1.10

•

"Keep Your Friends Close"

Looking intensely at her reflection, in the mirror inside her locker, Hanna took a deep breath. "Okay, I need to ask to ask you guys something, and I need you to be totally honest with me."

"Of course," Aria said.

"Yeah," Spencer nodded.

"Is this side of my face fatter than this side?" Hanna asked them seriously, rotating her head slowly left to right for them. All her friends tilted their heads to the side, inspected what she was asking and then gave an answer. Spencer, Aria and Emily all said no, while Halle wasn't aware they had to answer at the same time. Hanna looked to her, "Halle?"

"Oh, you don't want my answer," Halle replied flatly. When she saw Hanna's face fall, Halle broke into a chuckle. "Kidding. Perfect both sides, Han, honest," she said, and she shared a smile with the blonde as Hanna shut her locker.

Aria had sighed, her eyes now down the hallway. "Is that Ian?" The liars turned their attention to where Aria was looking, and it was Ian, shaking hands with the football coach.

"Yeah, I hear he's the new field hockey coach," Spencer told them.

"Avoiding that at all costs," Halle mumbled.

Emily asked Spencer, "does Melissa know he's back?"

With her back now to her locker, Hanna said, "I don't know why she ever broke up with him," as she took in the man with the perfect smile, charming his way through the faculty.

"She didn't," Spencer said, voice almost devoid of emotion. "He broke up with her."

"Hey!" Mona was smiling as she approached the liars. "The first one is for my bestie," she said, handing over an invitation to Hanna. "And one for each of my bestie's friends," Mona stated as she gave one to each of the girls.

"Oh, uh, what's this?" Aria asked.

"Oh, nothing," Mona pretended to play it down. "Only an invitation to the most awesome birthday party ever. Camp Mona."

"Camp Mona?" Aria asked, seeing the exchange of smile between Hanna and the soon-to-be birthday girl.

"Don't let the camping part scare you," Mona said.

"Oh, that ain't the part that scares me," muttered Halle.

"It's 'glamping', not camping," claimed Mona. "M is for Mona and massages, not mosquitoes. Oh, Naomi, Riles—" Mona waved her hand in the air, "hey, wait up," she said, and she was off.

The whole thing had amused Spencer. She turned to Hanna. "Why is Mona inviting us to her birthday party?"

"The last I went to Mona's birthday, I was seven and that was because back then, you had to invite the whole grade," Halle said.

"Well, she knows that we're friends again and she's just trying to reach out to you," Hanna offered simply.

"Well, tell her to stop," said Halle.

Hanna went serious, "She's trying to be nice."

"Exactly, I don't do nice," Halle remarked. "It sets my teeth off."

"Halle." Hanna glowered, causing the curly-haired girl to roll her eyes. Hanna took that as her friend's silence, and then turned to the rest of them. "So, are you gonna go?" she asked.

"I know she's your friend, but—"

Aria cut Spencer off, "—yeah, but I'm gonna have to pass. I got this—"

"—like a lot of stuff to do this weekend," finished Spencer.

Emily agreed, "me too."

Halle saw the look Hanna was giving her. "Oh, I'll tell you straight up. I ain't going," Halle said bluntly, and Hanna let out a groan.

They were all about to disperse when their phones went off. Regretfully, they each pulled them out and saw they had a message from A. "'Camp Mona's a scavenger hunt and I'm the prize'," read Spencer.

"'Come and find me, bitches'," Hanna said.

"'A'."

•

"What have they found?" Hanna asked quietly. She and the girls — minus Aria — huddled around by Halle's locker after Spencer came over to tell them about the police being in the office.

"I don't know," Spencer answered.

"It's not her bracelet," Emily said. Hopefully, she said, "maybe they wanna talk to somebody else."

"Em, come on—" Halle rolled her eyes and said, "it's like groundhog day with us. It has been since they found Ali. New day, same sh—"

"Hey, what's going on?" Aria asked, interrupting them as she approached. She had heard gossiping the moment she arrived on campus — the school was buzzing.

"The cops are here," Hanna stated.

Spencer leaned in and told her, "I heard they found something of Alison's."

The speakers crackled and then came the voice of the principal's secretary. "Spencer Hastings, Aria Montgomery, Emily Fields, Halle Brewster, Hanna Marin—"

"Hanna Marin," Hanna said over it.

"—please come to the office." It crackled again, and the announcement had finished.

"Here we go again," muttered Halle.

The girls once more found themselves in the principal's office — four of them on the couch and Halle sat on her own, in the armchair beside them. They had been kept in there, alone, for a while and Hanna was typing on her phone when a woman walked in with a man behind her, the both of them in perfectly-fitting suits.

"Sorry for keeping you waiting," the woman said. She was clearly the one there to see them, the one in charge. "I'm Agent Cooper," she said, holding out a card to them.

Spencer took it and her eyes went wide. "FBI?"

And Halle let out laugh, making both the agent and her friends look at her quizzically. She laughed when she got nervous, or amused, or both. "I'm sorry, sorry. Carry on," Halle said.

"If we can." Agent Cooper perches herself on the edge of the desk and started to speak. "This is my partner, Agent Randall, and we're here because the Bureau was asked by the local authorities to assist in the investigation of Alison DiLaurentis' murder." She picked up a remote, the one to the old television conveniently positioned for the girls to see. "I wanna show you something that was sent to the Rosewood Police Department by an anonymous source. Family's given my permission to show it to the five of you," she said, and she pressed play.

On the screen, played a video of Alison. She was sat upon a large rock, surrounded by bushes. She toyed with the cardigan she had on, taking it off to reveal the amount of skin the yellow top she wore showed. She flirted, "wanna see more? I know you want to. If the girls knew I was seeing you... oh, my god, they would not stop talking about it. I wish they were more mature, but... We don't have a lot of time. I have to get back before they wake up." She smirked to whoever was behind the camera. "I know you wanna kiss me."

All the way through the video, Halle felt sick to her stomach. She want the retch up her insides. Her stomach lurched. Alison appeared happy, smirking slyly like she always did when she had someone in the palm of her hand — it was how Halle Brewster remembered her best friend, but it made Halle want to vomit watching it now she was dead.

Agent Cooper paused the video. "Is there anything you can tell me about what you see?" she asked, rewinding it back.

"They're at the kissing rock," Emily spoke up first. "It's in the woods, behind the lake."

Aria stammered, "I—I think this was taken the night that she disappeared. She— She was wearing that yellow top."

"But that's not her sweater," Hanna stated.

Curious, Agent Cooper asked, "are you sure?"

Hanna looked at the woman and said confidently, "ask me what's in each one of our closets and I'll give you an itemised list. I know clothes."

Noting how Halle's eyes hadn't left the television screen, Agent Cooper turned her focus to her. "And you? Do you notice anything?" The woman saw Halle shake her head, so she asked, "can you try?"

Halle nodded and she watched the video play again, but she couldn't tell the agent anything she wanted to know. Halle was hollow inside, her eyes now fixed to the screen as it played on a loop. "Her family saw this?" she asked, her voice small. Halle could only think of her family — Jason.

"Yes," Agent Cooper regretted to inform them. "Quite upsetting for them, as you can imagine."

"I think she'd talking to the older boy," Spencer said, wanting to get the attention away from Halle — the cheerleader clearly stuck on Alison's family rather than the video itself.

"Um, the so-called 'mystery boyfriend'?" the woman noted.

"Alison didn't want us to know who he was," Spencer told her.

Agent Copper asked her, "was it an older boy?"

"She only told me enough to make it a secret," Spencer mentioned truthfully.

"Ah." Agent Cooper pondered, "Alison liked secrets?"

"She thought sharing secrets kept us close," Emily replied.

"They do. But secrets are made to found out with time," the woman said to them, and all Halle thought of was Jason.

When would that secret be found out?

•

Halle followed Spencer into the Hastings' house with the others, each of them bringing camping gear in boxes, in from the garage. What the five teens were unaware of, was they were walking into the romantic misfortune of Spencer's older sister Melissa.

"You broke up with me, remember?" Melissa argued, stunning the girls to slow down as they entered at an unfortunate and embarrassing time for the elder Hastings girl.

"I just wanna take you out for coffee," Ian said to Melissa.

Melissa, on the other hand, was not interested. Her arms were crossed over her body and a scoff escaped past her lips in disbelief. She turned, her eyes on her sister and the sleeping bags in the box. "You guys are going camping? Cute."

Seeing her sister heading for the stairs, Spencer called after her. "Melissa, wait." She dumped the box on one of the stools and chased Melissa to the stairs. "Hey, wait."

Melissa span around. "What?"

"You should give him a chance," Spencer suggested lowly, referring to Ian Thomas, the man stood in their living room still, him now adverting his eyes away from the sisters.

"And you're suddenly looking out for me because...?" Melissa questioned her younger sister's actions.

"I don't know when this war between us got started, Melissa, but can't it just be over?" Spencer whined, "I'm only sixteen and I'm tired."

With a pursed lips, Melissa asked her, "is this you trying to fix what you broke with Wren?"

"No. I'm just trying to do the right thing," said Spencer.

Melissa glanced over at awaiting Ian and sighed, giving in. "Coffee," she stated firmly. "That's it."

Ian was quick to agree. "Okay."

Coming back down the few stairs she climbed, Melissa grabbed her handbag from off the couch and walked out the door first. Ian flashed Spencer a small, grateful smile, and then he left, too, after Melissa.

Confused, Aria was the first to ask, "since when are you mending Melissa's relationships?"

Spencer rejoined her friends, them stood around the kitchen-island. She said, "I kind of owe it to her."

"Why?" Halle asked.

"What's she ever done for you?" Emily added.

Sheepishly, Spencer said, "it's more about what did I do to her." She paused, pulling out one of the sleeping bags from a box, and then confessed to her friends, "I'm the reason she and Wren broke up. We had a moment and Melissa saw us."

"A moment?" questioned Emily.

Uncomfortable, Spencer said, "yeah, it gets worse." She sighed. "Yeah, Melissa doesn't know this part... I also had a moment with Ian."

Hanna was enthralled with the drama of it all. "Shut up."

"It was early in the summer, before Alison went missing. It was just one kiss, but after they broke up, we started seeing each other," Spencer informed them.

"Wow," Halle let out a surprised chuckle, "you dark horse, you."

"Don't—" Spencer gave her a look, one that carried her guilt. "I already feel like the poster-child for poor judgement."

"Yeah, you should," Halle said, laughing. She stopped, still, unsure if what she was hearing was the truth. "Both of them?"

Emily nudged Halle with her elbow, shooting her a quick glare. Then, Emily turned to the Hastings girl and said softly, "you could have told us, Spencer."

"Really? Because Ali knew about the first kiss and she thought I was awful," Spencer said, her still haunted by what she did.

Aria gave her a simple reply, "we're not Ali."

"I should also not tell Melissa, right?" Spencer asked, and they all chorused, "right."

"Not unless you wanna explain why you just sent her for coffee with her ex-boyfriend that you kissed," Halle replied.

"Right. I won't tell her."

"Wait, Spence." Something on the new caught Hanna's attention — Alison's picture. "Turn the TV up," she said, and Spencer grabbed the remote and unmuted the television.

"Authorities searched the family home earlier today and initial reports have confirmed that a blood stain on the sweater is a match to the victim's. If you just turned in, police issued a warrant for the arrest of missing Rosewood teen Toby Cavanaugh. He is wanted for the murder of Alison DiLaurentis."

"That sweater was Toby's," Hanna said, gobsmacked.

"No, Alison was not dating Toby," Aria said firmly. "There's no way that's the guy she's talking to in the video."

"No, Aria, you saw the news, They have proof," Hanna stated.

"If it's Toby's sweater, then he has to be the boy at the kissing rock," said Specner.

Quietly, Emily pondered, "is it finally over?"

"No." Halle's answer was straight-forward — blunt. "It's still ongoing and Toby's been missing for weeks."

Spencer agreed, "it won't be over until he's behind bars."

•

"Mom? Dad?" Halle called out the moment she entered the house. Pacha the dog came running over to her and Halle bent down to stroke him. Then, she heard the arguing. Her eyes flickering to the television screen in the living room and she saw the news on on — muted.

Halle closed her eyes for a moment, bracing herself for the storm going on in the kitchen, and when she opened them, she saw Pacha was looking straight at her. His tail was wagging and his tongue hung out.

"How long have they been at it, boy?" she asked the dog sadly. Halle didn't why know but it hit her harder when he didn't reply. She knew he was a dog — that he couldn't possibly answer — but still, her heart sank that little bit more. She lived in a house where it was often who shouted the loudest was the one who was right, and it sucked.

"I think she needs to see someone about this," Nick yelled. "I think she sees to see a professional." Her dad tried to be supportive. "Maybe she should see a therapist. Maybe she needs to talk to someone about what went down while your mother was here, and she needs to talk to someone about Alison—"

"She doesn't need a therapist, Nick," Luisa snapped, cutting him off. "She's fine, she just needs time to heal, to come to terms with her loss. She's just a teenager that going through a hard time, okay?"

"A hard time?" Nick was repulsed by his wife's way of putting things. Luisa had a knack for folding up life's hardship neatly and putting them away in a drawer, not to be messed with again. Nick, on the other hand, didn't deal with them the same. "Her best friend was found dead. Murdered. A boy who she went to high school with did it. She's not getting over that, not anytime sooner anyway." Firmly, her repeated, "she needs to see a therapist."

"She doesn't need to go to see a therapist, she has friends for that sort of things, Nick," raged Luisa. "She's actually got some real ones now!"

"Yeah, friends that fell apart for a whole year," Nick replied. "Don't get me wrong, I adore those four girls. They were the best thing to happen to her," he ranted, "but they flaked the moment Ali disappeared. I don't think that's solid enough to count on, do you?"

Luisa told her husband firmly, "she is not seeing a therapist. She doesn't need one. I should know, I'm her mother."

"Didn't realise you being her mother outranked me as her father," Nick spat at her. Halle heard a loud crash, a though her father had slammed something down on the counter. The man came stalking out of the kitchen and down the hallway. He stopped on noticing Halle crouched down with the dog laid at her feet. "Talk to your mother, would you? Talk some sense into her," he said, and then headed in the living room, throwing himself down on the armchair.

Halle stood up, then walked down and into the kitchen, at the back of the house. She found her mother crying over the sink, a plate smashed in there. It was plainly obvious that Halle had gotten her anger from her dad; she, too, smashed plates into the sink.

The woman looked up at her daughter with teary eyes. Luisa sniffled and cleared her throat. "Are you here for dinner? I'm thinking of doing spaghetti," she said.

"Mom, I'm at Mona's party tonight," Halle said softly.

"Oh, yes, I forgot." Luisa tried to play it off, like she wasn't just about to burst into flood of tears if her daughter didn't walk in. She forced a smile onto her face. "Do you have everything? I can run to the store and grab you girls some snacks."

Halle dropped her voice, "Mom, I don't have to go tonight if you need me to—"

"No. I want you to go," Luisa cut off her daughter. "I want you to act like teenager, Halle. Go to sleepovers, have parties, hang out with your friends." Her voice wavered. "I don't want this past year to define who you are and what you do. So you're going to this Mona-girl's party, okay?"

"Okay." Halle nodded. Sadly, she said, "if we just tell dad that you took me to see someone That Summer then maybe—"

"No." Luisa looked at her daughter with hard eyes. "No, Halle, we can never tell your dad about that. He can never know that I— That I paid Dr Fletcher to evaluate you," she said. "Your father can never know, okay?" Luisa held out her shaky hand and Halle took it. "That's our secret."

The beeping of the machines were by far the most interesting thing about the place. Halle didn't like the centre — it was too clean, too clinical. But this was the place her parents decided her grandmother would live out the rest of her days in, with constant care of a high standard.

"Halle, right?" A man in a fancy suit approached her as she stood looking out of the window, the one at the top of the staircase. Halle had perched herself there with a book; she and her mother were the only ones that had travelled up to see her grandmother this time around, and Halle didn't really want to be sat talking at the older woman all the time. So, she went on a little adventure, looking around the place — she didn't get to do that the last time she was there. The man introduced himself to her. "I'm Dr Fletcher, I'm in charge of your Nana Gloria's care."

"Right."

"Do you mind if I sit?" he asked her.

Halle grimaced a smile. "You're gonna sit anyway, ain't you?"

"I was going to, but if you don't want me to—"

"Just sit down, ask me what you wanna ask me." Halle said, "I find it easier to tell people what they wanna know, so they'll leave me alone."

Dr Fletcher sat down on the ledge. "Does that usually work for you?"

"I wouldn't have said you could sit if it didn't," she replied shortly.

He let out chuckle. "You're a smart girl." He mentioned, "I heard that you helped out a lot when your grandmother came to live with you earlier this year. Your mom said you took on a lot responsibility, that maybe your grades dropped because of it."

"Maybe they did, maybe it's none of my grandmother's doctor's business," Halle countered.

"Right." The man nodded and then asked, her, "so, what do you think of this place? Do you like it?"

Halle glanced around. "Suppose. It's too hospital-ly for me."

"Sorry, we try not to make it too hospital-ly," he said,  joking with her, but she didn't laugh — she didn't even so much as smile. He sucked in a breath and said, "I guess that's the problem with treatment centres like this, they're often somewhere between home and hospital."

Abruptly, Halle asked him, "are they always this white?"

"I'm sorry?" he asked, muddled by her response.

"Are they always this white? It seems rather ironic, really. To have it all white." Halle asked him, "is that to prepare all these people for when they eventually die and go to heaven? 'Cos that's rather presumptuous — to presume that all these oldies will go to heaven, not the other way. But then, again, I suppose they are of the last generation that pretty much all preached the godly ways. God is good, God is great, and all that."

"Do you believe in God?" the doctor asked her.

Halle chuckled. "Is that the question?" She quirked her brows up at him, "is it?"

"Yes, that's the question. Do you believe in God?" he asked her.

She shrugged. "I was raised religious, on my mom's side. My dad wasn't big fan of the church — he still ain't" she blurted out, no relocation of what she was actually rambling out to the stranger. "But he met my mom and since he loved her, he learned to accept the church was part of her life. He goes regularly now. Not every week like she does, but... He does some charity work with our local one every year. He likes helping people, I never really got that trait. Wish I did. My brother got it, though. I kinda wish I was more religious, but it's like I go to pray in church. You know, when the have that moment when the pastor tells his congregation to close their eyes and pray to the lord. And I go to do it, I go to pray, but I never know what to say," Halle confessed to him. "I just end up watching people, pretending that, like Lord, I can hear what they're praying for." Amused, she asked, "Could I have a god-complex?" She laughed, "nah, not that entitled. My friend, Ali, though, she could definitely have a god-complex."

"I think your mother mentioned her," Dr Fletcher said to her. "She's your best friend, right?" He saw Halle nod. "And she's the one that got you involved in some pretty nasty stuff. Your mother's worried about you. She said you've been acting up, going to a lot parties, lying more."

She scoffed. "Is that what this is? Why you've come to talk to be about God?" Strangely bemused, Halle asked, "so what did she say? What did she say to you for you come over and talk to me?"

And the doctor told her the truth. "Your mother feared you may be like your grandmother, she thought you were showing signs of manic depression."

The book fell from Halle's hands to the floor. Her entire self fell, dumbfounded by what the doctor told her. Halle wasn't expecting that. "She thinks I'm bipolar? Why would she think that?" she asked, panicked.

"Relax." He assured her, "I don't think you are. But bipolar disorder is extremely hard to diagnose in teenagers. Often your mood swings are just mood swings, a result of an increase of hormones. But either way, I'd like for you to sit with me, have a session, see how it goes," Dr Fletcher said.

"She's already paid for a session, hasn't she?" Halle asked knowingly. Sadness took a hold of her heart. "My mom's already told you I'm gonna do the session, right? It's why you came over? To introduce yourself?" Halle said, "you weren't being nice, asking me about my grandmother — me caring for her, this place. You want me in a room so I can tell you everything, which you'll then have to tell my mom because I'm a minor. Wow..." Halle choked something between a scoff and hurt sob. "She's unbelievable."

He gave her a supportive smile. "Shall we take this into my office?"

Halle recalled the session and how the shrink came to the same conclusion as he did even before they went into his office. The entire car ride home from the city was spent in silence. Luisa Brewster took Halle out there with the purpose of having a doctor analyse her behaviour. It wasn't until they parked on the driveway that her mother managed to talk to her, and Luisa told her daughter one thing.

"Don't tell your dad about today, I don't want him to worry."

And Halle never did

•

Trudging up the dirt path, Halle really couldn't believe she was attending a Mona Vanderwaal birthday party-extravaganza. If only Alison could see Halle now, walking with Aria and Spencer to the camping group with presents for Loser Mona. Oh, how the tables had turned.

Gleeful, Mona approached the three. A beaming smile was on her face as she greeted them. "Welcome to Camp Mona," she declared proudly.

"Happy birthday," Aria said, smiling.

"Happy birthday," Halle repeated, holding out her gift-bag.

Mona smiled, looping the bag around her finger and accepted the two other presents from Aria and Spencer. "Whatever it is, I'm sure I'll love it and if not, I'll return it," Mona told them, with absolutely no shame behind her words.

An employee, in a Camp Mona shirt, came up and took the presents from the birthday girl and took them over the mountain of gifts stacking up on the table.

"At least she's honest," Halle offered to her friends, muttering under her breath so Mona couldn't hear.

Mona returned, her arms outstretched with gift-bags with pink, sparkly tulle attached. "Swag!" she exclaimed cheerfully.

"Oh, thanks," Aria said, a little taken back as it was trust in her face.

Halle, with a unsure look, took the bag from off Mona. "Yeah, it's so... you," she said, and Mona smiled.

"Ooh..." Spencer pulled out a t-shirt, it having 'CAMP MONA' printed on it in bold letters. "It's subtle," she commented, uncomfortable that she most likely had to wear it.

Mona was still smiling. "Okay, tour-time." She waved her arms out to the left. "So over here, we have the massage tent, the mani-pedi area, the blow-me bar," she said as she walked, the girls following. "And..." she pointed to the little secluded area, "the mini-bar."

"Blow me," Halle muttered, blown away at just how extreme Mona's birthday bashes were. After Mona charged off to go scream at an employee, she turned to her friends, "maybe Hanna ain't so dumb, she knows how to pick friends."

"Yeah, rich ones," Spencer replied.

When Emily arrived, a little later on, the girls immediately all huddled into the tent they were allocated. Emily sat down with them and explained how Toby ended up in her car, how he wanted to talk to her and that was why she was late.

"He came back to tell me he was innocent. And that he didn't hurt Ali," defended Emily strongly, sending her friends a firm look.

"He's lying," Spencer claimed.

"Why is he?" Halle asked her, confused. Did she hear a a different story to them?

"We have to tell the police," Aria agreed with the Hastings girl.

"What? No," Halle argued. "Guys—" she looked between them, "we have to hear it for ourselves, we can't just jump the gun and judge the guy guilty."

"He walked you home once, Halle, he's not a saint," Spencer shot at her.

"Well, he didn't have to, did he?" Halle replied.

Aria's phone began to ring. "It's Hanna," she said, answering the call. "Hey..." Aria spared a glance outside the tent to see Mona counting how many gifts she had received. "Um... she's Mona...Are you sure you gonna be okay?... Hanna, Listen," she dropped her voice, "Emily saw Toby and—" Aria cut herself off, the crackling in her ear from the call going in and out bugged her. She groaned, "God, the service out here sucks." The call was cut off, and then her phone chimed. Her eyes widened and her hand went to Emily's knee. "It's from A." The girls moved closer around her as she read aloud, "'You found my bracelet. Now come find me. Good luck, bitches'."

"I think we're supposed to go to where we found Ali's bracelet," Spencer concluded.

Alarmed, Aria said, "that was in the middle of nowhere."

"No, actually, it was fifteen steps east of the halfway tree, which it one-hundred and thirty-six steps from the main road," Spencer recalled.

Halle was perplexed. "You're not of this planet, I swear."

"You're a freak and I love you," Aria said to Spencer.

"Just a freak," Halle remarked. "A freaky alien, not of this planet. One-hundred and thirty-six steps from the main road," she scoffed. "Truthfully, what are you?"

The girls stood and attempted to leave the tent, but Mona cut them off. She smiled. "Emily, Aria, it's your turn to get blown," she said, and then left.

Halle smirked, "hmm, wanky."

When Spencer the look of help on Aria said, she said, "well, it has to look like we're here for the party. So, go glamp, and Halle and I will be back before it gets dark. Come on." She grabbed Halle's hand and tugged her out of the team. "Team Spalle."

Deadpanned, Halle said, "don't ever let that leave your mouth again."

But as a team, they worked well. Wit and brains — they go hand in hand. The two were only gone forty minutes, as long as it took for Aria and Emily to finish at Mona's 'Blow-me bar'. On seeing them, Halle burst into a fit of uncontrollable laughter.

"Wow," laughed Spencer, seeing the two with ginormous blow-outs, close to being confused for beehives.

Halle began to cackle, almost tumbling over onto the ground with giggles. "Oh, my god, this is— this is the greatest thing I've ever seen."

"Shut up," Aria glared at her.

"I'm gonna pee," Halle lost it, crouching to her knees as her stomach hurt from laughing too hard.

"What happens it you touch it?" Spencer teased, her hand reaching out to mess with Emily's new hairstyle.

Emily, unimpressed, crossed her arms over her body and asked, "did you two find anything?"

Spencer cleared her throat, glanced around and then motioned with her head to step aside, away from lingering eyes. "Come here." With Halle still laughing, Spencer yanked her up by the arm and pulled her with them. She then proceeded to pull out the bracelet the two found in the woods. "Guys, check this out," she said, and embroidered in was Jenna's name.

"Is Jenna telling us that she's A?" Emily asked.

"I don't think so," Spencer said. She nudged Halle with her elbow. "There's something else. Show them."

"Oh, right." Halle dug her hand into the jean-pocket and pulled out a note, reading aloud what it said. "'You're as in the dark as Jenna. Looking for me in all the wrong places'."

Aria paused, confused. "If this is the wrong place, then what's the right place?"

"I don't know, but I need to comb out this hairspray," Emily commented. She walked away and Halle caught her before she got to the tent. Emily turned and looked at her friend quizzically. "What? What's up?"

Halle exhaled forcefully and said, "the others might not want to, but I need to hear it myself. I need to hear Toby tell me what he told you."

Emily questioned her knowingly, "you think he's innocent, don't you?"

"I need to know," Halle said simply.

"Okay. He's behind the church," Emily told her her. "He's leaving at midnight, so if you leave now, you can catch him before it gets dark. I'll cover for you."

"Thank you." Halle leapt up and planted a kiss to her friend's cheek. "I'll be back soon." And then she ran off for her car, unaware of Hanna's eyes watching her leave.

•

Halle approached slowly, but it still alarmed Toby Cavanaugh as he hid by the side of the church. Halle held her hands up in surrender. "Please don't panic, please," she said. "I'm not here to turn you. I wouldn't do that." She saw there was some kind of relief wash over him and he slouched back against the wall.

"Emily told you I'd be here, didn't she?" he said knowingly.

"Yeah. I won't tell, Toby, I promise," Halle said. "I just— I need to know, Toby. I need to hear exactly what you told Em. I need to hear it myself."

He looked at her, confused. "Why?"

"Because I believe you're innocent," she told him truthfully, and she saw his pretty, blue eyes soften.

It had him hopeful, and yet, uneasy. "You do? I asked Emily if she believed me and she couldn't give him answer," said Toby. "So why do you think I'm innocent? You don't know me."

"That night you walked me home, in the notepad, there were— there was a message from someone who wants to hurt me. You didn't know, and I know you didn't know," Halle said. Her eyes were glossy as she confessed, "I've been friends with bad people, Alison for one, and I've done bad things myself. I'm not innocent — nobody is — but I know bad people when I see them, and you're not one of them."

Surprising her, Toby went straight to her and hugged Halle. His arms were wrapped around her waist, engulfing her body against his. He needed this hug, and slowly, Halle realised she did too. She curled her arms up and around his neck, and when she did that, his had the tendency to tighten. "You don't have to go," she whispered to him. "We can fight it." She felt Toby loosen his grip and pull back to look at her face. "Together," she added. "I don't believe you did what they say you did, and I wanna help you, Toby, but I can't do that if you're on the run."

"And what would you have me do? Let them arrest me?" Toby asked her. "They'll charge me and that'll be it. They won't keep looking for who really killed her because with me in jail, it's a solved case for Rosewood PD."

"It's unfair," her voice shook. "It's not right that they're pinning this on you.

"I have to leave, Halle. I have to get out of Rosewood — tonight," he said.

"There's no other way, is there?" Halle looked into his eyes and offered, "I'll stay. I'll stay with you, say goodbye."

"My friend won't like that. If he sees you here, he'll drive away. He won't help if there's anyone that can tie him to me," Toby told her. "You have to leave."

"And so do you." Halle hugged him. "I'm so sorry, Toby. I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault. Hey, at least someone believes me," Toby tried to smile.

Without a moment's thought, Halle placed her lips on Toby's. She kissed him. Soft and sweet, it was nothing more than an apology kiss, but it was still a kiss. When her feet settled on the ground again, Halle smiled and said, "don't forget me, it would be real unfortunate if you did."

"I got a kiss from a cheerleader, I'm not forgetting that any time soon," he said bashfully, a little chuckle escaping him.

Halle, too, let out a small laugh. Regretfully, she told him, "I better go. I've gotta get back before anyone susses I left. Goodbye, Toby," she kissed his cheek this time, "be safe."

"You too." Toby watched her retreat from where he was, hidden by the church bushes, and then he called out to her. "Hey, Halle." She face him. "If I can—can I, um... can I write to you? Or call sometime?"

She nodded, smiling. "Yes. You can, I'd like that."

"Great, great."

"Goodbye, Toby."

He gave her one last smile. "Goodbye, Halle."

•

By time Halle returned to the camp, it was dark. She didn't know how Emily covered for her, but she doubted the lie was still working now. She got back too late, and then Halle's mobile sounded.

SOSI know who A is.Heading to the parking lot.From: Hanna.

Immediately, Halle snapped into motion. She climbed out of her car and slammed the door shut. She whipped her head around, searching for Hanna, and when she spotted the blonde, a sigh of relief washed over her.

"Hanna!" she yelled.

"Oh, my god, Halle!" Hanna said.

Halle legged it across the car-park and threw her arms around Hanna. She engulfed the girl in a tight hug, her arms wrapped around her frame. "Oh, my god. Are you okay?" she asked, pulling back to look at her friend's face.

"Where did you go?" Hanna asked, alarmed. "I didn't know where you went, I was worried."

"I went to see Toby," Halle blurted out.

"What?!" Hanna was shocked. "Why?"

"He told Em what happened the night Ali died and he didn't hurt her, he didn't," Halle told her

"Come on, we need to find the others," Hanna insisted. "I know who A is."

"Hanna—" Aria waved her torch in the air. They were on the opposite side of the parking lot.

"Come on," Hanna grabbed Halle's and and the two started to run towards the girls.

"Hanna! Hanna!" Aria's yells were heard across the lot. She was alarmed, panicked by something.

"Halle!" Emily exclaimed.

Spencer screamed at them, "watch out!"

What the two crossing the parking lot didn't see was the car heading for them. Its headlights blinded the others from seeing who was driving as they drove straight at the two. "Look out—"

Hanna turned and saw the car. In a flash, she pushed Halle away from danger but both were still hit. The car collided full-force with Hanna while the cheerleader was clipped, thrown to the side — her head smashed against the bumper of a parked car as she landed. Hanna had struck the windshield and toppled over the car as it carried on at speed, hitting the ground with a loud thud.

Wails left each of their friends. They were left horrified, screaming like dying animals. "Oh, my god! Call nine-one-one!" Spencer yelled, her dashing over to them — her to Hanna and Aria to Halle as Emily called for an ambulance. "Check her pulse," she ordered Aria. "Hanna!"

"Oh, my god! There's blood!" Aria cried. "There's so much blood!"

"Check her pulse!" Spencer screamed.

On the phone, Emily was panicking. "There's been an accident, we're in the Camp Rosewood parking lot. Two people, please hurry."

"Hanna's not breathing," Spencer wailed.

"Please, one isn't breathing, and there's blood, please hurry," pleaded Emily, sobbing hard.

"Halle, Halle, Hal." Aria kept pressure on the gash open on Halle's forehead, moving her head to rest in her lap. "Halle, please," she bawled, "please."

"Hanna's not breathing!" screamed Spencer, shrieking out her cries. "Somebody! Help!"

Aria's phone ringing cut through all the crying, a hoard of people began to gather around. They all watched the event unfold, unsure of what else to do — all watching as the five friends had their world ripped in two.

"No, please, no," Emily sobbed, and she watched Aria reach for her chiming phone.

SHE KNEW TOO MUCH. THE OTHER IS COLLATERAL.--A.

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