! SECRET ! SECRET !

( 002; the jenna thing )
( a pretty little liars fic )

ROSEWOOD HIGH SCHOOL
rosewood, pennsylvania
8:15am

josephine made sure to get to school early to be there as soon as the final members of the cheer team were posted on the bulletin board.

she passed the hallway back and forth waiting for the coach to put it up, before seeing a male figure walk towards the bulletin board. ziggy.

he looked at the board. "she hasn't put anything up yet." she informed the boy. "aren't you already on the football team? what are you trying to that see you made it onto?" she questioned.

"i'm on the team, yes. but they're posting what position everyone will be playing today." he informed her as he leaned against the wall.

"oh." she said. "so what position do you want to play?" she asked with a smile.

he shrugged, "anything is fine by me. you're seeing if you got on the cheer team, right?"

she nodded, "mhm, are you going to sit in and watch my practices?"

"yeah, no, maybe." he replied. "i don't know." he said, clearly feeling weird about where they stand.

"either you hate me and never want to see me cheer again or..." josie said with a small smile.

he smiled, "or what?"

she shrugged and took a step closer to him before looking into his deep brown eyes, "you sit in and cheer me on." she said flirtatiously.

he sighed, "look...we can't keep doing this."

josie's face dropped, "what does that mean?" she asked as she took a step closer to him, trying to close the space between their bodies.

ziggy took a step back, "it means you can't do this. come back and think that we can pick up right where we left off."

she let out a sigh, "i'm sorry, ziggy! how many times do i need to say that? i should've told you i was leaving. but i was going through a lot."

he shook his head, "i don't care. you left. you ghosted me. and you're acting like you can just come back and everything is back to normal. you can't do that."

"you're right. i can't." she admitted as the coach came strolling over, stapling six sheets of paper onto the bulletin board, each one showcasing a different team.

josephine and ziggy immediately dropped their conversation and turned to their respected papers.

"cheer captain." josie read aloud.

"quarterback." ziggy read out.

her heart stopped as she tried not to smile.

"oh my god. we actually made it!" she exclaimed as she threw her arms around ziggy, who looked less than pleased.

ziggy quickly removed her arms from his neck, "it doesn't change anything, josie."

josie looked down. "i know." she said dejectedly.

"i need to head to class. congratulations though." he said with a small smile before walking off.

josie sighed and watched as he walked away. "well...congratulations, quarterback!" she called out.

ziggy held up his thumb without looking back. josephine let out a huff, she was determined to get ziggy back.

she stormed off to her first period classroom, where mr. fitz sat at his desk. "i need construction paper, glue, markers, and scissors." she told the teacher.

"um- okay?" he said, pointing to where everything was located.

josie grabbed what she needed before heading to her desk, "this is going to be perfect." she muttered.

she began to make a card for ziggy, something that would truly show him how she felt.

once she was finished, she closed the card inside of the envelope and sealed it shut. josie then put it in her bag and headed to her next class, ready to give the quarterback his card.

just then a message came across the loud speaker: "will the following students make their way to the principals office? aria and josie montgomery, hanna marin, emily fields, and spencer hastings." the principals voice could be heard.

josie rolled her eyes as she packed her letter into her backpack before walking into the office where she saw all of her friends seated along with the cop from the funeral.

"what is this? an interrogation?" josie said as she looked at the set-up.

"no, it's a routine follow-up." detective wilden answered.

josephine took a seat in the chair and sat there in silence as the detective only stared at the five. "well can get started on this "follow-up?"" she said.

he nodded. "let's talk about the night alison went missing." he said as he looked at a file. "see, you thought you heard her scream?" detective wilden said as he pointed at spencer.

"i said that, yeah." she answered.

"and when you four woke up in the barn...alison was gone, and so was spencer?" he questioned.

"well-" aria began to say before her twin cut her off.

"that's right." josephine replied. "we were all in the barn when spencer came back."

spencer nodded, "i woke up before them which is when i realized that ali was missing so i-"

"you went looking for her." he finished her sentence.

"that's what happened." spencer said.

"yeah well, i got that. so what's up? was this a slumber party or-" he started to say.

"and you said this is not an interrogation?" josie said to the detective.

he let out a heavy sigh, clearly annoyed with her. "correct. this is routine. now why did you guys all fall asleep?"

"guess we were tired." aria responded.

"tired? really?" he said before looking at hanna, "is that how you remember it, hanna?"

"yeah." she replied looking bored.

"yeah, you guys were tired." he responded.

"look, we've already told you everything that we know...just like we did the night she went missing." spencer said.

"i know, i know, and you see, the thing is. it's almost exactly what you said last year. almost like it was rehearsed." he suggested.

josephine got up from the uncomfortable chair and gave him a tight smile, "or like it actually happened. now like spencer said, we've already told you everything that we know...so if you don't mind, i'm missing out on class."

"this is only eating into your lunch time." wilden corrected.

"if it's on the schedule it's a class in my book." she responded.

11:30am

seated at the lunch table with the girls, josephine tried to perfect her letter to ziggy while the girls talked about the previous meeting. "he knows we're lying." aria stressed.

"so? lying isn't a crime." hanna answered.

"it is when you're giving statements to the police." spencer said in a hushed tone.

"so what? we lied about drinking! the truth that matters is that we don't know anything about what happened to alison." hanna said.

"you lied. not just about drinking." aria told her sister.

"what?" josephine said.

"you weren't with us when we all woke up. where were you?" aria asked.

"i was with ziggy." she answered truthfully.

aria scoffed, "and why not just tell the police?"

"because, aria, he wasn't even supposed to be out that night. i'm not getting him wrapped up in this. and plus, they'd probably look at me as a suspect because i was out of the barn." she answered.

"well the way you're so rude to the detective only makes you look ten times more suspicious." aria pointed out.

"rude? i was not rude. i was straight to the point," she defended herself as she sprayed her burberry brit perfume on the handmade envelope causing her sister to cough.

"thank god i'm not allergic to perfume." aria said.

"you being allergic to perfume is the least of my worries." she replied as she perfected the envelope.

"no i said thank god i'm-" aria started to say before realizing that it was no use. "what is that anyway? you were working on it all first period."

"it's a handmade letter and envelope to ziggy. a way for me to say "i'm moving to iceland for a year, i hope when we get back we'll still be close."" the brunette said.

"you're moving again?" hanna questioned.

"no, he's pissed that i didn't tell him i was leaving when i did, so now i wrote the letter that he wants oh so badly." she explained.

"and the perfume was for what?" emily asked.

"well he's gonna have the card in his room...so i want him to think of me." the brunette answered as she stood up. "if you ladies would excuse me, i have to go hand deliver this." she said.

"have fun." aria commented as she watched her sister strut across the lunch room.

wearing an orange fitted baby tee, blue pants and an orange bow in her hair, josephine perfected her ponytail before she stood at the head of his lunch table. "ziggy, is now a good time?" she asked him.

ziggy looked up from his plate of food and at his table full of friends before looking at her again, "um yeah, i guess. what is it?" he asked cautiously.

she walked behind his chair and placed the envelope directly in front of him. "surprise." she said with jazz hands.

he chuckled and looked at the envelope. "what is this?" he asked, gesturing to the homemade card.

"open it." she ordered.

ziggy smiled as he opened the beautifully designed envelope and took the letter out.

he began to read silently before pausing and letting out a small laugh. "is this what i think it is?" he asked her.

she blushed, "yep." she said, "a letter. like you wanted. all you have to do is pretend that it was written and given to you before i left."

"and the perfume?" he asked curiously with a raised eyebrow.

"i knew that would get you." she said with a wink.

"it's perfect." he admitted with a smile. "we'll talk later?"

she nodded, "sure." she said before walking off. she looked at her table before seeing a certain someone in her seat. jenna marshall. the blind girl sat at the table with the girls in all her glory.

josephine cautiously took a seat next to the blind girl. "josie," jenna said.

"how'd you-" josie started to ask.

"your scent. the burberry brit? still as delightful as always." she replied.

FLASHBACK
EMILY'S HOME
rosewood pennsylvania
july 7, 2009

in emily's bedroom trying on different clothes hanna, aria, spencer, alison, josephine and emily all were having fun.

alison was changing shirts near the window before suddenly screaming, "i can see you!" at the window. she turned to the girls. "oh my god, i can't believe it!"

"who was it, ali? what did you see?" emily questioned.

"he was in that tree spying on us! it was that perv, toby cavanaugh." alison yelled.

josephine couldn't help but gag, "are you serious?" she said as she pulled a random shirt down over herself.

"yeah! i'm sure it was him!" alison assured. "i bet he saw all of us naked."

"should we tell someone?" aria suggested.

"i mean we could..." alison said before locking eyes with josie. "i have a better idea." she said with a smirk.

~~

approaching toby's work shed with a stink bomb of some sort, alison was ready to plant revenge. "are you sure he's not in there?" josie asked the blonde.

"he's not okay? you've got the lighter, right, spencer?" alison said.

"let's wait a second." emily said as she grabbed a hold of alison's hand.

"what, emily?" she snapped.

"i don't wanna do this." emily said quietly.

"then go back. you're on your own." alison growled.

aria nodded, "maybe emily's right. we can just call the cops. they'll take him in. they will take care of it."

"sure but, where's the fun in that?" alison said as she lit the stink bomb and threw it in the shed. "we had to teach him a lesson." she said as the girls all began to run back to emily's house.

though a loud boom was heard, followed by a fire.

"alison, what the hell did you do?" josie yelled to alison.

pulled back into reality from remembering the night that alison blinded jenna marshall who was in the shed. they had made a promise to never tell a soul about "the jenna thing." because confessing would have severely damaged their reputations and potentially ruined their lives.

everyone's phones started to get text notifications.

jenna was able to navigate where josie's phone was and handed it to her, "you gonna get that?"

"thanks..." josie replied before looking at the text from a that read: "if only she could see how guilty you look..."

the girls all looked at each other in utter surprise.

THE MONTGOMERY RESIDENCE
rosewood, pennsylvania
6:15pm

josie has just gotten out of the shower and dressed when there was a knock on the door. "come in!" she replied as ella, her mom walked in. "what's up?" she asked her mom as she dried her hair with a towel.

"you have a guest here. he's waiting downstairs." ella replied with a smile.

"who?" josie replied as she stepped out of her bedroom. wearing a matching gingham pajama set she was ziggy talking to her younger brother, mike, at the bottom of the stairs. worried that she looked bad josie walked hesitantly down the stairs. "ziggy, hi! what a surprise!"

ziggy looked up and smiled upon seeing josie, he tried to ignore how good she looked in her pyjama's. "hey, josie." he replied. "i said we'd talk later, didn't i?"

"i suppose you did." she said with an amused smile.

"well, why don't we go chat?" he asked.

josie nodded, "alright, come on." she gestured for him to walk up the stairs.

zig followed her up the stairs and into her bedroom, the room was light pink with white furniture. a queen bed sat at the center of the room, which had an array of pillows on it and a canopy draped over it.

once they entered she closed the door behind her. "um, so you wanted to talk about the letter, right?" she asked him with an amused smirk.

"yeah...that's right.." he said as he took a seat the end of her bed.

"okay, let's hear it." she said as she sat beside him.

"um, that letter. it was brilliant." he admitted with a small smile. "it did everything that i wanted it to."

"it got me back on your good side?" she asked jokingly.

"it most certainly did." he answered as he gently took her hand into his own.

ziggy leaned back a bit, josie took this chance and leaned in closer, her lips grazing his neck. slowly, she began to make a path of gentle kisses up to his cheek until they connected for a deep and passionate kiss at long last.

after moments of bliss, the two pulled away, both trying to catch their breaths. ziggy looked into her eyes deeply. "i missed you." he whispered quietly.

"i missed you, and i'm sorry for leaving." she paused. "truly." she added.

"it's okay." he said, gently rubbing a piece of hair behind her ear. "can i be honest with you?" he asked her.

she nodded, "yeah, ziggy."

he sighed and looked down, "i was really hurt." he admitted. "maybe i shouldn't have been, we weren't really together, but... it was hard for me."

"i'm sorry." she replied as she brushed a piece of hair behind his ear, mirroring his actions.

"i know you are. just please don't do it again." he begged. "it drove me crazy."

"well, i'm here now." the girl replied.

ziggy stared at her for a second before a small smile spread across his face. "yeah." he said softly, cupping her cheek in his hand. "you are." he leaned in and connected their lips again, pulling her close towards him.

once the kiss had broken he pulled away, he placed his forehead against her own.

"ziggy, what are we doing?" josie whispered.

"i'm not sure." he said before adding, "but i do know that i like you, josie. a lot. and i'd like to be with you." he said softly, looking into her eyes deeply.

after a moment of silence she nodded her head and a smile spread across her face. "i'd like to be with you, too."

as the two kissed, josie's phone buzzed on her bed. she read it off quickly, it was from a: "i wonder if ziggy would want to be with if he knew just what you were up to that summer."

ziggy, curious, tried to take a peak but she moved her phone away quickly.

ziggy raised an eyebrow before he could even speak josie pulled him closer and connected their lips once more. the distraction worked instantly, she managed to distract him from the text.

housekeeping notes !

how do we feel? what do you think happened over the summer?

pughdts you have to look up wren kingston to see who's playing him in the show because he's so fine. i didn't talk about him in this chapter but he will come up very soon omg