Lovely Little Liar

{ 36. Deal }

Kathlyn just got inside the library where she saw her friends, Aria, Spencer, Emily, and Hanna lounging in one area, then she saw Caleb near them. Caleb also saw her and signaled for her to come.

"Hey?" Kathlyn greeted the young man.

"I need Hanna to pay her debt." Caleb told the brunette.

"What?" Kathlyn questioned.

"Two losers just bailed on what they owe me, and I need someone with rep to borrow some cred." Caleb explained. 

"And what does Hanna have to do with it?" Kathlyn curiously asked. 

"She's the homecoming queen. It'll attract customers... with money." Caleb answered. 

"Look, Hanna has a lot on her plate right now. Just please find someone else." Kathlyn pleaded. 

"Well, the Rosewood High queen might be able to help." Caleb told the brunette.

"Me?"  

Caleb nodded at Kathlyn and shrugged, "You've got the rep I need, way better than Hanna's."

Kathlyn stared at him for a while, figuring out if he is telling the truth or he's just lying to get back at them, "Fine! I'll help you. Just, just don't bother Hanna anymore, okay?"

Caleb nodded then smiled cheekily while walking away from the brunette. 

———————————

Spencer and Kathlyn's walking along the hallways when they saw a poster.

"Maybe it's time for some action." Kathlyn said while sighing and then she pulled one number from the many numbers there. But before she can even keep it, Spencer grabbed it from her.

"You know that it looks very suspicious if you're the one that's gonna tutor him, right?" 

"I know. Will you do it, then?" Kathlyn asked her friend, which the latter just answered with a nod. 

"But Spence, he won't tell you anything. He doesn't trust us." Kathlyn told her friend. 

"But it's worth trying. Maybe, if he does have one piece of the puzzle then I have another, we can put it together." Spencer dismissed the topic and walked away holding with her the piece of paper with Toby's number. 

———————————

After school, Aria and Kathlyn stayed at Aria's room doing homework and of course, talking about 'A'.

"I just can't believe that we almost got caught!" Aria complained to the brunette. 

"Aria, what if... what if it was 'A' who, you know, led your mom to be there. At the exhibit." Kathlyn hesitantly asked her friend. 

"But why? 'A' saved my relationship before, remember? 'A' pulled a stunt so Noel won't talk about it." Aria countered. 

"But Aria, we don't know what 'A' has in store for you, for all of us." Kathlyn argued.

"We don't know , maybe 'A' just used the Noel stunt to gain your trust or to gain something else. I don't know." Kathlyn added.

Their conversation was cut short when Aria's dad knocked on the door, saying that he's gonna have dinner with someone important and that he left money on the dining table for them to order food. But Aria was suspicious, she's suspicious of her father seeing someone else. So they got in to Kathlyn's car and followed Aria's dad and they arrived at their school.

"What is your dad doing in school? This late?" Kathlyn asked her friend who's sitting on the passenger seat. 

"Maybe he's visiting mom?" Aria questioned and then she called her mom, to confirm. But Ella told Aria that she's at home, not in school. So, who is Aria's dad gonna meet there?

Because of that, Aria got out of the car and then Kathlyn immediately followed her friend, "Aria! We can't go in there." But Aria paid to attention to her friend, so Kathlyn has no choice but to follow her. 

The two arrived at the door to the library, seeing that the lights are on, they went in, quietly. There they saw Byron (Aria's dad) and Ella (Aria's mom) kissing. Kathlyn and Aria didn't know what to say so they just looked at one another, after a few seconds, Aria's parents left the room. 

"Your mom and your dad?" Kathlyn questioned her friend.

"Oh my God! My parents are having an affair with each other." Aria exclaimed. Aria then walked to the direction where her parents went. But before Kathlyn could follow Aria, she saw the ventilation place with a hanging cloth. Curious, she pulled a chair to step into and then opened the grids. There, she saw several clothes and a paper bag. 

"Kath?" Aria came back after noticing that her brunette friend wasn't following her. 

"Check this out." Kathlyn said and then beckoned Aria to see what's in there, too.

Kathlyn opened the paper bag, and she saw several cellphones, "Someone's loving cellphones too much."

"Our lockers broken into, Spencer's laptop missing. All this stuff happened at school. Maybe..." Aria trailed off.

"'A's' lair?" Kathlyn finished Aria's statement and then Aria just nodded. 

"Let's just get out of here." Aria told her friend and then they went down the chair when suddenly, the lights went off and a hooded figure appeared. On instinct, the two ran fast away from the room. The hooded figure was still following them, walking briskly, so Kathyn decided to pull a taekwondo move onto the person, she did a headlock but not so hard that the hood of the figure got removed and both girls saw the person.

"Caleb?"

———————————

"You're crashing here? At the school?" Kathlyn questioned Caleb. They found out that the clothes and cellphones and money they saw earlier were of Caleb's belongings, and he's crashing at the school.

"Where do your parents think you are?" Aria asked the guy. 

"My foster parents don't care where I am, as long as they get their checks." Caleb honestly told them and then he stood up from where he was seated on the floor.

"Where are you going?" Kathlyn asked Caleb. 

"Grab some dinner then go back to the principal's couch." Caleb told them, "You haven't forgotten about our deal, right?" 

Kathlyn just nodded, earning a confused look from Aria. And then Caleb walked away. Kathlyn drove Aria home first, before she headed back home. But it was late already so everyone's fast asleep, but before going to he bedroom, Kathlyn grabbed a glass of water first and at the same time, her phone beeped. 

"Deals and Kathlyn don't really make a good pair, do they?"
— A