𝐂𝐋𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐘||𝐌𝐈𝐊𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐆𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐘

𝟓. 𝐀 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐡 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬

     AS IT TURNED OUT, THAT EVENING Brooke's family hadn't been the only one to be turned upside down, granted hers has probably been her own fault, but A had also managed to take down the Montgomery family with a simple letter left on the windshield of Ella Montgomerys car.

While they were all in a frazzle about A breaking into Spencer's house, Aria had been folding a sheet of paper between her fingers, amidst her already panicked state, it gave her a headache to try and comprehend the two things happening at the same time.

The sheet of paper with the A message was crumpled by the time she showed it to the girls.

And even the next morning, all she could do was reiterate the same story as the one she had stumbled her way through last night. Reading and rereading the letter that revealed the truth about Byron Montgomery's affair, the one that Aria had kept hidden for the last two years. She blamed herself too.

"It's my fault." She muttered, over and over, the swirling in her mind making her dizzy even as she lay down on the sofa.

The other girls looked at her sympathetically from their places around Spencer's island, each soothing a cup of coffee after sleeping in the Hastings living room that night. None of them had gotten much sleep at all. How could they knowing that someone who had been tormenting them for months had now managed to find a way into their homes. They weren't safe anywhere anymore.

     "It's your dad's mistake, totally." Emily told the brunette girl lay away from the others. They weren't sure if they could pry that paper from between his fingers if they tried.

     Aria shook her head, "No, it is my fault," Aria argued, finally looking up at her friends, her eyes falling onto Brooke out of all of them. She too had told the girls about what had gone down in the Bentley house that night.

     Brooke felt guilty for feeling Jealous. Jealous that at least Aria got a defined separation between her parents, jealous that they were always good parents anyway, jealous that her parents seemed to want to prolong the horrid feeling that they had created in the house.

     "You did not hook up with one of your students and then ask your kid to cover for you," Spencer countered as she pulled out some breakfast foods to go with the juice that she had got from the fridge. They had completely lost their appetite last night, the sick feeling in their stomach at the idea that A could be lurking around any corner completely demolished it.

"I thought I was Blunt." Brooke mumbled, against the rim of her coffee cup, a small smile pulled on her lips as she took a sip and shared an equally amused look with the brunette.

Aria shook her head, there was no way of convincing her of that. Alison had a talent of making situations feel like they were your fault even if you hadn't been involved. Even now that stuck with them. "Ali said I should've told my mom right after it happened," She muttered, finally closing the piece of paper.

"Yeah, well, Ali was far too good at making things seem like they were everyone else's fault even if they weren't." The brunette Bentley assured her. She had been on the targeting line of that too. Especially when it came to the videos.

Emily looked unhappy with the comment that Brooke has made, not meeting her gaze as she turned back to Aria. "Ali? Alison knew?" She asked surprised, quickly setting down the knife that she was using to put cream cheese on a bagel, the sudden clatter made the other four girls jump.