Isabel Rivers never really had a safe place to land. That was before she met queen bee Alison DiLaurentis. She was Ali's favorite. They also had four other friends. It was the perfect group.
Right until Ali went missing one summer.
And turned up...
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"Why would she? She gets an award for waking up."- Hanna Marin
Isabel had slept over at Spencer's, as the motel she'd rented yesterday was quite creepy.
"Morning," she yawned, coming downstairs. Only Spencer was awake. That was to be expected, as they were both light sleepers.
"Hey. Coffee?" Spencer offered.
"Sure. Hanna didn't tell us about last night yet, but I'm sure they had a blast," Isabel smiled, sitting down at Spencer's counter.
"And she could've moved to Maryland, but she didn't," Spencer joked.
"I had to make that choice. It's not fun," Isabel said sadly.
"What?" Spencer frowned, handing Isabel her coffee.
"Kristy and Dan moved to Denver, but I couldn't leave you guys," Isabel explained.
"Where do you live now?" Spencer asked.
"Some cheap motel room. Since I'm almost eighteen, I can live wherever. But until I'm done with school, I need a guardian. So Miss Money ditched me, and here I am," Isabel complained.
"What? That's awful!" Spencer gasped.
"Well, it's all I got," Isabel shrugged.
"That blows. Why don't you report your foster mom?" Spencer huffed.
"It could be worse. It's a short jump from eat, pray, love, to drink, snap, slap," Isabel scoffed.
"Whoa. And I thought I had it bad," Spencer said.
The other girls made their way downstairs. Aria pulled something out of her pocket and stared at it.
"What's that?" Isabel asked her.
"A letter 'A' sent my mom," Aria sighed. "About the affair between my dad and one of his students."
"You know it's not your fault, right?" Emily assured her.
"It's your dad's fault," Isabel nodded. "Totally."
"No, it's my fault," Aria said sadly.
"You did not hook up with her, and then ask your kid to cover for you," Spencer pointed out.
"Ali said I should've told my mom right after it happened," Aria huffed.
"Ali?" Emily frowned.
"Alison knew?" Isabel gaped.
"Yeah, she was with me," Aria said with pursed lips.
"So Alison saw this Meredith person?" Isabel asked, looking over Aria's shoulder to the letter.
