Pretty Little Diaries

The Night That Changed Everything

Rosewood, Pennsylvania - September 1st, 2009.

"Hayden, wait," her twin sister Hanna cried as Hayden Jessie Marin sprinted out of Spencer's barn to catch up with her best friend, Alison DiLaurentis. She ran all the way across the yard to where Ali was standing, her back turned to the barn, arms crossed closing her off to the world. 

"Ali, what's wrong? Do you need me to talk to Spence?" Hayden asked, concerned for her friend. 

Ali had been out here for almost twenty minutes as she had came outside to argue with Spencer, who had stormed back into the barn, muttering about how much she hated Ali and how she wished she had never become 

"Nothing's 'wrong', Hayden," Alison spat, continuing to walk away. "Go back to the sleepover and tell them I just went to get something, okay," she continued dismissively. 

"Sure Alison," Hayden replied, faking innocence, turning back towards the barn. She planned to walk in that direction until Ali had turned away, then follow her. There was something suspicious going on, and Hayden was seriously worried for her friend. 

She began to walk back to the barn, sneaking a glance over her shoulder to see Ali heading away in the opposite direction towards the woods. Praying that Alison was now far enough away to think that she had returned to the barn, Hayden pivoted on the spot and started to tiptoe after Ali. A resounding crunch echoed across the garden as she stepped on an inconveniently placed branch. 

Hayden could make out Alison is the distance, her bright yellow top shining like a beacon through the dark hues of the woods. She continued to follow Alison deeper and deeper into the forest, drawing further and further from civilisation until Ali eventually stopped at the Kissing Rock. 

Hayden could work out from the time she had spent here this summer where she was. If she squinted, she could make out the back garden of the DiLaurentis house. She could see another larger figure standing beside Ali, who was turned away from the barn, as if to conceal their identity. 

"I know you want to kiss me," Alison giggled. 

The person seemed to glance behind them, to check if they had privacy. Hayden caught a glimpse of their face and was shocked to see that it was Spencer's older sister's boyfriend, Ian. So this is what Ali was hiding. She was having a forbidden affair with Ian Thomas, her field hockey coach. That was wrong on so many levels. 

A piercing scream cut through Hayden's thoughts as she watched Ali fall to the ground. Had Ian hurt her? She needed to help Ali, but doing so would mean that she would discover that Hayden had followed her, would break her trust forever. 

Much to her relief, she heard a round of the familiar giggles that had provided the soundtrack to the past year of her life. Ali was okay, she was just kidding around as usual, scaring Hayden again without her even realising. Typical DiLaurentis, she noted, relieved that her friend was okay. 

Hayden felt exhausted, but she was too far into the woods to get back to the barn, so she sat underneath a tree and leaned her head up against the trunk. 

"What have you done? What have you done?" a girl's voice shouted, waking Hayden from her sleep. She squinted to Ali's garden where she could see two figures. One was taller than the other, and had long dark hair. Was that Jessica DiLaurentis, Hayden wondered, trying to get a clearer view of the people. The other girl looked exactly like Alison, but was wearing a red dress instead of a yellow top, so it obviously wasn't Ali. 

Where was Ali? The older woman, Jessica, Hayden assumed was holding a shovel and kept looking conspicuously at a mound of earth towards the property line.