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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"You just isolate the 'X' Factor. And now. I feel like I'm the 'X' Factor." -Spencer Hastings
Emily, Isabel, and Spencer made their way into Spencer's kitchen.
"I feel like whole parts of my brain have shut down," Spencer explained. "I used to love algebra, or at least I understood it. And now it's a mess." She walked over to the fridge.
"It can get really abstract," Emily replied.
"Yeah, but that's what I liked about it," Spencer griped. "X's, Y's, Z's, none of it real. I could deal with that. You just isolate the X factor. And now I feel like I'm the X factor."
"Yeah, well, the 'A' factor seems to be everywhere, isolating all of the X factors," Isabel said, rolling her eyes.
"Honey, where were you?" Mrs. Hastings called as she made her way down the stairs.
"Well, we stopped at Emily's..." Spencer explained.
"Don't worry, I was expecting this," Mrs. Hastings told Spencer calmly. "It's mostly intimidation, so I want you to stay calm."
"Stay calm about what?" Spencer frowned as she approached them.
"They served a search warrant," Mrs. Hastings sighed.
"A search warrant?" Spencer panicked. "For where? For what?"
"The house, the barn, your room," Mrs. Hastings said.
"My room?" Spencer faltered, and then rushed upstairs.
"No, Spencer, don't interfere! Honey..." Mrs. Hastings shouted. Isabel and Emily gave one another a dark look, and followed Spencer. People were going through Spencer's things in her room.
"Make them get out!" Spencer yelled at her mother.
"I can't," Mrs. Hastings replied. "You're a person of interest in a murder investigation. They're just... they're doing their job, in an especially ham-fisted way." She glared at a guy flipping through one of Spencer's journals.
"Well, what are they looking for?" Spencer demanded.
"Things that connect you to Alison and what happened to her," Mrs. Hastings explained.
"You mean they just came in and started going through her things?" Emily frowned. Then she noticed someone and shut up. Isabel and Spencer whirled around to see Ian standing there. Holding a glass of milk.
