2.20

•

"CTRL: A"

"Our championship Rosewood Sharks are running a little behind, but they'll be here any minute."

The skirt of her cheerleading uniform twirled — layers of blue and white hit against the bare skin of her upper thigh — as Halle ruffled her pom-poms. She rolled her wrists, stood near to her team while they waited for the arrival of the girls' swim team. Halle was particularly excited. She wore a large grin, eager for the team to get there already so she could wrap her arms around Emily in a celebratory hug.

Looking around, she caught a glimpse of Hanna and Caleb coupled up on the bench, under the window. Halle's smile fell slightly. The pair looked so in love — all cuddled up into each other, bright smiles and exchanged looks of adoration. A deep sense of longing took a tight grip of her heart, closing its grasp around it. Halle felt the phantom feeling of Jason's touch on her waist and her breath caught.

After exhaling — Halle gently blowing out the stuck air — her briefly closed. She needed a moment to herself, to compose herself. It wasn't ever going to happen, with the rambunctious crowd swirling around the foyer, but Halle tried.

Jason and those three words had shaken her. Him saying them to her had caused a crack in her surface. Through that crack, the tough act she had perfected was falling apart. Bit by bit, Halle could hear it breaking. So, she buried the tight longing in her chest deeper, ignoring her buckling knees, if not for the Sharks colours emblazoned proudly on her body but for her own self-preservation. The pressure on her heart was weighty and overtook the heaviness already on her shoulders. All the heartbreak and stress had melted through her skin and formed a thick veneer over her bones. It drove her — kept her upright and steady and was part of her skeleton now.

Opening her eyes, Halle met Hanna's beaming face. Then gave a little cheery wave, teeth shining as she smiled widely at her friend. In return, Halle forced her own smile and dropped her right eye down into a wink just her brother appeared at her side.

"Hey, I need you to cover for me Friday night," Myles said, quickly trying to escape her already. "'Kay, thanks, bye."

As he went to flee, Halle's grasped at his jacket and pulled him back. She kept held him there with the fabric balled up in her tight fist. "First off, rude," Halle commented. "And second off, where you going where you can't tell mom and dad?"

"A party," Myles answered. He looked down at her grip and shoved her off of him, brushing down the newly-formed crinkles in his jacket. "It's nothing."

"Then, you can tell them there's a party," Halle countered.

"Tell them I'm going with you, there's gotta be some thing for this, right?" said Myles, motioning to the huge school banner strung up for the Sharks.

Halle crossed her arms, her pom-poms sticking out more from them being squashed beside her arms. She asked incredulously, "You want me to tell them you're going to the girls' swim-team party? Okay, I'll bite — which parent do you think is stupid enough to buy that, mom or dad?"

"Just tell them," Myles snapped. He remarked after, "You usually have no problem lying."

Gritted her back teeth, annoyance building gradually, Halle challenged, "Neither do you."

As the doors opened, the large crowd cheered. Halle glared at her brother, realising she had to fulfil her responsibility. With the cheer-team leading in the applause for the swim team as they entered, Halle caved and nodded. It was a silent contract, one where she agreed to lie for him like she had been doing. Then, Halle put on a smile, raised her pom-poms and joined the hearty victory-chorus, before she broke from the team to find Emily. She shoved her brother's side as she went, hard.

"The sign's beautiful," Emily had said to Maya St. Germain, complimenting the homemade banner the girl had brought along with her. Maya was the first person the swimmer greeted before Halle interrupted.

"Em! Em!" Halle hurried over, jumping in with giddy joy. Her hands, still clutching at her blue and white pom-poms, collided with her friend's shoulders and pulled her into a crushing hug. Smiling brightly, Halle said, "Congrats, Em!"

Emily's smile was massive, delighting in the encouragement. Her dimples were more prominent now, eyes lit up with happiness. She wrapped her arms around Halle, keeping the cheerleading close to her at least until the others showed up.

"Way to go, champ!" said Spencer gleefully.

"Hey," Emily said, happy to be seeing her friends waiting there for her. She moved from Halle briefly to hug Spencer, relishing in a merry moment with her best friends.

Overwhelmed by the joyous celebrations Emily had — Halle first and now Spencer, followed by Hanna and Aria — Maya took a step back. With her hand-made sign dedicated to her 'Awesome Emily', the girl's smile faltered at being pushed aside. Halle noticed and shot the girl a pressed, sympathetic smile, which Maya returned appreciatively. It was overwhelming, Halle understood that; recently the madness felt oddly like drowning.

Hanna said, smiling, "Em, my mom said that we could have the team party at my house."

"That's great!" said Emily happily. She stepped back, arm falling back around Halle as the two basked in the immediate high from Emily's swim-win, both sharing smiles.

However, it didn't last long. They noticed the fallen faces; the frowns that replaced the grins and the worry that crept in afterward. Emily and Halle looked behind them and saw the same thing their friends did. Around them, as the chatter continued, Officer Reynolds and another Uniform entered. The cops made their way through the parting crowd and the dread rose in Halle's chest. She felt Emily's pinkie-finger worm its way around hers as they held their breaths, awaiting the cold sensation of handcuffs around their wrists.

Only, Garrett and his partner walked straight past them. In shock, Aria's eyes went wide. Her mouth opened and closed several times, befuddled that there was another reason the police would be here. It was always them. The five were all confused — and mostly, intimidated.

If it wasn't them, who were the police here for?

"Caleb Rivers?"

Hanna broke from the group first. Then, Halle went to go, alarmed, but the firm hold of Emily's interlinked pinkie with her kept her back.

"I've got a court order here to impound your laptop," Officer Reynolds declared. He produced the document from inside of of her uniform's inside-pocket and presented it to Caleb, who sat with the device on her knee.

"What for?" Caleb questioned. He didn't falter. There was no panic in his face. He remained completely calm under pressure.

"Someone's been hacking into secure school files," Officer Reynolds revealed. "And I traced them back to your IP address."

Caleb scoffed in dry amusement. "You think if I did something like that, I'd be stupid enough to leave a trail?" he asked, inspecting the paper.

"We'll find out," replied Officer Reynolds. "Come on, hand it over."

Very reluctantly, Caleb handed over his shut laptop but kept quiet.

"Any passwords we're gonna need?" asked the officer.

Standing up, Caleb met Garret's height. "Court order says you can take the machine. It doesn't say anything about what's in my head," he retorted back smartly, challenging the man in front of him.

The group watched as Hanna and Caleb spoke in intense whispers, as a now gloating Officer Reynolds and partner left with the laptop. Shortly after, Hanna returned to them, slightly shaken more so alarmed, and Spencer immediately asked, "What just happened?"

"Garrett took Caleb's computer," Hanna told them, panicked. "Court order."

Their phones started to chime. The familiar cold apprehension skirted up their spines, and chilling fear of A reappeared and destroyed Emily's small moment of victory. They reached into their pockets for their phones nervously.

NOW IT'S CALEB'S TURN.-- A.

•

Desperately seeking answers, Spencer pressed the side of her hand to the glass as she peered inside the dark office building. A 'Sorry We're Closed' sign hung over the door, with DiLaurentis Commercial Properties printed bold on the frosted glass-bottom. Backing off, Spencer decided she perhaps wasn't going to get answers today. As she went, she found exactly who she was looking for.

Jason DiLaurentis was stood beside a pop-up market store in the centre of town. He was in polite conversation with Maya when Spencer spied him, causing her brows to furrow, and when she saw the girl leave, Spencer made for Jason. He noticed her approach, side-eyeing briefly. Jason cleared his throat and passed over a couple red apples over to the store-owner to polish and bag up for him.

"I've been looking for you," Spencer said, stopping off to the side. She had a firm hold on the strap of her bag; her actions were nervous where she kept her voice confident. "Your office is closed."

"Yeah, I only work a couple hours a day," Jason replied. "Getting the place up and running again." He paused before asking, "Did your father send you?"

"No," said Spencer, the muscles in her face tightening at the mention of the man. "I haven't talked to him."

Reaching for his wallet, from his back-pocket, Jason's eyes stayed on her as he said, "You still don't believe it."

Spencer saw him turn away to pull out some cash and stepped forwards, her voice firmer. "I believe it, that's why I haven't talked to him." She continued while he paid, "I haven't talked to anybody about this."

Jason inhaled, turning back to her now with a brown-paper bag in hand. He tucked his wallet back into his jeans and remarked, "Well, you'd better talk to your dad." He rounded on her, attempting to go, but Spencer didn't let up.

Spencer whipped around, confrontational. "No, I'm talking to you," she snapped.

Sighing, Jason turned back. "Look," he said, "I didn't come back here to get between you and your father."

"Well, it's a little too late for that," Spencer countered.

"I'm sorry, I really am," he said earnestly. "This was never about hurting you."

"Well, what is it about?" asked Spencer. She noted the conflicted expression on his face and pleaded with him. "Please, Jason. I mean, you left town the night I was arrested, so what made you come back now?"

"Truth is, I thought I had something to come back to," Jason confessed.

Spencer cast her eyes down in shame. She and the girls all had their parts in what Jason was hinting at. She said knowingly, "Halle."

A small nod was all that was needed to confirm it. Then Jason met Spencer on mutual ground. She had information he wanted and vice versa. They could help each other out. To talk privately, they went to little patch of greenery in the centre of town and sat on a bench. While Spencer leant back, arms folded over one another, Jason sat forward, hunched over with his arms rested on his thighs. He spoke to her over his shoulder, body turned away from her, tense around the delicate situation.

"It was another one of those boxes Ali liked so much," he told her. "I found it under the floorboards of a room at my grandmother's."

"When I hide things, they stay hid," Spencer recited perfectly. After a questioning eyebrow from Jason, Spencer explained, "It was something Ali used to say."

Jason accepted that, silently with a few nods. It did sound like his sister. He went on, "There were letters from the summer she went missing between me and Halle. I always thought I lost them, but Ali had them stashed away, probably until she'd need them no doubt. I didn't know how she got the ones I wrote, but she did."

"Myles," Spencer answered, which perplexed Jason. "Alison blackmailed him. She was looking for proof you and Halle were sneaking around That Summer, and he found them... And gave them to her." Seeing how far she could push her question, Spencer asked softly, "What was in them?"

"They were love letters, really." Jason took a deep breath, exhaling through his nose. He continued, often glancing at Spencer but never for too long. "We wrote them all summer, whenever I was away in Cape May with my family or she was in New York visiting her grandmother. Ali had pretty much all of them, I could read them as if it was conversation — hers, then mine, back and forth. Then I found some that weren't ours. There were letters to my mom from your dad."

"Love letters, too?" Spencer asked.

He nodded, keeping his eyes ahead of him. "Couple of those," he said, and Spencer let out a shaky breath as she sat forward on the bench. "Then I'm born, and he starts sounds like a lawyer," remarked Jason dryly. "'In light of recent events... Under the current situation...'"

"That's my dad," Spencer agreed.

Jason was quiet. He paused for a moment, resigned to the treatment he would always received from his biological father. It wasn't much different from the way the man he had called dad all his life treated him, too. One lied to him and the other despised him. The only one that was ever really there — that ever really made him feel like he wasn't a failure was Halle.

Now, he didn't have her either.

"There was something else in the box," Jason informed, looking at Spencer. Admittedly he did it to search for a reaction but got none. "Fifteen thousand dollars in cash. In envelopes, five thousand in each one."

"Where would Ali have gotten that kind of money?" asked Spencer, brows arched high.

"Think about it," Jason implied, already knowing where his mind went. Hearing the girl scoff in disbelief, Jason faced forward again.

Spencer lowered her gaze and said, "She found those letters and figured out what they meant... and then she blackmailed my father to keep from blowing up both families." She repulsed at the end, realising the manipulation of her dead best friend, anger making her words sound bitter.

Jason faced her. He was surprised at how willing she was to think that of her father and his sister. "I know," he said, looking ahead again. "It's hard to believe when you say it out loud."

"Yeah, but if anybody had the nerve to do something like that, it was Ali," concluded a disgusted Spencer.

"Spencer."

The way Jason said her name told Spencer all she needed to known. She knew what was next. She braced herself for the mention of Halle, feeling it was coming since the moment when they first sat down.

"Can you tell her—?"

Spencer cut him off first, before he could finish. "It's nothing she doesn't know, Jason." She sighed and said, "Look, Halle's always at ninety miles-per-hour, and she doesn't ever slow down. Sometimes, you think she's not listening but she is. She's heard it all, she just doesn't know how to deal with things. So if you told her something, it's wishfully thinking if you think she'll slow down for you. She goes too fast for you."

"Right," said Jason, disappointed again.

Noting his hurt, Spencer pulled her brows together as Jason got quiet. She realised, "You love her, don't you?"

Jason painfully swallowed but didn't speak. His silence was a loud enough answer for Spencer. Jason loved Halle. He was in love with her, and now Spencer had confirmation.

•

The meeting was to take place in Josie's Roadside Diner. While Aria sat in the booth in closer to the door — Alison's copy of 'Lolita' displayed clearly on the table — the four others were in the booth just behind her. They weren't there long, just enough to receive complimentary waters as they riffled over the menu, before the man showed.

Tall, lanky with a curved neck, the man stopped at Aria's booth and noted the book. "So you're a friend of Vivian's," he said.

From where Halle sat, her back to both Aria and the man, she could hear the eagerness of her friend. The abrupt clink of the clattering cup showed the petite girl's naivety, but she was the voice the man knew, so Aria was the one meeting him.

"Yeah," said Aria.

A creak of a bench seat let Halle know the man had sat. He then asked Aria, "How much money does she owe you?"

Aria sounded surprised. They all were, just from the table behind. "Vivian owes you money?"

"She owe me a job," he disclosed, "and she almost owes me a girlfriend thanks to you calling that number."

Quickly, Emily passed Hanna a compact mirror from her purse. The blonde accepted it and held it up, so both she and Halle could get a better look at the man without drawing attention to themselves. Halle sat back and angled her head to catch the mirror, taking in the male, as Hanna pretended to be checking on her appearance. He reminded Halle of a weasel, with his narrow-face and beady eyes.

They watched as Aria leant forward, curious. "You said that she cost you a job. What did she do?"

He exhaled forcibly and explained, "I worked at Allegheny Cellular. Human Resources. Your friend came in asking for a job, but she didn't want a job." The four girls exchanged looks of bewilderment, forever entrapped in the overgrowing list of questions about their late leader. "She wanted information, and she said she'd pay for it."

Immediately, almost cutting him off, Aria asked over-eagerly, "What kind of information?"

A knowing smirk pulled at his mouth. "Ah, I get it. You're Alison."

That alone was enough to send a chill up Halle's back. She sat up, uncomfortable now. She could sense the same from her friends, all uneasy.

"Vivian told you about Alison?" questioned a suddenly careful Aria.

He narrowed his beady eyes at her and said, suspicious of the girl, "She said she had a friend named Alison who was getting texts from somebody. The number was blocked, and she wanted to know where they were coming from. She'd pay to find out."

She did, Halle thought, just not in the way he meant. Alison paid with her life, Halle concluded miserably, still unsure of her part in the mystery.

"Did you find out?" asked Aria.

"Yeah, I found out," he claimed. "Then I made the mistake of telling your pal before I had the money in my hand. She dropped off the map, and I got fired for accessing restricted information."

Aria leaned in more, questioning. "What did you find out about the person that was sending those texts?"

"Are you listening?" the man shot back. "I did not get paid. I want what she owes me."

"How much does she owe you?" Aria was quick on the draw, going to snatch her purse from bag when her movements stilled the second he stated the amount.

"Two thousand."

Aria's hand froze. She snapped her head back around to face him with a serious glare. "Two thousand dollars?"

Eyes wide, the girls all felt hope slip from them, like the information was just within their grasps. Slowly, Hanna closed the compact and brought her hand down to the table, sinking.

"That's the price today," threatened the man, "but it could go up depending on market conditions."

Halle picked up on Spencer's figiting. The Hastings girl diverted her eyes down at the menus and played with her hair, signaling to Halle that the man must have glanced over.

"Don't ever use that number again," he said to Aria gravely. The clicking of a ball-point hit Halle's ears, unnerving her as how furious he was with a pen. "If you wanna do business, call me here," he said.

Halle heard the creak of the bench and knew the man had stood. Aria gasped, "Oh, who do I ask for when I call?"

"Tell 'em you wanna talk to Jonah," he answered.

Then, he left. Aria was left holding a napkin with his number on when the girls finally span to look at her. Halle at last had a name to put to the weasel-looking man, although she would go on to refer to him as anything but.

"He thought I was Ali." Aria concluded. She was now sat at their booth, squashed in next to Halle and Hanna as the latter two split a thick slice of chocolate cake. "That means he doesn't know she's dead, and if he finds out, there won't be enough money in the world to make him talk."

"If this Jonah had real information, Ali might've known who A was, and that's why she was killed," Emily explained.

"Yeah, we have to find out what he told her about those messages," Spencer agreed, a strong determined glaze over her eyes.

"What are we supposed to do?" Hanna put down her fork and retorted, "Throw a bikini car wash?" She snarked back, "Even if we talked Prudence Finn into a tube top, we wouldn't raise enough money."

"My job barely pays a wage, so I'm no help," put in Halle, shoving in a forkful of cake into her mouth.

Aria looked to the girls opposite her, a mix of expectancy and questioning. "Spencer?"

Startled, put in a tough spot, Spencer argued, "No, my account's been on lockdown since we were arrested."

"So where are we gonna get the money from?" asked Emily, defeated.

•

Halle fiddled with the end of her dress anxiously. Burnt orange and ribbed, the dress clung to her body. Halle kept turning back and forth, over and over, hand pressed to her stomach as she fought back the urge to change, too afraid she'd see today's chocolate treat. She didn't want to go. Halle didn't feel good in her body or in herself. There was crippling wave of anxiety, fuelled by deep sadness, threatening to drown her soon, and Halle feared she'd be swept away by it.

Turning, Halle showed off her choice of clothing to Pacha, who was lying down on the bed. "How do I look, sweet boy? Good?" She got closer to the German Shepherd, hands on the side of his face, and smooched his head lovingly. Pulling back, Halle stroked his soft head. She looked into the dog's large eyes and sighed. "Yeah, I'm not in a party-mood either, but it's Em," Halle reasoned, "I have to go."

A knock at the door alerted Halle to her mother. The woman was stood in the doorway, eyeing the tight material her seventeen-year-old donned while she was crouched low to comfort Pacha. "You look pretty, baby," Luisa surprisingly complimented. "But don't you think that's a bit much? It's Emily's party, you can relax it a bit," said Luisa, venturing in. She sat down on the bed, watching.

The moment she sat, was when Halle retracted. The cheerleader got up and moved back towards her cabinet, where the arched-edge mirror sat. She rolled her eyes and gestured to the foot of the bed, at the black leather jacket. "I have a coat, and I'm wearing sneakers," she said. Halle looked back to the mirror and pulled at the sleeves. "Besides, Hanna'll be dressed up too."

"I've never seen Hanna wear something like that," Luisa replied.

Rolling her eyes again, Halle shot, "That's because the only social event you've ever been to with Hanna was a funeral, Mom." Halle twirled a baby-hair around her finger to try and correct a curl. "I don't think body-cons are exactly funeral-appropriate."

"Don't get smart with me," Luisa warned, already finding something to pick Halle apart for. Not that it came hard for the woman.

Myles appeared at the door, like their mother had done just before. Half-in and half-in, he hung onto the door and smiled at Halle, something that was off-putting to the girl. "You ready?"

"I, uh—"

"Oh, hey, Mom." Myles focused his grin on their mother, who was on the bed, pretending he hadn't seen her previously or known she was in Halle's bedroom.

Looking a little confused, Luisa asked him, "What's going on?"

"Yeah, Myles." Halle popped her hip out as she stood, arms crossed waiting for an answer. "What's going on?"

"I'm taking you to Em's, remember?" Myles said. He plastered on a broad grin, knowing too well how bright their mother's smile was growing.

Luisa reached for her son's hand, holding it gently, and said, "That's so nice of you. Isn't that nice, Halle?"

"You know, I thought I'd stay and keep an eye on her, make sure she stays out of trouble," said Myles. "Especially since we don't know how she broke her old phone yet."

Halle threw it at a wall.

Standing up, Luisa went to her son and pressed a firm kiss to his cheek. She held his chin in her hand, smiling adoringly at him. "How did I get so lucky to have such a thoughtful kid, hey?" She glanced over at her daughter and said, "You better thank your brother, he's looking out for you."

"Looking out for himself," Halle muttered to herself, under her breath.

"What?" asked Luisa.

"Nothing." Halle put on a fake smile and said, "Just that we better get going." She moved and grabbed her jacket in a tight fist. It was difficult to push aside her bitterness as she bid a goodbye to the dog, kissing his head, before she rounded past the pair lingering in her doorway.

Myles sighed and gave his mother a shrug, as if they were both helpless when it came to Halle. He kissed his mother's cheek this time and said, "See you later."

"Okay — have fun!" called out Luisa, aiming them at Halle who was already downstairs. The door slammed shortly after, with Halle in a vile mood now.

As she went, Halle shoved her arms into her jacket and waited in building irritation for her brother to show. Halle stood by the car, tapping her foot as she did her best to cool the swirling, hot anger brewing under her surface, boiling her blood as she dared to blow up. Instead, when he showed, all her cool had been lost. Halle finally blew up.

"You know, you're a real jerk," Halle fired out. "Yeah, she may not trust me, but you don't have to go and make it worse for me, okay?"

"No, you do that all by yourself," Myles returned. Their relationship was always turbulent — they were both trying to survive in their family — but it was beyond repair since Halle discovered Myles stole her letters from Jason and armed Alison with them, selling out Halle's secret to keep his own.

"Screw you!" Halle yelled. Quite violently, she dug her hand inside the pocket of the leather jacket and yanked out the car-keys. She launched them at his feet and turned her back, stalking off towards the end of the driveway.

"Where are you going? I'm giving you a ride, remember?" Myles argued.

"No!" Halle span back around, at the end of the drive, staring coldly up at her brother, and retorted, "I'd rather die than get in that car with you."

"There you go again, making everything into a drama," Myles said, gesturing to her in exasperation.

Hot fury rushed through Halle. She pressed her tongue up against her teeth, trying to hold it all back, but he said too much — went too far. Snarling, Halle chided, "You make everything worse for me, you know that?" She raised her finger at him in a mad rage, riled up at him. "Don't ever use me like that in front of mom again."

"I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry!" said Myles loudly, hands out in exclamation.

"This whole time, I was an idiot because I thought we—" Halle made a point to motion between them aggressively while she ranted, "were in this together. My older brother and me —together! — having to be perfect for mom and dad. Both fighting the same battle, with the same pressures. I know we were never friends, but we at least got that. So what changed? What changed, Myles?"

"You, Halle!" he yelled hotly, "You changed!" He sighed, exhausted, "You stopped listening and started fighting back. You gave them hell and pushed back and I was stuck having to be perfect." Shouting at her, Myles' frustration tore from his throat. "You let the team down first! You quit on this family first!"

Taken aback, Halle was physically winded. She stepped back and let out hurt scoff, sucking her teeth while she took all his anger and swallowed it back. Her voice wavered, "Well, then, I guess we're done here."

"Halle," he tried.

But it was no use; she had already stalked off.

•

"You're late, why are you late?" Hanna was on Halle the second she arrived at her house. She noticed the peeved look on Halle's face; the shortness of her breath and the frazzled appearance of her curls. "Wait, did you walk here?"

"Yes, I don't wanna talk about it," Halle said, a little snappy.

"Okay, we don't have to talk out it — now," Hanna said, with a smile.

Halle returned it as best as she could but failed miserably. It was obvious how little she wanted to be there, but Halle was there. She needed five minutes to herself. Five minutes to prepare herself yet five minutes wasn't what Halle got. She had exactly five seconds from the front door while she walked into the kitchen to put on a convincing smile.

Tonight was for Emily. It was about Emily, not Halle.

"Okay, I'm ready to work — Hey, Mrs M," Halle said, greeting her friend's mother partway through. She entered the kitchen after Hanna, ridding herself of her jacket and folding it over one of the bar-stools at the island. "So, what can I do to help?" she asked, her question aimed at her friend's mother.

"How are your piping skills?" asked Mrs Marin.

"Always in need of improving," Halle replied. She sent the two a smile before she picked up the piping bag, winding the end and starting on writing on the royal-blue frosting. Halle alternated between '#1' or 'Sharks' while Hanna resumed conversation with her mother.

"Can't we get him a lawyer or something?" Hanna asked her mother, and immediately Halle knew they were talking about Caleb.

A phone ringing cut her mother off first. Mrs Marin sighed, "I know you want to help, but Caleb's got a family now, and if he needs legal help—"

"He won't ask them," Hanna interrupted. She explained as her mother went to answer her cellphone, "He doesn't want them to know. He's barely talking to me about it." She turned to Halle. "Has he told you anything?"

"Nope," Halle answered, popping the 'p'. She focused on getting straight lines for the letters, tongue dipping out to wet her bottom lip as she focused.

Hanna eyed Halle suspiciously, stood piping white icing onto cookies while in a tight dress, something that looked as thought it came right out of Hanna's own wardrobe. "Why are you so dressed up?"

"It's a party..." said Halle, as if it was an obvious reply.

"So, you're not sneaking off and seeing someone...? Jason, maybe?" Hanna asked curiously, hinting.

Halle glanced down. When she looked up again, her eyes were wet. Halle's voice shook as she revealed, "No, I ruined that."

"Oh, Halle." Hanna softened. She went to put down the spatula covered in frosting, but Halle's raised hand stopped the blonde from approaching.

"I'm fine, it's fine," Halle said. She blinked back her tears as best she could, still fighting against the crashing waves of her sadness, and added, "You know me, I'll be over it next week."

In a way, Halle was right. She should have long been over Jason and their summer but it had burrowed deep within and was now all she craved.

Emily entered the kitchen from the back patio, with Maya now in tow. The swimmer, now more dressed up than she usually was but still in blue, placed down a tray on the island. "I'll be down in a minute."

"Okay," Hanna said. She smiled sweetly at them both. "Hey, Maya."

"Hey," said Maya quietly, which Halle just managed to return. Maya's eyes were just as glassy as Halle's were earlier. Halle wondered what was getting Maya choked up but didn't ask. The pair left for upstairs just as Mrs Marin re-entered the kitchen, flustered.

"Put down the icing," ordered Mrs Marin. "Halle, you're gonna have to finish up here." She looked to her daughter and informed pointedly, "We've been invited to the police station."

A little later on, music played in the background. The party was in full-swing; blue and white adorned every corner. Members of the swim-team and their friends littered Hanna's house. It was bustling with teenagers, all happy and smiling, having fun and laughing with other over soft drinks. Halle forced a smile, going around as she and Emily both played host. Both girls kept cool under pressure — something the two of them had learnt from being a part of a school team. They often got intense, thriving under extreme conditions; as everything else was chaotic, they were completely calm. Halle noted how it intimidated Maya, who was excluded again, when Halle and Emily first came up with their battle-plan for the evening without Hanna and her mother.

In a low whisper, a panicked Spencer followed Emily closely. "The cops called them down there?" Emily grimaced a smile as someone took a cookie from her tray as Spencer continued to ask questions. "Which cops?"

"I don't know," Emily said. "Halle told me when I came downstairs with Maya."

"They left in a rush, understandably," Halle muttered. Her fake, bright smile was frozen onto her face, hurting her cheeks while she offered out cookies to guests.

They rounded the kitchen, spotting the door open from the archway. A tired-looking Mrs Marin gave an exasperated sigh while Hanna looked positively freaked. After a brief exchange, inaudible to the loitering three, Mrs Marin went upstairs. Hanna shut the front door, and the girls made an instant break for her.

"Hey," Hanna greeted quietly.

"Hey, what's going on with Caleb?" Halle asked, concern.

Hanna threw her arms out, slapping her sides. "I don't know," she said, glancing up to check her mother was out of earshot. "But that's not why we were called down there. Wilden's back." Baffled, taking in the shocked faces of her friends, she said, "He still thinks we had something to do with Ali's murder."

Halle looked down instantly. Guilty, she took in her trainers, which were suddenly more interesting. She hid her nerves and bit the inside of her cheek, hard, not letting up even when the metallic taste filled her mouth. At that point, Halle actually hoped the wave would crash upon her sooner, so she didn't have to have this conversation or lie.

"There's a photo of the three of us," Hanna said and gestured to her, Emily and Spencer, "outside the coroner's officer looking for page five."

Emily's eyes bulged. "A was following us?"

"No, security cameras," Hanna said flatly. "Look, there's an investigation going on. He said that copies of that page are missing."

"Copies?" Emily questioned. "As in every copy?"

"Well, if the cops don't have it, then it had to have been an inside job," Spencer explained easily, knowing exactly where it would lead.

"Garrett," stated Emily.

Hanna shot, "Officer Two-Face is gonna open up that laptop and— I mean, what if Caleb goes to jail? It's gonna be all my fault!"

"It's not gonna happen," Emily assured.

"God, I need a drink," Halle said, hand on her head. She looked up and saw Spencer was in closet grabbing her coat. "What are you doing?"

"Jonah knows something that could help us figure out what really happened to Alison," Spencer reasoned, shoving her arms into her coat. "Wilden is just gonna keep on coming after us, so we need to find out who killed Alison, so we can prove it wasn't us."

"Okay, unless you found two thousand dollars while I was out..." Hanna retorted.

"Where are you doing?" asked Emily.

Bracing herself, Spencer reached for the doorknob and meekly said, "Home."

•

With all the buzz of the party, Halle just needed a moment to herself. Unable to find her jacket, she went out bare-arms onto the back patio. As darkness fell, the night had grown cold and bitter. Grateful Mrs Marin was into her decor, Halle grabbed one of the throw-blankets from off a deckchair and loosely strung it around her shoulders.

Halle took a seat on the deckchair and exhaled forcibly. She let go of a breath she didn't know she had been holding and forced it from her body, feeling her shoulders give out. She nursed a drink, bitterly chasing it down with the ticking pressure. Her nose scrunched up whenever she took a sip, remembering there was no alcohol as if for the first time every time.

She checked her phone. No messages.

Silence.

It had been since the night of Truth Up.

Deciding she'd be the one to break it, Halle found Jason's contact and pressed call. She feared she would say the wrong thing — mess it even more. Halle might possibly say the worst thing right now, so she hung up the second it started to ring. She snapped it shut and started to laugh at herself, dryly.

"Why are you such an idiot, Halle Brewster?"

Her voice was weak as she asked herself that important, looming question. She bet Jason wished he'd never drove her that Halloween night or made her into his confidant when they got high that summer. Halle didn't blame Jason if he hated her because she really did a number on him — broke his heart, too. But the sadder thing was that Halle knew Jason didn't hate her. He loved her, Jason told her so, and she begged him to take it back.

The door opened suddenly, and there was Maya, looking rather stunned to find Halle outside. "Oh, hey, sorry."

"No, no, don't be," Halle reassured. "Just wanted some air."

"I know the feeling, it's pretty intense in there," said Maya, chuckling over the sting of the truth.

Halle sensed the discomfort. "Everything okay?"

"How do you do it?" Maya asked, partly in disbelief. She quickly shut the door and eagerly took a seat opposite the girl, leaning forward, desperate for answers. It all seemed too much for Maya. "How do you deal it? It's barely been a night and I've already hated every moment."

"It's a sport," Halle gave poorly, as her answer. "It's not the traditional sense of fun, especially when—" Halle jangled her cup a tiny bit, "the drinks are painfully—"

"Sober," Maya finished.

"Exactly," Halle laughed, with her. She then added, more empathically, "You know, for a lot of these girls, it's their only way of getting into college. Or getting a scholarship, like Em and me."

"You and her, you're really close," Maya commented.

"Yeah," Halle found herself smiling sweetly as she spoke, "well, she's one of my best friends."

"Just a friend?" Maya questioned, a mischievous glint to her eyes.

Slightly confused, Halle arched her brows. "What do you mean?"

"Well... you're close and..." Maya motioned to herself and said, "Em's into girls."

"Ohh." Halle took another sip at her drink, unaware of Maya's waiting stare until it was made very clear it wasn't just a general statement. "Oh—" Halle covered her mouth and said, "No, Em and me, we're just friends. She was way too into Alison to crush on anybody else, and I was into Ja—" She stopped and began again, correcting her almost slip-up. "Into somebody else. There's never been anything, you don't have to worry."

"Right," Maya tried to laugh it off, but Halle could tell something was bothering her. Something about today and the team.

Noticing the withdrawal on Maya's face, Halle chose to give the girl's leg a soft nudge with her foot. Jokingly, Halle added, "Hey, don't worry about this all, you're not the only one who's having a hard time being here. I used to have to be either extremely drunk or high to get through these parties."

Maya seemed surprised by that confession. "You smoke?"

"I did," Halle revealed. "It was after I got on the team, actually. A lot of the older girls smoked at parties and I wanted to fit it, so..." Halle gave a little shrug and carried on, "I got sucked in. And by time the summer came around, I was doing it with somebody else, like, all the time."

"Ah, stoner buddies," Maya realised.

"The tightest of bonds," Halle remarked sarcastically, sipping at her drink. "And when I lost Alison and... I..." She cleared her throat and confessed, "I was pretty far gone last summer — did a lot more than smoke. I was stupid, really, but I lost my best friend and then I lost my friends after that..." She glanced down at her drink sadly. "And my stoner buddy was gone, too. He went back to college, worked on him himself — got sober, forgot about me. I had no one looking out for me, so the drugs helped me feel okay."

"You were alone? Had no friends?" Maya asked gently.

"I had a boyfriend for a while," answered Halle. "For a year actually, not that I really care about the timing. He was just... I needed to feel safe after Alison, and he made me feel safe. I think when we found her body, and the girls came back to me, I didn't need him anymore. He didn't make me feel safe anymore — they did," she confessed, far too earnest for her own liking.

"Wow, deep," Maya laughed, and Halle joined in afterwards trying to mask the sour taste of honesty. "So, wait, what about Pam?" Maya asked, while Halle took a drink. With wide eyes, she hinted, "Does she know about the...?"

"Oh, hell no, I'm not an idiot," said Halle, and the two of them chuckled. "No, I kept it strictly away from Mrs Fields. With Em too, at least until the end of That Summer." Halle's laugh melted away, a frown replacing her smile. "I smoked the night Ali disappeared... Died," she corrected, feeling her eyes well up again.

God, Halle thought herself pathetic. When did she before such a crier?

"Oh, crap," Maya replied, feeling the heaviness of the confession.

"Yeah. Kind of puts perspective on the fact..." Halle's were full with tears again. She closed them; the trickling memories of That Night were unbearably intense and it haunted her now. Still, she kept to her lie, praying this time she'd believe it. "I was asleep while somebody did that to her."

"But you're a saint now? Don't touch the stuff?" Maya asked curiously.

"Uh, I—"

Maya routed into her bag and held up a blunt proudly. "You wanna... maybe?" She gave Halle an empathetic look and offered kindly, "Hey, it's one joint, and if anybody needs to relax, it's you."

Halle bit her bottom lip, debating it over in her head. She had a hankering for it, to forget all her problems. What did she have to lose? Nothing, she answered. So, Halle sighed and agreed. "Light it up."

Ten minutes later, the two girls were in fits of giggles. With smoke lingering in the air, giving off a musky smell, they shared over the blunt. Halle overindulged Maya in the chaos that was her life, Mostly, Halle stuck to her relationships, which shocked Maya deeply, having thought Halle was boring previously.

"So, wait—" Maya held up her hand and passed over the slowly burning joint, "you were hooking up with Alison's brother?"

Halle inhaled, letting the smoke fill her lungs before exhaling a cloud of smoke. "Kinda, yeah," she breathed pout. "Actually, not really. We got high, made out, told each other secrets."

"So, we're two for three right now," teased Maya.

"That's... true," Halle sang, falling back into laughter again with the girl. She inhaled again before passing over the joint over to Maya's hand. "But me and Jason, it won't ever work. He's too... he's..."

"Hot," said Maya bluntly, surprising Halle. "Girl, I see it, I get it. I talked to him earlier today." She explained through delayed speech, "We packed up some of Alison's stuff in the move, and up close, woah, he's gorgeous. His eyes are just so—"

"Green," Halle said wistfully, as Maya continued to smoke. A small smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. "Honestly... I think it's my favourite colour."

"Oh, my god," Maya sat up in excitement, "you love him." She hit Halle's knee and asked, bewildered, "Girl, why aren't you with him?"

"A lot reasons," Halle replied, rolling her eyes. "Too many reasons, not enough reasons?" She questioned before helplessly bursting into another fit of laughter, "I have no clue."

Maya took a long drag of the joint. She commented, delighted, "God, who knew Rosewood was so scandalous? If I knew the gossip was this juicy, I would've hung out with you sooner."

"I could've had a new stoner buddy," Halle returned, smiling.

"Exactly," agreed Maya, much happier than earlier.

"I just..." Halle's smile fell into a smaller one and she admitted, "I guess I like fighting with Jason more than I like fighting with anyone else, and I'd rather fight with him than anyone else. And at the day of the end, I actually I don't wanna fight with him at all, I just wanna love him."

"God, that's sad," Maya exclaimed. She handed over the joint, almost smoked through. "So sad."

"Welcome to my Rosewood," Halle dryly mocked, before she inhaled the weed. Halle enjoyed the way her shoulders rolled back into place, relaxing. Halle couldn't remember the last time she felt like that. The peace it gave her, calming her racing thoughts and holding back the building sadness.

Maya reached for the blunt. "Yeah, I never felt like I belonged either—"

The door opened. Maya froze, the joint caught in both hers and Halle's hand. Emily stood in total shock, gobsmacked. She shut the door carefully, as not to alert anybody who was inside. Her face changed, switched with confrontation and betrayal. "Are you serious?"

Quickly, Halle stumped out the joint and braced herself for the outpouring of disappointment and frustration she could see brewing behind her friend's eyes. Yet, Emily didn't release them on Halle first. It was all aimed at her girlfriend.

Both Emily and Maya were stood arguing, their arms both folded as they butted heads. Halle was sat on the deckchair, in the middle, feeling like a small child caught in the centre of their parents fighting.

"That wasn't an old joint your mother found," Emily scolded.

"It wasn't a new joint, it just wasn't that old," Maya objected, attempting to get out on a technicality.

Betrayed, Emily asked, "Why would you lie to me?"

Halle went to get up, "I should—"

"No, I'll get to you in a minute!" Emily barked at Halle, and the cheerleader stayed sat and silent. She focused on Maya again. "I'm a guest in this house, and my team-mates are right—"

"Oh, god, please," Maya begged, reaching her last nerve. "No more about the team-mates."

Offended, Emily questioned, "What's wrong with them?"

"Nothing, nothing, they're perfect," Maya threw back. She yanked up her bag and went to storm inside.

"Maya..." Emily grabbed at her wrist, stopping her.

"You're better at fitting in than I am," she snapped.

"I thought you didn't care about that," Emily replied.

"Yeah, well, I'm pretty convincing," said Maya, hurt, with tearful eyes.

Halle couldn't help but draw the comparisons between her and Maya. It was obvious. Right now, with seeing how crushed Maya looked at letting Emily down and also being upset, Halle felt like Maya was a mirror of herself. Maya was just begging for attention — just a slither of affection — of somebody noticing that she needed more.

"I care, Emily," Maya argued. "I care that the first time I felt normal around your friends was five minutes ago with your best friend, talking crap and smoking a little weed — sorry!"

Softening slightly, Emily said, "Listen, we can still talk to your parents."

"I won't go back to True North," Maya said, shaking her head.

"We'll work it out," Emily tried.

"No way I'm going back there," Maya refused profusely.

Emily noted the determined glaze over Maya's eyes and nodded. She swallowed hard and turned to Halle. "Hal, do you mind...?"

"Yes, thank god!" Halle was up in an instant. "I'll be inside."

•

A couple hours passed by, and the party was over. Halle was perched upon the side, legs dangling, as she licked the frosting off a cookie. Maya had left straight after the argument, and now Emily was saying the last goodbyes. Halle knew her scolding was fast approaching. As soon as she heard the front door shut, Halle a deep breath and readied herself.

Emily entered, arms crossed, unimpressed to find Halle sat on the side. She glanced at the plate beside the cheerleader and asked, "How many of those have you had?"

"Four, I think?" said Halle.

Crossing her arms, Emily asked, "And how many joints have you smoked?"

Halle laughed, "You can't be serious, Em."

"Just don't tell me you're using again," Emily begged.

"Alright, then don't ask me," Halle returned sarcastically.

"Halle, this can get dangerous very easily," Emily warned gravely. It came from a place of concern. She got closer, hands on the island as she stared at Halle, who leant her head back against the kitchen cupboards.

"It was one joint, Em, I'm not using," Halle replied calmly.

"One joint is how it starts, it's dangerous—"

"Don't." Halle gave Emily's the coldest stare she could muster. "Don't tell me how dangerous it is, okay? Don't tell me, because I don't wanna hear it, okay? I just wanted to enjoy a joint and relax before my life inevitably goes back to the crap-hole it is." She stressed, "That was all I had right now."

"And that make me feel real great," Emily shot back. "Do I not matter anymore? Am I not here?"

"I don't know, you tell me," Halle encouraged dryly. "You know, I have done nothing but support you guys. I've defended us more fiercely than anyone. I went to war for you, Em, over what Paige did — and you went and dated her."

"This has nothing to do with Paige," Emily defended.

"It has everything to do with Paige," Halle returned strongly. "And Fitz, and the doctor — every crappy person you guys have dated or kissed. I have to put up with that, but Jason doesn't even get a look in with you guys?" She scoffed, "How does that make sense?"

"So you got high, because of Jason?" Emily asked, her voice shrill and full of worry.

"This is not about Jason," Halle bit back.

"You just said—!" Emily stopped herself mid-exclamation. In deep concern for her friend, she said, "We're been through this before, Halle. You don't do drugs, you talk to us — to me."

"I tried!" Halle cried, stunning Emily into silence. "I tried — I tried talking to all of you, but you guys shut me down because I said something you didn't wanna hear." Halle sighed in defeat, "I was honest with you, and you didn't like it. So, I'm sorry for getting high, I'm sorry for choosing Jason, I'm sorry for not being able to carry it all — but I have no control — no control. I just needed..." Halle stopped and took a sharp breath before continuing.

"I'm stuck, waiting for A to drop the other shoe on me — on us. And I needed it to stop, I needed all of it to stop." Halle faced Emily head-on, eyes glassy as her frantic rant came to a close. "So, you wanna know why I got high? That's why," she said weakly. "And I'll be fine again soon — but right now, I needed that joint."

Emily paused for a moment, taking in Halle's words. It was hard to tell when Halle was struggling with something; she dealt with it alone. The concern Emily held for her friend was overwhelming, and it was frightening. Halle was the tough one — the strong one — the one always protecting everybody else. And now she was breaking. Emily was helpless in that moment, and all she wanted to do was wrap her arms around Halle and tell her it was going to be alright.

So, that was what Emily went to do, but Halle stopped her before she could. Halle jumped down from off the side and rubbed her hands together, masking the agony she was in once more. "Hey, look at the time, I should go," she said swiftly.

"Halle," Emily said softly yet Halle pretended she didn't hear.

Halle grabbed at her jacket and started to put it on. She said to Emily, "I'll text you when I get in."

In resignation, Emily replied, "Okay, we'll talk tomorrow," as Halle was already making her way to exit the kitchen.

"Oh — and, Em." Halle hung back and advised, "Call Maya, you'll regret leaving like that."

As Halle went to go again, Emily spoke up. "Halle, what happened with Jason?"

"Nothing good."

•