No Escape

-A's Great Game

"So how's college? I need to live vicariously off you guys for a bit until next year." Emily settled into the sofa, immediately feeling a little empty because she didn't have a certain pair of arms ready to wrap around her as she leaned back.

Hanna shrugged. "That's not me, but, my gap year's great. And I'm not broke, yet, so I'm taking that as a good sign."

"Where did you get the money for a gap year?" Spencer stole the bag of chips Hanna was hogging, and got a scowl. Spencer ignored it.

"I did some stuff."

"Worked at a strip joint, didn't you?"

"Yep. Paired myself up with another girl and named ourselves Sugar and Spice. Cause, you know, I love food."

There was a pause before they all burst out laughing.

"Sugar and Spice?" Emily asked, clutching at her stomach from laughing so hard.

Hanna grinned. "Don't pretend you wouldn't consider having a threesome with a Sugar and a Spice."

Emily just laughed at that. Hanna eventually started to talk about the two states she was already able to visit. She already admitted she had to work small jobs to afford her travels. Waitressing, cashier. Just enough so she could skip to the next town. It was really something the didn't expect Hanna to do, but after everything that had happened at Rosewood, none of them could blame Hanna from wanting to take an extended break from life.

"What about you, Spence? How's college?" Aria sipped on the martini they all had prepared. It was still early on in the day, but they hadn't seen each other in months. They thought they deserved alcohol, even in the morning. They weren't really drinking heavy, yet, anyway. Just a glass each. They were talking, but they were also marathoning their favorite series, and it filled the silence whenever they stopped talking.

Spencer smiled. "Awesome. The subjects are definitely more challenging, and the workload is intense, but everything's great. The only thing I'm not really happy about is the long distance thing."

"Toby has visited, though, right?" Hanna asked, currently the only one unattached in the group. She had opted to do the travelling alone, and her and Caleb hadn't really worked out after the first few weeks of separation.

Spencer nodded. "Yeah. Once. I can't blame him. It's been difficult trying to find a common schedule for the two of us. I'm really busy, and so is he. You would think the police force here wouldn't be doing anything anymore."

That got them to pause, the subject not something they were really comfortable talking about. With the four of them, they always tried to avoid the fact that they had been stalked and persecuted by several version of a psychopath while they were in high school. It was really only a few months ago, but they just weren't willing to rehash anything. Especially when said psychopath was only too willing to lie low. They all were just hoping that the person had gotten tired, because they certainly have.

"How's therapy, Emily?"

Emily looked up at the mention fo her name, having been perusing her phone waiting for a text from Alison. "Huh?"

"It hasn't even been half an hour, yet, Em," Aria teased.

Emily sighed. "Sorry." She didn't even offer to explain. Alison was uncomfortable enough to know that she was seeing a psychiatrist about her condition, and she had told Emily once that she didn't want people knowing about it. Emily thought it would have been ok to tell the other girls, but Alison was adamant in keeping it as lowkey as possible. She didn't have to mention it, but Emily knew Alison was still wary of the other girls.