𝘚𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘖𝘯𝘦, 𝘌𝘱𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘥𝘦 𝘍𝘪𝘷𝘦
'𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘉𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘦'

Aurora and all the girls hadn't got a wink of sleep last night after finding A had been been in the house so they all ended up staying at Rory's and Spencer's. Right now, Aria was sat on the couch reading the letter A had sent to her mom.

Dear Ella Montgomery,

Your husband, Byron, is involved with another woman and when I say involved I mean in a 'romantic' way. This is not something recent. It started before your family went away to Iceland and from the look of things, it may be starting up again now that you're back.

I know this is hard, but it is the truth.

If you don't believe this about your husband, ask your daughter. She knows all about it.

Sincerely,
A

"A sent this letter to my mom" Aria was sat on the couch while the rest of the girls were sat around the breakfast bar.

"You know it's not your fault, right? It's your dad's mistake, totally" Emily comforted.

"No, it is my fault" Aria let out.

Aurora shook her head "You didn't hook up with her and then ask your kid to cover for you. This is all on your dad" Spencer nodded in agreement with her sister.

"Ali said I should've told my mom right after it happened"

Emily frowned "Ali? Alison knew?"

Aria nodded like it was no big deal and took a sip of the coffee Aurora had made her "Yeah, she was with me"

"So, Alison saw this Meredith person?" Spencer asked.

"Meredith?" Hanna said to Spencer "Her names Meredith? Ew! That's not even a cute-girl name. I'm seeing big pores and mousy roots"

"Hanna we love you but I think it's a little too close to being do jokes" Rory said, walking by Hanna and kissing her on the cheek like she usually does before going to make herself some coffee.

Hanna smiled at the girl "I'm sorry but if you're gonna cheat you might as well do it with someone who deep conditions her hair occasionally"

Spencer sighed and handed her a muffin and a glass of orange juice "Here, put something in your mouth besides your foot"

Hanna then turned around to face Aria "I'm sorry. Ok? Look, all I'm saying is that when my dad left, laughing sometimes helped. So did crying"

Aria was quick to get up off the couch and over to the counter "My father hasn't left, guys. I mean, this happened over a year ago" Everyone went quiet "You think he's going to leave?"

No one had the heart to reply to that "Look, whatever happens, we're here for you" Emily told her and Aria just looked down so Rory was quick to change the subject.

"Hey, thanks guys for staying here. Me and Spence couldn't have been here alone" She smiled at them.

"When's your family getting back?" Hanna asked.

"This afternoon" Spencer nodded.

"Weren't you going to clean off the mirror before they get here?" Aria asked and the Hasting siblings went quiet and Emily noticed straight away.

"Want me to come with?" She was already getting off the stool when she asked. Spencer nodded.

"We should all go" Aria suggested and started to get up too.

Hanna had remained seated "Uh, you know, it doesn't take five of us to clean a mirror, so why don't you four go, and I'll just wait here?"

"Fine, okay" Aria nodded "You stay down here. Alone. But make sure you lock the door"

"Great. You spray, I'll wipe" Hanna quickly got up and to the stairs when her phone rang. Her face fell at the text that had just come through.

"Well, the creature's back. We should've never unblocked our phones"

UNKNOWN

"Ever wonder what's going on when your back is turned?"

--A

"Open the attachment" Emily said and so Hanna pressed it. It was a video of all the girls from last night, staring at the mirror.

"That's us!" Aria let out in shock "Was that shot from your closet?" She looked at Spencer who was looking upstairs.

"A was watching us" She whispered. They then all went upstairs and opened the closet they were being filmed from. The five screamed and jumped back when something fell out.

"Guys" Aria bent down to pick up what fell "Check it out" It was a tube of lipstick but not just any lipstick. It was the same colour as the one on the mirror.

Great, Aurora thought. Now I'm not even safe in my own home. All the girls had gone home after that to get ready for school. Rory wore a pair of low waisted jeans that were flared at the bottom with a brown tank top and her black converse. To finish the look she threw on an oversized black zip up hoodie, some gold hoop earrings and her black backpack that hung from one shoulder.

Putting her earphones in, she walked downstairs and grabbed her coffee that she had put in her travel mug before walking out the door. She decided to walk to school instead of drive so she could have time to think and just calm down but that didn't go to plan when she was checking her surroundings every five seconds because she was paranoid that A could grab her at any moment.

However, God was clearly on her side because she had made it to school safely. Meeting up with the girls at Spencer's locker where Aria thought that it was Jenna who broke into Spencer and Aurora's house.

"You cannot seriously think that a blind girl broke into our house. That would take a lot more than a talking GPS" Aurora said while putting her earphones in her backpack.

"Well, I didn't say that Jenna was alone" Aria replied.

"Let's just not go to the Toby place, okay?" Aurora sighed and Emily nodded.

"Why not?" She whispered "You guys think her guide dog left behind his lipstick?"

"Yeah, do you wanna ask what your lab partner was doing last night?" Spencer said to her sister "You know, maybe he took a break from sitting on his porch pulling the heads off of squirrels"

Aurora glared at her and slung her bag tighter onto her shoulder "Well I've got chemistry so I gotta go" She smiled sarcastically at Spencer before departing from the girls and making her to way the class she shared with Toby.

Not getting a wink of sleep last night meant Aurora was not looking what she was doing when Toby put a gentle hand on her wrist making her eyes snap up at him "Easy. That glass beaker's made of. . .glass"

She smiled tiredly at him "Maybe you should do it. I've had way too much coffee and not enough sleep which is a very bad combination in my books"

Toby laughed slightly while taking over what Aurora was doing only a minute ago "Big party on a Thursday night?"

"No, my friends slept over" She replied "What about you, what did you do last night?"

"Sat at the Grille doing homework"

"Better than me, I'm neck deep in homework right now but anyway next question. What's with studying at the Grille? Not like it's exactly quiet" Aurora looked at him with curiosity lurking in her eyes.

"Got to" Toby shrugged "Jenna listens to her lectures loudly, and it messes me up. She doesn't like using headphones at home and it is quiet if you stay long enough. I close the place, like, every night"

The girl nodded along to what he saying as she found her pen to write in her book with "Oh and I don't mind helping you with your homework if you're ever struggling"

"Yeah, I wouldn't mind that at all" She nodded with a smile "Thanks Toby" After that, it fell into a comfortable silence and it wasn't long before the bell rang and everyone was filing out the classroom.

"I didn't think it would take this long" Aurora referred to the green goop that they had only just finished.

"I don't mind" Toby shrugged "I like being in school when nobody else is"

Aurora smiled and looked down at her book "Viscosity, elasticity, and tensile strength. Anything else we need to cover?"

"Maybe our noses. This stuff's rank" Toby chuckled, putting the beaker near her face so she could smell it.

She gasped when the smell actually hit her "God your right" By accident Aurora grabbed his arm to push the beaker away which instead spilled the water all over the table and his notebook "Shit, I'm so sorry"

"It's fine. It's just water"

She quickly grabbed some tissues off the desk and started to wipe down his notebook and as she turned it around to wipe the back, she saw an amazing but very familiar drawing "Wait a sec, did you draw this? It looks just like the cover of this band, Circus Survive. This is really good"

Toby frowned "You know that band?"

"I had this friend that worked at a bar on South Street. He snuck me into a show once"

Toby couldn't help but smile as he asked his next question "Have you heard any of their new stuff yet? It's totally..."

"Amazing!" Aurora interrupted.

"If you're into them, there's this other band I should turn you onto. I'll burn you a CD" He said.

Aurora smiled at him "Thanks. I should go or I'm gonna be late for cheer practice" She swung her bag over her shoulder and grabbed her books.

"Um, Aurora?"

"Yeah?"

"My notebook"

"Oh jeez, I totally need more sleep" She joked before handing him his notebook.

"Or more coffee. Want to meet up at The Grille later?" Toby asked.

Aurora nodded with a smile "Sure" She said before leaving.

After cheer practise, Aurora rushed home to have a shower before changing into a pair of dark low rise jeans that were flared at the bottom, a grey tank top and a purple juicy couture jacket with her black converse{Outfit at the top.}

She then left the house to go meet Toby at the grill but when she got there she saw her sister, Hanna and Emily sat at one of the tables as Hanna called her over. She gave Toby an apologetic smile before walking over to the girls.

"Hey Rory, what are you doing here?" Spencer asked.

"I, uh..."

"Hey, Hanna had a run-in with Jenna Marshall today" Spencer cut her off before pulling out a chair "Sit down"

"You know that dentist office I'm working at? Well, I was going in for my shift after school, and I was in the elevator, and Jenna Marshall was in there, and she had the same lipstick Ali wore" Hanna explained.

"The exact same colour" Emily then said.

Aurora frowned "She had the same lipstick as Ali?"

"Yeah, Alison's lipstick. She was putting it on" They were there for about half an hour until Spencer and Aurora got up and grabbed their bags.

"Where are you going?" Hanna asked.

"I have an early tennis day with my dad, and I have no idea what I'm going to wear"

"Yeah and I have a lot of homework to catch up on" Aurora said.

"Oh and there, um, maybe this boy..." Spencer started to smile.

"Boy!" Hanna exclaimed "What boy? Details!"

"Well, there's none yet, but I'll keep you guys posted" Spencer smiled as her and Aurora started walking away from the table when a waitress walked up to them.

"Are you Aurora?"

"No this is Aurora" Spencer pointed to her sister next to her.

The waitress handed her a CD case "Someone left this for you"

"Thank you" Aurora replied as she nodded, walking away.

"So who's the lucky boy huh?" Spencer smirked as they walked outside into the cold night air.

Aurora laughed and pushed her sister jokingly "Shut up Spence, it's just a friend from school. We were just talking about this band we both like"

"Uh huh" Spencer said, looking at her with raised eyebrows before they both burst out laughing.

When the two girls arrived home, Aurora made herself a coffee before going upstairs and putting the CD in her CD player as she listened to it while doing some more of her homework.

-----

The next morning Aurora got herself up and ready to go to the grille to see if Toby would be there and he was. She saw him through the window reading a book.

Taking out her earphones with a smile as she walked in and sat down next to him "Hey. I was hoping you'd be here"

"Why?" Toby asked but he still kept his eyes trained on his book.

Aurora sighed "I really like tracks three, seven and nine. Nine was the best. And I'm sorry about last night. Really sorry"

Toby continued to ignore her so she took a CD out of her bag and placed it in front of him which grabbed his attention.

"What's that?" He asked with a small smile before picking up the CD which said 'TOBY'S MIX CD' on the front.

"Something I made for you. There are some girlie songs on there so you have to keep an open mind" She smiled at him before grabbing the waitress that was walking by her "Hi can I get a coffee, please?"