Pretty Little Liars

Aria’s parents tell her about Alison, and she feels sick to her stomach. They tell her she was found under a concrete slab that was dug up to build a new tennis court on the property and they were able to identify her because of her ring. Aria cries and her dad asks if she wants some anti-anxiety medication. She says no but her brother, Mike, who’s been hovering around, jokingly says he’ll take some. Aria thinks the only person who could make her feel better right now is Ezra. She goes up to her room, which is a mess, and shuts the door. She goes to look for her phone but can’t find it, realizing she’d dropped it “like it was poisonous” (258) after receiving the text from A last night. She runs downstairs and tells her parents she’s taking the car. Her mom tells her to take her time.

Aria gets to Ezra’s and knocks on the door. He opens it, sees her, and immediately tries to close it again. She has tears in her eyes and follows him into his kitchen. He asks what she’s doing there, and she tells him she came to see him. She sees her phone and grabs it. Ezra asks her to leave, and she wonders aloud what’s happening. He tells her he saw what she said about him on her phone. He tells her he’s not stupid or part of some dare. She insists she doesn’t know what he’s talking about. He says her phone kept beeping last night so he checked her texts to make it stop. He saw the texts from A and now thinks he’s part of some big joke Aria is playing on him. She tries to tell him they just found her friends body and she’s falling apart. She wants a hug, but he only stands there with his arms crossed. He tells her he really liked her and tells her again to leave. In desperation Aria grabs his hand and bites it, drawing blood. He tells her she’s insane and she runs for the door. Ezra throws Jean-Paul Sartre’s Being and Nothingness at her, screaming at her to get out. Once she’s outside, she runs across the lawn as fast as she can.

The following day, Spencer looks out her bedroom window smoking a cigarette. She looks at the DiLaurentises’ yard, which is now a crime scene. There are flashing lights, police tape, and tents set up. She tries to process that Ali’s body was lying there next to her house for three years. Spencer still hasn’t spoken with her family and tries to distract herself by looking through a fashion magazine. The day before, she went outside when the ambulances started arriving at Alison’s old house. When she saw the morgue van and heard Alison’s name, she fell onto the grass. Someone told her she was in shock and brought her a blanket. When she finally felt better, the person who helped her was gone. Her parents hadn’t even checked on her. She went to her room and stayed there. When someone knocked earlier in the day, she ignored them. She watched from her window as her parents and Melissa got into her dad’s car and drove away.

Spencer sits at her computer and pulls up the first email she received from A. She starts to send a reply email asking if it’s Alison but realizes it can’t be. It’s someone pretending to be her, and wonders who it could be. She hears a sound at her window. She goes to look outside, and Wren is standing there. She runs out of the house and into his arms. She tells him he’s not supposed to be there, but he said he noticed her parents’ car was gone. He asks her if she’s okay, gesturing to the scene next door. She says yes and asks him the same, wondering if he has a place to stay. He tells her he can stay on a friend’s couch. She asks if he and Melissa are done, and he tells her “Of course” (266). She lays her head on his chest.

Spencer looks at the shrine that’s been started for Alison next door. She put a picture there of Alison in seventh grade. She remembered it was from the night of the Winter Formal and the five girls spied on Melissa as she left the house to go the dance with Ian. They’d laughed when she tripped on the front walk. Spencer thinks it’s “probably their last really fun, carefree memory” (266) since The Jenna Thing happened right after. Just then a news van drives by, and Spencer tells Wren he should probably go since she doesn’t know when her parents will be back. He kisses her and tells her he’ll call her. Spencer sees a car come up towards the house, ducking in fear that it’s her parents. The car stops and puts a note in her mailbox. After the car pulls away, she checks and finds a note from Andrew Campbell. It says he’s sorry to hear about Alison and hopes his blanket yesterday helped her. She realizes Andrew was the one who took care of her on the lawn. She crumples the note and starts crying.

Hanna angrily watches the news coverage of Alison’s case, which has been reopened. She thinks they’ve managed to make “a horrible story worse” (269). She sees Alison’s mom on the news saying they’re going to have a memorial service at Rosewood Abbey the next day. Hanna’s sitting on her couch in ratty clothes eating junk food—which she was trying not to do but she doesn’t have the willpower to fight the cravings. She wishes she had someone to talk to, but her mom is out on a date and Sean is no longer an option. At the police station, Darren told them to go home because of all the activity surrounding Alison. On the drive home from the station, Hanna’s mom again tells her she’ll take care of the situation. Hanna doesn’t know how and remembers an assembly at school where an officer said the police had a “zero tolerance” (271) policy for underage drunk drivers.

Hanna also can’t talk to Mona, who’s away at a golf tournament. Mona hadn’t gotten in any trouble for Sean’s car, telling the police when they called her, she’d been at the party all night. She and Mona also hadn’t talked about Alison. Hanna momentarily considers calling her dad, realizing her friendship with Mona has meant she has no other friends. The footage of Ali on the news reminds her of her old friends and how much fun they had together. But they grew apart “for valid reasons” (272) that started even before Ali disappeared. Everything changed after the Jenna Thing and they all became much more paranoid and anxious, especially around one another.

Hanna starts to dial Spencer’s number, which she still remembers, when she hears a scratching noise outside the door. Nervous, she thinks it could be A. She walks towards the back door and the noises get louder. She picks up a paperweight, determining someone is trying to get in. As she raises the paperweight above her head, the door bursts open and her mom stumbles in with her skirt around her waist. There’s someone behind her, kissing her, and Hanna realizes it’s Darren Wilden. Her mom looks at her as if to say, “I’m doing this for you” (273).

While Emily stands with her parents as Rosewood Abbey on Monday morning, Mrs. DiLaurentis walks up to her and gives her a hug. Mrs. DiLaurentis is crying, bringing tears to Emily’s eyes. The smell of her perfume brings back memories of Emily’s friendship with Alison, riding in her mom’s car, trying on her makeup, and going through her expensive dresses. Other kids from school are coming in and Mrs. DiLaurentis finally steps away from Emily. She tells her and her parents to sit up front with Alison’s other friends. Emily is suddenly overtaken with emotion, realizing that they’re there because Alison is dead. She grabs Mrs. DiLaurentis’ arm and nearly faints. Mrs. DiLaurentis helps her sit down in one of the pews.

Emily hears a familiar voice tell her to put her head between her legs and another voice sarcastically comments to “Say it louder, so all the boys can hear” (276). Emily looks up and sees Hanna and Aria next to her. Mrs. DiLaurentis asks if they can slide over so Spencer can sit with them. Once they are all sitting together, Aria smiles and says “So, we meet again” (276). Emily turns and searches the crowd for Maya and instead sees Ben, sitting with the swimmers near the back. She waves but he only glares at her in response. She turns back around enraged that he’s acting so petty, but quickly decides she doesn’t want his forgiveness or to go back to him.

Hanna tells Spencer she saw her at the mall at Kate Spade recently. She tells her she was thinking about saying hi and is glad Spencer doesn’t have to order those bags anymore. Spencer thanks her and then starts crying. Aria quickly comforts her, and she starts crying harder. Emily hugs her, which feels somewhat awkward, but Spencer squeezes her hand in appreciation. Hanna hands Spencer a silver flask, which they all pass around and take sips from. Aria then shows everyone her bra strap, saying it will also help them feel better. It’s a woolen bra she sewed for everyone in seventh grade. She tells them she wore it for “old time’s sake” (278) but now it’s itching her like crazy. Emily reminisces that her mom wouldn’t let her wear hers because it was too sexy. Spencer jokes about it being too itchy to be sexy and they all laugh.

Aria’s phone buzzes and she gets a text. Hanna asks who it’s from and Aria responds it’s her mom. Hanna apologizes for being nosy, but Aria asks why she wanted to know. Hanna responds that she thought maybe Aria had been experiencing strange things too. Aria replies that “Strange is an understatement” (279). Spencer shares that it’s been happening to her, and they all reveal they’ve been getting texts and emails about seventh grade. Before anyone can say anything else, the pipe organ starts and Ali’s family walks down the aisle.

The family sits in the front row, including Ali’s two red-haired cousins. The one whom Emily thinks is named Sam turns and looks at all the girls, making a flirtatious expression. Hanna declares “Not it” (280) and nudges the other girls to look at the cousins. Aria, Spencer, and Emily all respond “Not it” (280) in unison. At first, they all laugh, but Emily thinks about it and realizes it’s mean. The other girls stop laughing too and look at each other. Hanna comments that maybe it used to be funnier. While Emily realizes she’s sad about the situation, for a second, she feels ok sitting with her old friends. She feels like it may be the start of something new.

As the organ music starts playing again, all the girls file out of the pew. Spencer, tipsy from the flask of whiskey, looks around and notices all the people who are there. Everyone in school, including former teachers, coaches, and classmates, as well as people “Ali no doubt would have teased back in seventh” (282). Spencer notices a seeing-eye dog and points it out to the other girls, who realize it’s Jenna and Toby. Toby has longer hair and Jenna is “gorgeous” (283). Toby sees Spencer staring and makes a disgusted face. Spencer looks away. By the time the girls reach the church entrance, Toby and Jenna are gone.

A police officer taps Spencer and she motions for the other girls to leave. He tells her he’s sorry for her loss then gives her his card. He says they’re reopening the case and wants to know if he can come by and answer some questions, since she and Alison were friends. When she reunites with the other girls, Emily says he talked to her too. Aria suggests they could be asking about Jenna, but Emily thinks it’s been too long to be an issue now. Spencer lights a cigarette and tries to reassure herself no one has any proof about The Jenna Thing.

Aria tells them all it’s been the worst week of her life and they all agree. As they walk outside, Spencer wants to tell them all she’s missed them. Before she can say anything, Aria’s phone rings. Suddenly all their phones start making noise. They all have a new message, and it says the same thing: “I’m still here, bitches. And I know everything” (286). The message is signed from A.