Careful, Ali ➳ Emison

Chapter 12 | The A Team

"We need to talk," Spencer announced as Emily and Alison entered the room where she and the two other girls awaited their arrival. They'd agreed to meet up at the old shed in their favorite park, all of them skipping their first period classes in order to get there.

"Damn right, we do," Alison muttered darkly. The blonde couldn't sleep all of the previous night due to the last text A had sent them. The rest of the messages up until then were intimidating as well, of course, that was their whole intent after all, but there was something so triggering to Alison about the texts mentioning Emily in them.

"Ali-" Emily tried.

"No," Alison hastily declined the attempt to calm her down because she had the right to be furious about this. The events of yesterday soon came back to her. She'd thought it through, and realized that the text wouldn't have upset her as much as it did if she hadn't been floating on cloud nine just a few minutes before she had received it. She had spent a pleasant evening with Emily's family and was getting re-acquainted with the brunette's lips, and she had been so fulfilled that she had almost forgotten about A for a moment. That is, until Hanna called with the news.

Alison opened her phone quickly, showing the girls the text from last night. Her shaking hand held her phone to their faces as she said, "A threatened to tell Emily's parents about us. Can you believe that?"

"Alison," Spencer began, but the blonde merely shook her head as she felt the heat suffocate her in the tiny shed.

"I am not going to stand by and let this creep take us all down one by one," she said decisively, though her voice wavered as the thought of Emily's parents finding out about their relationship popped into her head. It could be chaotic.

"That's exactly what we wanted to talk to you guys about," Spencer amended and the Aria and Hanna nodded in agreement.

"Spence, show them the text you got," Aria suggested which caused Alison to frown in confusion.

The witty brunette complied, pulling out her phone and showing them the text that she had received. Alison's eyes first went to the time stamp, proving that it was sent just minutes after the message she and Emily got. Emily and Alison skimmed over Spencer's text, their faces shifting in dismay.

Who better than you knows that when everything starts to fall apart, it's a chance to move to the other side. Time to start playing for the winning team, Spence.

-A

"I can't believe this," Alison whispered, gaping at the screen.

"A wants you to... to join them? Like... as A?" Emily asked in anxiety, her eyes wide with alarm. Spencer nodded shortly, looking away. "But, why you?" she queried.

"Because Spence and Ali always butt heads and get into fights, Em," Hanna chipped in, making the two aforementioned girls share a short glance. "A thinks they can make Spencer turn on Ali. We have to stop them, this isn't funny anymore."

"It was never funny, Hanna," Aria said.

"To us," Hanna conceded in a distressed voice, "but it clearly is to this A psycho."

"They're not a psycho," Spencer denied, shaking her head. She glanced at her phone once more before laughing unhumorously, "They're a genius."

"Can we at least be glad that A obviously has a wrong perception of our group's relationships?" Aria stressed, stepping between them. "We have to use the fact that only we know Spencer didn't actually turn on Ali and that we're all talking about this right now. Remember, guys, A's an outsider and we're the only ones who know what actually happens between us. "