chapter four — can you hear me now?
[ season one, episode four ]
────୨ৎ────

"How bad did your mom bust you over wrecking Sean's car?" Emily asked Hanna. "Okay, I did not wreck it. I damaged it." Hanna defended herself, making Gwen laugh. "And, actually, everyone's being really mature about it." she added. "Oh." Emily responded. "There's no 'oh', we're just being grown-ups, that's all." Hanna said as the five of them stopped in front of an old park bench.

"Okay, the town' s gonna put in a new bench and we'll plant the flowerbeds and there's gonna be a pathway of art tiles." Aria explained about their plan for Alison's Memorial. "Art tiles?" Spencer asked as she sat down on the bench and Aria hummed and nodded. "Messages, pictures, memories of Alison," Emily responded. "Oh, like little headstones." Hanna jokes, making Gwen hit her arm lightly, "Hanna," she scolded. "What?" she asked, confused. "We should each do a tile." Emily said but Hanna changed the subject.

"You know, I've had Alison's bracelet since the day we found it in the woods and I don't want the responsibility anymore." Hanna said, pulling it out of her bag and holding it out. "I don't want it." Aria and Gwen said in sync, Gwen moving closer to Aria. "Seriously, somebody take this." Hanna said, not wanting it at all. Eventually Spencer took it from her.

"Look at us. Bunch of babies." Spencer scoffed. "There's nothing that 'A' can say or do to get us into trouble without making trouble for herself." Spencer said, looking at Ali's bracelet. "Her?" Gwen asked. "Him, Her, It  doesn't make any difference." Spencer responded as he pulled her laptop out of her bag that was beside the bench and opened it. "What are you doing?" Emily asked.

"I'm gonna block all messages from people that I don't know. IMs, texts, emails, everything. Screw 'A'." Spencer answered before clicking something on her laptop. "There." she said, done. "Who's next?" She asked and Gwen moved to sit next to her, Spencer handing her the laptop. As Gwen was blocking all messages, the girls saw Mr. Fitz riding on his bike through town.

"I spy with my eye something that begins with F." Spencer said as Gwen handed the laptop to Emily who quickly blocked everything as well. "Hey, Mr. Fitz." Hanna called out, waving at him, who waved back, probably embarrassed. "Looking good Mr. Fitz." Spencer called out, making Gwen laugh before Aria took a seat next to Emily. "My turn," she said, grabbing the laptop from Emily once she was done.

"Now, there are teachers you don't wanna see on a bike, and there are teachers you do wanna see on a bike." Spencer said, watching as Mr. Fitz biked around the corner. "I would not wanna see Mr. Gilardi on a bike." Hanna said. "I'd rather not think about him in motion of any kind Han." Gwen laughed, making the others laugh as well. "Ah, Mr. Fitz." Hanna sighed dreamily.

"Hanna. Your turn." Aria said, snappily, making Gwen raise a brow at her, confused but Hanna sat down and took the laptop from her. "You talked to ben?" Spencer asked. "Nothing to talk about." Emily shrugged. "So you guys are really done then?" Gwen asked. "It's okay, I'm fine." Emily assured her and Gwen shrugged. "Okay, if you say so." Gwen said.

"I wish we had a drum roll for this." Hanna sighed. "Alright, here it goes." Hanna said, before clicking something on Spencer's laptop. "We are officially 'A' proofed."  Hanna said happily as Aria closed the laptop. "Listen, all those little messages zipping through the air all around us." Spencer said, standing beside the bench.  "Yep, and none of them from 'A'." Hanna added. 

"This feels like a good thing." Emily said as she sat next to Aria. "Of course it is." Gwen said to her. "Out of mind, out of sight." Hanna added and for a moment before a piece of paper flew their way, making Gwen bend down and grab it. It was a missing poster of Alison, but it had 'Ding Dong the Bitch is Dead' in red written on it. She showed it to the girls, making them look around, trying to see if they could see anyone who could have done it, before screwing it up into a ball.

⎯⎯⎯⎯

The girls were standing around in the cafeteria, minus Emily. "Why didn't your parents take you to New York as well?" Gwen asked before taking a sop of her coffee. "I mean, you deserve some retail therapy as well." she added. "Not as much as Melissa." Spencer responded as Emily walked up to them. "Ohh, hot scarf, Em." Spencer complimented her. "Thanks." Emily responded. "Is it new?" Gwen asked. "No." Emily answered after a moment before Hanna's phone rings, making them look at her as she pulls it out from her bag and stares at it before looking at her friends.

"Go ahead, answer it. We know who it can't be from." Aria encouraged her. Gwen noticed her hesitance was still there, making her frown, confused. "Hanna." Emily said, getting her attention. "It's my dad!" Hanna said excitedly, smiling. Gwen closed her eyes and sighed, she just knew why he would be calling. Hanna soon answered, "Hey, dad." She said as she walked off, leaving the girls there, watching her go.

"Has she... even, like, talked to her dad since he walked out on them?" Emily asked and Gwen shook her head. "No, her father is a topic we don't even dare to talk about anymore." she answered. "We shouldn't stare at her, come on." Aria said, encouraging them to move as her phone went off. "My brother's post just showed up on my loop." Aria scoffed. "You added him as a favourite?" Spencer asked. "Yeah. Moment of weakness." Aria answered as she tossed her rubbish into the bin.

As the girls are walking, Emily manages to bump into Toby Cavanaugh. "Sorry," he apologised. "My fault." Emily responded before catching up to the girls. "I wonder if we just bumped into 'A'." Aria whispered to them as they walked off. "It doesn't matter, we're done with 'A', right?" Spencer asked. "Right. Yeah. I know." Aria answered. "But I'm.. still staying out of Toby's way." Aria added. "And Jenna's." Spencer added. "I guess that's the safest thing to do." Emily said.

⎯⎯⎯⎯

Soon enough the girls met back up with Hanna, and now they were walking through the halls as Hanna talked about her father. "He has to be in New England for a couple of weeks but he's making a special trip out to see me." Hanna said, smiling. "That's-that's great, Hanna." Aria stuttered slightly, making Hanna look over at them, noticing the looks on her friends' faces. "What?" she asked.

The girls shared a look before Emily spoke. "It's just... Do you think he's out here because of the thing with Sean's car?" she asked, making Hanna stop and look at her, the other stopping as well. "No, he's not. Look, I asked. Absolutely not." Hanna answered, defending her dad. "And besides, even if he was, at least he's still coming out to see me." she added. "Spencer!" someone called out, making turn to see Mr. Sheldrake walking to them.

"Mr. Mr. Sheldrake." Spencer greeted him, shocked and confused. "I was gonna tell you in class, but, uh, here you are." he said. "Remarkable job on the Russian history essay," he congratulated her. "Oh, thanks." Spencer responded. "Very lucid presentation," he added. "It's not really a new idea," she tried to brush it off. "I've submitted it for a Golden Orchid," he said proudly before going to walk away. "Wait, you what?" Spencer asked him. "There's an honorarium, but you know the real upside to winning an essay competition like that is how it looks on your application." Mr. Sheldrake said.

"Wait, can we–" Spencer started. "We'll discuss the details after class." Mr. Sheldrake said before walking away. "Okay, what's a Golden Orchid?" Hanna asked with a laugh, making Spencer turn to face them. "It's a national competition for historical writing." Spencer explained. "More academic bling for Spencer." Emily joked, but Gwen could see how tense Spencer was. The bell rings, meaning class. "Okay, see you later." Aria said before walking off with Hanna and Gwen as they headed to class.

⎯⎯⎯⎯

The next day at school, the girls stood around in their English classroom before class started as Hanna talked about the dinner with her dad. "I mean, it was- it was great. Incredible, really." Hanna said with the biggest smile Gwen had seen in a long time. "Where'd your dad take you?" Emily asked. "Jolly Roger's." Hanna answered, making the girls laugh. "What, the lame amusement park?" Aria asked as she laughed. "Okay, it is not lame." Hanna defended their choice of place.

"We didn't go on the tilt-a-whirl, we walked around and talked." she explained. "And I told him about what's going on." she added, making the girls share a look, one which Hanna noticed, "Some of what's going on, and he listened" she corrected. "And he wants me to take me to a real dinner tonight, he said he has something to tell me." she said. "I don't know, I think he wants to spend more time with me, I mean, maybe summers in Maryland." Hanna admitted.

"Seriously?" Emily asked. "Would you go?" Aria asked. "Well, I wouldn't move away, not forever, I don't wanna leave my mom alone, but... I would like to see my dad more." Hanna responded. "Wow," Spencer said with a nod of her head. "Good for you Han," Gwen said, smiling at her softly as the bell rang, signalling that class was starting, making them all take their seats as Mr. Fitz walked into the room. "I'm wondering, is anybody else bothered by Atticus' hypocrisy at the end of the novel?" he asked but no one answered.

"No? Well, he's Mr. Due process when it comes to Tom Robinson then as soon as Bob Ewell gets stabbed, he's willing to buy into the sheriff's cover-up." he said. Spencer put her hand up as she spoke. "He was protecting Boo Radley." she said. "Protecting him? From, from what, the justice system?" he asked. "Atticus is an officer of the court and he's conspiring to cover up a crime and he's willing to let his own son take the fall for something that Boo Radley did?" he asked.

"It was a trade." Aria called out, making some turn to her. "What was a trade?" he asked. "Mr. Ewell would have killed those kids, Boo saved them and Atticus was still feeling guilty over Tom Robinson, so... he offered Jem to take Boo's place, almost like a sacrifice." Aria explained her opinion. "Oh. Very Noble. Too bad Jem was unconscious, you think he might have had a different opinion" Mr. Fitz asked.

"No, Jem would have said yes." Aria said. "You're sure about that?" Mr. Fitz asked. "He was brought up right." Aria shot back, making Gwen furrow her brows, she could tension in the air and she didn't know why. Someone then cleared their throat. "I'm sorry, Mr. Sperling, do you have something to add to the discussion aside from phlegm?" he asked.

"Just... well, his dad was a lawyer, he could get the kid off." the guy explained. "Um, being brought up right had nothing to do with it." he added. "Really? The whole book is about what shapes us into adults or haven't y ou been paying attention?" Mr. Fitz asked. "No, no, i'm just saying that she–" he's cut off by Mr. Fitz. "No, no, you're just saying that Aria made an attempt to understand this book and you haven't." he said, making Gwen glance at Hanna, confused.

"No, I wasn't saying that, Mr. Fitz." the guy said, looking down at his desk. "Sorry, what are you trying to say?" Mr. Fitz asked. "Well, it'd probably be easier for Atticus to get the kid off than to get Boo off, that's all." he explained. It was silent as Mr. Fitz nodded slightly as he turned to walk back to the front.

⎯⎯⎯⎯

Later that night, as Gwen was doing her homework, her phone went off, making her pick it up to see a message from Spencer, and she quickly opened it.

Spencer Hastings
S.O.S

Gwen quickly threw a jacket over the top of her pyjamas before grabbing her car keys and softly exiting her house, knowing her mother was asleep from a 10 hour shift, and needed her sleep. It didn't take long before she arrived at Spencer's, she spotted the other girls' cars in outfront. She quickly walked inside Spencer's house, seeing the girls in the kitchen, standing around. "Good, you're here, there's something we need to show you guys." Spencer said, before leading the girls upstairs.

Spencer led the girls into her room, and once they were all in there, they turned to see Spencer's mirror had been written on in red lipstick.

IT WON'T BE
THAT EASY, BITCHES
⎯ A

"Is that jungle red?" Gwen asked as she walked up the mirror. "Alison's colour." Emily added as the five of them stared at it, shocked and fearful that 'A' had been able to get into Spencer's house.

⎯ AUTHORS NOTE
new chapter <3 | i'm loving Gwen, and I hope you guys are as well !!