chapter four
can you hear me now?
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Hanna and Josie were outside watching Ashley Marin as she was talking to a cop. Josie had come to pick Hanna up to meet up with the girls. After talking for a bit and shaking hands the cop got in their car and Ashley headed inside her lawn where her daughter and her friend were standing. "I never want to see another police car outside the house. I thought we had finished with it!" she hisses at Hanna. "His car is not completely destroyed, they can fix it" she shot back making Josie want to walk away from this conversation but staying for Hanna, feeling bad she didn't try harder to stop Hanna the night before.

"There is nothing I can do about this. Do you understand me?" Ashley asked Hanna and she just sighed while Her mother walked past her and Josie into the house. Josie turns to Hanna. "Come on, we've gotta meet the girls" she says with a small smile and pulls Hanna away from The Marin house and they get in Josie's car.

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"How bad did your mom bust you over wrecking Sean's car?" Emily asked Hanna as the girls walked around the park area towards a bench. Hanna looks over and Emily "Okay, I did not wreck it, I damaged it" she starts getting defensive but sighs before continuing. "And, actually, "everyone's being really mature about it" she says and looks at her friends and Josie just laughs lightly and continues walking.

"Oh." Emily mutters while pursuing her lips. "There's no, "Oh." we're just being grownups. That's all" Hanna says, Josie pats Hanna's arm and gives her a smile before Aria starts talking. "Okay, so the town is gonna put in a new bench and we'll plant the flower beds and there's gonna be a pathway of art tiles," She says, and she points to the bench and the area around them.

"Art tiles?" Spencer asks as she sits on the bench while looking up at Aria. "mm-mm" Aria hums with a nod "Messages, pictures, memories of Alison." Emily says as she looks at her friends and everyone smiles. "Oh, like little headstones". Hanna remarked, making the girls look at her and Josie whacked her shoulder. "Hanna." she scolded.

"What?" She asked as if she didn't just make such an insensitive comment about their dead best friend. "We should each do a tile," Emily says, making everyone focus back on their plan but Hanna cuts her off "I've had Alison's bracelet since the day we found it in the woods," she says as she rummages through her bag and takes out the purple bracelet that says 'alison' on it. "and I don't want the responsibility anymore." Hanna finishes while holding the bracelet up to her friends

"I don't want it." Aria says and Josie nods in agreement with her of not wanting it. "Seriously, somebody take this." Hanna says while she holds out to her friends and Spencer who had enough, took the bracelet from Hanna. "Look at us, a bunch of babies!" Nobody says anything for a while before Spencer speaks up again. "There's nothing that A can say or do to get us into trouble without making trouble for herself." She says as she looks at the bracelet before looking at her friends. "Are you sure it's a her?" Hanna asks her friend which made Spencer look at Hanna with furrowed brows. "Him, her, it doesn't make any difference," Spencer said before putting the bracelet in her bag and grabbing her laptop out and opening it which made Josie furrow her brows in confusion.

"What are you doing?" Emily asked her as she stood next to where Spencer was sitting. "I'm gonna block all messages from people that I don't know." she pauses slightly before adding. "IMs, texts, e-mails, everything. Screw A" she says as she types away on her computer. "There. Who's next?" Spencer asks as she looks at her friends with a smile.

The five friends look at each other before Emily takes the laptop from her and they swap places with Spencer standing now. As she was standing up from the bench, she saw their English teacher. Mr. Fitz. "I spy with my little eye something that begins with F," she says which causes the girls to look over at Mr. Fitz who was riding on his bike. "Hey, Mr. Fitz" said while waving at him. "Looking good, Mr. Fitz." Spencer yelled out which made Josie laugh as she waved at him as well.

"My turn," Aria said once Emily was done blocking her number from A. "There are teachers that you don't wanna see on a bike and there are teachers you do wanna see on a bike" Spencer says which causes Josie to nod. "Amen to that Spence," Josie said as Spencer smiled softly at her. "I would not wanna see Mr. Gilardi on a bike." Hanna says which causes the girls to laugh minus Aria who was still blocking her number. "I don't wanna think of Mr. Gilardi in motion of any kind." Emily said which Josie nods and points at Emily in agreement.

"Ah, Mr. Fitz" Hanna says in a fake-dreamy tone until Aria harshly cuts her off. "Hanna, your turn," which made the Carmen blonde frown at Aria's tone towards Hanna. Josie sat next to her friend on the bench ready to block out A. It was silent for a moment before Spencer spoke. "You talk to Ben?" she said to Emily to which the girl shrugged her shoulders. "Nothing to talk about." she said. "So, you're really done?" Aria asks from her spot next to Josie on the bench.

"It's okay. I'm fine." Emily told her as she pushed her hair out of the way as she spoke. "Okay. If you say so," Aria said as she smiled at her friends. "Ah. I wish we had a drumroll for this" Hanna said with a laugh that made her friends laugh too. "All right. Here goes, we are officially A-proofed." Josie said as she looked at her friends with a wide smile.

"Listen. All those little messages zipping through the air all around us" Spencer mumbled as she looked around with a smile on her face. "Yep. And none of them from A" Aria replied. "This feels like a good thing" Emily said softly which made Josie smile up at her. "Of course, it's a good thing," Hanna said. "Out of mind, out of sight" Hanna finished.

It was silent until the girls heard the rustle of paper coming towards them and stopped at their feet. Aria picked it up, it was a missing poster for Alison, and someone had written 'ding dong the bitch is dead' on it with red marker which made the girl look around before Aria scrunched up the paper as the girls continued to look around

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The girls were talking in the cafeteria, waiting for Emily. "Why didn't your folks take you to New York with your sister? I mean, you deserve some retail therapy too" Hanna says to Spencer. "Not as much as Melissa." Spencer says and sighs and then Emily comes over to them, sporting a new scarf. "Oh, hot scarf, Em" Spencer says and smiles at her. "Oh, thanks" she mutters. "Is it new?" Hanna asks. "No" Emily says as Hanna's phone starts ringing, Hanna takes her phone out of her bag and looks at it and then looks at it, she hesitates. "Go ahead. Answer it. We know who it can't be from" Aria says.

She still didn't answer. "Hanna?" Josie and Emily talk at the same time. Hanna sighs. "It's my dad," Hanna replies, which causes her friends to look at her in shock. "Has she even talked to her dad since he walked out on them?" Emily asked. Josie just sighed and shakes her head. "I don't know. Hanna and her father, it's one of those 'don't ask, don't tell' situations" Spencer answered her question. "We shouldn't stare at her, come on" Aria says as the girls walk away to give Hanna her privacy.

As they were walking away Aria's phone went off. "My brother's post just showed up" she says which made Josie laugh and Aria smiles at her. "You added him as a favorite?" Spencer asked her in disbelief. "Yeah. A moment of weakness." Aria muses as she and Spencer chuck out their coffee as they were walking out the cafeteria Emily almost bumped into Toby. "Sorry" he mumbled. "My fault," Emily replied and walked towards her friends.

"I wonder if we just bumped into A" Aria asked her friends as they stopped as they stepped walking to talk. "Doesn't matter. We're done with A, right?" Spencer replied while looking at her friends. "Right. Yeah. I mean...but I'm still staying out of Toby's way." Aria said as they started walking again. "Yeah, and Jenna's," Spencer said to them. "I guess that's the safest thing to do" Emily mutters as they walk down the hallway and Aria walks, not really telling them where she was going.

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After a while they had met up with Hanna and Aria again and Hanna was talking about what her dad had told her, which was he was in town to see her, which Josie knew had another motive, but Hanna didn't want to listen to her opinion on this. "He had to be in New England in a couple of weeks but he's making a special trip out to see me." Hanna told her friends as they walked the halls.

"That's...That's great, Hanna'' Aria says hesitantly. Hanna looks at her friends and then at her sister as she sees the looks on their faces. "What?" she asks. Emily looks at Hanna and sighed. "It's just" she paused for a second. "do you think he's out here because of the thing with Sean's car?" she asks her friends, not wanting her to get hurt. Hanna stops walking which causes them to stop as well. "No, he's not. Look, I asked. Absolutely not and besides, even if he was, at least he's still coming out to see me" Hanna says with a shrug. Josie was about to say something, but Mr. Sheldrake called out to Spencer before she could.

"Spencer!" yelled from the other side of the hallways as he sped walked over to where the girls were standing "Mr. Sheldrake" she said in a confused tone. "I was gonna tell you in class, but, uh, here you are. Remarkable job on the Russian History essay" he congratulated her. "Oh, thanks" she replied while she gave a brief look towards her friends. "Very lucid presentation" he told her. "It's not really a new idea" she said as she hoped this conversation would end as her friends looked at each other. "I've submitted it for the Golden Orchid" he tells her with a smile and excitement evident in his voice as he begins to walk away from the group of girls.

"Wait, you what?" Spencer asks, shocked. "There's an honorarium. The upside to winning a competition is how it looks on your applications" he informs her as he gives her a thumbs up and a smile. "Wait. Can we-" Spencer tried to talk to him, but she just got cut off. "We'll discuss the details after class" he tells and walks off leaving Spencer dumbfounded and the girls confused. "Okay, what's a Golden Orchid?" Hanna asks the question that all the girls are wondering.

"It's a national competition for historical writing," Spencer informs her friends while turning to them. "More academic bling for Spencer" Emily jokes while everyone smiles, and the bell goes. "Okay, see you later" Aria says as she walks off to her class as everyone else, Josie squeezes Spencer's shoulder in a 'congrats' manner before walking off to get to class.

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After Josie had separated from her friends to go to class, she had met up with Richie outside. "So she destroyed his car?" he asked her as he finished eating his apple. Josie nodded as she organised her bag because it was a mess. "Yeah, her dads in town and I assure you it's because of that." she said as she was still grabbing things out of her bag. "Damn, poor Hanna." Richie mumbled as he sat next to Josie. "I know right, she won't listen to the girls or me when we say something, i just don't want her to get hurt again." Josie mumbled as she looked at Richie as she pulled her into a hug, knowing how special the girls were to her. "It'll be okay Jo, Hanna's strong, you know she is, she'll be fine, alright?" he said as she nodded while resting her head on his shoulder.

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After school, Hanna and Josie were over at Spencer's, Hanna wanted to borrow something from Spencer to wear to meet their dad, something about impressing him or something. "I wish I had a sister smart enough to steal papers from" Hanna jokes after Spencer had explained her situation with the Russian history paper. "Using Melissa's paper was supposed to be a stopgap," Spencer told the two girls. "If I ask Sheldrake to withdraw the essay, he'll know something's wrong" She finishes as she sits next to Josie on her red couch next to her mirror where Hanna was, trying on different blazers. "Spencer, what makes you so sure you're gonna win the competition?" Hanna asks as she turns to the two girls and Spencer just gives her a look. "Oh, right. I forgot. It's in your DNA" Hanna said with a teasing tone which made Josie giggle. Spencer then takes another blazer off a coat hanger and gives it to her. "Here. Try this one" she said.

"This has to be the perfect outfit. My dad hasn't seen me since I lost the weight." Hanna tells Spencer as Josie sighs, she knows Hanna wants to impress her dad but she needs to be herself. "That jacket's really not you" Spencer tells Hanna which made her smile. "Then it's perfect" Hanna says and smiles at the two girls. "Spencer? Josie?" Hanna asks to gain their attention. "What?" the two girls asked as they heard Hanna speaking in a soft and small voice. "Have you peeked?" Hanna asks as turns around to face her two best friends. "We blocked whoever it was, and that's it. United front, remember?" Spencer says with a recurring tone. "No. No, yeah, I know. I just wondered if you peeked" Hanna says with a shake of her head. "No" "Nope" Spencer and Josie say as they smile at Hanna. "Yeah. Me neither" Hanna tells them as turns back around to inspect the blazer she was wearing.

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"It was great. Incredible, really" Hanna gushed about the night before, hanging out with her father. "Where'd your dad take you?" Emily asks as she looks at Hanna as the girls are standing and waiting for class to start in the classroom. "Jolly Roger's" Hanna replies as she smiles softly, she had enjoyed her night out.

"The lame amusement park?" Aria asked with a laugh which made Josie and the girl's snicker. "Okay, it is not lame" Hanna says, trying to defend the amusement park. "We didn't go on the Tilt-A-Whirl, we all walked around and talked" she paused Before continuing "and I told him about what's going on" Hanna says but once she saw the looks the girls were sharing, she added "Some of what was going on. And he listened. And he wants to take me to a real dinner tonight, he said he has something to tell us. I don't know, I think he wants to spend more time with me. I mean, maybe summers in Maryland" Hanna finishes.

"Seriously?" Emily asks as she looks at Hanna. "Would you go?" Aria asks as she looks at Hanna. "Well, I wouldn't move away. Not forever. I don't wanna leave my mom alone, but I would like to see my dad more." Hanna assures the girls. "Wow." Spencer said to her friends as the rest of the girls gave Hanna warm smiles. "Good for you." Aria says and smiles before the bell goes. Students started pouring into the classroom and the girls took their seats as Mr. Fitz walked into the classroom. "I'm wondering, is anybody else bothered by Atticus's hypocrisy at the end of the novel?" he asked but he didn't get any responses from his class, "No? Well, he is Mr. Due-Process when it comes to Tom Robinson. But as soon as Bob Ewell gets stabbed, he is willing to buy into the sheriff's coverup."

"He was protecting Boo Radley." Spencer stated while raising her hand in the air. "Protecting him? From, from what? The justice system?" Fitz asked while looking at Spencer and she nodded lightly. "Atticus is an officer of the court and he is inspiring to cover up a crime, and he is willing to let his own son take the fall for something that Boo Radley did." she answered. "It was a trade" Aria said as she decided to join in on the conversation. "What was a trade?" Fitz turned his attention to Aria, as did the rest of the class. "Mr. Ewell would have killed those kids, Boo saved them, and Atticus was still feeling guilty over Tom Robinson, so he offered Jem to take Boo's place" Aria explained to Mr. Fitz while he moved towards her as she spoke. "Almost like a sacrifice."

"Oh, very noble" Mr. Fitz said, but his voice held little to no emotion. "Too bad Jem was unconscious. Don't you think he would have had a different opinion?" He asked as he looked at Aria. "Jem would have said yes," Aria shot back. "Are you sure about that?" Fitz asked, the class, including Aria's friends, watched the discussion like a tennis match. "He was brought up right" Aria snapped and then the class was silent as the girls exchanged looks of confusion until someone from behind Aria cleared their throat. "I'm sorry, Mr. Sperling. Do you have something you'd like to add to the discussion? Aside from flem?" Mr. Fitz asked, annoyance clear in his voice.

The class shared looks before the guy spoke up. "Just, well his dad was a lawyer. He could get the kid off. Uhm, being brought up right had nothing to with it" he said as he sent a nervous look towards Aria and then looked at Mr. Fitz. "Really? The whole book is about what shapes us into adults, or haven't you been paying attention?" Fitz shot back at him. "No, no I'm just saying that she-" he tried to talk again but was cut off by Mr. Fitz "No, you are just saying that Aria made an attempt to understand this book and you haven't" Fitz told him and everyone's eyes widened at his comment.

"I think we've gotten a bit off topic, don't you?" Josie shot at Mr. Fitz then she gave the poor boy a sad smile and then the boy said. "No, i wasn't saying that Mr. Fitz" he said as he sent a thankful look to Josie. Mr. Fitz took a second to calm down before talking as he was startled by Josie's comment. "Sorry, what are you trying to say?" Fitz asked, while looking at the boy. "It would probably be easier for Atticus to get the kid off than to get Boo off, that's all." Mr. Fitz just listened and nodded his head while the whole class was silent as he walked back to the front of the class.

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Josie was watching a movie at her house when she received a message from Hanna that she was coming to pick her up cause she got a S.O.S from Spencer so now sat in the car, Hanna and Josie watched as Spencer and Wren said their goodbyes. Josie smiled at them, but the smile soon turned into a frown as her and Hanna heard the radio. "And this next song goes out to Hanna. From their best friend, A. Here you go girl." The radio interviewer spoke. "I don't need you anymore."

Hanna and Josie looked at each other, fear basically written on their faces. Spencer got into the backseat of the car smiling lightly. "Okay, whatever you're thinking. It's not what you guys think." Spencer smiled, leaning forwards. "Guys." She responded once she didn't get a reply "We are so out of our league." The blondes said in sync to Spencer.

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Josie sighed as she sat down on Spencer's couch. "It hasn't stopped. They're calling radio stations making crappy dedications. What do we do now?" She asked, trying to stay calm, but her voice betrayed her because It cracked lightly making Hanna give her a side hug. "I don't know, Jo." Spencer said from her place in her kitchen. "Well, it was your idea to shut her out." Hanna retorted. Looking at Spencer. "And everybody went along with it." She yelled towards Hanna.

"United we stand." Josie recited but a broken pot on the breakfast bar caught Josie and Hanna's eye. " Spencer." Hanna whispered and she looked where she was looking then gasped. "Somebody's been in the house. Alison's bracelet!" The trio ran upstairs to Spencer's room, pulling out the bracelet from the nightstand, the three turning around gasping. Spencer texted Emily and Aria an S.O.S. and within ten minutes the two had arrived, the five stood in Spencer's room looking at her mirror.

It won't be
That easier
Bitches.
⎯ A

"Is that jungle red?" Hanna asked her friends, not looking away from the mirror.

"Alison's color," Emily answered.

⎯ AUTHORS NOTE
new chapter <3