1.06

•

"There's No Place Like Homecoming"

The girls gathered around their fallen, heartbroken member with the essentials. Spencer disturbed Aria's moping around in her bed by pulling out her earphones, cutting off the sad music she was listening to. "Hey," she said.

"What are you doing?" Aria asked her, and then them when she noticed all four of her friends were now in her room. Hanna was even perched on the end of the bed.

"An intervention," Spencer claimed.

"We brought takeout and rag-mags," Emily said, and then dumped the magazines down on the bed.

"But you cannot have those until you get out of these sweats," Hanna instructed her.

Aria sat herself up. "Why? What's wrong with these?" she asked, gesturing down to her comfy clothes.

"Aria, baby, they are starting to graft to your skin," Halle told her bluntly.

"Well, they're comfy," Aria defended.

"Yeah, so are mom-jeans and platform flip-flops," Hanna countered.

"And my nose shouldn't have to suffer just to be near you, okay?" Halle said. "A little less comfy and a little more..." she grimaced, "clean."

"Plus," Emily tried to stay positive, looking on the brighter side. "How can we help you choose a homecoming dress if you don't try some on for us?"

"Well, that's easy, I'm not going," Aria said simply.

Hanna froze. "What do you mean you're not going?"

"Yeah, you can't just not go," Spencer agreed.

"What are you going to do instead?" Emily asked.

"I don't know." Aria nonchalantly flipped through the pile of magazines now on her bed. "I guess I'll just read these and then inhale a gallon of Chunky Monkey."

"Oh, it ain't on," Halle dictated. "This — your pity party ain't happening, emo-pixie, it's not allowed."

Spencer laughed. "Easy there. It's a pep-talk not the army."

"I don't do pep-talks," Halle claimed. "What I do is better. I give you the truth and the truth is, you need to get out of this bedroom because it's becoming a part of your personality."

"As harsh as Halle is—" Spencer shot a pointed glare at the cheerleader, "she's right. Look," Spencer said. "Cutting yourself off from the rest of your life isn't gonna help your parents. And besides, they still might work it out," she offered optimistically.

Aria shot her a look. "They're barely speaking to each other."

"Barely is good," Halle acknowledged. "Barely is hopeful, we can work with barely."

"Exactly." Emily said, "people get angry, they blow up — doesn't mean it's over."

"Emily, they didn't blow up over her dad missing their anniversary," Hanna retorted. "He slept with one of his students." When she received the glares from her friend, Hanna realised it perhaps wasn't the best thing to say in front of Aria. She apologised. "Sorry."

Emily continued with what she was telling Aria previously, before Hanna got her opinion in. "I'm just saying, things can look over on Friday and by Monday, all is forgiven." Emily simply said, "some things just take time."

"Yeah, maybe," Aria mused.

"Okay, so you're coming!" Spencer exclaimed, overly eager, and she pulled at Aria. "Come on."

"No," Aria groaned.

"No?" questioned Halle. "Oh, girl, you better change your answer, and make it quick."

Aria sighed, getting up out of her bed. "I'll think about it."

"Well, if you're not coming, can you at least pass an absentee ballot?" Hanna requested, causing her friends to look at her strangely again. Emily even scoffed, leading Hanna to defend herself. "What?" Hanna said, "I need her vote."

"Hanna, stop already." Spencer helped both Emily and Halle move some of Aria's furniture around to make a congregation of seats, and she told the blonde while doing it, "you got homecoming queen locked down."

"Really?" Hanna smiled at Spencer. "You can rig the election?"

"Sorry, I have enough to do already, thanks," Spencer responded as she sat down. She took a breath and exhaled forcefully. "I'm the head of the committee, half of which is out sick with the flu. So I'll be restocking the ice and refilling the hummus bowl..." she sighed, "and trying to look cute for my first official date."

"With Alex?" Emily asked, smirking as she emptied the takeout bag with Halle's help.

"Ball Guy? From the country club?" Halle questioned.

"Wait, you're bringing him to homecoming?" Aria asked their friend. "So this is real," she said, catching onto Spencer's bashful smile.

"Aw, the Hastings has a heart, call the wizard," Halle joked.

On noticing Spencer's eyes on her, Halle asked, "Why are you looking at me?"

"Because," Spencer said. "You aren't exactly the most welcoming person ever."

Halle's face fell. "Are you kidding me?"

"You didn't even acknowledge Ben's existence for three weeks when we started dating, and you still call him a llama in the polo," Emily fired at her.

"And I stand by what I said," Halle claimed. "Does he not look exactly how a llama would in a polo-shirt? And was I right to pretend he didn't exist? Yeah, I was. My gut was right, doucheface wasn't even worth my fake niceness."

"Well, Alex is," Spencer promised. "Your real niceness. So, can you please be nice?"

"I'll be so nice that you'd think I'd come spraying pink glitter and cotton candy," Halle bragged.

Spencer laughed. "Okay. Moving on." She asked, grabbing her tub from off Emily. "Is Eric coming?"

"Apparently, though he hates going back to high school as it constant reminder to his friends that he's dating a high schooler," Halle remarked. "But yes, he is. Em, who are you gonna bring?"

"I think I'm gonna go stag," Emily claimed.

"I will too," Aria smiled.

"Well, why don't you guys go together?" Spencer suggested. Playfully, she added, "Oh, you'd make such a cute couple."

"How did I go from wearing mom-jeans to being Samantha Ronson?" Aria mused, laughing along with Spencer and Halle.

Hanna saw Emily quickly smile her way, and Hanna decided to speak up. "Who cares who anyone goes with to this thing? I mean, it's just a dance. You should bring someone who you have fun with."

"Ooh, Eric's out then," Halle joked, making her friends chuckled.

"I," Emily said, "might wanna go with someone. I just don't want people thinking it means more than it does."

"Are you and Ben back together?" Spencer asked as Emily took a seat.

"Girl, I swear--"

"Relax, Halle, no, it's not Ben," Emily quickly said. "No, of course not."

"So..." Aria drew out her curiosity, "who's the mystery dude?"

Hanna moved the pillow from off her lap. "I'm starving," she claimed, and Emily clammed up. Hanna leapt up and grabbed the bag she knew the fortune cookies were in. She pulled one out and cracked it open, her face paling at the words.

It amused Emily. She looked up from her own box. "What's wrong? Bad fortune?"

"Yeah. Confucius says, 'stop being such a drama queen'," joked Spencer.

"'Or no homecoming queen'," Halle, too, teased.

But Hanna halted their laughter the moment she read out what it actually said. "'Lions and tigers and bitches, oh, my. There's no place like homecoming. See you there. A'."

Suddenly, they all felt sick to their stomachs. They didn't want to eat anymore. Spencer, alarmed, stood up and grabbed the bag from the bed. She started to crack each fortune cookie open, one by one, revealing all had the same message.

A was going to be at their homecoming.

•

"What was his excuse again?"

Halle posed the question to Noel Kahn, the brother of her date — her boyfriend. When Halle came down the stairs at hers to find Noel stood there looking handsome in a suit rather than her own boyfriend, she wanted to scream. She would have had a meltdown if Noel wasn't waiting for her, a corsage in a plastic box.

A corsage wasn't even mandatory for homecoming.

Noel pulled into a parking space at the high school. He said, "he's just running late. He got a late train; he didn't wanna take you to this dance without having a shower."

"Right." Halle nodded, playing with the pink tulip tied to her wrist.

His eyes fell on her, the way Halle couldn't hide her disappointment. "Hey, he'll be here, and I'm here to fill in until he gets here," Noel said.

"What happened to your date?" Halle asked. "I thought you asked Madison, the one with the big... personalities."

"She is very personable with me," agreed Noel, smirking. It got a chuckle from Halle.

She shoved his knee with her hand. "God, you're such a boy."

"Hey, you're the one who brought them up!" Noel defended, holding up his hands in innocence. "And besides," Noel said, "I think we've been through too much for me to ditch you for her. I'm fine playing the boyfriend, until the the actual boyfriend does show."

Halle leaned across the dash and placed a sweet kiss to his cheek. "Thank you," she said. "I really don't want to walk in there alone."

"I wouldn't let you, I told you that I'll always be your date if you need one," Noel reminded her.

She sighed, resting her head against the seat as she looked at him. "I really did choose the wrong brother to date, huh?"

Noel chuckled, "I told you that from the start."

"Yeah, you did, didn't you?" Halle said quietly. She sat in the car, smiling sadly with her friend for a moment. In their silence, it was clear that both would go back if they could, listen to each other, try to get a different outcome. One that wasn't Noel filling in as the sad girl's date.

"It's done now. Let's just head in, have a dance," Noel said.

"Yeah, let's go," Halle agreed. She picked up her purse, sliding the chain over her shoulder, and then exited the car with Noel. He rounded the hood and extended out his arm to her. Halle laughed and took it, linking her arm under his. She glanced up at him with a soft smile, maybe this was how it was meant to be — her and Noel.

Hanna had stuck her hand up in the air the moment Halle appeared at the top of the staircase. The entire school hall had been transformed into some dark and moody carnival. Purples and blacks filled the place and a live-band played for entertainment.

"You'd think if they can put this on, they could scrape for better school lunches," Noel joked, trying to ease Halle as they walked towards her friends. And it did — she laughed.

Halle smiled at her friends as her and Noel approached. "Hey," she said, hugging Spencer.

"Hey, no Eric?" she asked, as they pulled away.

"Uh, no," Halle said, moving to greet Hanna now.

"He's running late, I'm filling in," Noel claimed proudly.

"Oh," Hanna said.

"Don't 'oh', there's nothing 'oh' about," Halle said. She settled in next to Noel. "Eric is coming and Noel is just filling in for the time being. He'll be here soon, I'm sure," said Halle, faking confidence in her boyfriend.

"Well, hey. I'm Alex," said Spencer's date, introducing himself to Halle by sticking out his hand. "You're a member at the country club, too, right? I've seen you and your folks before?"

Halle took his hand, shaking it. "Yeah, most likely. I'm Halle," she said with a smile.

"Nice to meet you," Alex said.

"I'm nice to meet," she replied shortly. Halle noticed the glare Spencer gave her. "Sorry." Halle reassured Alex, "it's really nice to meet you, Spencer has told us all about you. This is Noel," she motioned to the boy at her side. "He's my, um—"

"Friend, brother of the boyfriend, step-in date," Noel stated, his hand out shaking Alex's already.

Alex chuckled. "Right. You must be pretty tight friends if you can be all that without any issues."

Confused, Halle glanced between both boys. "Why would there be any issues?" she asked.

Before either could answer, Hanna spotted Aria all dolled up. She waved her over, beaming. "There she is," she declared.

Spencer, too, smiled at their friend. "I was worried you were gonna bail."

"We all were," Halle added.

"No." Aria shook her head, a soft smile on her face. "No, I'm ready to have a fantastic time."

"With no date?" Mona Vanderwaal asked her. She put on a tight smile, mocking Aria. "My, how the mighty have fallen."

"Girl, excuse yourself before I—"

"Whatever," Hanna cut off Halle before the remark could be fully made. Hanna shared a smile with Aria and said, "she can share my date."

Sean smiled in agreement. "Yeah. I have no problem with that."

"Yeah, and mine," Spencer said, putting Alex forward more into the group.

"Yep," said Alex.

"Hey, I'm Aria," the petite girl introduced herself, shaking his hand.

"Alex, nice to meet you," he replied.

"You too," Aria said.

"But unfortunately, you have to work before you can play," Spencer told her sheepishly. "Because you've got the first shift at the bean-bag toss." She stepped aside and ushered Aria though, calling out, "you're a hero," as she went.

"You know, we should hit the dance floor," Noel said to Halle. "You ready?"

"Born ready," Halle sassed back, tossing her freshly straightened hair over her shoulder.

"Better step aside then, little bro." They were interrupted by Eric Kahn invading their group. His hands snaked around his girlfriend's waist and he towered over her, planting a kiss on her.

Halle turned. "I thought you'd be a while?" she said, it coming out as a question.

Eric laughed, "you'd think you would be a little happier to see me."

"I am. It's just..." Halle glanced over at Noel. "I thought you'd be longer. I was gonna dance with Noel."

"Hey, don't worry about me, I can make my own fun," Noel tried to reassure her.

"Just one dance," Halle pleaded with Eric. "To say thank you for filling in, you can go get us drinks."

"Sure." Eric gave a short smile to his girlfriend, kissing her again, before he walked off in search of the punch bowl.

"I'll catch up with you guys later," Halle told her friends, before she took Noel's hand and led him out to the dance floor.

"Wow, you would think she'd give the first dance to her boyfriend," Mona commented slyly.

"Mona, shut up," Hanna shot her down.

"You didn't have to dance with me," Noel said, the moment he and Halle reached the dance floor. He pulled her close, her hands landing on his shoulders and his on her waist. "I would have been fine."

"I wanted to dance with you," Halle said, swaying along to the song.

"It's pity dance," Noel claimed.

"Ooh, my specialty," joked Halle. "Come on—" she pulled at his shoulders, "dance with me, Noel, sway to the music."

"This reminds me of middle school," he laughed.

"The snow ball?" Halle sighed blissfully. "Lord, that feels like forever ago. And I loved my dress." She smiled. "I begged my mom for weeks for it. I wore this—"

"Blue sequined dress, I know," Noel finished, stunning her quiet. "I remember what you wore. I told you you looked like a peacock and you told me—"

"I told you that only boy peacocks had the bright colours," Halle cut him off, her voice soft.

"Because it was the guys that have to attract the girls, right? I remember that right?" he asked.

Halle nodded slowly. "Yeah, perfect." She kept staring up into Noel's eyes and the longer she stared, the more nervous she got. For some reason, he was making goosebumps appear up her spine; she did the same to him.

Noel glanced off to the side to see Eric waiting for them to finish. Impatiently, Eric tapped his foot and kept glancing down at his watch. Noel stopped dancing. "You should go Eric, he looks rather bored," he said.

"The song hasn't finished though?" she said, confused.

"It has if you want him to stay," Noel advised. He leaned down and pressed his lips to her cheek. "Thanks for the dance, Halle. If he's a jerk, you know where I am."

"Thanks, Noel," Halle said, smiling appreciatively up at him. She shoved his arm playfully. "Now, go find your real date."

"Got nothing on you," he joked, making her laugh once more before he walked off.

Halle was left on the dancefloor. She stayed there for a moment, overwhelmed. She needed five minutes to herself. Removing herself, Halle went over to her boyfriend.

"Finally," Eric said, on seeing her walk over. He handed her the drink he got for her. "I swore that song was never gonna end."

"Um, Eric, can you give me two minutes? I need to pop to the bathroom," Halle said.

Eric sighed heavily. "Sure, I'll go get us some tickets for the games."

"Thank you."

And Halle took herself off to the bathroom. She entered and called out to see if anyone was in there. She had no answer, so she decided to shut the lock on the main door.

Halle moved to face her reflection. What just happened? Why had she never seen Noel looking at her like that before? Had he always looked at her like that? And when had she become ravelled in a love-triangle she didn't want to be in?

Her phone chimed, and Halle didn't even think twice about pulling it out of her purse. She sighed and flipped it up. She thought it would be one of the girls or Eric, but she was foolish to think it was.

A TALE OF TWO BROTHERS. WHAT A SHAME NEITHER OF THEM HAVE YOUR HEART.--A.

Anger crawled its way up Halle's throat. It clawed at her, and she let out a piercing scream. She sounded like a wounded animal. Her cries were in rage and pain. She slammed the phone shut, her breathing quickening with every second.

She caught sight of herself in the mirror. And then, there was something else. Her dark eyes fixed on a poster on the back of a cubical door. The printed eyes on it seemed to watch her, to judge her — the actions she had made that put her there.

"What are you looking at? Hey?" Halle sniffed, her stare growing more intense as she looked at the blue eyes of the poster in the reflection of the mirror. "Don't look at me like that. You don't know me, not really. You don't have any right to judge me." She pointed at the mirror accusingly. "You did worse than me, and you know it. I never wanted to play with anyone. Jason was just... he was to get back you, Ali," she said, her jaw clenching. Her eyes remained firmly on the poster reflected in the mirror. "I never would have said what I did if it wasn't for you. You made me do it! And you deserved what you got. You didn't deserve anything good, Ali." Her own eyes began to water as she spoke. "I'm glad you're gone, yet you keep on screwing with my life. Stop-- Stop!" she yelled, slamming her fist on the mirror. "Stop looking at me!"

A knock interrupted her. "Hello? Is everything okay in there?"

Halle snapped out of her state and stood straight. She ignored the knocking as she fixed herself up quick, wiping at the lipstick around her lips. She pouted at herself in the mirror and blew at kiss to the blue eyes on the poster before she moved to unlock the door.

"Hello--" Coach Rhodes cut herself off. "Halle, are you okay? Why was the door locked?"

"Oh, sorry, I didn't realise I locked it." Halle put on a false grin. "Whoops, my bad."

"Halle..." The coach's hand curled around Halle's arm, stopping her from escaping. "Is everything okay? You seem a little distant."

Halle gave her shrug. "Boy troubles, Coach," she lied easily.

"Well, I hope you sort it out," Coach Rhodes said. "And, um, you can collect your squad jacket on Monday, you made junior captain."

"You're kidding?" Halle said in awe.

"No, you're junior caption. It was well-deserved," Coach Rhodes complimented. "Don't let me down."

"I won't, I promise. Thanks, Coach."

•

Halle skipped over to her friends as soon as she heard the news. She parked herself in front of Spencer and Hanna, by the buffet table, hands on her hips. "Guess who just got made junior captain — me!"

"Wow, congrats," Spencer said, happy for her friend.

"You deserve it, Halle," Hanna said, equally pleased for Halle also.

"Thank you," Halle said, smiling widely. An actual, big smile on her face. She squealed. "I so needed this."

"Well, like I said, you deserve it," Hanna repeated.

Spencer, then, caught sight of glum-looking Aria headed their way. "Hey, that was a quick shift. You okay?"

"No, my claustrophobia kicked in," Aria claimed sadly. "Can you find someone to take my place?"

"Yeah," Spencer assured her. "Alone in a dark booth with Fitz? It's every freshman girl's dream."

"I mean, just wanky," Halle sang, giggling along with the girls.

"Hey, Hanna." Maya came over to the group, all smiles.

"Hey," Hanna replied, as well as the others. They liked Maya; she was sweet, and she was friends with Emily.

"Um, have you guys seen Emily?" asked Maya.

"No, I was just about to text her," Halle said, reaching for her bag.

Aria's eyes fixed on a sight she never thought she'd see. "No, don't bother," she told Halle, her hand darting out to stop the girl from reaching in her purse.

One by one, their heads turned to see why Aria had said what she said. At the top of the staircase was Emily, stood proudly with her hand clutched in Toby Cavanaugh's. Maya dashed, staying clear, and as Emily caught her friends' eyes, she grew antsy. She had never been more nervous than she was in the moment, her hand in Toby's as she led him to them.

"Hey, guys," Emily said, but they remained quiet.

Toby noted this. He told Emily, "I'll go get us some drinks."

Emily nodded, giving him a reassuring smile before he walked off to go them some punch.

The moment he was gone, Spencer jumped down Emily's throat. "You're here with Toby?!"

"Either you've got some genius plan of sleeping with the enemy or you've lost your mind," Aria raved at her.

Emily shook and defended her friendship, "you don't even know him."

"What is there to know?" Spencer fumed, "who else could've helped Jenna? He has every right to hate us."

"Well, he doesn't," said Emily.

"Emily, if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's fricking duck!" Hanna yelled, irritation in her face.

Emily scoffed. "Wow, I thought at least you'd understand," she fired at the blonde. Emily then looked to Halle, her being the only one who hadn't voiced her opinion. "And you? Are you gonna say anything?"

"Em..." Halle said softly.

"No, Toby walked you home when A got to you," Emily argued.

"What?" Spencer snapped her head to Halle, shocked.

"If you were so sure he was A, why let him walk you home?" Emily looked at her friend with sad eyes. "You were nice to him, he told me."

"Em, I'm sorry, but we can't trust him, not really," Halle tried to accuse her bad behaviour. "Like Spencer said, he has every reason to hate us."

"And it should have been clear to you that he didn't, the boy can't hate, Halle," Emily said. "Surely you could've seen that."

The swimmer tried to walk away from her friends, but Hanna stopped her. "Emily, wait." Hanna pulled Emily's arm and forced her to turn back around to face them.

"Why are you doing this? Aren't you the one who told me to follow my feelings and not to let other people's opinions stop me?" Emily shot at her, annoyed and upset.

"Yes, yes." Hanna sighed. "But that was when I thought you were taking Maya."

Confusion came across Emily. "Maya?" Emily questioned her, "why would I take Maya?"

Before Hanna could answer, Toby had rejoined Emily's side. "Hey," he said, holding two cups of punch. He felt the tension coming off both girls — and the ones behind the blonde, all watching. "You wanna go play some games?"

"Sure," Emily said, accepting the punch from him, and then she and he both walked off.

When Hanna returned, kicking herself for how she handled things with Emily, Spencer was manic. "Did I miss something?" she raged. "When did she start hanging out with Toby?"

"I have no idea," Aria whisper-ranted. "I've never even seen her talk to him." Her hard stare landed on Halle. "And what's this about him walking you home?"

"Yeah," Spencer was quick to jump on that, too, arms crossed over her chest.

"You guys remember when we blocked A? And how I told you—" Halle glanced at Hanna, "what happened to be at work? About my letter being in my order-book?" Halle saw them all nod. "Well, I was scared and I didn't really wanna walk home but I had to. And Toby was there. He saw the whole thing, and... he... when I finished, I was still freaked, and Toby offered to walk me home. And I said yes."

"You let him?" Aria asked, astonished.

"I was scared, okay? More scared of A than I was of Toby Cavanaugh," Halle countered back defensively.

"Don't you get it? He was at The Grille, he had the time to write it and put it back for your get," Spencer explained.

"No, I don't think so," Halle said, unsure while her friends were certain. "He was kind to me. We even talked about Ali, and he was sincere. I know when people lie, okay? Em's right, we don't know him."

"He's a creep," Hanna retorted.

"Who took the time to walk me home?" Halle was utterly confused. "It doesn't make sense if he was A. I don't think he's involved. Why would he do that if he just wanted to scare us?"

"Because he's a creep," Hanna repeated.

"And there you are," Eric announced as he, Alex, Sean and one of Sean's friends approached the girls. He came to stand next to his girlfriend, his hand on her waist.

"You keep disappearing on us," Sean claimed jokingly.

"Yeah, we had to get ice," Hanna lied.

"Hey. Wanna dance?" Alex offered out his hand to Spencer.

Spencer smiled at him sweetly. "Let's do it."

"What'd do you say, pretty girl? Wanna finally dance with your boyfriend?" Eric asked, eyes on Halle, and she nodded.

Halle allowed her boyfriend to take her hand and pull her towards the dancefloor. She instantly slipped into his hold, her arms around his neck while his stayed firmly on her waist.

"I've barely seen you tonight," Eric commented, as they danced together for the first time that night.

"Yeah, sorry, I've been busy," Halle apologised.

"No, you danced with my brother, before your own boyfriend," Eric shot at her. "Sometimes I wonder who it is you're dating. Is it me? Or is it Noel?"

"I wonder the same thing." Halle gave him a hard look. "Considering you sent your brother in your place." Halle said stubbornly, "I could have gotten a lift. I could have come with Aria, but you sent your brother. So don't shame me for dancing with him as a thank you."

"You know it isn't just a dance with Noel," Eric fired back. "You know he cares for you, and you care for him."

"He's my friend, yes, but I would have much rather shown up here with my boyfriend," Halle replied.

"I was running late, the train was late," Eric argued with her. "I wanted to look nice for you, okay? Would you rather me show up to yours in jean and t-shirt, smelling like a train?"

"Did you actually smell like that? Or did you smell like the girl you were most likely screwing instead of catching an earlier train to be with me?" Halle shot at him aggressively.

"Oh, there it is, here comes the jealous," Eric said, half-expecting this to happen. "Been waiting for this."

"Don't do that. Don't make me the jealous one, the insane one," Halle warned him, her hands flying up from off his shoulders. She took a step back from him. "We both know I'm not making this up. I'm not crazy, Eric. This is not in my head! You've cheated on me before."

"And you never let me forget it!" he shouted at her. "I can only apologise to you so many times, Halle. I can't keep doing this with you."

"Doing what?" she asked him.

"Apologising for my dumb mistakes," he said. "It was a mistake. It didn't mean anything, you know that. No one means anything compared to you, you're the only one."

Halle saw red. She wanted to scream at him but instead she settled for shoving his chest hard. "Screw you, you're a jerk." She hit him again. "Screw you, Eric."

Eric grabbed her wrists and pulled her back into him. "Let's just dance, okay?" He put her arms back around his shoulders and placed his his back on her waist. "I didn't come here to argue with you. I don't wanna argue you with you."

Halle's buried her head in his shirt. She shielded her eyes away from his. She wasn't going to cry in front of him, or at least she wasn't going to allow him to see her cry. She settled her head on his chest, listening closely for his heartbeat.

And, he had a heart — he swore it only beat for her.

Blinking away her tears, Halle rotated her head to look up at him. Eric reached up and hooked his finger under her chin, lifting her head as he leaned down to kiss her. Halle tortured herself, wondering if it was the other girl she tasted or her boyfriend on her lips. She wondered if it was the tingle from the other woman that danced on his lips and not the one she left there.

It ruined her, and Halle did backflips of logic to try and justify his behaviour — because Halle convinced herself she had to stay close to where all her broken pieces fell.

Feeling a tug at her arm, Halle looked to the side and saw Spencer. "Sorry," said the Hastings sincerely. "I need you, now," she said, and Halle excused herself from her boyfriend, pulling Halle over to where she, Aria and Hanna stood. She told them, "I figured out what Toby's tattoo means."

"What?" Hanna asked.

"'Nine-zero-one, free at last'. It's September first," Spencer claimed boldly.

"That's the day Ali disappeared," Aria said.

Spencer shot Halle a look. "Not so nice now, huh?"

"Point proven, moving along," Halle said. And then it hit her. Halle's voice dropped, "Em..."

Aria snapped her head to face the blonde. "Hanna, you've gotta get that file."

"Tonight?" asked Hanna.

"Emily's not gonna believe us without proof," Spencer argued. "She could be walking into a trap."

"Can't we do it after they announce homecoming queen, please?" Hanna whined, pleading.

Halle quickly became irritated. "Are you being serious right now?"

"Okay, fine. Fine," Hanna agreed to go. "I'll get it." She sighed. "Keep an eye on Emily until I get the file," she said to Spencer. She glanced at Halle. "You sort whatever that was with you and Eric."

"Wait, what about me?" Aria asked.

"Keep an eye on Sean," Hanna requested.

Aria furrowed her brow. "What?"

"Well, I can't exactly tell him where I'm going, and if I make something up, he'll come with me. Just keep him busy," Hanna explained.

"But how am I supposed to do that?" Aria asked.

"I don't know," Hanna snapped. "Just figure it out."

Spencer groaned. "Come on," she said, and led the three not leaving the school away — their aim to save Emily.

Halle went back to Eric, like Hanna told her to, She was barely with him five minutes before she saw Emily take off to talk to Maya, leaving Toby only by the shooting booth. Halle interrupted her boyfriend. "I'm sorry, can you give me five minutes?"

"What for now?" he asked her.

"I gotta go say hi to someone, I'll be five minutes," Halle promised him. She leaned up, pressed a kiss to his lips and then quickly left his side, heading straight for the shooting game. There, she got Toby's attention immediately.

"I don't think Emily wants to speak to you right now," Toby said honestly.

"I know, but I wanna speak to you." Halle blurted out at him, "my friends saw your tattoo and we know what it means, Toby. I actually thought you were being sincere with me the other night when you said I could grieve for Alison without judgement from you."

"I meant what I said that night to you, you were the one who didn't mean anything you said to me," Toby defended. "I thought you were different, and Emily thought you were too."

"I'm trying here, Toby. I'm really trying to give you an out, to walk away from this, from Em, without anyone getting hurt," Halle said to him.

"You already hurt Emily tonight," Toby said.

"Yeah, unintentionally, unlike what you're doing," Halle shot at him. "I tried to give you the benefit of the doubt. God knows I thought you were just a shy person — quiet, misunderstood. But things ain't adding up, Toby."

"If you give me a chance to explain things and I'll—" Toby cuts himself off the moment he saw the looming figure approach them.

"So, the someone you came to say hi to was this creep?" Eric fired at his girlfriend.

"Eric, you don't understand," Halle tried. "You don't know—"

"No, I don't understand," Eric cut her off firmly. "I don't understand why I'm here, spending my time at a high school dance when the only reason I came is off with someone else, Halle. I'm leaving," Eric said, and he headed off towards the stairs.

Halle was torn. She kept glancing between her boyfriend stalking off and Toby waiting there patiently for her to hear him out. But Eric won — he always did.

She chased after him, running up the stairs. She called out for him to stop. "Eric, please. Please, just listen, please." Her pleas made him turn. "Thank you." She went to him, her hands on his chest as she looked up at him. "Stuff has been going on, and not just tonight."

"No kidding, you're everywhere else but with me, Halle," Eric said. "It's like I don't even know who you are anymore. This isn't you, you're all over the place."

"Yeah, I know, I just need to explain things," said Halle. "Let me explain things."

"How about you start by explaining why you tried emailing Jason?" he asked her seriously.

"Jason?" Halle was caught off-guard. Then, her phone started to ring in her purse. Hey eyes went down to it, ready to get it.

"Don't." Eric's voice halted her movement. "Don't answer that. Not now. You asked me to listen, to let you explain, so go on. Tell me." He saw her hand moved to her purse again. "Don't. If you answer that—"

"It could be important," Halle argued.

"Right now, our relationship is more important," Eric said sternly. When he noted the hesitation in her face, his own one dropped. "Our relationship is more important, right? More important than your phone? That won't freaking stop ringing, my god!" he yelled, the continually ringing aggravating him.

"Just, let me just answer and then I'm all yours, I promise you," she pleaded.

"Fine. Go ahead, answer it," he said.

And Halle did that. She grabbed the her phone out of her pocket and saw it was Hanna that calling her. She flipped the phone up, answering it. "Hanna? Have you got it?" she asked, turning her back to her boyfriend.

"Yeah, I'm with Lucas. He's gonna drive me back to the school," Hanna said over the phone. "Tell the others to meet me at the top of the stairs. I should be back soon."

"Okay, but hurry. I can't have tonight go any worse for me, okay? Be careful," Halle said. Halle put down the phone and turned around, ready to talk things through with her boyfriend. But he wasn't there — he left her.

•

"Hey, this is Eric Kahn. Leave a message."

It was the fifth time Halle was sent straight to voicemail. She began to plead with her boyfriend's mailbox. "Please, Eric, just pick up. Please. We can fix this, okay? We always fix it. Let's just make up. I didn't even get to tell you I made junior captain. Eric... please, just..." Halle let out a sob, "please call me back. I'm sorry. I've never been more sorry."

The phone beeped loudly in her ear, signalling her time was up. She ended the call and wiped furiously at her eyes with the back of her hand. She'd try again. She pressed his name and called again, letting it ring only for it go to his voicemail once more.

Halle heard giggling approach as she sat in the corner, out of the view of most. The purple hues of the lights still caught her face, and that was when Noel saw her.

"Hey," he stopped. Noel left the giggling girl and walked over to his friend. "Are you okay? Where's my brother at?"

"I don't know, he left," Halle told him.

Noel was shocked, insulted that his brother did that to her. "He left you here? Alone? I am so gonna—"

"Noel," she whimpered. She shook her head at him. "It was my fault. He left because of me, don't give him any trouble."

"What happened?" Noel asked curiously.

"The usual," she replied, and instantly Noel knew what it meant.

"Did he? Again?" he asked her, but she shook her head.

"He said he didn't."

He eyes Halle carefully. "Do you believe him?"

"Like I said, tonight was my fault," Halle claimed. "I gave everyone attention but him. Em showed up Toby Cavanaugh and I've been distracted ever since, and I can't blame them or him because it was me."

"Emily came with Toby Cavanaugh?" Noel questioned, shocked. "Why would she do that?"

"Apparently they're a lot closer than just lab partners," Halle retorted bitterly. "And because I'm so wrapped up in that, I ruined tonight with him. I got jealous and angry, I took it out on him. And he left." Halle threw her hands up. "And you know what? I don't blame him."

Noel watched her, took in the distress in her face. "Halle, why do you do this to yourself? Why do you and him keep going around in circles? He's got you right where he wants you to be, blaming yourself for his actions. He's the one who cheated and—"

"This wasn't about that, Noel," Halle cut him off. "This was about more than that, about us, about how I've been lately. And I love him," she offered meekly.

"Is love enough, Halle?" Noel asked her, though it pained him to do so.

Halle sank back into herself. "I don't know, but it has to be, right?" Hopelessly, she looked up at Noel from where she sat and asked, "do you having anything on you?"

"What?" he asked.

"Do you have any stuff?" Halle asked him.

"Halle, I just heard you got made junior captain, you said you couldn't risk it," Noel said, in concern.

"Why now of all times have you chosen to care about what I do?" Halle fired at him harshly. On hearing it, she felt terrible. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that. You didn't deserve that. You're actually one of the few that's always cared, I'm sorry."

Noel shook his head. "It's fine."

"No, it's not. Don't overlook me being a jerk, hold me accountable, Noel," Halle said. She sighed, "Lord knows I deserve it."

"Halle, I—"

As Noel went to speak again, Hanna cut him off. "Halle!" she yelled. Hanna was flapping her hand about like a maniac with Lucas Gottesman, from yearbook, stood beside her like a spare part. "Come on! We need Aria and Spencer!"

Halle let out a breath and sent Noel an apologetic look. She slapped her thighs and then stood up. "Duty calls," she said, walking around him.

"Hey, Halle," Noel called out, and the girl turned back to him. "Text me if you need a ride, okay?"

Nodding, Halle smiled softly. "I will."

"Ugh, come on," Hanna groaned, grabbing Halle's arm and yanking her away. The two, with Lucas trailing behind, walked back towards the hall, stopping at the top of the staircase. She hollered Spencer and Aria up to them, which they did quickly. Hanna, then, hugged Lucas, handing him back his blazer, and thanked him sincerely.

The girls found themselves in the hall of mirrors, away from the dance chatter. Spencer shut the door behind them and immediately asked, "is that Jenna's file?"

"No. I got Toby's," Hanna informed them, still in disbelief herself. "Turns out Jenna wasn't the patient. The therapist had her come in for one session to see how she felt about Toby coming back home."

"Oh, my god," uttered Aria.

"What else does it say?" Halle urged impatiently.

"Well, the dates prove he wasn't away at school when Ali disappeared. He was still here, in Rosewood," Hanna told them.

Aria took the file from off Hanna. "What else?"

"See for yourself," the blonde said.

Flipping open the file, Aria scavenged for the dates closest to Labour Day. She pointed one out. "Session twelve, August fifteenth."

The liars read aloud Toby's session, how he recalled Alison the night of July fourth. They read how she threatened him and what she had on him was enough to make anyone confess to something they didn't do.

"Him and Jenna?" Halle asked, repulsed. "Oh, my god, I'm gonna be sick."

"So that's what Ali had on him?" Spencer questioned, while Halle ranted in the corner.

"—Sick, sick, sick. It's sick. That's what it is. Sick, sick."

"That's enough to want her dead," Hanna replied truthfully.

"—Sick. Oh, my god, sick. They're related. It's just sick, sick."

"And us," Aria added.

Instantly, Halle's head snapped up. "Em." Her hands darted down for her purse and she scrambled for her phone, pressing the call button by Emily's name. Halle held it to her ear. She turned and looked at her friends in panic. "She's not picking up."

"Text her," Spencer demanded, her too in a panicked fit, and Halle immediately started typing out a message.

Alarmed, Hanna said firmly, "we have to find her, come one."

And, it sent.

You're with Ali's killer! We have proof.

•