Н’Нˆð‹Ð•Ð„Н‘ Н’НÐ‘НˆðÐ†Ð’ | H. Marin 9

xxx

Cassandra continued to write her work down, attempting to drown out Hanna’s constant complaining, which didn’t work. 

“It’s insane. How many words do they expect you to learn in one night?” she scoffed, and Aria held up a flash card to Cassandra. “Stringent.” 

“Uh, tough. Inflexible.” she guessed, smiling proudly to herself when she got it right. “It’s not like you’re going to use any of them.” Hanna grumbled, another sentence of protest leaving her mouth. 

“Meretricious.”

“It’s not like you go to college and you just start speaking a completely different language.” Hanna carried on. “Meretricious, um, phony, flashy?” Spencer answered, letting out a relieved sigh when Aria nodded. 

“Oh, Hanna, why are you still eating that?” Aria asked, looking at the dried-up farfalle pasta shape with a hint of spinach on it. “‘Cause it’s here.” Hanna shrugged, popping it in her mouth. “Put it in the garbage.” Spencer suggested. 

“Well, then I’d have to stand over the garbage and eat it.” Hanna stated matter-of-factly. 

“Besotted.”

“To dislike or hate?” Cassandra tried and frowned when she failed miserably. “It’s the total opposite, enamored and in love with.” Spencer corrected her. 

Hanna set her pencil down. “So, what did Noel say to you when he asked to speak with you alone?” Spencer interrupted her, “Hello. We’re taking the SATs in less than 12 hours. Can we focus?”

“You do not need to know any more big words! You’re already scary enough to anyone under 50.” Hanna said with a giggle. “I’m not scary! Am I scary?” Spencer whined, “A little” Aria replied. 

“I’m not scared of you, Spence-a-Roo.” Cassandra taunted, knowing how much the smart girl hated that nickname. “I already told you to stop calling me that!” she shouted, glaring at the taller Montgomery with frustration. 

“Never.” Cassandra smirked and got in Spencer’s face. “One day, I’ll get my revenge.” The Hasting’s said. 

“Is that a threat?” The blue-eyed girl teased. 

“No, a promise.” 

Cassandra laughed, slapping Spencer playfully that she couldn’t help when something was funny. Spencer hissed and grabbed Cassandra and held her in place. “I will make you drink the black coffee that’s sitting out next to the counter.” Spencer threatened, humming contently when Cassandra froze up. 

“No! I’m sorry!” she yelped, “I’d rather drink dirty swamp water than that coffee.”

Spencer sniggered and let go of the brunette who immediately went back to her work. “Maybe she is somewhat scary.” she mumbled. Aria and Hanna giggled at the two’s banter. 

“Moving on, Noel gave you a big ol’ hug, Cass. He definitely did not want to let go.” Hanna pointed out. “Yeah, he apologized for the bruise, and he told me he kept thinking about me while I was away in Iceland… he also admitted to moaning my name while having sex with another girl? Kind of weird, but sweet I guess.” 

“Talking about not wanting to let things go. He’s always been obsessed with you, looks like that will never change.” Spencer noted. 

“Scratch and sniff.” Hanna muttered and Spencer’s eyebrows raised as her mouth flew open, “Wow, maybe you should just eat over the garbage.”

Aria giggled and moved behind the only blonde to grab a water bottle. 

“I’m trying to help a friend out here.” Even though it hurts for some reason. “We don’t all have smoking hot ball boys from the country club.”

“What is going on with you and Alex? Is he back from the tournament?” Cassandra asked, curiosity lacing her voice. “Yeah, he’s back.” Spencer responded. “And?”

“And it’s good… it’s so good.” she smiled warmly at the thought of the boy that captured her heart, he was such a sweetheart and Spencer loved it. “I want it to last, but I’m afraid I’m gonna blow it.”

“So, when can we officially call him the boyfriend?” Aria questioned, before Spencer could answer, her mom walked through the door. “Hi, mom.”

“Hi, Mrs. Hastings.” Cassandra waved to her best friend’s mom. “Hi, girls. What smells so good?” 

“Garlic bread. Want some?” Spencer offered, pushing the box of bread towards her mother. “I can’t. God, I miss food. Eat some butter for me, will you?” her daughter playfully rolled her eyes. “Why do I have so many messages?” Veronica mumbled to herself, fixing up a coffee. 

“Hey, maybe you should ask Alex to-“

“Stop, not now.” Spencer cut her off. “Your mom still doesn’t know?” Aria whispered back in shock. “Like I said I want it to last.”

Veronica lifted her head up from her phone and noticed someone was missing. “Where’s Emily?”

“She’s probably on her way over?” Spencer shrugged, not knowing the answer either. 

xxx

“You don’t have to come inside mom. If they were cancelled, they would already be here.” Spencer argued with her mom as the girls, beside Emily, were following Veronica through the school. 

She found a teacher and tapped her shoulder, “Excuse me. Are they actually going to give this test today?” The teacher brushed aside the woman, “They haven’t made a decision yet.”

“Can you tell me who makes that decision? They’re predicting a major storm?” Veronica asked, walking alongside the teacher. 

The girls stopped at Spencer and Hanna’s locker, handing off anything they didn’t need and shoving it in the two lockers. Cassandra looked to the left and gasped. “You didn’t say Alex was taking the test here, too.”

Spencer followed Cassandra’s direction and sighed. “Why do you think I wanted my mom to drop us off and leave?” Alex walked up to Spencer and mumbled a small greeting before pulling her into a kiss, grabbing her waist and pushing her against the locker. 

Well, I certainly did not expect to see my best friend get seduced today. 

“Spence.” Cassandra pulled her away from the boy when she noticed her mother. “Nobody here can make a decision to save their life. It’s absurd.” Veronica groaned, fed up with the teachers at this school. 

“Um, mom, this is Alex Santiago. Alex this is my mother.” Spencer introduced the two, and Veronica looked like she had no clue who the hell he was. “Alex, who I went to prom with.” The Hasting’s daughter explained. 

“Oh! Of course. Hi. From the club.” she gave a fake grin and her eye twitched slightly, not prepared him. “Yeah.” he nodded. “It just took me a moment to put it together. So, you’re Alex.” 

Alex formed his lips into a straight line faced Spencer, “Listen, uh, I need to check in. Um nice seeing you. Meeting you.” 

“Test is on today.” The same teacher Veronica was with came up to her. “Rosewood students should register in the library.” she stared at the expectantly.

“But like half of the school isn’t here yet.” Hanna groaned. 

“And we may never make it. We saw this huge tree down on Sawmill Road, and they’ve already closed off York Street.” Veronica said as she pushed her eyebrows together. 

“That wasn’t because of a tree,” Wilden interjected from a conversation with different students. “It’s closed since last night.”

“Why?”

“Somebody decided to pay a visit to Alison Dilaurentis’s memorial and destroy it. Shattered the tiles, broke the bench.” the Detective informed them. “W-When did this happen?”

He fixed his tie, “We had to condone off the area given it’s an ongoing murder investigation.” he unfolded. “Maybe you can spare them the details. They’re about to take their SATs.” Veronica stated, implying that they would mess up if they had to deal with the stress of the memorial.

“Right. Good luck on the test, ladies.”

“We should probably get to the library.” Cassandra uttered, gripping her purse. When they reached the library they sat down at the table in the far back, closest to the window and away from some people. 

“I can’t believe it was trashed.” Aria shook her head. Who would do such a thing? “Just when you thought that “A” would give it a rest.”

Spencer took her spot and cracked her knuckles, “It’s like Toby had to kill Alison all over again.” 

“Toby? What do you mean, Toby? His motorcycle was totaled,” she whispered, “Isn’t he dead?”

“I hear more from Alison now than when she was alive.” Spencer retorted. “You guys, I thought we decided “A” wasn’t Toby. “A” was happy to have Toby out of the picture.” Hanna urged out thoughtfully. 

“How do we know that Toby didn’t just send that text? And why are we suddenly trusting “A”? “A” made a fake bracelet to mess with us.” Cassandra reminded them all. 

“Emily, hey, where’ve you been?” Hanna said. “Yeah, why weren’t you at Spencer’s last night?” Aria mentioned, sliding over so the girl could have room. “I know, I’m sorry. I didn’t get out of practice till really late so just went straight home and crashed. What did I miss?” she apologized. 

“Well, we studied. They studied and I annoyed them. Alison’s memorial got trashed.” Hanna summed up their night in a nutshell. “Yeah, I heard about that.”

Cassandra and Aria looked out the window and squinted their eyes. “What is our mom doing here?” They both walked out and went after their mom. “What are you doing here, mother?” she asked. 

“I’m a sub for a proctor. I guess they ran out. I applied here Monday for teaching.” she responded, giving her daughters a frown. 

“Why didn’t you tell us about that?” Aria inquired, sharing a similar look as her sister. “I wanted to, but you both canceled our dinner plans on Monday.. Tuesday… and then again Friday.” Ella tried to brush off the tears that were attempting to fall. She wasn’t used to never seeing her children and it broke her heart. 

What was a mother without her children?

“We were busy, it’s been intense around here lately.” Cassandra excused the both of them, knowing it was right but also partly a lie. They could have made time; it just didn’t feel right. “I want to be able to see my daughters, in the flesh. Not over the phone or in a quick text message.”

“Mother, us coming over is basically like saying that we approve of you moving out. We don’t.” Cassandra summed up, rubbing her hands over her eyes. “Listen, we’ve got to go, but it was nice seeing you.” Aria waved goodbye, not wanting to see her sister about to break down if they kept the conversation going. 

“God, seeing her shouldn’t be this painful, should it?” Cassandra observed, her sister shaking her head as they went back to the library. 

“It definitely shouldn’t.”

They made it back just in time to not miss the teacher’s announcement. “The test will now begin at 10:00. If this interferes with any plans you made this afternoon, I suggest you make some calls. If you didn’t bring a phone, I am sure this tap-happy gentlemen over here would be glad to lend you his.” she walked over to Lucas, gave him a dirty look, and walked away. 

Lucas swiftly turned around both ways before glancing at Cassandra and Hanna. “Was she talking to me?”

“You didn’t miss anything.” Hanna reassured. 

“Want to borrow my phone?” He offered between the girls. “Your brain.” Cassandra whined, the blonde nodding in agreement. “Can you do the math section for me?”

“Hey there lady ‘H'” Mona greeted stomping up to them with a petty grin. “I know you also answer to that, Hermie, but I was talking to her.” 

“Nice bag.” he sarcastically spoke. 

“Listen to you, in touch with your feminine side! So, would that be your right or your left?” she taunted, though it fell flat when Hanna and Lucas started chuckling with one another. “What’s so funny?”

“Nothing, you need to sign in.” Hanna told the girl. “They know I’m here. You can go now. This beauty doesn’t need a beast.” Mona snapped, giving a mocking grin at the boy. When no one defended him, he huffed and grabbed his backpack, stomping off. 

“What, no hello to me, Mona?” Cassandra smirked, watching the short brunette carefully. “Hello, Cassandra.”

Cassandra rolled her eyes, “Really? That’s it? C’mon Mona where’s your witty riposte?” Mona growled, “I have nothing to say to you.”

“Whatever, Mona Lisa.” she huffed, bored with the girl and sat next to Hanna with their group. “God, he’s freaking me out!” Hanna whisper-shouted, “Whose locker is he poking into now?”

“He’s desperate. Ali’s brother’s breathing down his neck.” Spencer said, writing down more big words in her notebook. “Yeah, ours too. What if Jason told the police Alison’s version of what happened after the night of the fire?”

“If Jason was going to tell them, he would’ve told them a year ago. He knows that stories bogus.” Cassandra commented. “Well, then why bring it up?” Hanna asked. 

“To try and drive a wedge between us. But he’s not going to do that.” Spencer replied. 

“Sorry about the memorial. We know how hard you girls worked on it. Shocking though, right, something like that could happen out in the open and nobody saw anything?” Detective Wilden spoke, popping out of nowhere. 

Spencer stared at him with an annoyed expression. “Well, everybody here was probably studying for the exam that we’re about to take, so you might wanna look for eyewitnesses somewhere else.”

He nodded his head, “So, you were all studying together last night?” 

“Yes, we were all at Spencer’s.” Emily answered, the other girls staring at each other with confused glances. “All of you?”

“Yes, all of us.” Cassandra confirmed. “Okay.”

Cassandra eyed the brunette across from her and leaned forward, “Emily, what’s going on.”

“Where were you last night?” Aria interrogated. “I told you. I went home.” she repeated, though she looked a lot guiltier than expected. “Then why didn’t you tell him that?” Spencer stated. 

“What happened to all of us sticking together?” Emily snapped, taking Spencer aback. She got up from her seat and ignored the protest from her friends. “Where are you going?”

“To the restroom. If you don’t believe me then maybe we can all squeeze into one stall.” she hissed, pulling her bag over her shoulder and storming away. Aria pointed at Emily with her jaw dropped, “Should one of us go talk to her?”

Hanna denied the suggestion, “No. She’ll talk when she’s ready.” 

The ladies went back to studying and Cassandra picked up her phone when she received a message. “Define “desertion.” seems like you’re about to lose Emily. Who’s next?” Cassandra pulled Hanna away from her daydreaming and showed her the phone, then turning it so Spencer and her sister could read it.

She stood up and decided to walk around before Noel stepped in front of her. “I know you aren’t the biggest fan of basketball, but I got floor seats to the Sixers game Friday night. They’re playing the Celtics.” 

She smiled at him, “That’s really sweet, but I think I have plans already.”

He crossed his arms and instead of lashing out, he took a large exhale. “Alright, another time another season.” he grabbed his bag as if he was leaving. “Where are you going? We aren’t allowed to leave the building.”

“There are other rooms here that are more fun than this. Wanna come?” she bobbed her head up and down, taking his extended hand and letting him lead the way. They went into the orchestra room, and he pulled out a chair, holding a guitar in one hand as he seated himself and played a few strings.

“How long has it since you’ve last played?” she asked. “Well, a while, considering my parents have this reoccurring nightmare I’ll bail on college and beg for quarters in the subway.” she laughed softly and sat down beside him.

He started playing the tunes of one song and she grinned, “Hey, I know that. My parents listened to it. They- They used to.” the sound of loud, thrashing thunder took her off guard as she looked out the window with wide eyes. 

“Woah. So intense.”

“I could play louder.” he restarted the song, slamming the key against the chords louder than before. 

“Across the evening sky, all the birds are leaving. Oh, but then you know, it was time for them to go.” she hummed out, her voice reaching the right octave. Singing this song made her reminisce on the old days, where it’d just be the two of them, Noel playing the guitar and Cassandra singing. 

She was given singing lessons when she was younger, for what reason, she didn’t know. But she doesn’t do it as often as she used to, sometimes singing relaxed her. 

“I do not count the time, for who knows. Where the time goes? Who knows, where the time goes?” She sung softly, stopping once the song reached its end. She leaned low, brushing her mouth against Noel’s lips in a teasing manner.  

“Are you gonna do something or what?” was all Noel needed to hear before he kissed down Cassandra’s neck, his lips latching on the sensitive spot on her neck that he knew she enjoyed. Cassandra gasped and gripped his hair tightly, “You’re mine.” he growled, making Cassandra close her eyes and wince in embarrassment. 

Though her embarrassment quickly subsided as he continued his assault on her neck, leaving breathy sighs falling from her mouth. 

A teacher knocked on the door, interrupting them. “They want everyone in the locker room, for safety reasons.” he told them with a disappointed look, pointing at the door and sending them out. They both laughed on the way back to the library. 

“Did you see his face? He was disgusted that we just did that in the music room.” she giggled, Noel chuckling along with her. See, this was the side of Noel that she missed. The lighthearted, kind, Noel. Not the angry and aggressive version of him. 

That side worried her. 

xxx

“Emily, where have you been this whole time?” Cassandra asked, crossing her arms. “I didn’t hear the announcement I was looking for my purse.”

“It’s probably still in the library.” Hanna shrugged before looking around and lowering her voice, “Look, Em, if you were hooking up with Maya last night you can tell Aria and Spencer.”

“What are you talking about?” Emily said, furrowing her eyebrows at the blonde. “I’m just saying it doesn’t have to be this huge secret. It’s not like we fell apart.”

Emily bounced up and down anxiously, “Look, can we not talk about this here.”

“I’m just saying you can trust them.” Hanna said. “Emily, I think we found something that belongs to you.” Wilden started, “Could you come with me please?” when the girl didn’t move, he repeated, “Emily, let’s go.”

The rest of the group heard Wilden and immediately got up, following suit. “Is that your bag on the table?” he pointed to the brown pullover bag. “Where’d you find it?”

“I shouldn’t have to tell you that leaving a bag unattended in a public place, not a very smart move.” he scolded, and the girls stomped into the room, “What is going on?” Spencer shouted, rushing to Emily’s side. 

“Oh perfect. We can all be together for an update.” 

“No, we are supposed to be in the girl’s locker room.” Hanna denied. “Well, I’m guessing you girls are used to being in places you’re not supposed to be.” he stated, directing that sentence to Emily. “Did you tell your friends where you were last night when you weren’t studying for the test?”

“See, ’cause I got these really interesting photos.” he handed her his phone, and she passed it to the other girls. It was a photo of Emily on her knees, crying while holding a broken part of the tile that had Alison’s name on the ground. “There’s more where that came from. Got a whole bunch at the precinct.”

“I see you didn’t get a change to clean your shoes, either.” he stated, glancing down at her white converse that were covered in dirt. “That’s not why I went there.” she frowned. “Really? So, you didn’t go back to the memorial to finish up Toby’s handiwork?” Wilden interrogated. 

“Or were you just there covering up his tracks?”

“I found it like that. It was already destroyed.” she pouted. “Really? Then let me ask you a question.” He went into her bag and pulled out parts of the destroyed memorial. “What were these doing in your bag?”

The girls stared at the evidence with their jaw’s practically on the floor. 

“Souvenirs? Something Toby asked you to save so he can keep it for his trophy collection?” he taunted, trying to make her angry. “This has nothing to do with Toby!” she shouted, grabbing the pieces from him. 

“Em, why do you have those?” Cassandra asked softly, feeling bad for the girl who was about to burst into tears. “No, you put those in there. Emily would never do that; the memorial was her idea!” Hanna yelled at the Detective. 

“Yeah, so I heard. Nice cover, huh?” he asked, reaching into his jacket and pulling out a letter. “Want me to share this with them, or would you like to?”

“Go ahead and tell them, Emily, about the angry letter that you wrote to Alison, which is dated, by the way. Three days before she disappeared.” he smirked, proud of his scummy work. “You had no right to read that.” Emily whimpered. 

“Emily, what is in that letter?”

“Tell her. Tell her how you wanted to punish Alison for rejecting you. Tell her how you felt relieved at the funeral. She wasn’t going to be around to humiliate you anymore, was she?” he continued, wanting to push her over the edge. 

“I went to the memorial to say I was sorry. There were horrible things in that letter, and I didn’t mean them. Suddenly, she was gone and…” she paused and took shaky breaths, crying as she let out the words she’s been keeping a secret for more than a year. 

“I loved her as more than a friend. I just never had the chance to tell her in the right way.” she cried out, pressing her arms against her body out of sheer embarrassment and humiliation. Cassandra and Hanna shared a look and both nodded. 

“Give her the letter back.” Cassandra hissed. “Give it back to her now or I swear to God I will rip your head off!” Hanna finished, practically growling at the older man. “Sorry, I can’t. We’re not leaving this room until you tell me what you were doing carting around pieces of Alison’s memorial!” he screamed in Emily’s face. 

“I took them because they were the only things that weren’t broken.”

The door opened and Spencer’s mom walked in, the girls letting out a sigh of relief. “What is going on in here?” she said, looking around and noticing the five girls and Detective. “Why aren’t they in the locker room with the other kids?”

“Who are you?” he snapped. 

“Her mother. I mean, if the school’s idea of keeping my child safe, I-I’m glad I came back. Honey why is she crying?” she asked her daughter. “He accused her of killing Alison.” Spencer said, getting closer to Emily and rubbing her back. 

“What?”

“He went through her purse and now he’s accusing-“

“Hold it, hold it.” Veronica interrupted, holding a hand up. “You’re questioning minors without an adult present? What- What police department do you work for? What century are you in?” 

He rose a brow and lifted up his arm. “Ma’am I would advise you-“

“Oh, no, I would advise you, to back off because anything that they’ve said to you is inadmissible in a courtroom, period. Let’s go. Emily, honey, grab your things.” The girls grabbed their purses and rushed out of the room. 

Once they entered the girl’s locker room, Hanna jumped on Veronica with questions. “So, what’s going to happen to him? Is he going to get kicked off the force?”

“If he’s smart, he’ll leave before that happens. Oh, where did he get that protein bar?” she asked, intrigued and hungry for one. “I’ll get you one.” Cassandra offered, rummaging through the box and pulling out a bar. She saw Emily sitting by herself and went up to her. 

“Hey, Em, look I wish I’d known. Alison loved you, and I don’t know if it was in the way that you wanted her to, but I know that she did. She would talk about you all the time when we had a sleepover, saying how sweet and pretty you were.” Cassandra tried being optimistic to her friend, hoping it somewhat lifted her mood. 

“Listen, I have a secret. Well, d-did anyway, it’s not true anymore, but-…” she sighed and realized now probably wasn’t the time. “Never mind, I’ll tell you at some point. Just know I get how you’re feeling.” she rambled, giving the girl an apologetic look. 

“Hello, everyone. The storm warning has just been lifted but the SATs will have to be rescheduled.” The teacher shouted, and all of the students cheered, and Cassandra clapped her hands together. 

She watched Hanna jump up and down with excitement with a besotted glint in her eyes. Maybe her secret wasn’t as over with as she wished.