1.03

•

"How To Kill A Mocking Girl"

"Okay, whose idea was this again?" Hanna Marin asked the group as they all trudged their way through the woods. It was early — and on a weekend — and they were traipsing through shrubs and ducking under low branches to get to the shed.

"Emily's mom," Spencer said.

"Gotta love Pam," muttered Halle, swatting a fly from her face.

"Mrs Fields," Emily corrected, "you call my mom Mrs Fields." Then she claimed, "And the shed was me, my mom just said we should do something for us."

"And you thought of the shed?" Halle asked Emily. "In the middle of the woods, when Detective Donkey-face has the entire force looking to us for answers? No, no, this is a great idea," she said sarcastically.

Hanna agreed. "Yeah, and couldn't we do something without mosquitos?" she asked, slapping her arm of what she thought was a bug.

"They're not mosquitoes, they're gnats," Aria corrected the blonde.

"Whatever," Hanna was still repulsed. "They're small, annoying and flying up my nose."

"Ooh, two out of three, Aria," Halle joked as she past the short girl, Aria's her mouth now hung open.

Spencer ignored Halle's comment and told Hanna, "they're attracted to your perfume. And your hair product. And your lipgloss," she listed.

"So, what are you saying? I attract flies?" Hanna asked, amused.

"Gnats," corrected Aria, again.

Emily sighed heavily, stopping her movements. "Why do I feel like this is the wrong way?"

"No, this is it," Spencer said. She pointed to a large oak-tree and stated, "I remember that tree. It's the halfway point. There's three-hundred and thirty-six steps left to the shed."

It baffled Emily that she knew that. She looked to the Hastings girl. "Have you been out here since Alison?"

"Me? No, no way," Spencer said, defensive and as a matter of fact.

"But you remember that tree?" Aria said, confused by the statement as well as Emily.

"You clearly don't remember Spencer," Halle replied. "The all-knowing oracle of Rosewood."

"Guys, it's not that weird." Hanna reminded them, "I mean, we came out here in eight grade, like, every day. Even after," she added.

They started making their way through the bushes when Spencer spoke again. "I think this is totally the wrong place to do this, whatever you call it--"

"Shrine," Halle stated.

"It's not a shrine," Emily defended.

"It is so a shrine," Halle countered back.

"It's just a place to remember Alison. What's wrong with that?" Emily asked, perfectly innocent.

"Doing it way out here makes it look like we have something to hide," said Spencer flatly.

"You're worried what other people think?" Emily asked her.

"Well, aren't you?" Spencer stopped again and faced the girls. "Do you really want to give that creepy detective more reasons to question us?"

Hanna huffed. She rounded all of them, walking off ahead.

"Hanna," Emily went after her. "Why are you so quiet?"

"I'm trying to keep the bugs in my nose and out of my mouth," Hanna said, slight irritation lining her tone.

"You're allowed to have an opinion on this," Emily told her.

Hanna halted her movement abruptly. She turned back to the girls. "You want my opinion? I say we hold off and not remember her till we know for sure she's not still here," said the blonde.

"—what?"

"—what?"

Emily and Spencer spoke over each other. Both were shocked, bewildered by what Hanna was saying

"What the hell are you talking about?" Halle asked.

"You think she's still alive?" Aria questioned.

Spencer said, "Hanna, they found her body."

"Stop, I'm officially scared." Aria shook with her fear. "Can we just not—?"

"You know what? You asked for my opinion," Hanna snapped. She flapped her hands around in the air. "I don't believe she's really gone."

"We went to her funeral," Spencer said, perturbed.

"They didn't hoist an empty coffin to and from the church, Hanna," Halle had shot at her.

"Yeah, and when we left, we all got a text from her," Hanna retorted.

"It's wasn't her. Someone is messing with us," Halle insisted.

"How do you know?" Hanna ranted, "and what about all those nasty messages? I mean, how does this A-person know stuff only Ali knew?"

"Okay, this conversation is gonna give me a hive," Aria shuddered.

"That's a bite — mosquito," Hanna said.

"Spencer, have you gotten any more messages?" Emily said poignantly.

"Haven't you?" Spencer replied.

Branches rustled behind them. Their heads snapped in that direction instantaneously. "What was that?" Emily asked, alarmed. "Did you hear that?"

"Yes, I heard that. I'm standing right next to you," answered Spencer dryly.

"Hello?" Hanna called out, her voice shaky. "Is anybody out there?"

"It's probably a rabbit," Spencer told her.

Hanna tried again, "Hello?"

"It's a rabbit, Hanna, it's not going to answer you," Spencer hissed at her.

"Yeah, well, A wouldn't either," sassed Halle.

"Can we just get to the shed?" Emily asked, wanting to get it over and done with now. It was far from how she felt this morning, when she set out to remember their dead friend.

They were about to agree when branches rustled again, and this time, Hanna snapped. "Okay, that is definitely not a rabbit. Someone's out there."

"Let's turn around," Emily suggested.

Then, their phones went off. All at the same time — their phones buzzed, or chimed, or rang.

HEADS UP, BFFS.IT'S OPEN SEASON ON LIARSAND I'M HUNTING.--A.

•

"So you're coming, right?" Eric Kahn looked to his girlfriend. Halle was unresponsive, not paying attention — her mind elsewhere. "Hey? Hey, Halle--Hal?" He waved his hand in front of her face to get a reaction.

Halle's face screwed up and she shoved his hand away from her. "Get your hand from out of my face," she told him, annoyed. She was incredibly irritable today, more so than usual. She was having mood swings: one moment she was fine — high as a kite — then she was raging like a bull and the next she was impossible to get through to. Right now, Halle was the latter.

"Did you hear anything that I just said?" Eric asked her.

Halle shook her head. "No. No, I didn't."

"I said my parents are away, Noel's throwing a big party at the cabin," Eric said. "I wanted to know if you were gonna go."

"Maybe I should email Jason," Halle muttered.

"Jason? Jason who? DiLaurentis?" He stared at her, confused and annoyed. "Where are you right now?"

She paused, looked to him and plainly said, "I'm in your car."

"Halle, that's not—"

"I should probably email him, or text him," Halle said, as she dived into her bag to collect her cellphone. "Doubt he changed his number."

Eric softened his voice, "Halle." When she didn't reply — didn't take any notice of him and kept rifling through her bag — Eric finally snapped. "Halle — Halle, stop!" He grabbed onto her arms and forced her to look at him. "Stop, just stop this — whatever this is." He dropped her arms. "God, what has gotten into you? What's going on with you lately?" he asked.

"I did just bury my best friend," Halle defended.

"And Jason? You're on about Jason DiLaurentis, right?" said Eric, trying to connect all the dots of what his girlfriend was saying. "What's the connection with Jason?"

Halle gulped. She had heard that question before. In the police station, asked by an officer, when they were trying to find Alison.

"What's the connection with Jason DiLaurentis?"

"What?" Halle looked up, her eyes widened in surprised. She hadn't planned to be asked that question, she never thought it would be asked. It wasn't what she would have asked; she had nothing to do with Alison going missing, and she didn't think Jason had either.

"You left the barn with the girls, informed the parents of Spencer Hastings, Peter and Veronica Hastings, and then you found Jason DiLaurentis, right? Passed out in the DiLaurentis garden, is that correct?"

That wasn't exactly what happened, but Halle took it as what Jason had told them. So, she nodded and lowered her eyes to the table. "Yeah. Yeah, that's what happened."

"Are you and Jason close?"

"I guess," Halle said. She looked at the awaiting officer, wanting more from her. "We hung out a few times, saw each other at parties. He drove me home a couple of times from work, and from a party once."

"So you were close?"

"He's Alison's older brother, I grew up with him," Halle tried to defend. "He lived across the road." She saw the officer's raised eyebrows as he took notes. "It's purely innocent, nothing sordid. So what if he drove me home a few times? It don't mean we're close. It doesn't mean anything — he doesn't mean anything."

"So, what is the connection between you and Jason DiLaurentis?"

"He's Ali's older brother, and she's missing. That's all, please find her."

Halle was taken back to that interview, what the officer had asked her about her relationship with Jason. Hearing Eric's question was starting to sound like that, so she gave him a similar answer. "He's Ali's older brother, she's dead." Halle remained blunt, forceful, and it worked.

Eric flung himself back into his seat. Guilt ate away at him, and a heavy sigh escaped him. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have pushed." Eric spoke with sincerity — soft and sweet. "I didn't mean to upset you. Of course you're going through it right now." His hand reached for her knee. "I'm sorry, Hal, it's just I can feel you pulling away." He sat up and took his hands in his, clasping them together. "And I know this is because of Alison, but we need to move past this if we're gonna work this out."

Halle rolled her eyes. "You sound like my mom. 'Move on, get past it, forget about your dead friend you buried'."

"Look, I'm here for you. I'm always gonna be here for you." He sent her a soft smile. "I love you."

Halle smiled back at him, small and sad behind her eyes. "I love you, too." Then, she leaned in and kissed him. Soft and then hard, growing needy. Halle threw herself at him. Her mood switched immediately; she needed to be close, to feel love from someone. She went to deepen it more, to climb over the dashboard to sit on his lap, but it was cut short by loud knocking on the window. Halle pulled back and saw Noel Kahn smirking at her, and Eric chuckled — he enjoyed being caught.

Noel spoke when Eric wound down the window. Noel was smug, a Kahn-trait Eric grew in and out of when with Halle, and Noel liked annoying Halle, getting under her skin. "Wanted to speak to my brother, that's if you can spare him, Halle," Noel said.

Halle fixed her shirt, settling back down on her seat. "All yours," she said.

"You sure about that, Hal?" Noel shot at her playfully, raising his brows up at her. "Looking very different from my point of view."

God, he was smug. Halle pecked her boyfriend goodbye and then got out of his car, throwing Noel a glare before she stalked off. She gripped her bag-strap and headed inside the high school. Yet, it wasn't long before Noel Kahn caught up with her after he spoke with his brother.

"Halle, hey."

"What do you want, Noel?" Halle asked.

"Well, you might have heard I'm having the party of the year and since my brother is in town, can I say that you're in?" Noel asked, treading carefully around the question.

"Why?" asked Halle bluntly.

"What?" Noel gave a laugh. "I just wanna know if my best girl is coming to my party."

"Cut the crap, Noel." Halle stopped when they reached her locker. "What do you want?" she asked him.

"I just wanna know how much I need to buy to be able to supply," he smirked, his tongue darting out to wet his lips. Noel leaned against the locker as he watched Halle open hers. "So what's your poison nowadays? Weed? Ecstasy? Coke?"

"Would you keep voice down?" she hissed at him. "Someone could hear you."

"Like you care, this summer — and last —you were on anything I had," Noel said.

"Yeah, and if you haven't heard, I'm up for junior captain," Halle said.

"Everyone has." Noel flirted, "you look better in that uniform than anyone."

"Yeah, still dating your brother." Halle told him, "I can't afford to do drugs this year."

"Don't worry, I got you covered, Hal—"

"I don't mean money. I mean, I can't afford to get caught. This is my year to set myself up, Noel. No mistakes," Halle said firmly.

"We'll see how long that lasts. You know where to find me," he said.

"Look for the molting scales and head for the reptile enclosure?" Halle sassed back at him.

"Ha—" Noel pointed a finger at her, smiling, "funny, Halle, funny."

"Yes." She shot him a cold look. "Now get out of my face."

"See you tonight." Noel went leave but he stopped. His eyes trained to Jenna Marshall as she appeared at the end of the hallway, tapping her cane. "I didn't realised Jenna was back."

Halle turned her head to where Noel was looking, and there Jenna was with Toby Cavanaugh at her side. Her step-brother turned guide-dog — Jenna gripped to his arm as he was her eyes. "Yeah. She was at Ali's funeral," she said.

"What?" Noel said, "Ali hated Jenna."

Halle shut her locker, she needed to get to the others. "Yeah, she did." She glanced up at Noel and said, "I've gotta go, I'll be at the party."

And then she headed for the others. She joined them by Spencer's locker. They were all staring at the two, mainly Toby Cavanaugh since he was the first thread that could be pulled and all the liars secrets would be out.

Aria said, "He's back, too? When did that happen?"

"Maybe she needs help sending radioactive emails," Hanna snarked.

"Yeah, or he may be sending a few of his own," Spencer offered.

"Hanna." Hanna's name was being called by the same detective making it his business to find out exactly what happened the summer Alison went missing. He starting approaching them.

"Give me a break," huffed Halle.

"Cops on campus too?" Aria questioned, slight worry in his voice.

Detective Wilden was now beside the girls. He said, "I just spoke to your principal, asked him if we could have a chat."

"No, I have to get to class," Hanna argued.

"Don't worry, you've been excused. Let's go," he said, just as the bell rang.

The girls watched as Detective Wilden led Hanna away, towards the office, and then Aria snapped her head around. "What is going on? Why just her?"

"He probably thinks she's the easiest to crack," Emily mentioned.

"—She is."

"—She is," Spencer and Halle had spoken at the same time.

"Whisper, whisper, whisper," Jenna Marshall said, her cane tapping along the polished floor. "Almost feels like Alison is still here."

Jenna's comment had unnerved Halle all class. The clock hand moved torturously; each minute Hanna was away, the more Halle fretted. Before she knew it, the blonde had been gone an entire hour.

"What are you doing?" Spencer asked Aria, as the petite girl typed at her keypad. They were stood by Hanna's locker. "Is that a new phone?"

"Yeah. I'm checking on My Kin." Aria said, "I'll just write on Hanna's wall from here."

"If she's not answering texts, what makes you think she's checking Facebook?" Emily asked.

"It all goes to her phone, the same phone," Halle added.

"It's worth a try," Aria said with a shrug.

"What's going on?" The girls looked up from Aria's tiny phone screen to see Hanna staring at them expectantly.

"We've been trying to get a hold of you," said Aria.

"What happened in there?" Halle asked.

"Nothing." Hanna opened her locker. "It's the same, old stupid questions," she said.

"You were in there for an hour, Hanna," Spencer said flatly. "What else did he ask you?"

"Nothing." Hanna grabbed what she needed and shut her locker, facing the girls now slowly growing closer to real friends again. "He just took a couple calls and I just sat there waiting for him to shut up."

"Well, is he gonna question all of us alone now?" Aria asked.

"Who's knows?" Hanna didn't want to talk about it. "Look, let's do this at lunch, okay? I have to hit the ladies before my next class," she said.

As soon as she walked off, Spencer pondered the question, "Is she being weird?"

"She's being weird," Emily confirmed. She let out a sigh and then said, "I'll see you guys at lunch," which they others agreed, and they they headed off for their classes.

•

Halle had just gotten out of the shower, her hair tied up in a makeshift turban made from an old t-shirt. It was gentler on her curls than a towel. She had barely made it into her bedroom when her mother stopped her. She held out the house-phone to her, her hand over the microphone.

"It's Emily," Luisa told her daughter. "I didn't know that was a thing again," she said.

"Coloured me shocked too, Mom. Can I have the phone now?" Halle waited, the few droplets falling onto the wooden floor.

"Of course," Luisa said, and she handed it over to her eldest daughter. "How did practice go?"

Halle stopped her voice. "Mom." She stared at the woman, gesturing down to the towel covering her still wet body.

"Oh," Luisa put on a smile. She blew Halle a kiss. "We'll talk later."

"Okay, thanks," Halle said. She took the call in her room, shutting the door behind her. She inhaled deeply and then raised the phone to her ear. "Hey, Em, what's up?"

"You're going to this party tonight, right? I wanted to know what time to pick you up," Emily said.

"Em," Halle's brows were furrowed as she walked further into her room. She opened the top drawer of her dresser, rifling for her nice underwear, as she spoke. "We talked about this earlier, remember? I've already got a lift — a girl from the squad."

"Oh, yeah," Emily said, her seemingly nervous. "Yeah, I'll see you there then. Sorry."

"Em, is there another reason you called me?" Halle asked. She plucked out her favourite black panties and strapless bra, knocking the drawer shut with her elbow. "You sound weird."

"That because I feel weird," Emily confessed. The girl sighed heavily over the phone. "I had just finished swim practice and Ben snuck into the locker room, and tried to make me have sex and—"

"Hold up," Halle cut her off seriously. She threw her underwear on the bed. "Make you? What do you mean make you?"

"He tried to force himself on me, said I was running hot and cold with him," Emily told her.

"I hope you kicked him in the balls," Halle said seriously.

"Toby Cavanaugh punched him in the face," Emily said.

Halle was bewildered. "What? Toby Cavanaugh?" she questioned. "Dark and Stormy did that?"

"Yes. Would you stop calling him that?" Emily hissed. Halle heard Emily shut a door, most likely her bedroom door. "He punched Ben and tackled him to the floor."

"What did you do?"

"I grabbed my stuff and I left," Emily squeaked. "What do you think I did? I wasn't gonna stay and watch. I ran."

"Safest option. Be manhandled by the llama in polo or watch the bone collector beat up your boyfriend," Halle retorted. She threw herself down on her bed, legs hanging off the end. "He's not still your boyfriend? Right?"

"Oh, god no," Emily said. "I'd be happy if I never saw him again."

"He's gonna be at this party," Halle said.

"Please don't do anything," Emily pleaded. "I don't want any drama over this."

"Em, he created his own drama," Halle countered. "I probably would have shaken Dark and Stormy's hand after."

"That's why I'm asking you not to make a scene or hit Ben," Emily said. "I just— I needed to tell someone before the party, you know."

"And you thought of me?" Halle asked. Truthfully, she was confused. Before Alison went missing, it would have been perfectly normal for Halle and Emily to chatting on the phone for hours; they told each other everything. But it was different now. The past year had driven a wedge between all the girls — Emily and Halle being the only ones to have somewhat of a friendship — but they still weren't ever what they were. Now, it seemed to be reverting back — back to when Halle had been softened by her friendships with the other four.

"I didn't know who else to call, I thought of you first," admitted Emily. Anxiously, Emily asked, "Is that okay? That I called you?"

"Yeah." Halle sat up eagerly. The thought of her getting a real friend out of the girls reuniting over these texts sparked something in her chest. "Yeah, that's more than okay, Em. In fact, I'd like it if you called me more," Halle said, fully vulnerable.

Emily was smiling down the other end of the phone. "Okay. Good. I'll see you at the party then?"

"See you then."

Halle ended the call. She tossed the house-phone to her side and then let out an delighted squeal. She was excited. Halle was getting her friend back. She was getting all the friends back. It settled the pit in her stomach — this was real. She and the girls were really going to be friends again.

It was real.

•

She arrived at the Kahn's cabin when it was dark. Like she told Emily, Halle got a lift with a couple of the cheerleaders, but then they split quick enough, heading off to do their own things — to be with their own friends outside the team.

Halle entered the first room and found Hanna. The pretty blonde was propped against the wall with a bored frown on her face as she watched her boyfriend play a game of fuseball. Yet, Hanna's face changed when she saw Halle. She perked up.

"Hey, Halle!" Hanna waved her over.

Ben, Emily's now-ex boyfriend, had stopped playing the game and decided to chance his luck with Halle. His right eye was swollen, the bruise deepening. "Halle, can we have a word?" he asked.

"Have a sentence. Stay away Em or you'll get my fist in your face, too." Once Halle had said her threat, she faked a smile and patted his shoulder. "Have a wonderful night, douchebag."

As she went to go to Hanna, Noel Kahn appeared. He carried two red solo-cups in his hands and one between his teeth. He mumbled a cheer when he saw Halle had shown. "Hey!" He put down one cup and took the other from him mouth. "There's my future sister-in-law," he declared. "Looking killer. I like—"

"Save it, Noel. Where's Eric?" She asked, cutting him off.

"Game room. Where else?" Noel answered her. "You know, when my brother does put a ring on it, you can't be mean to me."

"Oh, I think you'll find being related gives you more of an excuse." Eric had walked into the room, from the same direction his younger brother had just come from. Eric went straight to his girlfriend, his hands landing on her hips. "Hey, baby." He gave her a sweet kiss. "You look, well, my girl looks hot," he said.

"I shaved and everything," Halle said jokingly.

"Oh, even hotter," Eric chuckled, them both laughing.

"God, you guys are cute," Hanna awed. She was looking dreamily at the couple, in happiness but also envy. Sean hadn't spared her a look since he and Ben started playing fuseball.

Halle flashed the girl a smile, her hands on Eric's chest. "Thanks, Hanna."

"Don't worry, they grow out of it someday," Eric told Hanna, motioning with his head towards Sean.

"I'm still waiting for him to," Halle joked, and Eric faked a laugh.

"Ha, ha, funny girl," he said. Eric shook his head and then asked, "drink?"

Halle nodded. "Drink."

"I'll go get you one." Eric pecked her lips, and then he left — back the way he came.

Halle went to follow, but a hand on her wrist stopped her. Her eyes rolled up the person's arm all the way to their face. Noel. "I have something a little stronger if you wanna have fun, Hal," he said. His right eye dropped down in a wink. "I won't tell my brother."

"We both know Eric's taken just as much as me at a party before." Halle removed her hand from his hold. "But I'm good without. Thanks."

"Your type is definitely party boys," said Noel, a smirk on his face. "Do you have a thing for older guys too? That's why we never got together?"

For a moment, Halle felt panicked. Did Noel know?

Did he know about Jason? Because he was acting like he did, like he knew the first of Halle's secrets. But she threw it from her body and mind fast. Halle was never one for intimidation. "I date men, not boys, that's why," she told him.

"You know where I am," Noel reminded her, as he tapped the front pocket of his chequered-shirt. He knew too well the thrill Halle got at parties. She acted manic — had a buzz that everyone wanted. Halle always had fun at parties; she took what people supplied. That was why Noel acted so confident; because he knew at the end of the night, Halle would be on some kind of high.

"I'll make my own fun," Halle said proudly. As she attempted to leave, this time Hanna stood in her way. Halle groaned. "My god, does nobody want me to drink tonight?"

"What was that?" Hanna asked her lowly. "What did Noel want?"

"To see if I wanted to use, but I said no," Halle stated.

"What did Noel mean, older guys?"

"I'm dating his brother, his older brother," Halle said, slowing down her speech to exaggerate her point. "Who's older than us."

"He said guys," Hanna pointed out.

Halle laughed. "You wouldn't say 'your type is older guy,' you'd say it's older guys," she explained easily enough. Halle smiled, hand on Hanna's shoulder. "Han, you're overthinking. Have a drink, have fun."

And that was exactly what Halle did. She had a drink, and another, then another, and another. It was how she had fun. Halfway through making out with her boyfriend — somewhere between the third and fourth drink — she had pulled away and grabbed Noel Kahn as he was passing. "I'll take your weed now," she said to him, and she remained on Eric's lap as they shared a joint together.

Fuzzy, her mind went to Jason and That Summer.

Laid on the grass by Wright's park, Halle inhaled from the rolled joint before she passed it to Jason. She had just finished work when he showed up and asked her if she wanted to smoke — something she didn't very often turn down. She didn't tonight.

"You sure no one's gonna come here?" Halle asked him.

"Too late now," Jason said, holding up the the joint. "Besides, no one comes up here past eight. It's Rosewood, everyone's in bed."

"God, I can't wait to leave this town," Halle said, a heavy sigh leaving her body.

"Why would you wanna leave Rosewood?" Jason took a few drags before he passed it back to Halle. "A town like this is where someone like you will thrive. A mother's daughter," he noted.

She let out a dry laugh. "Someone like me —Ha!"

"What? You're, like, the perfect girl. Cheerleader, decent enough grades, from a well-off family — your parents are respected in this town," Jason said.

Halle inhaled three times before she let it out. She said, "So are yours."

Jason plucked the joint from her fingers. "Yeah, but I'm not like my parents. Everyone thinks you're gonna be just like yours," he told her simply.

"You think that's what I want?" Halle asked. She scoffed. "You think I want a house on Bridgewater Terrace, at the end of a cul-de-sac?" Halle was dryly mocking her parents' life, what would be her own. "A membership at the county club? Being the honouree black member of Rosewood elite? Of any club here, actually." Halle said, "I have to try twice as hard than everyone else just because of the colour of my skin, the blackness of my birth. And I'm not even fully black!" she exclaimed, throwing her hands down. "I'm mixed! But it's all this damn town sees, that I ain't white." Strongly, she told Jason, "I don't want any of that if it means being some place I'm clearly not welcome, or wanted. I want none of that. None of what my mom has."

"For someone who says that, going on dates with Eric Kahn doesn't exactly back it up," Jason pointed out. "He's small town royalty."

"I'm resigned to know this is where I'll end up. That no matter how much I fight it, I will be my mother. So, Eric is just one step in the right direction if I do, and I like him," said Halle, shrugging.

"But you don't love him?" questioned Jason curiously.

"No." She laughed and said, "I met him Halloween, Jason, and he's not wanted anything more to see me the odd time he's back from college. It's hardly a 'love' situation."

"Yet."

Halle turned her face to look at Jason. He was staring straight up at the stars, inhaling from the joint. Halle wore a smirk on her face. She teased him, "Are you jealous?"

Jason rolled his eyes, facing her now. "Your ego is massive."

"Yeah, with the two of us, we couldn't make it through a door," she joked.

Jason chuckled, "Here." He held out the joint to her. "You can have the last drag."

"Oh, such a gentleman," she playfully said, taking it from him and then putting it to her lips.

"You know, I think you're wasted here," Jason said to her truthfully.

"But here is where I am." Sadly, Halle added, "and where I'll stay."

Jason was right. Dating Eric meant staying in Rosewood. But where was Jason? He went back to college as soon as September rolled around after Alison went missing. He disappeared on her, and she did everything in her power to plant herself down in Rosewood.

It was that thought that made her drink more. She was laughing wildly, drunk and attached to Eric. She could barely walk in a straight line to her friends when she got a text from Spencer saying she had arrived. Halle found them outside and then sent Eric away as she approached them.

"Hello, liars," she announced drunkenly.

"Wow, hey," Emily said. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I just need that—I need that tree," Halle said. She slumped her hand against it and held herself up. She used her other hand to signal to the girls, rotating it. "Go on."

"So he tackled Ben?" Aria asked. She looked at Halle, who was leaning against the tree. Aria thought as the drunkest, Halle would have a bigger reaction. "Why don't you look surprised?"

"Oh, I already knew. Em told me earlier," Halle said simply. She rolled her wrist again. "Please, continue."

Aria shook her head. It seemed normal for Halle to be in such a way, like Halle could handle it well. She asked, "What was Toby even doing in the girls' locker room?"

"Why are you shocked?" Spencer shot at her. "Toby's a perv. We caught him peeping through the windows, watching us undress."

"Alison's the one who saw him do that," Emily offered. "We never did."

"And we believed her," Halle remarked. She hiccupped. "Ooh—Sorry. Go on."

Hanna appeared by the group, huddled by the tree. "What's up?" She saw Halle. "Hey, boozy, you good?"

To this, Halle stuck up her thumb. "I'm great. A little hot." In realisation, Halle said, "Very hot, actually."

"So what's up?" Hanna asked.

"Toby Cavanaugh got into a fight with Ben over Emily," Aria told her.

"It wasn't over me," said Emily. "God, Look. He just... saved me."

"For what?" Spencer snapped, "Himself?"

Hanna turned up her nose. "Ew."

"If we hadn't asked you about Ben, would you have told us about this?" asked Aria.

"I told Halle," Emily claimed, and Halle nodded sluggishly.

Firmly, Spencer laid out the facts. "Toby is not a good guy, Emily. He could be seriously dangerous."

"If he's such a bad guy, why'd he take the fall for us?" Emily posed the question to them.

"I wouldn't." Halle spoke confidently. "No offence, I'd let all your asses burn if I were him. No way would I take the fall something I didn't do. I barely take responsibility for things I actually did do."

Aria saw Spencer's face drop and asked, "Is this another secret? Do you know something we don't?"

"Guys," Hanna called their attention, "why don't we just, like, chill and talk about this somewhere else? When we're alone," she said.

"I... don't even know what 'just us' means anymore," said Aria, honest with a little bit a fear behind it.

"Wow, downer much." Halle looked at them and said, "Come on, it's a party. We should have be having fun, not standing around talking about Dark and Stormy, and A's explosive texts." She whined, "I wanna have fun. Let's have fun. Fun! Guys, it's a party."

"Yeah..." Hanna was slightly off-put by how much Halle had drunk, but she agreed — it was a party. "Uh... let's talk about it tomorrow, okay?"

"Yes!" cheered Halle, arms in the air.

"Are we still meeting up at the shed?" Hanna asked, and the moment Spencer nodded, Hanna was already walking away.

"Yeah, yeah, sure. Why not?" Aria went to go as well.

"Why are you going?" Emily asked her.

"The gallery, I promised my mom," Aria answered.

"Oh, shoot. That's tonight?" Halle asked, eyes plunging out of their sockets.

"Yeah."

Halle pointed at her. "Tell me mom you've seen me and I'm fine. Tell her I'm with Eric, that'll really sell I'm fine. He really loves Eric. Thanks, baby," she said, stumbling in her heels and then planting a kiss on Aria's cheek.

"Yeah, sure." Aria's eyes widened, an awkward laugh escaping her as Halle left and found herself drunkenly in Eric's arms again.

"Is she gonna be okay?" Aria asked Emily, concerned.

"Honestly, I don't know." Emily watched the person she once called her best friend laughing wildly as she was with her boyfriend. "She had a pretty messy year, more than most. Found out Eric cheated last semester. She took that pretty hard, not that she'll tell you that herself."

"Yeah, well, Halle is used to dealing with the hard things on her own," Spencer replied, all three with eyes on the sad, drunk girl laughing maniacally as she and her boyfriend went inside.

•

She was far too hungover for walking through the woods. Halle had sunglasses on, slouchy sweats on and her curls tied back. She was scared she'd be sick if she took her hair down and smelt the smoke. She wanted a shower, but Spencer was waiting in Halle's living room when she woke and was determined to leave as soon as possible.

So, Halle had dragged herself out of bed much earlier than she wanted to be, slung the canvas-bag full of memories of Alison over her shoulder, and followed Spencer to the shed with the others

"Alison wanted us across the street so she could have it out with Toby. Ali has something on him," Spencer told them.

"Besides being a total perv who peeps in our windows," Hanna shot.

"Ali had something on everyone. She did on us," Halle commented absently. She walked ahead a couple of paces before she realised the group had stopped.

"She did?" Emily asked.

Halle turned to face them and flatly said, "I mean, we wouldn't be getting messages from A with our secrets if we didn't. Alison very clearly had something on each one of us."

"What did she have on you?" Aria asked her.

Scoffing, Halle asked, "you gonna tell me yours?" She noted Aria's silence. "No. Exactly. And I don't expect any of you others to tell me yours either, so I ain't telling you mine."

"But what Alison had on Toby was way bigger," Spencer explained. "And she was threatening to tell everybody, that's why he took the fall for us."

"Why are you waiting until now to tell us?" asked Aria.

"I don't know." Spencer said the same as any of them with a secret with Alison, "Ali made me promise." She truthfully added, "and I was scared. I thought if we never talked about that night again, it would just go away."

"Well, it's not going away," Hanna snorted dryly. "Not unless we toss our phones and join the navy."

"Look, there's five of us and one freak sending messages," Emily offered as they all picked up walking again. "If we just all talk to each other like this, I feel like it makes it easier to deal with everything."

"I think Emily's right," Aria agreed, and she stopped and it meant they all stopped again. "I mean, there's way too many secrets. We shouldn't do this is the middle of nowhere," she said, referring to the memorial they were going to do at the shed for Alison. "We should do it where we can see it everyday."

"You mean like somewhere in school?" Hanna asked.

"No, in town," Aria stated.

"You wanna put our shrine to Ali in the middle of town?" Halle laughed, "you're mad."

"Not a shrine. We should keep all our things of Alison for ourselves," Aria said. "We should ask if we can put a bench somewhere, and you know what?" She grew firm. "Whoever did this to her, if they're still in Rosewood, we should make them look at it everyday, too."

Hanna sighed and Spencer was quick to pick up on it. "What, you hate the idea?"

"—Yes," Halle said over Hanna.

"—No." Hanna elaborated, "I just—I had a rough night."

"So did Halle," chuckled Spencer.

"Shut your—"

Halle cut herself off the moment branches rustled around them. Not again, they thought. The girls took off after where they sound came from, but then Hanna halted them.

"Look."

On the ground was a bracelet matching that of what Alison gave the girls.

"Is that yours?" Spencer asked Emily, and Emily shook her head.

Eyes on the material, Aria said, "It's Alison's..."

•