Secrets |Toby Cavanaugh|

Chapter 25

"Why haven't you been at school lately?" Emily asked as she let me into her house,

"Family issues." I answered as I took off my shoes, "So where's the fire?"

The two of us made our way to Emily's room where the rest of the girls were. Hanna had spoken to Caleb today and we wanted to hear what he said,

"A key?" Aria questioned after hanna told us what happened,

"That's what I said." The blonde responded,

"Was it a key to Ali's house? Her locker at the tennis club?" Spencer questioned and Hanna furrowed her eyebrows,

"Why would Jenna want that? What was she gonna do, sniff Ali's old sweat socks?" I asked,

"If Jenna's "A", she's looking for any information on us she can get." Spencer replied,

"I cannot believe that he went through my closet and my nightstand." Hanna sighed, "What a jerk!"

"He's a total creep."

"He's an animal." The girls said and I rolled my eyes while Aria spoke, "Easy, guys. He looked through your stuff, he didn't invade Poland."

"Why are you sticking up for him? He broke her trust." Spencer stated,

"He went behind her back." Aria corrected,

"He stuck his hands in her panty drawer!" Spencer exclaimed and we all gave her a look, "I'm sorry."

"Okay, all I'm saying is that somebody can look through someone else's stuff that they're not supposed to be looking through." Aria stated and I looked at her,

"You wanna translate that into speech?" I asked and she sighed,

"I saw Ezra's website page." She sat up more, "Look, I-I knocked his desk, and his laptop screen came up."

 "So, big deal." Spencer crossed her arms, "What's the juiciest thing on his status update? 'Ezra fits has joined the Mark Twain fan page'?"

"How 'bout he has a double life." We all looked at the small brunette with confusion, 

"Wait, I thought that you were his double life." Hanna stated,

"Fine." Aria rolled her eyes, "Triple life. There was this picture of him cozying up to some girl wearing an engagement ring in Italy."

"What's her name?" Spencer asked,

"Jackie."

"How do you know she wasn't his cousin?" Emily questioned,

"Cause in picture number three, they were licking each other's gelato. I mean, guys, seriously, what do I do?"

"Be honest with him. Explain what happened and see what he says." Emily answered,

"Yeah, and remember, people can look guilty of something even if they're completely innocent." Spencer stated,

"Okay, you know what? Screw that. Make a fake profile, 'friend" Jackie, comb through that skank's page, and nail his ass to the wall." Hanna said and we all looked at her, "Or we can do what Emily says."

...

The next day I went to the Rosewood Founder's Festival. I was walking towards the ferris wheel when I spotted Toby,

"Shit." I began turning around when I heard him call my name.

"Grace! Who's A?" I stopped when he asked that question and he caught up with me. Toby grabbed my arm and turned me to face him, "Who is A?"

"Why do you want to know?" I asked, looking into his bright eyes,

"They texted you after you left the other night. I looked through all the texts from this person, Grace, why don't you go to the police? Whoever 'A' is, they've threatened and stalked you."

"I can't go to the police with this." I started but Toby interrupted me,

"Why not?"

I looked around before grabbing his wrist and dragging him to an empty booth, "'A' has a lot of baggage on us. They can expose all the things we've done before we walk through the door."

"We?" Toby questioned,

"The girls and I. A's been harassing all five of us." I stated,

"When did this start?"

"Right before Ali's body was found." I answered, "Toby, what did 'A' say?"

"Check your phone." He responded and I pulled my phone from my pocket and scrolled through my messages until I found the recent one from an unknown number.

'Good things don't last forever, Grace. Better go starve yourself before the ice breaks.' -A

"I don't understand." I looked up at Toby, "Why do you do this to yourself, Grace?"

"You're right. You don't understand and you never will." I began walking away but Toby pulled me back,

"Then make me understand."

I wrapped my arms around myself and shook my head, "She watches everything. She's always there and always right. No one cares unless you're pretty or dying!"

"Who is she? A?"

"Alison."

"Alison is dead, Grace." Toby stated,

"I know!" I exclaimed, "But she's not gone. Everytime I eat, she's there. Telling me to stop, that I'm strong. That I need to be perfect."

Toby grabbed my face and kissed me. I grabbed his jacket and pulled him closer. The kiss got deeper and when we pulled away, we were both panting. We rested our foreheads against each other, "You're already perfect to me."

 "I'm sorry." I whispered, tears running down my face, "I want to get better."

"You can get through this. I'll help you." Toby panted,

"Don't give up on me, please. If you give up on me, I'll give up on me, too."

"I'll never give up on you, Grace."