ꗃ ﹕𝓓𝐎𝐍'𝐓 𝓑𝐋𝐀𝐌𝐄 𝓜𝐄 . . . . . 𓈈 𓍢 ░
𝖯𝖱𝖤𝖳𝖳𝖸 𝖫𝖨𝖳𝖳𝖫𝖤 𝖫𝖨𝖠𝖱𝖲 ── ༅𓂃👜゛໒ ࣪˖˚

𝒊.   𝗪𝗘𝗟𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗘      𝗛𝗢𝗠𝗘,     𝖦𝖮𝖫𝖣𝖨𝖤 ‧₊˚📱✩
˚ ༘ ೀ⋆｡˚ 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄'𝐒 𝐍𝐎 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄 𝐇𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐆 ── 01𝗑06 ｡𖦹°‧
𝖫𝖨𝖮𝖭𝖲, 𝖳𝖨𝖦𝖤𝖱𝖲 & 𝖡𝖨𝖳𝖢𝖧𝖤𝖲 𐙚𓏲⋆ ִֶָ ๋𓂃 ⋆ᡣ𐭩

▐ 𝖬𝖮𝖭𝖳𝖦𝖮𝖬𝖤𝖱𝖸 𝖱𝖤𝖲𝖨𝖣𝖤𝖭𝖢𝖤

     ❝ 𝐇𝐄𝐘. ❞

"What are you doing?" Aria mumbles as Spencer pulls her headphones from her ears.

"An intervention."

"We brought takeout and rag mags." Emily holds the magazines up as Hanna and Sadie sat on the end of Aria's bed.

"But you cannot have any of those until you get out of these sweats." Hanna tells her as Sadie scrunches her nose.

"What's wrong with these?" Aria asked.

"Dude, you're starting to smell." Sadie waves her hand in front of her nose, "And those sweats are starting to graft to your skin."

Aria sits up, pulling her jacket up a bit, "Well, they're comfy."

"So are mom jeans and platform flip-flops." Hannah says.

"Plus, how are we gonna help you choose a homecoming dress if you don't try some on for us?"

"Well, that's easy." Aria shakes her head, "I'm not going?"

"What do you mean you're not going?"

"You can't just not go."

"What are you doing instead?"

"I don't know. I guess I'll just read these and then inhale a gallon of chunky monkey."

"Hey, look, cutting yourself off from the rest of your life is not gonna help your parents." Spencer says with her hand on her side, "And besides, they still might work it out."

"They're barely speaking to each other."

"People get angry. They blow up." Sadie shrugged, "Doesn't mean it's over."

"Sades, they didn't blow up over her dad missing their anniversary." Hanna turns her head to look at the blonde hair, "He slept with one of his students."

"Sorry." She shrugged.

"I'm just saying things can look over on Friday, and by Monday all is forgiven. Some things just take time."

"Yeah, maybe."

"Okay, so you're coming! Come on!" Spencer started pulling Aria off of her bed.

"Well, if you're not coming, can you at least cast an absentee ballot?" Hanna asked, the girls giving her a look, "What? I need her vote."

"Hanna, stop already!" Spencer says as the girls move furniture around so they could eat. "You've got homecoming queen locked down!"

"Really? You can rig the election?" She asked.

"Sorry, I have enough to do already, thanks."

Sadie laughs, crawling off of the bed to sit in the floor.

"I'm head of the committee, half of which is out sick with the flu, so I'll be restocking the ice and refilling the hummus bowl. . . ," Spencer trails off, ". . . and trying to look cute for my first official date."

Sadie smirks, "With Alex?"

"Wait, you're bringing him to homecoming?" Aria asked, So, this is real!"

"Look at her blush!"

"Stop!"

"Damn! Now I have to come." Aria laughed.

"But, seriously, you guys, he's not gonna know anybody there, so can you just do your best to make him feel included?"

"No, we were planning on freezing him out." Hannah jokes with her.

"Alright, moving on." Spencer laughs, "Em, who are you gonna bring?"

"I think I'm gonna go stag." Emily tells them.

"I will, too." Aria fixes her body in the chair she was sitting at.

"Why don't you guys come together?" Spencer says "Oh, you'd make such a cute couple."

"How did I just go from wearing mom jeans to being Samantha Ronson?" Aria chuckled.

"Who cares who anyone goes to this thing with?" Hannah shrugged, "I mean, it's just a dance. You should bring someone who you have fun with."

"I might want to go with someone." Emily has a smile on her face, "I just don't want people thinking it means more than it does."

"Are you and Ben back together?" Sadie raises an eyebrow.

"No. No, of course not."

"So. . . who's the mystery dude?" Aria asked.

"I'm starving." Hanna moves off the bed to grab the paper bag of fortune cookies, breaking it in half and pulling the fortune from it.

"What's wrong? Bad fortune?" Emily asked.

"Yeah, Confucius says stop being such a drama queen." Spencer joked with a mouth full of food.

"Lions and tigers and bitches, oh my! There's no place like homecoming. See you there, A'." Hanna read from the paper, causing them to tense up.

Spencer takes the bag from her hand, breaking all of the cookies in it to reveal the same message.

Aria clears her throat to clear the tense silence, "So, Sades, who are you talking to the dance.

Sadie goes to open her mouth but another voice cuts her off.

"Hey, Sadie."

The girls turn to see Mike standing in his sisters' doorway.

"Oh, hey, guys." Mike smiles tightly before his eye focused back on Sadie, "What color is your dress?"

"Red."

He nods, walking away from the door, "Mom! I need a red tie! Do we have one?!"

"You're gonna take my little brother to the homecoming?" Aria raised an eyebrow, "He's fourteen."

"Relax, it's just a dance. It's not like I'm going to take him home at the end of the night and sleep with him." Sadie shrugged as she reached over to grab a thing of fried rice. "It's just a friend taking a friend to the dance. Besides, he thinks it'll be cool to go with an older girl. He's hoping it'll give him some street cred with the girls in his grade."

˗ˏˋ 𖤐 ˎˊ˗

          ❝ 𝐈 𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐋𝐋 can't believe that you are bringing Aria's little brother to the dance. ❞ Hanna sits with Sadie in the cafeteria, spreading a clear lip gloss on her lips.

"It's just because the guy in Philly couldn't get here in time to take me. Mike knows that it's just as friends." Sadie tells her, "He actually said it was gross that I was asking him until I hit him upside the head and told him that I was only asking as a friend."

"Can you get it today?" Spencer hurries over to the table, sitting next to Hanna.

"Get what?" Hannah asks.

"Jenna's file."

"No. They canceled my shift at work." Hanna puts the top back on her lip gloss and sat it down on the table.

"Well, go in anyway."

"It's a therapist's office."

Sadie shrugged, "Pretend you're having a nervous breakdown."

"Well, if I lose the crown to Heather Perez, I won't have to pretend." Hanna gestures to the girl that was standing across the cafeteria.

"Hanna, I'm serious." Spencer says, "That file might be out only chance to find out what Jenna knows about that night, and if she and her creepy stepbrother are planning revenge. . . ,"

"Spence, I'll get it. Why the panic attack?"

Sadie leans forward, "Is it because of the fortune cookie?"

"It's because Toby Cavanaugh, who's never had a date in his life, just bought two tickets to homecoming."

"Okay? He could have a date."

"Or he's bringing Jenna."

"Well, 'A' did promise to see us there, right?"

"Hey, Han. Sadie, Spencer." Mona sits in the empty seat next to Sadie, looking at Spencer, "So, is it true you're taking the country club's towel boy to homecoming?"

"His name is Alex, and yes, I am."

Sadie turns her head to send a tight smile to the girl, "Knock it off, Mona. Before I knock you into the floor."

"Mona."

"What? I think it's cute she's taking her Cinderfella to the ball."

Hanna sits up, "Can you go get me a fro-yo with sprinkles?"

Mona frowns as the looked at her best friend before she gets up and walks away from the girls.

"Wow, that was exactly the reaction I want to avoid."

"Don't pay any attention to her." Hanna tells the Hastings girl, "She's just insecure."

"Yeah, like a pit bull." Spencer frowns, "Why are you friends with her?"

"Once you get to know her, she's really funny. . . and she's always there for me, even if it's just to watch me try on shoes." Hanna tells them, Sadie raising an eyebrow. "Look, she's a good person. She just talks tough so people will forget what a geek she used to be."

Spencer hits Hanna's leg, moving her hand to pinch Sadie on the hand.

"You bitch!"

"Ow! Okay, you need to chillax, or I need to start carrying a trang qun." Hanna says.

"Shh."

"What is that?" Hanna whispers as Toby's shirt rides up on his side, to show a tattoo.

Sadie tense up as she takes in the words on his side.

˗ˏˋ 𖤐 ˎˊ˗

           ❝ 𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃 𝐈 be home tonight to take pictures? ❞ Will leaned against the door frame of his sister bedroom as she curled her hair, bathrobe tied tightly around her waist.

"What? No." Sadie shakes her head, letting the piece of hair go as it bounced in a perfect curl, picking up another stand of hair to wrap around the hot iron. "We don't have to take pictures."

"Good, cause . . . I have a date."

Sadie spins around in the computer chair, moving on to the next strand of hair to cure, "You have a date? With whom?"

"Just. . . you know. . . Cassie." Will looks down at his feet, a slight blush on his cheeks.

"Okay, look at you go." Sadie laughs, "I've been waiting for you to ask her out."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Will raised an eyebrow at the blonde.

"It means, you've been pining after Cassie since she started working at the ER, and it also means that I just became a hundred bucks richer 'cause Jesse and I had a bet going." She smirked, "So, thank you for that."

"You and Jess bet on my love life?"

"Duh."

Will chuckled, "Finish getting ready. And get a lot of pictures."

"Promise. Love you!"

"Love you too, kid!"

˗ˏˋ 𖤐 ˎˊ˗

     𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐔𝐘 who Spencer and the homecoming committee sang as the group of girls and their dates stood with one another.

"Hi! There she is!" Spencer smiles as Aria walks over to them. "I was worried you were gonna bail."

"No! No, I'm ready to have a fantastic time tonight." Aria tells them.

"With no date?" Mona asked her, "My, how the mighty have fallen."

"Whatever." Hanna looks back at Mona before smiling at Aria, "She can share my date."

"Yeah. I have no problem with that." Sean smiled.

"My date is your brother, and I don't think you really want to dance with him, so. . .," Sadie trailed off with a smile on her face.

"And mine." Spencer says.

Alex smiled, "Yeah."

"Hey, I'm Aria."

"Alex. Nice to meet you." Alex shakes her hand before pointing at Sadie, "Though, Sarah, keeps calling me Deigo."

"Okay, hot shot." Sadie playfully glared at him, causing everyone to laugh at the playful banter between the two of them.

"Unfortunately, you have to work before you can play, 'cause you've got the first shift at the beanbag toss! You're a hero! Will you excuse me for just one sec?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Talk to him, Sarah." Spencer shoots Sadie a look.

"Okay, Javier, how about a little friendly competition?"

"Lead the way, Savannah."

˗ˏˋ 𖤐 ˎˊ˗

           ❝ 𝐇𝐄𝐘, 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 was a quick shift. ❞ Spencer greeted Aria as she walked over to where she was standing with Hanna and Sadie.

"You okay?" Sadie questioned.

"No, my claustrophobia kicked in. Can you find someone to take my place?" Aria asked her.

"Yeah. Alone in a dark booth with Fitz? It's, like, every freshman girl's dream." Spencer tells her.

"Yeah, not, that's just nasty." Sadie shakes her head. "His brother? I'd be in a dark room with him."

"Hey, Hanna." Maya greets the blonde as she walks over to the group of four.

"Hi!"

"Hey, have you guys seen Emily?" Maya questioned.

"No, I was just about to text her." Hanna moves to dig out her phone.

Aria glances up, 'Don't bother."

Everyone looks at the entrance to see her coming in with Toby. Maya glances back at them before walking away.

"Hey, guys." Emily walks over with Toby.

"I'll go get us some drinks." Toby tells her, sending a small smile to Sadie as he leaves the group of five alone.

"You're here with Toby?" Spencer asked as he walks away.

"Either you've got some genius plan of sleeping with the enemy, or you've lost your mind!" Aria tells her.

"You don't even know him." Emily says to them.

"What is there to know?" Spencer asks her in disbelief, "Who else could've helped Jenna? He has every reason to hate us."

"Well, he doesn't."

"Emily, if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's a fricking duck." Hanah tells her.

"Wow." Emily shakes her head, "I thought at least you'd understand."

"Emily, wait." Hanna stops her.

"I'm going to find Noel." Sadie shakes her head.

"What? But Mike is your date!" Aria calls after her.

"Yeah, but Noel will have the hard stuff! And lord knows I need a stiff drink." She mumbles under her breath.

˗ˏˋ 𖤐 ˎˊ˗

      ❝ 𝐃𝐈𝐃 𝐈 miss something? ❞ Spencer asked. "When did she start hanging out with Toby?"

"I have no idea." Sadie shrugged.

"I've never seen her talk to him." Aria says.

"There you are." Sean walks up with Alex and Aria's date walks up to the four, Mike trailing behind them, "You keep disappearing on us."

"Yeah, we. . . had to. . . get ice." Hanna tells him.

"Hey, wanna dance?" Alex holds his hand out to Spencer.

"Yeah, let's do it."

"Okay, come on, Baby Montgomery. I'm making tonight worth your while." Sadie smirked, grabbing his upper arm and pulling her away from the remaining four.

"This is weird." Mike mumble, referring to the height different between the tw of them.

"I'm not kicking my heels off. This floor is nasty." Sadie laughed before Spencer dragged her away, "I'll be back! Spence, the hell?"

"I figured out what Toby's tattoo means." Spencer tells the three girls as they move off away from their dates.

"What?"

"901 Free at last? It's September first."

"That's the day Ali disappeared." Aria says. "Hanna, you've gotta get that file."

"Tonight?"

"Emily's not going to believe us without proof." Spencer says. "She could be walking into a trap."

"Could we do it after they announce the homecoming queen? Please?" Hanna asked, earning looks from the others, "Okay, fine. Fine. I'll get it. Keep an eye on Emily until I get the file."

"Wait, what about me?" Aria stops her before she can walk off

"Keep an eye on Sean."

"What?"

"She can't exactly tell him where she's going." Sadie shrugged.

"If I make something up, he'll want to come with me." Hannah tells Aria, "Just keep him busy."

"How am I supposed to do that?"

"I don't know. Just figure it out."

˗ˏˋ 𖤐 ˎˊ˗

      ❝ 𝐈𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 Jenna's file? ❞ Spencer shuts the door behind them, blocking off the rest of the dance.

"No, I got Toby's." Hanna revels to them, "Turns out Jenna wasn't the patient. The therapist had her come in for one session to see how she felt about Toby coming back home."

"Oh, my God. We'll, what else does it say?" Aria asked.

Hanna opens the file, "Well the dates prove he wasn't away at school when Ali disappeared. He was--,"

"He was still in Rosewood." Sadie cuts her off, crossing her arms over her chest.

Spencer looks at her, "How do you know that?"

"Because I told Toby the truth about what happened that night." She tells them, "And I checked up on him while he was gone."

"Sadie!"

"What?" She shrugged, "Look, I felt bad, alright? He was taking the blame for something that Ali made us do. Toby was innocent and we messed with his life."

"What else?" Aria takes the file, "We need to focus on finding Emily."

"See for yourself."

"Session twelve, August fifteenth." The girls read the paper.

"That's. . . I'm gonna be sick." Sadie shakes her head.

"So that's what Ali had on him?"

"Emily!" Aria hands the file back, reaching into her purse so that she could call her phone. "She's not picking up."

"Text her!"

"We have to find her. Come on!" Hanna says, the three girls leaving, unaware that Jenna had been in the room with them.