Valerie pulled down the sleeves of the hoodie that was much too big for her around her hands, trying to fight off the cold air and heavy rain. She walked down the path from the DiLaurentis house to the Hastings barn, she heard music blaring from the inside. Valerie pushed open the heavy doors and was met with the faces of her four best friends: Hanna, Emily, Aria and Spencer. The only person missing was Alison.

The girls gasped not expecting Valerie's appearance, "Val where were you?" Spencer asked curiously. The girls sighed in relief once they released who had arrived.

"Yeah, I tried calling you like a million times." Aria stated, waving her phone in the air.

"Sorry, mom held me up, she kept asking me if we were gonna be safe while we're out here." Valerie lied easily, not worrying about if any of the girls would be able to see through her.

"And what'd you tell her?" Hanna asked, smirking and tilting her head to the side.

"Well of course I told her yes, doesn't mean it's true." Valerie giggled, making her way to sit on the floor with her sister.

"Whose hoodie is that?" Spencer questioned her, clearly able to tell that it didn't belong to the girl.

"Mike's, he had it lying around and I was cold." Valerie answered calmly, trying to make her lies believable.

Spencer glared at Valerie, almost seeing through her, "Isn't mike a little... small?"

"Mike likes buying clothes that are ten times his size because he thinks it makes him look older." Aria defended her sister. Luckily what Aria had said was true, so nobody else chose to question it. The girls busted out into laughter and Valerie sighed as she was able to collect herself.

Valerie was one hell of a liar when she needed to be, lying was as easy as breathing to her. She could tell the most absurd lie and find a way to make you believe her. One of the only people who could see through her was Alison. Alison had a way of making you feel special, like you could tell her anything. Alison and Valerie were bonded in that way, Valerie could tell a good lie and Alison could turn it into the truth. The duo were the epitome of manipulation, they were inseparable together, where one went the other went, when one told a secret the other kept it.

The girls were telling stories and laughing right before the lights flickered off and the music died down. The only noise that could be heard was the sound of the storm booming down on the barn.

"What happened?" Emily asked nervously.

"It must be the storm." Spencer stated while remaining calm. The door to the barn creaks open, but whoever opens it stays out of sight. Spencer grabs a flashlight and the girls huddle up behind her.

"Somethings out there." Aria whispered, frightened.

"Guys." Hanna starts freaking out, hiding far back behind the group. The girls slowly made their way to the door, Valerie closed her fists, preparing to fight anyone if they were out there. The sound of glass crashing makes the girls gasp and suddenly a blonde figure jumps out from behind the door, making everyone scream and jump back.

"Gotcha!" Alison shouts, laughing at her own stunt. The girls sighed in relief when they realized it wasn't someone trying to kill them.

"That is so not funny Alison!" Spencer shouted while walking back to her previous spot.

"I thought it was hilarious girls." Alison said, making the group laugh. Valerie wrapped her arms around her cold body and sat down on a cushion next to her sister, the two leaned up against each other seeking warmth.

"Ali, did you download the new Beyonce?" Hanna asked enthusiastically.

"Not yet." The other blonde responded.

"I'm loving her new video." Emily said, smiling.

"Maybe a little too much Em." Alison told her in the tone of voice that implied she knew something that the other girls didn't. The girls giggled except Valerie, instead she shot Alison a glare.

"So, Val, you gonna tell us whose hoodie that is?" Alison asked, although she already knew the answer.

"It's Mike's." Spencer told the blonde.

"Oh, that's funny, I would've assumed it was another boy's. I mean I know you're into older guys and all." Alison sneered, giving Valerie a dirty look. The two girls were always closer than the rest, but after Alison had caught her doing something Ali deemed unforgivable, Valerie knew that there was always going to be bad blood between them. The girls all looked at each other awkwardly, not sure what Ali meant by her little outburst.

Alison cleared her throat, avoiding the stares of her friends, "Your turn," Alison demands, handing Aria the plastic cup that was filled with alcohol. Aria takes a big gulp of the drink.

"Careful Aria, take too much and you'll tell us all your secrets." Spencer teased, making the rest of the girls laugh.

"Friends share secrets, that's what keeps us close." Alison grinned, "Here, drink up." Alison pushed the cup into Valerie's hand. Valerie sighed, taking a large gulp of the stinging liquid.

*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:

Valerie wakes up to someone pushing against her shoulder, "Val wake up!" A voice shouted from beside her. Valerie grumbled in protest as she pushed her head into a pillow, "C'mon Ali and Spence are missing, you gotta wake up." Aria said, pushing her shoulder again.

"What?" Valerie muttered, suddenly becoming more alert. She sat up from her spot on the floor to see the rest of the girls awake, except Ali and Spencer who were nowhere to be seen, "Where the hell did they go?" She asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

Aria gets out of her crouching position and walks to the door, "Ali?" Aria shouts to the upcoming figure.

"She's gone." Spencer spoke calmly, although the fear on her face said something else.

"Gone? Gone where?" Valerie asks, looking at Spencer intently.

"I don't know. I've looked everywhere for her. I think I heard her scream."

Valerie felt a chill run down her spine. It was typical for Alison to leave the girls whenever she felt like but Valerie just knew something was wrong this time, her heart was racing and her head was spinning.

1 YEAR LATER . . .

Valerie sat on her sister's bed, watching her gawk at herself in the mirror, "You look fine Aria, I promise." Valerie told her, rolling eyes.

"Are you sure I shouldn't wear the other dress?" Aria asked, turning to face her sister.

"Aria, come on you've never had a problem picking out clothes before. People aren't gonna care what you look like now, they're only gonna care that we used to be best friends with the girl who went missing a year ago." Valerie explained, clearly failing her attempt of trying to comfort her sister. Aria shot her a look, clearly frustrated with her sister's choice of words.

"I'm not helping am I?" Valerie asked sarcastically. Aria rolled her eyes with a smile on her face as she turned back around to the mirror. Valerie lay on her back staring at the ceiling, now thinking about Alison, wondering what it would've been like if she was still around. She sighed and sat up from her spot.

"You still think about her a lot, don't you?" Aria asked softly, walking over and sitting next to her sister.

"Yeah." Valerie replied sadly, nodding her head.

"Me too." Aria added, placing her hand on top of Valerie's as comfort.

"You girls okay?" A voice called from the doorway. The girls turned their heads to see Ella Montgomery, their mother.

"It's weird to be home," Aria answered.

"We were gone a year, that's a long time when you're sixteen." Ella said.

"I can't stop thinking about Ali." Valerie confessed, her voice filled with melancholy.

"You guys should call your friends, they don't know we're back from dad's sabbatical." Ella suggested.

Aria sighed, "On the news they're calling it the anniversary of Alison's disappearance" Aria scoffed.

"Like it's some kind of party or something." Valerie muttered, hugging one of Aria's display pillows to her chest.

"Why don't you give them a call? You six were inseparable, and those feelings don't just go away." Ella suggested once more, hoping to bring the girls back together.

Valerie opened her mouth to say something, but their brother Mike came running down the hallway, "I need a ride to lacrosse!" he shouted running down the stairs, eager to get to his game.

"I'll take him." Aria offered.

"I'll come with you." Valerie said. The girls made their way down the stairs, and Valerie was met with tons of boxes surrounding the house.

"Moving sucks." She sighed.

"Yeah, tell me about it." Aria mumbled.

Mike and Ella head for the garage, searching for something Mike needed for lacrosse. Byron approached the girls.

"Listen, I know coming back here brings up a lot of memories, are you girls okay?" He asked sincerely.

"Dad, we're still keeping your secret, okay?" Aria snapped.

"I mean, are you okay with Alison?" he explained. Valerie rolled her eyes and headed toward the door, Aria and Mike tagged along shortly after.

Aria had dropped Mike off at lacrosse and Valerie at the library. She wanted to be alone, not sure how she felt being home. Every one of her thoughts was of Alison or what happened with her dad last summer. Everything was so hectic, she just needed a minute to herself.

Valerie had decided she wanted to walk home instead of being picked up, it would give her more time to think. She stared down at the sidewalk as she walked down the street, not even paying attention to where she was going, just hoping her feet would take her where she needed to go. She stopped walking and looked up, she blinked a few times, trying to see if she had actually stopped in front of the DiLaurentis house. She rubbed her eyes and sighed, she observed all the moving vans and the people bringing stuff in and out of the house.

She stared at one of the widows on the second floor, knowing exactly whose room it was.

FLASHBACK

The girls were outside of the DiLaurentis house. Alison, Hanna, Aria and Emily were sitting down in the grass watching Spencer and Valerie kick around a soccer ball. Valerie was on the junior varsity soccer team, it was her dream to make the varsity team her junior year.

"Come on Val, kick it harder!" Spencer laughed as she kicked the ball towards Valerie, she easily kicked it back toward Spencer but she managed to block her kick and send it right back toward her.

"Come on Val, you got this!" Hanna encouraged, clapping her hands enthusiastically. Valerie smiled at her friend. Hanna had always been the biggest sweetheart, she truly believed everyone had a good side and was Valerie's biggest supporter. Valerie hated the comments Alison would always make about Hanna's weight, she didn't deserve it, but Alison was probably Rosewoods biggest bitch and if she wanted to, she'd make your life hell.

Valerie kicked the ball a lot harder this time, Spencer wasn't able to get it in time and it flew right past her. Valerie hadn't noticed someone had come out of the house and the ball was going right toward them. Clearly he had fast reflexes as he caught the ball with ease.

Valerie had never seen him before, but he was super cute. She couldn't bring herself to form a sentence as she stared at him. Her stare didn't go unnoticed by him as he walked up to her and put the ball out right in front of her to take.

"Sorry." She apologized quickly as she went to take the ball but before she could grab it he put it high in the air so she couldn't reach. She glared at him and tried to grab the ball, but she couldn't seem to reach it.

"Gonna have to try harder than that if you really want it." His voice was raspy and she was obsessed. She couldn't help but bring herself to smirk at his actions.

"Isn't your posse of alcoholics waiting for you upstairs." Alison spoke up, her voice harsh. The guy rolled his eyes and turned to face Alison. He smirked and threw the ball right at her, making her spill the glass of water she had in her hand.

Alison gasped and had an angry expression on her face, "Jason, I'm gonna kill you!" She screamed and threw the ball right back at him. Once again he caught it, this time he handed it to Valerie and ran back in the house laughing.

"God! Why couldn't I have been an only child!" She shouted as she attempted to wipe the water from her clothes.

"That's your brother?" Spencer asked, they'd never met Jason before and barely knew she had a brother.

"Unfortunately." She said dryly, "I wish my parents would just disown him already." Alison muttered, the frustration evident in her tone.

That was the first time Valerie had met Jason, and the day she started crushing on him. He was extremely attractive. He had messy blonde hair, the most mesmerizing sea green eyes she'd ever seen, he was at least six feet tall and the way he smirked at her made her stomach backflip at least a million times.

PRESENT DAY . . .

"Hello?" A female voice called out. Valerie snapped out of her daydream and realized she was still standing outside of the DiLaurentis house. She blinked a few times looking at the person standing in front of her. She was pretty, she had light brown skin, dark curly hair and a really pretty smile.

"Hey sorry I was just- I used to know the person that lived here and I kind of zoned out." Valerie replied quickly, feeling awkward.

"It's alright. I'm Maya by the way." The girl told her, instead of holding out her hand for her to shake she went straight for a hug. Valerie was taken back at first but eventually hugged her back.

"I'm Valerie." She smiled, "Look, I gotta go but uhm it was nice to meet you."

"Alright, maybe I'll see you around."

"Later. See you." Mike said before stepping out of the car and walking into the school. Aria and Valerie were about to get out of the car also but their dad stopped them.

"Hey."

"Look, it's the first day. We don't wanna be late." Aria spoke.

"I love you girls, you know that right?" He asked.

"Yeah we know." Valerie said, though sometimes she really had to question if he did or not.

"And you know that I love your mom." He stated, his voice sounding sincere but Valerie chuckled sarcastically.

"Do you?" Aria snapped.

"I made a mistake, okay? And I will be sorry about it for the rest of my life. I just hope that someday you'll be able to forgive me." He stammered, the girls clearly didn't believe a word that came out of his mouth.

"I hope so too." Aria replied before quickly exiting the car, Valerie following shortly after.

| Alison, Aria and Valerie went out for ice cream, it was a warm day and the girls needed an excuse to hang

"Aria, Valerie! Hey, guys! Alison!" Mona shouted from behind the trio.

"Hey! You hear Mona?" Aria questioned, grinning.

"Hey Aria!" She shouted once more.

"Maybe we should wait." Valerie said, feeling bad for the girl who just wanted to be friends.

"My god. Is she ever gonna get a clue? What a loser. Come here." Alison nagged, grabbing a hold of the girls and pulling them down the street. The girls ran down the street, they stopped in their tracks when they noticed a familiar car parked underneath a tree. Their dad was in drivers seat of the car, making out with some random blonde Valerie hadn't seen before

"Hey, isn't that your dad's car?" The blonde asked the sisters. Valerie felt her whole world crumbling at the sight in front of her. |

"Valerie, Aria?" A feminine voice called out.

"Emily." Aria spoke, the girls had huge smiles on their faces. They hadn't seen Emily in a year and it felt so good to see her again. Valerie ran up to Emily and almost tackled her to the ground.

"Gosh! I missed you so much!" Valerie shouted, her smile couldn't get any bigger if she tried. Emily giggled at her reaction.

"I missed you too Val." Emily said.

"When did you guys get back?" The dark haired girl asked.

"Yesterday." The sisters said in unison.

"I almost didn't recognize you guys, I think the last time we saw each other you had pink stripes in your hair and Valerie had purple." Aria and Valerie were as close as two sisters could be. They had similar tastes in fashion and music and even had matching highlights in their hair last summer.

"Well, when your parents want you to be yourself And you don't know who you are..." Aria explained.

"Uhm, excuse me? I thought we rocked our colored hair." Valerie put her hand over her chest as if she were offended. Aria tilted her head to the side and rolled her eyes.

"You guys wore it well. You should have called. It's so weird just running into you here." Emily said.

"Oh. Well, we kind of lost touch, Emily, remember?" Aria said.

"That's what we had to do." The girls walked up to the school preparing for their first day of junior year. Valerie was excited, she had made the varsity soccer team and had her first game after school next week.

"I saw a poster of Alison yesterday." Aria spoke sadly. Valerie frowned, hearing the name of her missing best friend was hard.

"It's awful. I mean, we all know she's dead, right?" Emily inquired. Valerie tensed up, she hated thinking of Alison being dead, she always imagined some day she'd just show up and say it was all some big joke. Of course it wouldn't be funny to anyone but it was better than her being dead.

Aria was clearly uncomfortable at the realization, "I just never heard anyone say it." Aria mumbled.

*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:

Aria, Emily and Valerie all walked into their English class together, luckily they all had it together.

"So, I hear the new English teacher is really hot." Emily explained, smirking. Valerie laughed and took her seat next to Emily. A gorgeous blonde girl walked through the door with a pretty dark haired girl. Valerie stared for a minute before realizing who it was.

"Oh my god." She marveled.

"Is that Hanna?" Aria asked, just as shocked.

"She's the it girl now." Emily explained, "And where there's Hanna there's Mona.

Valerie nearly choked when she realized that it was Mona, "Are you serious?" The two girls had had serious glow ups since last summer. You could barely recognize them.

"That's Mona?" Aria was puzzled.

"Can you believe it?"

"Wow, talk about a makeover."

Hanna glares at the trio and gives them a small wave before turning back to Mona. Mona also gives them a dirty look.

"What's up with her? You two fighting?" Aria asks, confused.

"We didn't just fall out of touch with you, Aria. We all fell out of touch with each other." Emily explained.

Valerie was in awe of Hanna. For one, she was proud of her for overcoming her eating disorder, but in a way Hanna reminded her of Alison. She'd wondered if it was just Hanna's looks that had changed.

Spencer walks into the classroom, she smiles at Hanna before taking her seat.

"They're not so close anymore either." Emily stated.

"So they're friendly, but not friends."

The students chatter died down as the teacher walked into the classroom, Valerie couldn't see his face at first but she could tell he was young. He was lean with dark curls, and he dressed differently than other teachers, but still professionally. He wrote his name on the chalkboard before introducing himself. He turns around and is about to begin introducing himself but it looks like his breath gets caught in his throat.

"Holy crap." He gulped, staring right at Aria. Valerie turned to Aria and noticed she was just as shocked to see him. The whole class was staring at her, giving her weird looks, but luckily for her her phone went off right as the stares had begun.

"Sorry," she apologizes before tucking her phone back into her bag.

"Uh, I'm Mr. Fitz, your new English teacher." He introduced himself.

Valerie had gone to the library after school ended, it was the one place she could be alone at. Well, when she wanted to be. She ran her fingers down the spines of the books as she walked down the isles. She was looking for one particular book, one that meant a lot to her, it was her favorite book and she'd read it at least a million times. Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. She grabbed the book from the shelf and looked at the spot she pulled it from. 'J + V' was carved into the wood of the shelf. She smiled to herself, remembering the exact moment vividly.

"Jason we shouldn't be in here!" She shouted as he pulled her through the library.

"I thought you liked it here?" He questioned.

"I do, but we're gonna get caught." She stated matter-of-factly. He rolled his eyes pulling her further into the library. He dragged her into one of the aisles and they both sat down, leaning against the shelves.

"Jason, I'm serious we-" She rambled but was cut off by a kiss. She kissed him back passionately, placing her hand on his chest. He pulled away hesitantly, staring into her eyes. She stared right back into his. She always loved looking into his eyes, they were a shade of green she'd never seen, she loved them, she loved him, though she could never tell him that.

"Why do you come here so much?" He questioned, he didn't understand her addiction with books but if she liked them he'd buy her the whole library.

"Why do you come here so much?" She asked back, exaggerating the 'you'.

"Because you're here." He responded softly. She smiled at his words, feeling like she was the only girl in the world.

"You know you should really try picking up a book some time." She said quietly, her voice still humorous.

"Oh, you think I don't read?" He asked back sarcastically.

"Tell me something then." She demanded smugly. He smirked, leaning into her. She thought he was going to kiss her but instead his lips lingered right by her ear. She could feel his even breaths against her ear.

"My bounty is as boundless as the sea, my love as deep; the more I give to thee, the more I have, for both are infinite." he whispered to her, placing soft kisses down her neck. She smiled like an idiot, she tangled her hands in his hair, pulling him in closer.

"Romeo and Juliet." She perceived, her eyes fluttering closed from the sensation against her neck.

"Mhm," he mumbled into her neck. She tightened her grip in his hair making him groan. Her whole body felt like it was on fire, she'd only ever felt this way with him. He made sure of that. His hands slid down her thighs, lifting her up into his lap. His lips attached to hers instantly and she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling his as close as she possibly could. If she could stay in this moment forever, she would. He's the only guy she's ever wanted, she knows it's wrong, he's older than her and not to mention Alison's brother. She'd kill both of them if she ever found out, so they kept it their little secret.

He pulled away from the kiss, leaning his head against hers. Her heavy breathing began to slow down as her body relaxed. He pulled her off of him and stood up, he reached his hand down to her.

"C'mon." He gestured. She grabbed his hand and he pulled her up, they walked slowly down to a different aisle of books. He stopped walking and picked Romeo and Juliet off the shelf and handed it to her.

"Here."

"What?"

"Take it." he told her. She grabbed the book from him slowly, wondering what he was trying to do. He pulled a pocket knife out from his jeans and switched it open.

"Did you bring me here to kill me?" She asked humorously.

"Maybe." He smiled. She watched him carve something into the wood of the shelf precisely.

"I'm pretty sure that's illegal." She said sarcastically.

"I'm pretty sure everything we just did was illegal, Val." He reflected, still continuing whatever he was carving into the wood.

"Fair point." She shrugged. She leaned over his arm to see what he was doing. He looked down at her, admiring her features. He pulled the knife away from the shelf to reveal what he did. She saw their initials written on the shelf and she looked up at him and smiled. He'd already been looking at her lovingly. He leaned down and kissed her softly, placing his hands on her cheeks.

Valerie snapped out of her trance when she heard her phone ding. She pulled it out of the pocket of her pleated jean skirt and her heart sank when she read the text.

*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:

Valerie stood at the front door of the Hasting's home, she really needed to talk to Spencer, none of the other other girls were free and she really felt like she couldn't just mention this in a call. She knocked on the door and sighed deeply. Veronica Hastings was the one to open the door.

"Valerie! I haven't seen you in ages. How are you sweetie?" The older woman greeted her with love. Valerie had always been a big fan of Veronica Hastings, she was always sweet to Valerie.

"I've been good Mrs. Hastings. Uhm, is Spencer here? I kind of have something I need to talk to her about."

"She's in her room, you can go up and see her." she said kindly, Valerie stepped into the house and made her way towards Spencer's room, she knocked before entering. Spencer came to the door and was surprised to see Valerie.

"Hey." She greeted her.

"Hey Spence." She replied, "Can we talk?"

"Yeah, come in." Valerie sat down on Spencer's bed, she envied how comfortable her bed was. Almost everything about her room was the same from the last time she was in it, maybe a few more medals and trophies, but that didn't come as a shock to Valerie, nobody loved to win more than Spencer Hastings.

"So, what did you need to talk about?" The brunette asked.

"I just- I just needed to know if you've gotten any weird texts lately." She confessed hesitantly.

"Why would you ask that?" Spencer asked suspiciously.

Valerie sighed, "Look, I got this text from someone named A and-" She began to explain herself but Spencer cut her off.

"So did I," she told her, "It was something that only Alison knew."

"So was mine." The girls sat in silence for a while, pondering if Alison DiLaurentis was haunting them from the grave, or if she was still alive roaming the streets of Rosewood. Suddenly flashing lights and sirens started blaring from outside, Valerie and Spencer got up and looked out the window to see dozens of police cars all pulling into the DiLaurentis house. Spencer and Valerie stared at each other before darting out of the house. Spencer and Valerie stood outside of her house, Aria came up from behind them.

"I heard the cops took Hanna to the police station today." She told them, nervously.

"You don't think she'd ever talk about..." Spencer started but was cut off.

"The Jenna thing?" Hanna said, who had also come up to them, "We made a promise." The girls watched as swarms of cops stormed around the front of the house, Valerie felt her head starting to hurt and her heart starting to pound, she knew that they had found Alison's body and that something bad was going to happen because of it. She didn't know what, but she wasn't ready to find out.

*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:

Valerie walked into the church, seeing people she didn't even know. God knows Alison would've loved it, being the center of attention. Mrs. DiLaurentis spotted her walking in and greeted her.

"Valerie, I'm so glad you could make it dear." She pulled Valerie into an embrace that lasted a few seconds. Valerie smiled warmly at her but her smile faded when she saw him walking toward them. His dusty blonde hair and sea green eyes were tattooed in her mind, she could never forget it. There was some random guy Valerie had never seen before standing next to him, she figured he wanted to pay his respects to the family.

Jason introduced the guy to his mother and she told him she'd be right with him.

"Jason you do remember Valerie Montgomery don't you?" She inquired.

"Yeah. I do." His voice was still as ethereal as it was the last time she saw him, which was so long ago. He'd changed a lot visibly and Valerie felt herself falling for him all over again. His mother whispered to him to talk to her for a moment while she greets the other guests, she stepped away leaving the two alone.

"How are you Val?" He asked softly. Everyone called her Val but it was different when he did, it meant something more and they both knew it.

"I'm fine." She replied quickly. They both knew fine meant something else entirely but he knew it wasn't his place to ask anymore.

"I would ask you how you are but considering the circumstances I can guess it's not great." She assumed. Her voice was low and she tried not to stare directly at him for too long without taking a break. If she didn't break the stare, she might've just noticed the way he was looking at her, like she was the only person in the entire room.

"Half of these people didn't even know Alison." He noted, looking around the church filled with strangers.

"Yeah, she would've loved it though. Being the center of attention." Valerie smiled, looking down at the floor.

"Yeah." He said simply, not being able to take his eyes off her. Mrs. DiLaurentis walked back over to them.

"You can sit up front with the other girls, it's what Alison would have wanted." She said, her voice filled with sorrow. Valerie made her way up to where the rest of the girls were sitting and took the spot next to Spencer.

"Hey I saw you talking to Jason, what was that about?" Spencer questioned.

"Nothing, we were just talking about Alison." Technically she wasn't lying, they were talking about Alison. She didn't need to know what their history was together. Luckily Spencer just brushed it off, not questioning her further.

"Poor Ali." Emily mumbled, her face filled with pain.

"Can you believe what a scene this is?" Hanna added.

"Alison would've loved it." Aria noted, Valerie agreed.

"Popular in life and death." Spencer said. Hanna looked at Emily, noticing her despair, she pulled a flask out of her bag and reached over to hand it to her.

"No thanks, I don't-"

"Today, I think you do." Hanna motioned for her to take it. Aria's phone dinged and all the girls looked at her instantly in fear.

"Anyone we know?" Hanna asked.

"No, it's just my mom sending me a text." Aria said, but when the girls kept staring at her she confessed something, "Emily and I aren't the only ones Who got messages from "a," are we?" Spencer and Valerie looked to each other, knowing exactly which texts she was referring to. Spencer and Valerie whip their heads around when they see a certain brunette walk through the door.

"Oh my god." Valerie muttered.

"It's Jenna." Spencer announced, making all the other girls look in Jenna's direction. She was walking down the church, Toby at her side. The girls hadn't seen Jenna since last summer, when the Jenna thing happened.

Mrs. DiLaurentis and Jason sit down next to the girls in the front row. Mrs. DiLaurentis leans over, "Did you see that Jenna Marshall was here? I didn't realize she and Ali were friends."

"They weren't," Spencer stated. They weren't able to converse much more as the ceremony had started.

"The lord giveth and the lord taketh away."

The girls walked out of the church, heading toward their families to leave, when a man stopped them in their tracks.

"Emily, Spencer, Aria, Valerie and Hanna." He announced their names, letting them know he already knew exactly who they were.

"Do we know you?" Spencer asked politely.

"I'm detective Wilden, I understand you were all good friends with the victim."

"Yeah, we were." Aria said.

"I'm gonna need to talk to each one of you."

"We talked to the police when Alison went missing." Spencer explained to him.

"And I intend to go over every one of your statements. This is no longer a missing persons investigation. It's a murder. Rest assured, I will find out what happened that summer." He asserted, leaving the girls shaken up. He walked away and leaned against a tree some feet away from where the girls were.

"Do you think he knows about-" Aria began but was cut off.

"No way." Valerie objected. All of a sudden their phones all ding at the same time, they look at each other in discomfort before checking the text.

"Oh my god." Aria mumbles.

"It's from-"

"I got one too."

"I'm still here bitches." Spencer starts.

"And I know everything. A."