chapter forty five
eye of the beholder
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Later that day, after their trip to Brookhaven, the girls were sitting at a table outside a bakery, called 'Lucky Leon's Cupcakes'. "Well. he recognized the coat." Aria said as she joined them. "But when he saw it first, he thought it was Alison.. Vivian." she said, correcting herself. "When we noticed you didn't come back, he was gone." Emily said. "He was cute from the back." Hanna said. "And so was his front." Aria mused, making Josie laugh. "Under different circumstances." Aria added with a little laugh.

"He's been in Florida for, like, a year." Aria said. "What did you tell him?" Josie asked. "Uh, I told him that I was a friend of Vivian's and that I hadn't seen her since she gave me the coat." Aria explained and Josie nodded. "Can I see that number again?" Spencer asked Aria. "Yeah." she responded, handing the note to Spencer. "Thanks," she said, taking it from Aria. "Duncan Albert?" Spencer questioned as she read the note. "He said he met her in Brookhaven?" Emily asked and Aria nodded. "Yeah, in a bookstore. Couple places down from that creepy doll hospital." she said.

"Well, whoever Duncan is, he's connected to Alison and what she wanted in Brookhaven." Spencer said. "How do we know that he wasn't just some guy she flirted with in a bookstore?" Emily asked and Josie shook her head. "I don't think Alison wasted Vivian on flirting, when she was Vivian, she wanted something." she said. "She was looking for 'A'?" Hanna asked. "Duncan was part of that trail." Emily said. "I'll call him," Aria said, staring at the piece of paper. "Aria, you don't have to." Spencer said, trying to assure her. "Any one of us could've been wearing that coat." Emily said.

"But it was me." Aria replied as tires squeaked on the road, making Spencer look at the car that stopped not far from them, the girls, noticing her staring at something, followed her line of sight to see Jenna getting out of the car along with Toby, making Spencer get up from her seat as she stared at Toby. "She had the operation." Hanna said. "Spence?" Josie said, as Spencer slowly returned to her seat.

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"He thought Aria was Alison's fake identify?" Richie asked as they ate breakfast at her house. "Yeah." she said with a nod. "Weird." he muttered before eating the toast he had on his plate. "Defintally." Josie replied as she got up and put her dishes in the sink before sitting back down, this time next to Richie. "And don't even get me started on that creep doll shop." Josie said with a shudder, making Richie laugh softly at her. He knew she hated dolls, even as a kid, they creeped her out. "Have you spoken to Caleb?" Richie asked, changing the subject.

"No, and I don't think I will just yet," she said. "Why not?" he asked, pushing his empty plate away. "Him knowing he's my brother, will put an extra target on his back from 'A'." she said, "Once this is all over i will, i just don't want him to not want me as his sister or in his life," she said and he nodded in understanding. "Everything will be sorted out eventually, and no matter how long it takes, i'll be here." he said, making Josie smile before kissing him, making him smile into the kiss.

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At school, the girls plus Richie and Mona were standing around in the hallway as Mona handed Hanna a phone, since Hanna destroyed her other one and her mother wouldn't buy her a new one. "It's really old, like six months." Mona said as she gave it to Hanna. "But it works pretty good for an antique." Moan said, going through her bag. "The number bills to my account so your mom never has to know," she said as she put some hand sanitizer on Hanna.

"Ugh, Mona, you are a lifesaver." Hanna said, rubbing the hand sanitizer onto her hands as Mona gives some to the other girls, including Richie who thanks her with a nod. "Well, what's the point in doing something for someone if it doesn't make you look good?" she asked, making Josie laugh softly. "I'ms already number one on the speed dial. Ciao!" she said before walking off. "If only we could harness Mona's sense of entitlement, we could lighten the eastern seaboard." Spencer said.

"Yeah, well, I don't care, I got a new phone and didn't have to go through Caleb." Hanna said. "He's safe in Montecito." Hanna with a smile. "Did you get through to that Duncan guy?" Richie asked Aria as his arm was wrapped around Josie. "Yeah, he's coming after school, I'm gonna meet him in the courtyard." Aria replied. "That sounds safe." Spencer approved just before the bell rang, meaning get to class. "Yeah." Aria muttered. "Later," Spencer said before walking off and then everyone went their separate ways, minus Richie and Josie who shared a class that period.

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Later that day, after school the girls were walking down the street, talking about Aria's conversation with Duncan. "Duncan saw Ali that weekend?" Josie asked, shocked and confused. "Are we sure we believe him?" Hanna asked. "He was all torn up when I told him that she was dead, he couldn't have been faking that." Aria responded. "Em, you okay?" Hanna asked, noticing she was walking behind them. "Sure." she said as Josie heard an engine revving and suddenly it got louder, making the girls stop to see what it was. They saw Garrett's car speeding away from Toby's house. "Why is Garrett in such a hurry?" Spencer asked just before their phones went off, making them look at their phones to see the message.

UNKNOWN ID
Where there's smoke,
there's payback
⎯ A

Emily read out the message just before they heard a door open. Aria looked, before pulling Spencer's arm as they began walking and they looked to see Toby and Jenna walk out of the Cavanaugh house, with someone. "Wait, what's going on?" Hanna asked. "I don't know." Spencer said as they continued to walk before stopping. "What are they talking to the fire department about?" Aria asked nervously as they watched Toby talk to the fire department.

"They're talking about that night." Emily said, making Josie gulp, nervous. "The Jenna thing." Spencer said. "Are you serious?" Hanna asked. "What could Toby be telling them?" Josie asked. "I did such a good job of screwing him up, he might say anything Jenna wants him to say," Spencer said. "That we were the ones that blinded Jenna?" Hanna asked. "Alison and us." Emily said.

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The next night, during Dinner, Josie had gotten a call from Hanna to get to the hospital, apparently she had saved Jenna from a fire. "Wait, so he flys her on a plane?" Josie asked Aria, confused. Hanna, Emily, Josie and Aria were in the waiting room talking, Aria was talking about how her time with Duncan went. "From Hilton Head to a airstrp outside of Philadelphia." Aria said. "Wha–what about the bus ride from her grandmother?" Emily asked. "We never actually saw her get off the bus, we only saw her get out of the cab." Aria pointed out.

"She could have been in Rosewood hours before that," Aria added. "Doing what?" Emily asked but didn't get a chance to answer as Hanna's mother called her name. "Hanna," she said, making the girls look over to see Ashley Marin. "What happened? Are you alright?" Ashley asked as Hanna hugged her. "I'm fine. I just need to wash my hair, I'm all smoky." Hanna said.

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Later on, the girls were in Jenna's hospital room, she had requested to see all of them. "Jason was miles away when the police called him, he didn't send you that text." Aria told Jenna. "Somebody did." Jenna said. "Meaning one of us?" Spencer asked. "You can't blame this on us." Emily said but suddenly Jenna started crying. "I don't." she said shakily, making the girls share a look. "You should go." Toby said before opening the door, and they were about to leave but Jenna stopped them. "Wait." she said. "Hanna, are you there?" she asked.

"I'm here." Hanna said. "Toby said that you were the one that dragged me out, is that right?" she asked. "Yeah, that was me." Hanna said with a nod and Jenna let out a shaky breath, "Why?" she asked. "You're welcome." Hanna said instead of explaining why before they all walked out.

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"They're all from that summer." Emily said as the girls went through the bag Jason had found. After leaving the hospital, the girls went back to Spencers. "There's gotta be some kind of key." Spencer said. "We're the key." Hanna said. "I mean, Ali said we know more about what happened than we think we do." Hanna continued. "Who tricked Jenna into that house?" Emily asked. "Well, if it was anybody but Jenna I think it would be 'A'." Hanna said. "Garrett can't be happy that Toby's back in that house with Jenna." Josie said.

"She was supposed to die in there, wasn't she?" Emily asked, and just thinking about it like that, made Josie sick. Spencer pulled something from the bag, something wrapped in a hand towel and as Spencer unwrapped it, it appeared to be a jewelry box and as Spencer opened it, the ballerina in it began spinning and it started making music. "That's everything." Spencer said, sitting back down in between Hanna and Emily. "No, it's not." Emily said, pulling something from the bottom of the bag under the plastic at the bottom. It was pictures. "Does anybody recognize this?" Spencer asked, holding up a torn photo.

"Is there anything on the back?" Hanna asked, making Spencer turn it over. "Yeah, number one." she said before Aria took it from her. "It's just half a postcard." She said, "How do we find out where it's from?" Emily asked. "And where's the other half of it?" Josie asked as she looked at the torn postcard as Hanna grabbed an old newspaper. "Wait, this isn't from July, it's from the end of August, Look." she said, passing it to Aria. "It's... It's labor day events from Philadelphia, Brookhaven and..." Aria said as she turned the page. "Rosewood." she added.

"When did Duncan say he left Ali at the airfield?" Emily asked. "Before noon on sunday." Aria answered. "Well, is this where she was when we thought she was on that bus? " Josie asked. "Who did she plan on meeting?" Aria asked, looking at the old newspaper just as the ballerina suddenly started again, making them look over at it.

⎯ AUTHORS NOTE
new chapter. this feels like a shitty chapter because Josie wasn't in the plot as much, but ehh countdown till season three: two chapters