Careful, Ali ➳ Emison

Chapter 7 | Will the Circle be Unbroken

"Will the circle be unbroken, by and by, by and by," Alison sang softly, her hands jointed in her lap. Spencer was sitting next to her in the pew, their hair gathered elegantly in a hairdo. "There's a better home awaiting in the sky, in the sky."

Alison glanced at the pew on the other side of the aisle, one particular girl catching her eye. Mona Vanderwaal was singing along, moving her head, and getting into the song in an almost child-like manner. Alison chuckled mockingly, nudging Spencer to have her look at the sight. Spencer looked on at Mona, who was dressed almost comically like a stereotypical nerd in pigtails and boring glasses, but Spencer didn't laugh along with Alison. She actually had no problem with Mona, but she was one of the four girls who allowed Alison to step over the girl constantly without interference.

Later on, when Spencer and Alison exited the church, they were coming down the stairs when they heard, "Ali, Spencer, wait up!"

They turned around to be greeted by the sight of Mona, and Alison rolled her eyes. "What, Mona?" she sneered coldly, "did you think that just because I go to church, I'll be gracious enough to speak to you? I'm not that generous."

Mona's face showed hurt, and her eyes glanced at Spencer, as if asking for help, but the witty brunette just kept to herself and stared at the ground.

"I was just wondering if you wanted to hang out?" the shortest girl offered dejectedly in a small voice.

Alison laughed whole-heartedly, the tension in the air rising as Spencer uncomfortably shifted in her place and Mona looked away, saddened. "Even if the world came to an end and you were the only person remaining," Alison ridiculed as she edged closer to Mona, towering over her with her heels, "even then, I would never agree to be seen with you in public."

"Ali, can I talk to you for a second?" Spencer spoke up, causing the blonde to erupt into a threatening smirk as she kept her eyes on Mona.

"Sure," Alison replied nonchalantly, as she looked Mona up and down, assessing her, then turned and walked away with a feral grin.

Spencer apologetically mumbled, "I'm sorry, Mona," before moving to walk over to Alison. The shortest girl walked away with her hands around herself, staring at the ground gloomily.

"Ali, I think you need to dial it down a notch," Spencer said to the blonde, crossing her arms as she looked around to see if anyone was listening.

"Don't start, Spencer," the blonde sassed, refusing to be lectured by the girl. Where was this even coming from?

"I've been thinking all of yesterday," the brunette started, "and I figured that until we find out who A is, you have to try and attract as fewer haters as possible."

"And what does that mean?" Alison challenged, stepping closer to Spencer.

"It means, maybe you should try and lay off your targets for a while, like Mona," the youngest Hastings talked back, glancing at the mentioned girl who had her back turned to them as she walked down the street. Alison raised her eyebrow in bewilderment at Spencer standing up to her about this. She never had before. "Mona, Lucas, Cindy and Mindy, and... and my sister," Spencer finished hesitantly. "You were right," the brunette admitted, "she's definitely a suspect, she hates your guts for constantly flirting with Ian. I heard her talking about it with my mom yesterday."

"Then she won't have to worry about that anymore," Alison replied aloofly, "because I'm so done with that perv. He belongs in jail block C." Spencer gave her a pointed look and she sighed deeply, "Okay, fine. I'll try to bite my tongue. But do you really think one of those losers could be the one who's after me? After us?"