Pretty Little Liars- 20 Years Later (A Next Generation Story)

Thirteen | The Devil You Know

Leo Rivers had much better things to do on a weekend than spending his time on a school camping trip. For example, he could be hanging out with Dean, going to the movies with his friends, or doing sports practice with his dad and his brother Jacob.

And those ideas were just off the top of his head. Leo hated camping anyway, but combining it with school and putting it on a weekend made it unbearable. Especially since the whole point of this trip was to pretend things were back to normal after his best friend, Ethan Kahn, had been revealed as -A.

A. Even thinking of the letter made Leo's hairs stand on end. Three months had passed since Ethan had been unmasked and basically tried to kill Tori, but the maniac was still sat in his cell at Welby. Good, Leo thought, before erasing the thought from his mind. The longer he thought about it, the more upset he became.

Leo used his foot to dig the final metal pin into the soft earth beneath the tent, wiping the sweat from his brow as he finished pitching the tent. The tent didn't belong to him, because his mother hating camping more than he did, and his father didn't have time to camp with his two sons. No, the tent belonged to the school, who had purchased tents in bulk just for this occasion. The boy threw his backpack and sleeping bag into tent and told himself he'd unpack later.

He heard his English teacher and Julia's father, Ezra Fitz, ring a bell from the other side of the campsite. Leo guessed it was some sort of signal to gather together, judging from the other students leaving their tents and making their way towards the group of teachers, who were stood at the centre of the numerous circles of tents.

Leo zipped his way through the collection of tents and camping materials and arrived at the clearing. A pile of logs stood in the middle of the clearing, waiting to be lit, and Leo saw Adam's parents, Emily (the swim coach) and Alison (another English teacher) stood alongside Ezra.

"Right, okay." Ezra said as Leo was joined by Adam, Tori and Julia. "So as you all know, your tents are doubles, and therefore you're all going to have to share." This statement was met with a collection of groans.
"I know, I know." Ezra acknowledged the crowd. "But, it's the rules. And we've sorted you all into pairs so you don't have to."

Ezra started reading through the list, pairing up the students with one another. Julia wasn't having the best time either. Her hair was tied up to keep her from overheating, and although she enjoyed camping as a child, she was pretty sure she'd grown out of it now.

"Leo Rivers." Ezra announced. "With Xander Michaels. Adam Dilaurentis with Dylan Gottesman, Victoria Hastings with Penny Johnson, and Julia Fitz with Alyssa Stone."

Julia rolled her eyes. Alyssa Stone? Seriously? Alyssa was popular, fashionable, and well-known, but Julia also found her creepy as hell. She was always- staring. And now she had to spend the night in a tent with her? The thought made her shudder. Julia looked through the crowd of students, and saw a large number of people she recognised. Penny, Kyle, Jaxon, Evan, Xander, Dean, Jacob, her brother Ollie, Tori's cousin Elizabeth Kingston, who had recently been transferred to their school, and finally Alyssa, who pushed her way though the crowd to meet Julia. Julia smiled uneasily.

"Hey!" Alyssa smiled, hauling her pink backpack onto her shoulders.
"Hi." Julia waved her hand awkwardly.
"So where's your tent?" Alyssa asked. Julia turned around to lead the way, listening to Alyssa's footsteps behind her and cursing her father for his tent organisation.

Night seemed to fall too early for Adam Dilaurentis. He wasn't exactly pleased with his sleeping arrangements either. Dylan Gottesman? Sure, he was the smartest kid in the year and seemed nice enough, but- he just had something strange about him. Something that Adam couldn't put his finger on. Nevertheless, Adam knew he would have to make small talk until they went to sleep.