Vodka Kisses

0504- Thrown from the Ride

Hannah's hair has really thrown me off, it's not something that's ever been her style. She looks kinda edgy. I think she looks cool and if this makes her feel more confident or whatever she feels she's lacking then I'm happy for her.

Her, Aria, Spencer and me are sat outside the front of the school eating lunch.

Like always, everyone is watching. It makes me feel kind of nervous and not want to eat anything. I've never been like that, but they're all always looking.

"It's better than sitting in the cafeteria." Spencer says as she lifts her water to her lips.

"Not really. We're still a freak show." Aria points out. "Now we're just a freak show in natural light." She adds.

"I feel like we're lobsters in a tank at a restaurant. You know the ones that you stare at to see which one you want to eat. Then you see the lobster with like the chewed off claw and then the rubber band is-" Hannah rambles.

"Hannah, we're not lobsters. Relax." Spencer reassures.

Emily comes over and sits beside Aria.

"Hey." She sits.

"Hey." Aria responds.

"Oh my god." Aria sighs and I look up from my tray to where Aria is looking.

Mona.

"She's seriously starting to freak me out, she knows that we were in New York. She threatened Ali. What if she knows about Shana too?" Aria panics.

"Aria look, you need to take a psychological selfie right now, you're letting your paranoia get the better of you." Spencer tells her.

"Really?" Aria questions. "How do you know that all of this isn't all about Shana?" She points behind her.

"Because it's not, it's all about Ali." Spencer says.

"She's right, if it were about Shana we would know." I chip in.

"I've been fielding questions about Ali all day." Spencer carries on.

"Yeah me too, some people have been nice about it, I guess." Emily says.

"Some people have been rude about it." Hannah says grabbing our attention. "This girl in Pe asked if it was true that Ali was fed raw meat.

"Ew." I shiver at the thought of it.

"What did you say?" Spencer asks Hannah.

"Nothing. I just bonked her over the head with a dodgeball." Hannah admits.

Just as she finishes her sentence, all five of our phones ping with a text at the same time.

"Oh my god." Aria says.

"Hell the fuck no." I stand, the PTSD kicking in.

"It can't be." Emily says.

"I'm out, I'm so out." I attempt to walk off but Spencer grabs my wrist, pulling me back down.

"It's Ali." Spencer tells me.

Fuck my lungs feel like they might cave. I can't do this again. I really can't.

"It's intense." Spencer warns us as she reads over the text. "She's saying because there were no obvious signs of struggle, they're going to have to wait for the coroners toxicology results to determine her mom's cause of death."

"Cause of death? It was a murder, duh?!" Hannah looks at Spencer with a 'are you kidding me, there's no way I'm smarter than them' face.

"Maybe the cops think that she was poisoned?" Aria suggests.