Pretty Little Liars

Prologue

Ever see a girl on a milk carton? Or on a flyer stapled to a weathered telephone pole? Probably not, because is that even a thing anymore? In today's day and age, everyone finds out the news scrolling through social media or prompted by someone on TV. But posters are still a thing, believe it or not. Tacked onto bulletin boards in dingy bars and drab post offices. Fading away in the windows of shops and diners until the girl filling the frame looks more like a ghost than a human.

You, a regular teenage girl might stumble across one of these posters and think, "Oh, how sad". Or, "Wonder where she is". Or even, "Her poor family". And if you're like most girls, you might shamefully think "Glad that isn't me".

"But the thing is, it very well could be you. Even if you don't think you're pretty enough to be on a poster like that or relevant enough to have your name tweeted about, that could still be your face filling that box, your skin tone growing paler and paler as time goes on without you and there will be a day where no one glances at your poster again. You've become a memory, one of the many forgotten teenage girls around modern America. Your life has been morphed into a piece of paper, which is all you'll be remembered by by townspeople: the girl above big, blocked letters that spell out MISSING.

In the idyllic Pennsylvania town of Rosewood, a fifteen year old girl with a dazzling smile and heart-shaped face ended up on one of those posters Labor Day Weekend, 2018. And this is how it began.

2018

Neah Dameron climbs out of her mom's Subaru as it pulls up to the curb in front of Alison DiLaurentis' house, the grass freshly mowed and Mrs. DiLaurentises flowerbeds blooming with color. She carefully readjusts the strap to her duffel slung onto her elbow, listening to the bottle of Vodka-- that she stole from her parents' liquor cabinet-- sloshing around inside.

Sabrina Mendes waves goodbye to her dad as he pulls away from the curb, her sleepover bag draped over her shoulder, stuffed with extra pillows.

Dakota Winthrop drops her bike next to Alison's front yard tree before dropping to the grass and inhaling the scent. "Delicious."

They'd all agreed to meet at Ali's for their end-of-summer sleepover to celebrate them going into the eighth grade before returning to the halls of Rosewood Middle School on Wednesday. It was Ali's idea, as most of their plans were. She had Neah score the booze, Dakota volunteered snacks, Bree agreed that they could use her barn, while Sabrina said she could bring more pillows and blankets-- even thought eh barn is already stocked with both things, she just wanted to feel useful.

The summer sun was beginning to set, the humidity of the day slowly evaporating, and dragonflies lit up the street as they floated through the air with nowhere to go and all the time to get there.

Alison appeared on her front porch, barreling out the front door in the gliding way she mastered by now, a force to be reckoned with. She had her hair in a sloppy ponytail, strands intricately framing her heart-shaped face. She greeted them with her winning, Alison DiLaurentis smile, standing above them on her porch.

"It's about time," she said, starting into the yard to join them.

"Aw, did you get bored without us, Ali?" Neah joked with a laugh, her coffee skin oily with her new skincare moisturizer she read about in a magazine.

Ali snorted. "Oh, yeah. I'm sure you could show me a tip or two on how to entertain myself, huh?" She nudged Neah gently. "Did you bring the goods?"

"I did!" Dakota fumbled into her yak fur bag for the jumbo bag of Doritos and Chex Mix and a few packs of popcorn. "I have more--"

"Ew, Doritos." Ali scrunched her face before sighing dramatically, her head hanging to the side. "I guess I'll settle for what Neah's got. You did bring it, right?"