Н’Нˆð‹Ð•Ð„Н‘ Н’НÐ‘НˆðÐ†Ð’ | H. Marin 4

xxx

“How bad did your mom bust you on the wreck to Sean’s car?” Emily asked, walking beside Cassandra and the blonde. “Okay, I did not wreck it, I damaged it.” Hanna corrected, “And actually everyone’s being really mature about it.”

“Oh.”

“There’s no “oh”, we’re all just being grownups, that’s all.” Hanna explained. The girls walked up towards a bench that was dirty and washed away of its color. “Okay, so the town is gonna put in a new bench and we’ll plant the flowerbeds and there’s gonna be a pathway of art tiles.” Aria describes, tucking her hair behind her ear from the harsh blow of the wind. 

“Art tiles?” Spencer said, sitting down on the bench. “Messages, pictures, memories of Alison.” Emily added with a small smile. “Aw, like little headstones.” Hanna commented with a smirk. “Hanna!” Cassandra scolded. “What?” the brunette rolled her eyes and didn’t reply. 

“We should each do a tile.” Emily suggested, hands tucked in her pocket. “You know, I’ve had Alison’s bracelet since the day we found it in the woods, and I don’t want the responsibility anymore.” Hanna said, showing the purple piece of leather in front of the group, waiting for someone to take it. 

“I don’t want it.” Cassandra admitted, she was scared someone would use that against her. “Seriously, somebody take this.” Hanna said, shoving it in Spencer’s face. The girl reluctantly snatched it from her hands. “Look at us. Bunch of babies.”

Spencer held up the bracelet to her face, “There’s nothing “A” can say or do to get us into trouble without making trouble for herself.” she pointed out. “God, Spencer! Don’t jinx us.” Cassandra hissed, watching the Hasting’s give her a ‘are you being serious right now’ look. 

“Are you sure it’s a her?” Hanna questioned. “Him, her, it doesn’t make any difference.” she shrugged, pulling out her laptop. 

“What are you doing?”

The brunette kept typing, “I’m gonna block all messages from people that I don’t know. IMs, texts, e-mails, everything. Screw A.” she pressed the delete button on her keyboard and grinned. “There. Who’s next?”

Cassandra grabbed the silver laptop from Spencer and sat down, working on getting rid of her junk mail and everything else. Which turned out to be taking longer than expected, seeing as she never cleared out her inbox for anything. 

“How long do you plan on taking? An hour?” Hanna snarked, sitting down beside her. “I never clean out my shit, it takes too long to begin with, so it just keeps growing.” she retorted, pressing more buttons. 

“I spy with my little eye something that begins with F.” Spencer said, her and Aria staring in the direction of their English teacher riding a bike. “Hey, Mr. Fitz” Hanna shouted out, the teacher giving a wave in response. “Looking good Mr. Fitz.” Spencer yelled, her hand covering one side of her mouth to be effective. 

Aria flushed and took the laptop from Cassandra before she could finish. “My turn.” she mumbled. Cassandra gave her sister a confused glare. Again, she started acting weird whenever Fitz came around or was mentioned.

“There are some teachers that you don’t want to see on a bike and there are teachers that you do want to see on a bike.” Spencer summed up, watching their teacher bike farther away. “I would not want to see Mr. Gilardi on a bike.” Hanna said, shaking her head in mild disgust. 

“I don’t want to think of Mr. Gilardi in motion of any kind.” Cassandra said, her and Hanna giggling at the grotesque image. “Ah, Mr. Fitz.” 

“Hanna. Your turn.” Aria snapped, passing the device to the blonde. “You talk to Ben?” Spencer asked Emily. “Nothing to talk about.” she responded with a solemn expression. “So, you’re really done?” Aria raised her eyebrows. “It’s okay, I’m fine.” she said with a smile. “Alright, if you say so.”

“Speaking of boys…” Spencer started, staring at Cassandra. The Montgomery girl groaned and pulled her face into her hands. “No.” she muttered, watching all her friends stare at her, waiting for an answer. “Guys, nothing’s going on with me and Noel.” she tried again. 

“That’s not what it looked like at the cabin party.” Hanna quipped, gaining the interest of the group. “What happened at the party?” they asked at the same time. Cassandra shot Hanna a dirty look before answering, “We might have kissed.” she said, her friends giving her a look of disbelief. 

“You said you were done with him?”

“Did you forget he tried getting you killed?”

“Saying a kiss is the least of it, if I hadn’t walked in, you guys would’ve been fucking. Like her dress was already halfway down her body.” Hanna exposed, wishing to rid that memory from her mind. Cassandra didn’t deserve fucked up Noel who was nothing less of a shitty person. She wouldn’t let her friend do that. 

Cassandra scoffed, “Whatever, Han. He told me that you and Sean were gonna have sex upstairs, so you’re the last person to talk.” the blonde furrowed her brows and huffed in slight frustration. “But we didn’t.”

“Neither did Noel and I.”

“You wanted to!” Hanna growled, getting closer to Cassandra. “No, I didn’t! Drunken mistakes are a real thing, Hanna.” she snapped, crossing her arms under her chest, accidentally pushing her cleavage up in the blonde’s face. Hanna backed up, glancing at her friend’s chest before flushing greatly. 

“Guys! Shut up,” Spencer groaned, “Cassandra, just stay away from Noel, he’s not a good person.” Hanna smirked in triumph, counting that as a win. Now, hopefully, she wouldn’t have to feel the anger that bubbled up significantly when the brunette came into contact with the boy. 

“Whatever.” she gave in, it’s not like she actually cared for Noel, it genuinely was a drunken accident. She was upset that Hanna was supposedly losing her virginity to Sean, and she wanted to get back at her and see if she still cared.

Which obviously proved to work, because Hanna’s jealous face was showing, and she looked ready to kill Noel for even daring to speak to Cassandra. 

Changing the topic to lessen the embarrassment for her sister, Aria spoke up. “I wish we had a drumroll for this. We are officially A proofed.” she hummed, feeling a weight lift off her shoulders. “Listen, all those little messages zipping through the air all around us.” Spencer sighed a breath of relief, taking in the quietness.

“Yep, and none of them from A.” the short brunette said, running her hands over the rough platform of the bench. “This feels like a good thing.” Emily sighed, taking a seat. “Of course it’s a good thing. Out of mind, out of sight.” Hanna agreed, resting her head on Cassandra. The Montgomery smiled and tried her hardest not to move in case she decided to lift her head up. 

A piece of paper came flying towards the bench and landing at Cassandra’s feet. She pushed Hanna’s head up, ignoring the bratty whine that left her throat, and picked up the paper. It was one of many of Alison’s missing posters, but this one had words on it. 

“Ding dong, the bitch is dead.” Cassandra repeated, the words were written in a blood-like red color, clearly from A. Just when they thought they had gotten rid of A. The girls turned their heads, searching for anyone nearby who could be a possible suspect. Though, no one was around.

The brunette crumpled up the paper and threw it behind her. The games were starting to get really old. 

And little did she know, they were only just starting.

xxx

“Spence, why didn’t your folks take you to New York with your sister? I mean you deserve some retail therapy too.” Hanna said, playing with the gold bracelet on her wrist. “Not as much as Melissa.” she admit. 

Emily came up to them with a cute new look. “Hot scarf, Em.” Cassandra complimented, grabbing Spencer’s coffee to take a drink, despite the annoyed glare the brunette gave her. When she took a sip, she immediately spit it out, wiping her mouth with a disgusted groan. “Straight up black coffee? You psycho.” 

Hanna laughed at her distraught face, enjoying the two’s bickering that never seemed to truly end. “It’s not my fault you’re a baby and need to have all of your creamers and sugars in your lattes.” The Hasting’s mocked the brunette. Cassandra pushed her lightly, in a joking matter, and mumbled, “Psycho.”

“I’m not a psycho!” Spencer yelled, gaining the attention of some students who gave her a worried glare. She blushed from the attention and repeated in a quieter voice, “I’m not a psycho.” Cassandra laughed, only adding to Spencer’s annoyance who took a step closer to her. “I’m going to slap you.” she threateningly hissed, and Cassandra laughed even louder, jumping in Spencer’s arms and wrapping her arms around the girl’s neck.

“You love me too much!” she squealed, Spencer tightening her grip on the girl’s waist. “Hey, let go before you kill me!” Cassandra shouted, trying to escape her grasp. Spencer finally let go with a smirk etched on her face. Cassandra scooched closer to Hanna, gripping her arm, “She’s a mad woman.” she told Hanna, the group giggling at their antics. “I know.” Hanna responded with a smile. 

“Anyway, is your scarf new, Em?” Cassandra asked, totally loving the flower print of the accessory.

 “No.” 

Hanna’s phone started ringing and she stared at the caller. “Are you gonna answer it? We know who it can’t be from.” Aria stated. “It’s my dad.” Hanna replied, sliding to the right on her phone and lifting it up to her ear. 

“Hey, dad!” she started, wandering away for some space. “Has she even like, talked to her dad since he walked out on them?” Emily asked. “I don’t know.” Cassandra uttered, just as shocked as the rest of the girls. “And her father is one of those… don’t ask, don’t tell situations.” Spencer added. 

Cassandra tapped her friends’ arms, “We shouldn’t stare at her. Come on.” Her phone beeped and she lifted it up a groan. “My brother’s post just showed up on my loop.”

“You added him as a favorite?” Spencer chuckled, sipping her life-killing coffee. “Yeah. Moment of weakness.” she explained. 

Toby bumped into Emily, “I’m sorry.” he apologized, and Emily shook her head, “My fault.” Cassandra gave him a glare and wrapped her arm around Emily’s shoulders. “I wonder if we just bumped into A.” 

“It doesn’t matter. We’re done with A, right?” Spencer said, showing her palms. “Right. Yeah. I mean… but I’m still staying out of Toby’s way. And Jenna’s.” she announced as they kept strolling around.

 “I guess that’s the safest thing to do.”

They made their rounds back to Hanna and gave her a hopefully stare that the call was something good. “He has to be in New England for a couple of weeks, but he’s making a special trip out to see me.” Hanna exclaimed. 

“That’s-that’s great, Hanna.” Cassandra attempted to sound happy, but it fell flat. “What?” Hanna asked, noticing their faces.  

“It’s just.. do you think he’s out here because of the thing with Sean’s car?” Emily observed. “No, he’s not. Look, I asked. Absolutely not,” Hanna insisted, “And besides, even if he was at least, he’s still coming out to see me.” she trailed off, her tone having a hint of insecurity at the end. 

“Spencer!” A loud, professional voice called from behind them. “Mr. Sheldrake.” he walked up to the girl with a proud grin on his face. “I was gonna tell you in class, but, uh, here you are. Remarkable job on the Russian History essay.” he congratulated, pushing his round glasses up. “Oh, thanks.” Spencer said. 

“Very lucid presentation.” he continued with his compliments. “It’s not really a new idea.” she admit. “I’ve submitted it for the Golden Orchid.” he confessed as Spencer stared at him, “You what?!” 

“There’s an honorarium. But you know the real upside to winning an essay competition like that is how it looks on your applications.” he gave her a thumbs up. 

“Wait can we-“

“We’ll discuss the details after class.” he turned around and went back to his classroom. “Okay, what’s a Golden Orchid?” Hanna asked. “It’s a national competition for historical writing.” she explained with a small, guilty smile.

“More academic bling for Spencer.” Cassandra added as the bell ring. “See you guys later.”

xxx

“I mean, it was-it was great. Incredible, really.” Hanna boasted about her night with her father. “Where’d your dad take you?” Spencer asked. “Jolly Roger’s.” she grinned, and everyone giggled. “The lame amusement park?” Aria laughed. “Okay, it is not lame,” Hanna defended, “We didn’t go on a tilt-a-whirl. We walked around and talked. And I told him about what’s going on.” When the girls gave her a concerned stare, she corrected herself, “Some of what was going on, and he listened.”

“And he wants to take me to a real dinner tonight. He said he has something to tell me. I don’t know, I think he wants to spend more time with me. I mean, maybe summers in Maryland.” Hanna continued on. “Seriously?” Emily asked, “Would you go?”

“Well, I wouldn’t move away. Not forever. I don’t want to leave my mom alone, but I would like to see my dad more.” Hanna sighed. “I’m happy for you, Han.” Cassandra admitted, rubbing her arm reassuringly.

The bell rang and they took their seats, preparing for another lecture. 

Mr. Fitz walked into the room and rubbed his hands together, “I’m wondering, is anybody else bothered by Atticus’ hypocrisy at the end of the novel? No? Well, he’s Mr. Due process when it comes to Tom and then as soon a Bob Ewell gets stabbed, he’s willing to buy into the sheriff’s cover-up.”

Spencer raised her hand, “He was protecting Boo Radley.”

“Protecting him? From what, the justice system?” she nodded, and he continued, “Atticus is a member of the court, and he’s conspiring to cover up a crime. And he’s willing to let his own son take the fall for something Boo Radley did?”

“It was a trade.” Aria spoke up from the back of the class. 

“What was a trade?”

“Mr. Ewell would have killed those kids. Boo saved them. And Atticus was still feeling guilty over Tom Robinson, so he offered Jem to take Boo’s place. Almost like a sacrifice.” Aria explained and Cassandra huffed quietly to herself. 

She didn’t even know who these characters were, maybe if she paid more attention when they were reading, she would, but she couldn’t. Reading had to be her least favorite thing. Especially in class when she’d just spend the entire period staring at Hanna’s side profile from her spot. 

Or maybe she just hadn’t found a good book to enjoy yet. 

“Oh. Very noble. Too bad Jem was unconscious. You think he might’ve had a different opinion?” Mr. Fitz said, stepping closer to Aria. “No, Jem would have said yes.” she denied his idea. “You sure about that?” he retorted. “He was brought up right.” Aria concluded, her friends turning around to look at her. 

Some random kid from the back cleared his throat loudly. “I’m sorry, Mr. Sperling, did you have something to add to the discussion aside from phlegm?” the teacher flared his nostrils. “Just, well, his dad was a lawyer. He could get the kid off. Um… being brought up right had nothing to do with it.” he answered leaving Cassandra and Hanna giggling. 

“Really?” Mr. Fitz snapped, “The whole book is about what shapes us into adults, or haven’t you been paying attention.”

The blonde-haired boy went to fix himself, “No, no I’m just saying that-“

“You’re just saying that Aria made an attempt to understand this book and you haven’t.” he harshly scolded. Cassandra tilted her head to the side and shook her head at his sudden protectiveness. 

“No, I wasn’t saying that Mr. Fitz.” he mumbled, clearly embarrassed that he was getting yelled at in front of the class. 

The teacher looked down and realized he was being an ass. “Sorry. What are you trying to say?” he lamely apologized. “Well, it’d probably be easier for Atticus to get the kid off than to get Boo off, that’s all.”

Cassandra laughed when her teacher finally shut up about the book and went to the front, finally leaving the poor boy alone.

xxx

 Aria and Cassandra pulled into their driveway at the same time, saying their hello’s and walking inside to see their mother looking at a piece of paper with tears in her eyes. “Mother?” Cassandra asked, the daughters getting closer to her. They looked at each other and nodded, understanding now was the right time to do this. 

“We have to tell you something. It’s important there’s, um… there’s something you should know.” Aria said, and their mom didn’t respond. 

“Mom?” Cassandra repeated, Ella silently got up and handed her the paper she was staring at for an hour and left the room wordlessly. Aria leaned over and they both read the paper. It was a sheet describing their dad’s affair with Meredith and how if she didn’t believe it, then they should ask her daughters who knew everything. 

“Oh my God, look who sent it.” Cassandra gasped, her eyes kept reading back to the “Sincerely, A” at the bottom of the paper. They sat down and spent a while staring at the letter, knowing whatever was going to happen for their family, wasn’t going to be good. 

Both of their phones rang, and it was an S.O.S message from Spencer. Which was always something serious whenever the S.O.S was sent from any of them. They hopped back into the car and drove over to Spencer’s house quickly. Once they got there, the door was already opened, and they practically ran up to Spencer’s room. 

“It won’t be that easy bitches -A” was written on the mirror with lipstick in Spencer’s room. Hanna stepped forward, “Is that jungle red?”

“Alison’s color.”