Н’Нˆð‹Ð•Ð„Н‘ Н’НÐ‘НˆðÐ†Ð’ | H. Marin 5

xxx

“‘A’ sent this letter to our mom.” Cassandra pouted, resting her head on her sister’s shoulder, rereading the paper as if it’d magically disappear, unfortunately, it won’t. “You know it’s not your fault, right? It’s your dad’s mistake.” Emily reassured, giving the siblings a concerned frown.

“Totally.” Spencer agreed.

“No, it is our fault.” Aria denied, playing with Cassandra’s dark, brown hair with the pad of her thumb and pointer finger. “No, you did not hook up with her and then ask your children to cover for you.” Spencer disagreed, pouring extra cream and sugar into Cassandra’s coffee, knowing how she liked it.

“Ali said we should have told our mom right after it happened.” Cassandra explained, standing up and grabbing the mug Spencer held out for her. She muttered a small ‘thank you’ and sipped lightly, enjoying the bitter-sweet flavor that hit the back of her throat. She made her way back towards the couch with her sister. 

“Ali? Alison knew?”

“Yeah, she was with us.” Cassandra confirmed. “So, Alison saw this Meredith person?” Spencer asked and Hanna whipped her head around. “Meredith? Her name is Meredith? Ew. That’s not even a cute girl name. I’m seeing big pores and mousy roots.”

“Hanna, I think it’s a little too soon to joke.” Spencer whispered, reprimanding the girl and her problem with not thinking before she speaks. “I’m sorry, but if you’re gonna cheat you might as well do it with someone who deep conditions her hair occasionally.” Hanna foe-apologized with no remorse. Whoever messed with her friends didn’t deserve to be treated nicely.

Spencer rolled her eyes and took a plate, placing a bagel on it and handing it to the blonde, “Here, put something in your mouth besides your foot.” The Marin daughter turned around and faced the Montgomery girls on the couch, “I’m sorry. Okay? Look, all I’m saying is that when my dad left laughing sometimes helped. So did crying.” she said, genuinely meaning her apology this time and mainly staring at Cassandra. 

The sisters looked at one another before sitting up straighter. “Our father hasn’t left, guys,” Cassandra sighed and got up, Aria following suit. “I mean, this happened over a year ago.” she stated, tossing the paper in the garbage. Her friends avoided their eyes and said nothing. 

“You think he’s gonna leave?” Cassandra accused, putting her hands behind her back and picking at the dark blue acrylics. Emily was the first one to speak up, “Look, whatever happens, we’re here for both of you.” 

Cassandra frowned and thought about her father walking out on them. Sure, she didn’t relate to him and share the same interests with him like Aria and Mike, but he was her dad and she still loved him. Before he had the affair and even after. He messed up and she understood that. Did it ease the pain? Hell no, but he’s human. Everyone makes mistakes and his just so happened to be a bigger one.

She just hoped for her sake that he wouldn’t leave them. 

Spencer seemed to notice the discomfort the brunette was feeling and switched the topic. “Thank you, guys, for staying here. I couldn’t have been here alone.” she shook her head at the image of being home alone. Someone could have walked right through her back door again and hurt her. 

“When’s your family getting back?” Hanna asked. 

“This afternoon.” Spencer replied, drinking from her white mug. “Weren’t you gonna clean off the mirror before they get here?” Aria said. Spencer looked away from the stairs and bit her lip softly. “Want me to come with?” Emily offered, and the Hastings nodded immediately. “We should all go.” Aria added, the girls getting up. 

“You know what? It doesn’t take five of us to clean a mirror so why don’t you four go and I’ll just wait here.” Hanna suggested, staying put in her seat. “Fine, okay. You just stay down here alone…” Cassandra paused, having an idea on how to get the blonde up. “But… lock the door.” 

Hanna practically jumped out of her seat with wide eyes, “Great. You spray, I’ll wipe.” They walked to the staircase and Hanna’s phone went off. She flipped it open and scowled, “Great. The creatures back.  We should have never unblocked our phones.” 

The group all huddle over Hanna’s phone and reads the message. 

‘Ever wonder what’s going on when your back is turned? -A”

“Open the attachment.” Cassandra demanded, deciding to do it herself. She took the phone and turned it horizontally, clicking the video and pressing play. It was a video of them last night, discovering the lipstick message on the mirror. It dawned on them that someone was watching them, except they were much closer than expected. 

“That’s us. Was that shot from inside your closet?” Aria gasped, shivering slightly. “‘A’ was watching us.” Spencer concluded and they ran up the stairs, coming to a halt when they reached her room. Cassandra opened the door slowly, the rest following from behind. 

“Fuck this.” she muttered and slammed open the closet doors, something fell as soon as she opened the door and the loud thud set them all off as they screamed. “Guys,” Aria stated, bending down and picking up what fell. “Check it out.” She held out the purple, metal tube and opened it, revealing lipstick. 

She rubbed the bright red stuff on her hand and held her hand up next to the mirror, showing off the color match. 

xxx

Aria and Cassandra had stayed in the same room after ‘A’ sent the letter to their mom about the affair. They slept in Aria’s room because she had the bigger bed and they would talk for hours on end at night, knowing sleep was the last thing they could think about. The possibility of their father leaving scared both of them, and they talked about it and shared their feelings as they cried together. 

The two sisters had always been close, before they left for Iceland and after they came back. It was easy to be closer because they shared the same friends and were the same age. So, unsurprisingly, they felt the similar things. When Cassandra was dating Noel before the disappearance, he often complained about her relationship with her sister and how they spent too much time with each other, and he ‘rarely’ saw her. Which was a complete lie, but he just wanted all the time he could get with the blue-eyed girl. 

And nothing had changed, they still were the same inseparable sibling-duo now, as they were then. Though, this time, they both had secrets. Before, only Cassandra had a secret, and it was about her past feelings for Hanna. Now, Aria had a secret that she really wanted to tell her sister, but she was scared of the consequences. 

What if Cassandra told someone? What if she was mad about what she was doing with her teacher and thought it was so wrong and called the cops to get Ezra arrested. Even worse, if Cassandra started to resent her, thinking that she was a hypocrite and like their father. Aria couldn’t fathom not having her sister around as someone she can rely on. 

Part of her knows that Cassandra would never do any of that. Sure, she might get angry, but Cassandra was never one to hold grudges and stay mad at someone for long periods of time. The same thing applied to her, right? She could only hope so and she wishes that someday she’ll be able to tell her about the forbidden love she was experiencing. But now wasn’t the time. 

She smiled to herself as she got up and started putting on eyeliner next to the brunette who was doing her own makeup in front of the mirror. Their brother stomped up to their room and smirked, “How do you not poke your eyeball with that thing?” he playfully mimicked her sister’s movements. 

“I’m about to stab your eyeball if you don’t quit it.” Cassandra joked, pointing the mascara wand in his direction and waving it around. He laughed and then went silent, taking a step forward with a sudden worried look on his face. “Hey, are mom and dad acting weird with each other?” Aria stopped her movements and waited for Cassandra to say something. “What do you mean?” she shook her head, pretending to act nonchalant. 

“There’s like, some vibe.” he noticed, gripping his backpack tightly. “I mean, possibly? Who knows? Maybe dad ate mom’s leftover pastries that were only for her.” she shrugged getting a small chuckle out of him and easing his nerves. “You’re right. Better finish up that other eye, unless you’re going for a new cyclops look.” she rolled her eyes and shoved him out of the room. 

“Close call.” Aria mumbled, finishing up her eyeliner. “Do you think we should tell him?” Cassandra asked. “No… I don’t think so. Mom should, it’s really not any of our business. Plus, he most likely won’t take it well and things will be even worse around here.” Aria replied, grabbing her purse and taking her sister’s hand, the two going to the kitchen. 

“Hey.” Cassandra started, interrupting their parent’s quiet argument. “Hey. Do you want some breakfast? There’s yogurt.” she held her hand up, silently telling her no. “I’m all good with my granola bar.” Aria said. 

“I’m going to go; I’ve got office hours.” Byron stated, pointing his thumb at the door. “Good luck with the French test, sweetheart. And you, stay out of trouble with that Noel boy, I saw him trying to get your attention when I picked Aria up the other day.” he kissed both of their cheeks and Cassandra silently groaned at the reminder of Noel and his constant attempts to speak with her after the party. 

Once he left, Cassandra took a step closer to her mother, “Look, Mike knows something’s up. Are you gonna tell him?” she asked, crossing her arms expectantly. “Yeah. You know, when I can.” Cassandra picked up her pull-over bag on the couch and frowned. “Don’t wait too long,” Aria added, “You know it was way too hard to keep it from you for a year. We don’t want to have to do that to him too.”

“A year? You’ve both known about this for a year?” Ella said, furrowing her brows. “Yeah, we thought dad… wait, he didn’t tell you that he asked us to..” Cassandra trailed off, “Mom, we can miss first period if you wanna talk or..?”

Ella sighed, “No, it’s okay. This is between me and your dad. Don’t worry.” she rubbed both of their jaws reassuringly and turned around to finish up her coffee. 

xxx

“You don’t seriously think that a blind girl broke into my house, um, that would take a lot more than a talking GPS.” Spencer scoffed, placing her Russian History book in her locker. “Well, I didn’t say Jenna was alone.” Aria clarified. “Let’s not go to the Toby place, okay?” Emily defended the boy, raising her eyebrows when Cassandra gave her a look. 

“Why not?” Aria said, “You guys think her guide dog left behind his lipstick.” Cassandra giggled at the crude joke and Hanna shook her head at the blue-eyed Montgomery with a small smile plastered on her face. 

“Yeah, do you wanna ask what your lab partner was doing last night? If you know he took a break from sitting on his porch pulling the heads off of squirrels.” Spencer hissed, taking her heavy books and setting them in her arms. 

“Hey, no one batted an eye when Jeffrey Dahmer killed animals.” Cassandra smirked, gaining a loud, happy laugh from the blonde. The same teacher from a week ago came up to them again, Cassandra had forgotten his name though.

“Spencer! Sorry, ladies, didn’t mean to interrupt but I hope you’re as proud of your friend as I am.” he grinned and held up an envelope. “Congratulations. My instincts were right. This just makes it official.” he handed her the paper and went back to his room. Spencer looked over it and quickly put it in her locker. 

“What’s that about?”

“An essay contest.” Spencer answered, holding onto her locker. “Well, did you win it?” Emily asked, “Aren’t you going to at least open the envelope?” 

“Why should she? She wins an award for waking up.” Hanna teased, the girls walking to class before Noel stopped in front of them. “Noel.” Hanna hissed, stepping forward and instinctively pushing Cassandra behind them.

“Calm down, blondie, I just want to talk with Cassandra.” he said, trying to approach the brunette before getting shoved back again. “Why don’t you go and mess with another one of your girls. This one’s off limits.” Hanna snapped. 

“Woah, don’t get too upset now, don’t want to see my car get totaled.” he snarked, putting his hands on his hips. “Listen, Noel. I don’t want to talk to you. The night at the party was a mistake and I was drunk.” Cassandra said, pushing in front of Hanna, much to the blonde’s dismay. 

“Why? I thought you’d finally realize we were meant to be.” he whined, trying to touch her face. Cassandra moved before he could, and Spencer rolled her eyes at his desperate attempts to win her over. “Go away, Noel.” Spencer stated, Emily and the rest of the group nodding in agreement. 

He huffed and with one last glance at Cassandra he stormed off. 

“This isn’t over.”

xxx

“I saved it, just in case.” Spencer stated, rolling the lipstick up in the plastic baggie she put it in. “I’m telling you, that’s the lipstick Jenna was putting on in the elevator.” Hanna loudly whispered. “Are you sure?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. “Yes! That’s Alison’s color. Same shade, same tube. What I’m wondering is why was Jenna in an empty room for an hour.” 

“I’m thinking we should call the police.” Cassandra admitted, “I mean there are fingerprints on this tube.”

“Well, yeah, ours. Look, if you want me to answer any more questions just let me get in the office and see what I can find.” Hanna said, staring around the room and making eye contact with Toby, who was reading a book. She looked him up and down and shuddered, turning back to her friend. “Have you gotten any more e-mails?”

“Not since this morning. Have you?”

“No.” Hanna replied, ignoring the burning image of Emily and Maya kissing that ‘A’ had sent to her, she’d never expose Emily and she’d let the girl come out on her own accords because she knew that if she were in her position, she would not know what to do. Speaking of which, said girl walked into the shop, “Emily! What are you doing here?” before the girl could respond, Cassandra said, “Hanna had a run-in with Jenna Marshall today. Sit down.” 

Once the girl could fully sit down and get comfortable Hanna leaned forward, “Em, you know that dentist’s office I’m working at? Well, I was going in for my shift after school and I was in the elevator. Jenna Marshall was in there. She had the same lipstick Ali wore.” she explained. 

“Exact same color.” Cassandra added. 

They continued to talk for the next hour and Spencer got up. “Where are you going?” Hanna asked. “I have a tennis ball game tomorrow with my dad and there’s this boy..” Spencer stated, blushing at the thought of the cute boy who challenged her yesterday. 

“Boy? What boy? Details!” Cassandra exclaimed; happy her friend has found interest in someone. “Well, there’s none yet, but I’ll keep you guys posted.” Spencer grinned and pulled her bag over her shoulder, making her way to the exit before a waitress asked if she was Emily. “No, Em?” she called, pointing to Emily. “Someone left this for you.” The waitress said and walked away to take more orders. 

It looked like a CD with a drawing on the front of it. “Pretty, who made you that?” Hanna asked, like she knew something they didn’t. “Somebody from school.”

“Well, whoever made it must like you a lot.” Hanna examined. “No, we were just talking about this band we both like.” Emily denied. “Is it from somebody you like back?” Hanna questioned, “Sorry, you don’t have to tell me anything. But, Em, if there’s someone in your life who cares about you, then I’m happy for you. No matter who they are.” 

Emily grinned at her best friend and noticed Cassandra staring at the blonde like she was in awe and enamored by her presence. The look made her confused, and she was sure to keep it in her mind that maybe she wasn’t the only one who felt a certain way. Not that she was going to assume anything. 

The tan girl said her goodbye’s and then it was just Cassandra and Hanna. 

“What was that about?” The brunette asked, squinting her eyes and leaning forward. “What are you talking about?” Hanna said, responding with another question. “I don’t know, you’re just so suddenly invested in Emily’s love life.”

Hanna shrugged with a knowing grin, “Maybe Emily found someone she really likes. Be happy for her.”

“I am!” Cassandra defended, taking a bite of her salad. “How’s it going with your parents?” Hanna asked. “It’s getting worse, and mom still hasn’t told Mike. He’s catching onto their prominent arguing and yelling. It’s weird, you know? It just happened so fast and now there’s nothing I can do.” she sighed, unintentionally puffing out her lower lip into a small pout. 

“Speaking from experience, it will get better. And if you ever need someone to talk to… I’m here for you.” Hanna placed her hand on top of Cassandra’s giving her a smile. “I know.” she blushed and ignored the tears pricking her eyes, instead deciding to continue talking to the blonde, even though something inside of her heart broke. 

Things will never be the same as they were.