chapter eighteen
the badass seed
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"Okay, start at the line about the stolen medal," Spencer said as she and the girls and Richie were sitting on the floor waiting for their auditions, Richie and Joise were just there for moral support. "Why isn't she wearing any shoes?" Hanna asked, looking at someone that walked past them in her socks. "So she can look short and mature enough to play an eight year old," Spencer said as she rubbed her neck.

"What's my line?" Spencer asked Emily, rubbing her neck. "I don't see anything about a medal," Emily said, looking at the script in confusion. "It's what the eight year old killed her classmate for," Spencer explained as she leaned forward to show Emily. "the penmanship medal, that's why they called her The Bad Seed." Josie added as she lent in to Richie. "A penmanship medal? Really?" Hanna asked in disbelief. "Didn't you read the whole play?" Spencer asked as she looked from Hanna to Aria in shock.

"Don't look at me, Hanna is the one trying out." Aria said in defence of herself. "I'm just here to make her look taller." she said as she shot Hanna a look. "Why do I have to read the whole play?" Hanna asked, "I don't wanna be the Bad Seed's mother. I want to be the other mother, the one who is drunk all the time." Hanna said, causing Josie to laugh. "No comment." Spencer said with a smile. "Are you still ragging on me for bringing a flask to a dance?" Hanna asked.

"I don't need another parent, Spence. One's plenty." Hanna said as she looked towards Spencer. "Well has the one figured out that Caleb's in your basement?" Aria asked. "No, but A has," Hanna admitted, making them look at each other in worry as Richie rubbed Josie's arm in comfort. They knew he knew, now they didn't have to hide much, Aria had also let him in on Ezra. She knew she could trust him. "What are you gonna do?" Emily asked.

"I'm gonna tell my mom before A gets to her." Hanna said, "I'm just gonna ask her if Caleb can stay in the guest room." she said, like it was simple. "Hey there, Hanna and her Clan-a," Mona walked over and joined the group.

"Hey Mona, how did it go in there?" Hanna asked her friend with a smile. "Honestly? I nailed it." Mona said smugly, "It was epic. I think Mr Fitz cried." she said, making Richie hide his face in Josie's shoulder, trying not to laugh. "Good for you Mona. I guess the rest of us should go home." Spencer said sarcastically.

"No!" Mona said, "There are no small parts, only parts that don't make it into the yearbook." she said with a smile "Good luck." she said before leaving. Josie and Spencer caught Aria staring at Mr. Fitz. "Why don't you audition?" Spencer asked. "I mean you kinda have one in with the director." she said, causing Richie to chuckle and nod in agreement. "Stop." Aria said. "Is he wearing the tie you gave him?" Josie said with a smirk. "Stop." Aria said again, not amused by her friends' antics. "It would be so awesome to hang out with you two after school. To see you as a couple," Spencer said.

"News flash. Just 'cause we're on this side of the building Doesn't mean that we can suddenly light candles and slow dance." Aria said sarcastically. "But that's the opening night party." Spencer joked. "Hello, Aria." she said in a male voice before leaning into Aria. "Hello, Ezra." she replied, trying to speak like Aria. "Are you finished?" Aria asked. "It's not like we'll ever be able to go on a double date with you guys." Emily said, defending their actions.

"Yeah, you won't even send us pictures." Josie said. "Pictures? Josie, we met at his apartment, it's not Sea World." Aria said, hoping they'd drop it. "We're just saying it'd be nice." Emily said. "Believe me, I know." Aria said as she stared at Mr. Fitz. "Wish I could." she said with a sigh. "But I can't." she said as she looked away and back to the script. "Um, where's your other scene?" she asked Spencer as Jenna walked into the room.

"Is Mr. Fitz in the auditorium?" She asked no one in particular. "Uh, I'm, uh, right here, Jenna. What can I do for you?" Mr. Fitz said as he walked to her "I don't know if you're interested, But I would like to compose some music for the play." she offered "Sure. That'd be great. For the flute?" He asked, "Yes." she said with a smile."Is there a reason that you picked The Bad Seed?" she asked. "It's one of my favourites. The theme is so inspiring." she said, still smiling. To be honest it was creeping Richie out. "Uh, inspiring?" he asked, confused. "I'm fascinated by the nature of evil." she said, causing the group to share a look.

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"So Aria's gonna be his stage manager?" Richie asked as they sat down in the student lounge. Josie nodded. "Yep, I feel what we said yesterday got to her head, like i know she wants to be out in public with him but he's a teacher and i just feel for Aria," Josie whispered so no one could hear about it. "Yeah, but I think they're working out pretty well, despite everything," Richie said with a shrug. "I know, i just don't want Aria to be hurt in the end, she's like a sister to me, and if this relationship with Mr. Fitz, what's going to hurt her? No, I won't allow it, I just want her safe and happy." Josie whispered with a sigh as she rested her head on Richies shoulder who rested his head on top of hers. "I know, Jo, I know," he said with a sigh.

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The girls sat in the drama room. Josie had volunteered to help Emily with props. "So, the play raises an interesting question" Mr Fitz said, "Are people born evil or do they learn it? I brought some additional material to give you guys some background on the period." Mr Fitz handed out some files and then he went back to look through the papers he had copied out that laid on his desk.

"Do you need help?" Aria asked him. "No, I'm good, thanks." he told her, "So I recommend that you read the novel and to wet your appetites I copied the first chapter," Mr Fitz said just as he dropped the papers on the floor and Aria immediately went down to collect them, as did Mr Fitz. "I got this. Thanks. Why don't you hand out the schedules." he said, making Aria stand up to hand everyone their schedules.

"Oh Aria," Mona said, "while your are up, could you do me a favour?" she asked. "Eh, sure. What do you need, Mona?" Aria asked. "Could you hit the vendy and grab me a power bar and some mints?" Mona asked. "I think I should just pass this out. But everyone can hit the vendy when we go on break, okay?" Aria said, her tone a little irritated making Josie snicker. "I think you will see that even with the novel, Rhoda is not the typical eight year old. Only the janitor is-" Mr Fitz said when the door opened and Ian stepped in. "Yes."

"Eeh, I'm guessing this isn't the varsity booster club" Ian said sheepishly. "My bad, sorry." he said with a smile and walked back outside. "Let's all take a look at the first scene with Rhoda and the janitor." Mr Fitz. Aria walked over and joined the rest of them on the couch. "He is so creepy," Hanna said. "I can't believe you ever kissed him," Aria said as she looked at Spencer. "We all wanted to kiss him," Spencer argued as Josie shook her head 'no' frantically. "Nope, never," she deadpanned. "Never," Hanna said. "At that frat party, when he was the big man on campus. The one that Alison got us into" Spencer clarified. "Not me." Hanna and Josie said again. "Yes, you." Emily told Hanna, knowing Josie didn't, she only really saw Richie.

FLASHBACK

"You are so badass." Hanna whispered to Alison as she handed out fake IDs to her friends. They were standing in the doorway of a frat party Alison had dragged them to. "Did you make these?" Emily asked as she and the rest of the girls looked at their IDs. "Where did you get this picture of me?" Hanna asked. "I look like my mother." Hanna said with a smile. "That is your mother." Alison deadpanned before walking in, showing her ID as the rest of the girls did the same and as they walked in they saw everyone dancing. "So you guys can thank me later," Alison said smugly before she turned to leave.

"Wait! So what do we...what do we do now?" Aria said, stopping Alison. "Act your new age," Alison told them before her eyes landed on someone by the stairs. "Oh excuse me, sorry," Ian said as he made his way through the crowd to the stairs. "Hey, Spence," Aria said, "isn't that your sister's new boyfriend?" she asked. "He's kind of cute." Hanna said. "So is his friend." she added. "Easy. He is a little bit old for you," Emily scolded lightly. "Not tonight" Hanna picked up her ID. "Because I'm twenty six." she said proudly.

"Put that away," Alison ordered her, making her do so. "And take a math class because you are twenty one." Josie said and as all the girls turned to see Ian helped a drunk girl upstairs. "Looks like Mr. Melissa is giving Miss Rome-and-Coke a special tour," Alison said, as they all watched them go up the stairs. "Maybe he's just taking her to the bathroom." Hanna suggested with a shrug. "Or finding an empty room so she can lie down," Emily said, making Josie sigh. "Yeah, on top of her." Alison snorted and the girls turned to look at her in shock. "What? Look, I don't know about you vestal virgins but I'm here to make some memories. Let's divide and conquer and meet back here at midnight.

FLASHBACK OVER

"You should have said something to your sister that night," Emily told Spencer. "Like what? I crashed your boyfriend's frat party? I would have been so dead." Spencer said. "Like your sister isn't now," Aria countered.

"Yes, knocked out with his bad seed." Hanna said, making Josie laugh, trying not to be too loud. "Hanna," Mr Fitz said, gaining their attention, "Why do you think the janitor in the play is the only one who knows the little girl is not a liar?"

Hanna looked down at her script and Spencer jumped, saving Hanna from public embarrassment. "Eh, that's because the janitor is childlike himself," she answered and the blonde nodded in agreement. "It's like when we were reading Shakespeare and Ezra, talked about the fools And how they can get away with saying...things that...other people can't." Aria stammered, once she noticed people staring at her. "Let's just focus on the play," Mr Fitz said awkwardly, "Okay?" he asked.

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Spencer and Emily had seen Ian had given Jenna a bag at school and Spencer had convinced Toby to steal her phone so that they could see if she had called Ian recently. Spencer handed Jenna's phone to Caleb who looked from it to Spencer, Hanna and Josie. "Where did you get this? The year 2020?" he asked the girls. "It's for someone who can't see," Hanna whispered. "Okay, well someone who can might need to call NASA to turn it on," Caleb said. "Take however long you need," Hanna told him awkwardly and Josie looked between the pair suspiciously, wondering what had happened.

"No, take an hour. It has to be returned as soon as possible or the person who...borrowed it might be in trouble." Spencer said. "They should be,'' Caleb concluded, "Stealing a blind person's phone, that's sick. What do you like to do for fun on the weekends, break old ladies' hips?" he asked sarcastically. "You know what? Just get it back to Spencer as soon as you can, okay?" Hanna asked before walking away, Spencer and Josie following close behind.

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A little later everyone was in the drama room, Mr. Fitz was blocking the set, to begin rehearsing. "Where does my character sit?" Mona asked. "Uh, I haven't blocked it yet, Mona. We'll get to that on Saturday." he said to her before turning to the rest of the room. "For those of you just arriving, The stage has been taped off to mark the living room, And the prop table is being stocked as I speak." he said as pointed to the floor and the prop area as Mona interrupted.

"Wait, this Saturday? I can't be here this Saturday." she said as she raised her head to look at Mr. Fitz as he looked at Aria, who Joise assumed was in charge of the emails and schedules being sent out. "I only sent the email to those who were called for that rehearsal." Aria said, explaining her reasoning. "Well, am I called in or not?" Mona asked. "We'll be blocking that scene on Saturday. I thought I mentioned that." Ezra said to Aria, not even hearing what Mona said. "You didn't." Aria shot back.

"Mr. Fitz, can we find a way to work out the kinks in the system?" Mona said as she shot Aria a look. "I assure you, Mona, from this point on Aria will be on top of things." Mr. Fitz said, defending Aria. "I just need some clarification From our director on the scheduling." Aria said as she stood up as she shot Mr. Fitz a look, causing Josie to share a look with Spencer. "Can we take five, everyone?!" Aria called out to the entire room, as everyone pilled out. "Thanks." she says.

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"Cute couple, aren't they?" Hanna asked as the girls waited outside the classroom. "We should study our lines," Spencer said, hoping to distract themselves from everything. "Yeah, I still don't get my second scene" Hanna told them. "Your character is suspicious," Spencer explained to her. "It doesn't say that in the script," Hanna said. "That's because it's underneath the words Han." Josie explained, "That's the reason she is drinking." Spencer added.

"No, she's drinking because her kid drowned. It doesn't matter that she-" Hanna started saying but Spencer cut her off. "Hanna, at this point even the little girl's mother thinks she is the murderer. It's the drowning, the old lady who fell down the stairs, the janitor who was set on fire." she said as Hanna cut her off slightly. "I was just talking about this scene. She could think it was an accident." Hanna said. "Maybe there are no accidents," Emily said, gaining the girl's attention. "What do you mean?" Spencer asked. "We never questioned what happened at that party." Emily said as she turned to see Ian talking with some guys.

FLASHBACK

Josie was with Emily and Hanna by the pool table. "You know I really like that top Em," Hanna said, complimenting Emily. "And I think someone else might like it, too." she added as referring to the guy across from them, one who was staring at Emily. "No." Emily said with a sigh as she looked back at Hanna. "Why? He's drooling in his beer pong cup." Josie asked with a laugh. "Just go talk to him." Hanna urged her but Emily wasn't having it "No." she said, again.

"Go talk to him!" Hanna said just before they heard a loud scream and the sound of someone falling. The girls and a lot of others ran to see the girl, who Ian had led up earlier, lying passed out at the bottom of the staircase. People started shouting at each other to call for help and as the girls pushed forward to see her on the ground and when they looked up they saw Ian at the top of the stairs. "We should go now," Josie said, panic taking over as her friends nodded.

FLASHBACK OVER

"Why didn't you tell us you saw Ian at the top of the stairs before?" Spencer asked. "I...I didn't think about it until now." Emily admitted. "What if that girl didn't fall just because she was wasted?" Emily asked as Aria walked over to them. "We are starting," Aria said as the girls went silent, thinking over the new information. "What's going on?" she asked. "The night that we crashed that frat party." Josie started. "Yeah, what about it?" Aria asked, confused. "We are thinking Alison wasn't the first person Ian shoved," Spencer said darkly as they turned to see Ian walking past them.

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"So, what do you think?" Mr Fitz asked the group, "Are people born bad?" he added. "I'm having a hard time figuring out who is evil and who's just naughty." Mona said. "I think you know the difference, Mona," Mr Fitz said awkwardly, "But let's ask some of your cast mates. Spencer, thoughts?" he asked. "Yes. Some people are pure evil," Spencer said firmly as she remembered something else before standing up. "I think my character is being totally selfish," Mona said. "I don't even know how to play that." she said.

"Ms Fern is protecting the future of her school, Mona," Mr Fitz explained. "So, is she forgivable or not?" she asked. "It's unforgivable if she's only thinking of herself." Aria said before shooting a look towards Mr Fitz. "Let's stop here" Mr Fitz said, his tone off. "These are all good thoughts, we will pick up where we left off tomorrow. Study your lines. Put away your props. I will see you then." he said as he packed his stuff before walking out.

Josie walked over to join Hanna and Emily by the wall as everyone else left. "Awkward...." Josie trailed off before Spencer called them over. "Guys." she said as she waved them over and showed them a trophy that she must have found. "What are we looking at?" Hanna asked. "Why would that be in there?" Aria asked when she saw the trophy. "What is that? Is that?" Emily said in shock. "Blood," Spencer said. "Em, Jo, where did you get this?" Spencer asked in shock.

"We didn't. We've never seen it before," Emily told them, causing Spencer to quickly put it back in the box. "Oh, god no." Josie sighed as she messed with her rings. "Do you think that's what Ian used-" Emily started but was cut off. "To kill Alison. Don't you?" Spencer finished. "Guys, slow down." Aria said. "We don't know if that is Alison's blood. Why don't know if that is blood," Aria said. "Yeah, but we don't know that it's not." Hanna shot back, making Aria close the lid.

"That's insane. Why would he hide that in here for everyone to see?" Aria asked the girls as they spread out around the room. "Because it's a bold move, and no one would ever look for it here. Why did the bad seed hide the medal in the box on top of her desk? Why didn't she just bury it?" Josie rambled. "Because she was eight!" Aria exclaimed, still in shock. "Guys, we all saw that video. Ian did not have a trophy in his hand." Aria added

"We didn't see what was on the ground." Emily said from her spot next to Hanna. "It could've been in his luggage." Hanna added. "This was when they were together at Hilton Head." Spencer said after checking it. "Wow." Aria muttered. "What are we gonna do?" Josie asked, nervous. "We hand it in, we're not wasting time losing evidence again." Emily said firmly. "Emily is right," Spencer said. "This goes to the police, now." Spencer said while picking up the box with the evidence in it.

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They had handed it in. Josie breathed in a sharp intake of air as the five of them walked out of the station. "So, what do we do now?" Emily asks. "Just wait." Spencer said with a shrug as Josie sighed, she hoped this would be all over soon. "How long until the police Figure out that it's Alison's blood?" Aria asked.

"I don't know." Spencer said. "I'll tell you this–I don't want to go home." she added as she looked at her friends. "I don't want to be anywhere near where Ian is." she confessed. "You can stay at my place." Josie offered with a smile. "Could we just all stay at your place?" Hanna asked Josie who nodded with a smile. "I don't know, it just feels weird splitting up after this." Hanna said as Josie nodded in agreement. "I can't believe we had it, The weapon, in our hands." Emily said softly. "After all this time, it's like..." Emily trailed off, not knowing the right word. "Like Ali can finally rest in peace." Spencer filled in.

"Yeah. We all can." Josie said as she sent Emily a smile. "We'll pick up some food on the way to Josie's." Spencer said to Hanna as she sighed before she shook her head. "I-I can't stay over tonight." she said, earning looks from her friends. "Look, believe me, I don't want to go home either, But my mom hears something in the basement..." she trailed off.

"You haven't told her about Caleb?" Emily asked her in shock. "There's only so much I can do in one day, okay?" Hanna said as she walked off. "Actually, can we just make one stop along the way?" Aria asked Spencer. "I-I promise it won't take long." she added. "Yeah, sure." Spencer said as she nodded as they walked off and got in the car and a few seconds later, Emily and Spencer joined them.

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The next day the girls sat around a table in the courtyard. Richie had been homesick, so Josie was texting him, making sure he was okay. "Did you guys sleep at all?" Hanna asked them. "No, I just tossed and turned," Emily told them. "She tossed, I turned" Spencer mumbled while staring out in thin air. "I also tossed and turned." Josie said as she drank from her to-go coffee cup. "I cannot wait for him to be carted out of here" Hanna said, "Just knowing that he is in this building right now.." she trailed off

"Did he think he could get away with it? Her blood in that trophy case" Emily said as she interrupted Hanna's sentence. "It makes me sick." she added. "Guys," Aria said, looking behind them, causing the girls to turn to see officers walking into the yard. "Oh my god," Spencer said. "They are gonna drag him out in front of the whole school." Spencer said as she looked back at her friends.

"I have a bad feeling." Josie said, when she saw a detective walk towards them. "Why is he coming over here?" Hanna whispered nervously. "Ladies," the detective greeted them. "Which one of you found the trophy? Who's..uh.. Spencer Hastings?" he asked, making Spencer raise her hand. "So was this a group effort or are you four just along for the ride?" he asked. "What do you mean?" Josie asked him. "It means you should have done a little research," the detective said. "There was no golf tournament in Hilton Head on that date."

"What about the blood?" Emily asked him. "It's not human blood," he said. "It comes from a rat." he revealed, making Josie sigh, they were wrong. "No. But why would there be-" Hanna tried to ask but she was cut off. "Let's save our questions for the precinct. You five, follow me," he pointed at everyone making them pick up their things and follow the man out.

⎯ AUTHORS NOTE
new chapter! honestly always thought they shouldn't have handed it in cause it a fake and it could have been an A trap