera when that fell along with her, seeming to look as if he killed her. They planned to even show the cops this video, but before they could it had gotten deleted from Spencer's computer. They guessed that it was Ian. This is super creepy, but now that I'm more in the loop, somewhat, I'm able to keep a better eye on them and know why they've been so distracted. Their first message was the day of the funeral and it never stopped.
Tonight Spencer has the girls over her house, me included. Somehow Spencer got her hands on a flash drive with some videos on it. I didn't pry to ask how, or why. I assumed A is who helped them with this, because for some reason their mystery stalker can also be their ally. This person tends to flip flop moods on them. One day they are out to get them and the next they are doing something to help. No one knows why, the only thought is that the girls are puppets and the mystery person is the only one who can call the shots on how to torment my friends. It's sick.
I was working and I couldn't come over right away. So when I get here they're already watching the files on the flashdrive, seeing Aria, Emily and Hanna are all sitting closer to the foot of Spencer's bed with her computer in front of them while Spencer is sitting against her headrest with a side view of the screen. The video they had been watching prior to me walking in finished and they now fill me in on some of it, saying that it had personal things of them, private things. Someone peeking through windows to spy. This makes me feel sick as I sit down now behind them and beside Spencer looking over their heads to the computer as they click on the next file that pops up. When they press it a video comes on, showing the camera pointing into a bedroom through a window, a light on but no one is there. It's obvious that the camera person was standing somewhere outside of this house. As if that's not creepy at all. Then someone with long dark brown hair steps into view of the camera, her back to the window for a second before she turns around. This is when she was still able to see.
"Is that Jenna?" Hanna says, sounding shocked.
"You're late." Jenna's voice comes from the computer now.
"Who is she talking to?" Aria asks, seeming absorbed into this as she's leaned in a little more.
My eyes are glued to the screen, heart pounding a bit. I'm not sure what to be more worried about, the person recording this or seeing something that we shouldn't be. This seems private and I don't like the thought of watching someone's business without them knowing. This kind of reminds me when people thought Toby was peeping into windows. Whoever this is must be the actual peeper and Toby got the blame as always. Then my heart sinks, because as if my mind was being read Toby pops onto the screen, realizing it's Jenna's room. Their house to be specific.
"Toby." Spencer says in a hushed tone, sounding worried as she leans forward and ends up closer to Aria, almost leaning against her now.
"It's not right." Toby says, watching as he stands in front of Jenna and she loops her arms around his neck.
"What the hell?" I say under my breath with my eyes wide, this doesn't look good.
"There's nothing wrong about us, Toby." Jenna tells him, her face closer to his. "We're not really related."
"I think I'm going to be sick." I say this time loud enough for them to hear, feeling my stomach turn.
"It would be so easy for me to convince your daddy and my mommy that you've been forcing yourself on me." She unbuttons and takes off his shirt, his gaze away from her and looks defeated. "You have no idea who you're dealing with."
"Turn it off." Spencer says now, a hint of anger behind her words but her voice is calm.
Aria closes the computer, all of our faces in shock, my mouth hanging open as I look at Spencer. "Oh...oh my God." My voice half squeaks, feeling like I'm going to throw up. "She was sexually abusing him."
What we saw made no sense to me, his own sister taking advantage of him. The look of defeat in his eyes made it seem as if he had been going through this for a while, how long though was obviously something we wouldn't know unless someone asked him. That of course is out of the question, too private and technically no one knows about these videos so that would be hard to explain. The fact that he hadn't told anyone and had no help hurt, because him being a guy probably made it hard for him to speak out knowing that most people don't believe that men can be sexually assaulted. And him being a year older than her would have made that fact 10xs more unbelievable to tell. The world we live in is so messed up in so many ways.
The look on Spencer's face is probably the same look as all of ours, terrified and shocked. Aria has her hand in Spencer's, squeezing it to either relax her or to make sure that Spencer knows she's there for her. No one speaks for a while, which is making me uncomfortable because I need answers.
"Spence..." I'm so lost for words that my throat has a lump in it, the others turning their heads now to look at me. All of their faces are a mix of shock and upset from this video.
"Jessie, don't..." She says in such a sad sounding way that I feel like she's about to lose it if I push the issue.
Then after a few seconds of silence Aria says, "Do you know what this means?" she's looking at the computer again, "They're of us. Ali, Jenna. Young girls in our bedrooms changing clothes. We're naked."
"Exposed." Spencer says in practically defeat.
I press my lips together when she says that, scared out of my mind. I wasn't on any of those videos. As far as I know, whoever this was never attempted to go after me. But the fact that the person who did take them violated their privacy, took videos of my friends in vulnerable states and were underage when they were taken is not only illegal, but so out of line it's insane. They are just kids in these videos, being from when Alison was alive.
"Do you think someone was watching us and getting off on it?" Hanna says and my heart sinks to my stomach so bad that I feel like I'm going to throw up.
I shake my head in disbelief, grinding my teeth now. "Who the hell did this?" I get to my feet, staring at them now from the front so I can see their faces rather than the back of their heads. "This is not okay and you need to do something about it."
The look of horror on their faces is alarming, and the fact that they have this look makes me know who it could have been. There's only one person they are afraid of, their stalker, and the only person it could be is Ian, because Jenna wouldn't be dumb enough to let someone record that knowing she was basically blackmailing Toby with her gender being outweighed if he ever told them she took advantage of him. What confuses me though is that if Ian made these videos, why did he help them get it?
Emily slowly shakes her head, "That's exactly what A wants, Jessie. Every time we find proof of something and try to tell someone it bites us in the ass."
"You can't let him get away with this." then I stop and stare in confusion, "Wait...I thought A was the one who gave this to you?" I realize that not asking how they got it and just assuming wasn't smart of me, "Why would he make it backfire?"
They all give each other a look now, shaking their heads gently. "It's hard to explain." Spencer says now, staring back at me.
"I can handle complicated, Spence." I say gently so they know I'm here for them.
She takes a breath, now looking at the others. I know they want to protect me but this seems like something I should know. "We found it because of Ali. She had it hidden."
I blink slowly, watching them carefully. This has to be a joke. "Why would she have this randomly in her stuff? And why the hell wouldn't she have told you?"
They seem a little stumped by the questions at hand, as if they didn't really have the answers to them. This shouldn't surprise me considering that Alison was a straight up bitch who didn't even treat them on her level. They were more of her toys than her friends, and I never understood why they didn't see that.
Before I can pry again Spencer gets up and pulls out the flash drive from her laptop, holding it up and stands beside me. "We can use this to prove that Ian killed Alison."
I didn't see that comment coming so my eyes shift to the side and now I stare up at the 5 foot 7 girl beside me, skyrocketing me by a few inches. The desperation but scared look in her eyes is enough to know that this obviously spooked her. Then Emily's voice echoes in my ears, asking how they would do that.
"We start by finding out what Jenna knows." Spencer says to all of them.
I don't know about anyone else but that sounds like walking on glass to me, asking a girl that sexually assaulted her stepbrother about a video she wouldn't want the world to know about. "That..."
"Are you on something?" Aria cuts me off in a disbelieved voice. But that about sums up what I wanted to say. She sounds insane.
"No, Jenna is on the top of our A list." Hanna says, staring at her like she's out of her mind.
My head is spinning now, too much is happening at once. After that I zone out a bit from their conversation, sitting on the chair in Spencer's room nearby. This is a lot to grasp and I don't know how they managed to do this on their own for all this time.
...
The next morning I'm heading downstairs for school, my stomach growling for some food. As I'm getting to the bottom of the steps and rounding the corner to get to the kitchen I see that Aria is standing behind the wall. This confuses me until I hear her parents' voices and realize she's eavesdropping on them. They've been getting along a lot more these days, which is actually pretty great. I've been taking this as a sign that maybe they'll be able to get back to normal enough for Aunt Ella to at least be around more, even if they can't compromise on her moving back home.
I peek my head a bit over her shoulder to look. They are talking about Uncle Byron's work party he's having here at the house tonight and he wants her to join. She sounds skeptical from the fact that they aren't really together and that she doesn't live here. She's worried about how it would look, or how to act.
"It's just a party, Ella." He tells her in a soft tone as he walks around her to grab his things for work.
"Dad..." Aria walks out into the open now and they both look towards us as I follow her lead and walk out as well. "Hey. Can I help? We'd make a great team."
He smiles at her and nods, "Absolutely, I'll take you up on that offer." He sets his hand on her shoulder and then looks above her head, smiling at me now. "How about you?"
I don't think Aria noticed I was here, her head turning to stare at me. I make eye contact with her for a second before half smiling at my uncle. I'm not sure I want to be around a bunch of teachers, especially since Ezra is going to be one of them. I may not argue about the matter at hand with them, but it doesn't mean I feel good hanging out with him in front of my aunt and uncle knowing that I'm hiding this from them. "Maybe. I promised Toby I'd hang with him today."
Uncle Byron gives a soft smile, not really liking Toby from his reputation and speculation to who he is. But he knows better than anyone that judging someone isn't the best thing to do, considering he cheated on his wife. "Well, if you do there will be plenty of food. All you need is to bring yourself."
I half laugh as he kisses me on the forehead, "I'll keep you posted, Uncle Byron."
"Good." he turns and smiles at all of us, "See you all later." Then he leaves, the door closing behind him with a soft click.
Aunt Ella smiles at us as Aria's ringtone comes from her bag in the hallway, "So you heard us?" she asks while Aria goes to grab her phone.
Aria doesn't answer as she looks at her phone, but I smile and walk closer. "You guys talking out in the open makes it pretty easy to listen to the conversation." I say with a soft laugh as I walk around her to get a bowl for cereal.
She smiles at me, knowing that my sarcasm was a joke. "This is about so many different things. I hope you know that." Aunt Ella continues, her head following me before looking back to Aria, who doesn't seem to be paying attention now. Her face confuses me for sure, because she looks distracted. "There's just no simple fix."
Aria finally looks up, her smile no longer there. Now she looks annoyed. "Look. Dad cares too much to say this, but you either love him or you don't. You should probably figure it out because it sucks for all of us." Then she grabs her things from the chair and takes off out the front door.
My mouth opens in a bit of shock from her bipolarness that I'm not sure how to react until Aunt Ella slowly turns to me. I just watch her with gentle eyes, "That wasn't right of her to say that."
She takes a breath, her fingers linked together in front of her as she walks over to the table and sits at the chair. "No, she's right. It isn't fair to him or you kids."
"Aunt Ella. She's just trying to grasp the situation. You guys are doing so well getting along. I think she's just confused." I take my bowl, milk and the box of cereal to the table and sit next to her. "I get it's not an easy decision. He wasn't faithful to you. It's hard to forgive something like that. So no, Aria shouldn't have said that."
Aunt Ella takes a breath with a sad smile. Then she presses her lips together and sets her hand onto mine when I'm done pouring the cereal and milk into the bowl so I look at her, "Thank you, sweetie."
I smile at her, "She doesn't get how lucky she is to have you in her life, regardless if you're living here or not. I just feel like she attacked you and didn't really care how you felt."
Now her face drops a bit, her eyes worried. Like something alarmed her, "This is about your parents, isn't it?"
My heart kind of shatters at her saying that, not realizing that my words came down to this. "I...I just..." I take a breath and rub my eye a bit with my knuckle, "She's not appreciating you. She HAS you." I bite the inside of my cheek, trying not to overthink.
"Babygirl..." she scoots her chair closer to me, which I wish she wouldn't 'cause I'm about to lose it. "I miss them too."
I shake my head, turning my gaze down to my bowl of cereal and gritting my teeth so hard that my jaw hurts. My eyes are slightly angry, feeling the tears. "I can't do this right now, Aunt Ella. I can't."
That doesn't seem to stop her though, because she just leans forward and pulls me closer to her so that she's hugging my side. This gesture makes me break down as I grip onto her arm, leaning sideways into her.
