chapter thirteen
know your frenemies
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Emily, Spencer and Josie were sitting down at a cafe in town before school. Spencer was on the phone while Emily and Josie listened. "Hi. I'm planning a surprise visit for my husband and he cannot stop talking about the room he had on his last visit." Spencer said with an accent into the phone. "Can you pull up that reservation?" she asks. "His name is lan Thomas." she said into the phone. "Why are you doing this?" Emily whispers, knowing she can't be too loud. Spencer turns to look at her. "I think lan and Alison were together the weekend before she disappeared." Spencer admitted. "Remember how Alison was acting when she got home from visiting her grandmother? All giggles and tan?" Spencer asked as Josie nodded. "Yeah," she said, hoping Spencer would continue.

"Ali hated old people and Ali's grandmother lives in Georgia. Hilton Head is in South Carolina. She was lying to us." Spencer said, making Josie sigh. "So what? Alison lied more than she breathed. You think that was enough to make lan wanna permanently shut her up?" Emily asked, confused. "Wow. I thought you'd be happy to hear it was anybody but Toby." Spencer said, surprised as Emily sighed. "All Toby wanted was for me to believe him and I didn't." Emily said sadly, making Josie frown.

"Toby lied about a lot of things too, Em." Josie said, hoping to make her feel better, but she knew it wouldn't. "If lying was a crime, we would all be in jail." Emily said to her as Agent Cooper walked out of the cafe. "Agent Cooper. Good morning." Josie said. "Hi. Beautiful day, huh?" she said with a smile as Hanna showed up, joining the girls.

"Looks like someone traded in her wheels for heels." Emily said as Hanna approached the table. "They're flats, but they are Ferragamos." Hanna said with a wide smile, happy to be out of the wheelchair. "Thank you," Spencer muttered into the phone before hanging up. "The food in this town is to die for." Agent Cooper said but Spencer wasn't quite listening as she frowned, making Josie wonder what she heard from the other side of the phone. "I'm missing it already," she said as she looked at the girls.

"Are you going somewhere?" Hanna asked as she looked at Agent Cooper. "Came here to find the person that killed your friend. Toby Cavanaugh may be out on bail but he's not leaving town and we have a solid case against him. So unless you have a reason for me to stay." she said, hoping they'd say something but they didn't. "Well, I guess we'll see you around, then." Hanna said to her with a smile.

"You girls take care." she said before she walked off. "Bye." Spencer mumbled as Josie waved, and once she was gone, the girls turned to Spencer, knowing she had information. "What?" Emily asked as she, Hanna and Josie leaned in. "Ian was definitely at Hilton Head the same weekend Ali was." Spencer informed them, making them frown. "Maybe we do have a reason for Cooper to stay." Emily said, making Josie frown.

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"Agent Cooper is not some small-town cop who's gonna arrest Spencer's brother-in-law because Ali carved his name in a tree." Hanna said as the girls walked through the cafeteria. "Yeah, a tree that's no longer there." Aria countered, making Josie sigh. "No one knows that but us." she said as they all sat down. "And lan." Spencer added. "And A." Hanna added as Aria turned to see Noel outside, the other girls following suit before turning back to each other. "Noel led us to that tree for a reason." Spencer said, Josie sighed, not knowing what to say. They've been wrong before so she didn't know. "Is A? I mean, is Noel trying to help us find Ali's killer?" Aria asked as she looked around at her friends. "A helping us? Wow, that's a first." Hanna said sarcastically, making Josie snort.

"How could Noel even know about lan and Ali?" Josie asked, confused. "Have you ever noticed how Noel is always around?" Aria asked back as Josie shrugged "I hadn't until now." she admitted as Aria turned around to look at Noel, only to see him talking to her brother, Mike. "Are they friends?" Emily asked, confused as they all watched Mike and Noel talk. "No." Aria said as she continued to watch her brother talk to an A suspect.

"Hanna's right about Cooper. We need to find some kind of proof." Spencer said as she turned away from Mike and Noel to look at her friends. "Thank you, Veronica Mars." Josie said with a smile as Spencer looked at her and tilted her head. "That proof may be boxed in your kitchen." Emily said to Spencer, talking about Ian's stuff but the girls didn't get a chance to speak because Maya walked up to the table, to Emily.

"Hi." she said softly, gaining Emily's attention as a small smile slipped onto her face. "Hey." she said as she got up from the table and kissed Maya making Josie and the girls smile. "Um, are we still on for later?" Maya asked as she scratched the back of her head, nervous as the girls shared a look, full of smiles, happy that Emily's finally being herself with who she loves.

"You know, now that your dad's gone?" she asked as Emily nodded. "Yeah, my mom knows how my dad feels about us." Emily said with a small smile as Maya nodded. "In other words, he'll tolerate me." Maya said with a nod as Emily sighed. "She's spending the day in the city, okay, so you'll be safe, I promise." Emily said with a small laugh, causing Maya to laugh softly as well.

"What's later?" Spencer asked, a smile still on her face. "Um, studying." Emily said as she turned to her friends. "Is that girl-on-girl code for romance?" Hanna asked, making Josie laugh. "No, Hanna, we're actually studying." Emily said, shutting down the idea but Maya smiled. "But your friend is a romantic." she said as she looked at Emily's friends. "Is she?" Josie asked with a teasing smile on her face. "Oh, yeah. Um...Walks in the rain, picnics by the lake, dancing naked in candlelight." Emily listed, making the girls laugh as Hanna raised her eyebrows as the rest of the girls looked at her shocked. "Mm." Maya hummed with a smile.

"Ha, ha. I'm just kidding." Emily said with a laugh making the girls laugh as well, it felt like things were normal, just for a moment. "We go to dinner and a movie, just like you guys." Emily said, serious this time. "Well, she's not entirely kidding. Emily would love to do all of those things." Maya said teasingly as Josie let out a loud laugh as well as the other girls. "Okay, you've shared enough." Emily said before walking away with Maya as the girls shared laughs, glad Emily was happy.

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"I'm happy for Emily," Richie said as he and Josie sat in the courtyard. "Yeah, she deserves it." Josie said before she took a sip of her water. "Did you hear the boys put cream in Toby's locker today?" Richie asked, making Josie look over at him confused. "Wait, what? He's back in school?" she asked, she had no idea. "Yeah, they asked me to help, but despite everything he may or may not have done, I'm not that kind of person." Richie said with a shake of his head making Josie smile.

"I know you aren't." she said as she sent a smile as he blushed. "So, heard from your dad?" Richie asked as the blonde shook her head. "Not yet, he's been really busy, but last we talked he said he was gonna visit soon," she said with a shrug. "Hopefully he does," Richie mumbles, making Josie frown. She knows her dad has been a bit absent, and she knew Richie hated it, because it made her upset. "Yeah, hopefully," she mumbled back, upset, making Richie frown, causing him to move next to her and pull her into a hug as she dug her face into his neck as he kissed the crown of her head.

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"Melissa pregnant?" Josie asked, shocked. "Hey, I said this was a secret." Spencer scolded, trying to make sure Josie kept her voice low. "No, it's not a secret. It's a bombshell, like in 'Nucular'." Hanna replied, getting into the conversation. "It's 'Nuclear'." Spencer corrected her. "Okay, whatever, it's still a disaster movie." Hanna said with a shake of her head. "I know!" Spencer said. "Can you imagine Melissa pregnant? Or ever worse. Melissa as a mom?" Hanna asked. "I can't," Josie said. "I've never once heard Melissa talk about kids. Now she wants to have this huge family? It's like he's totally manipulating her." Spencer said to Hanna and Josie. "Manipulating her? Spence, your sister's a badass." Hanna told her as Josie nodded in agreement. "I don't know what we're gonna find, but I have to see what's inside those boxes." Spencer whispered to us, hoping no one else heard.

Spencer and Josie looked over to see Emily trying to make a phone call. "Emily?" Spencer called as she walked over to us, nearly in tears. "Hey." Josie said softly. "I didn't even get to say goodbye." She said sadly, making Josie frown deepen. "To who?" Spencer asked, confused. "Maya." She replied. "Em, where is she going?" Hanna asked. "They're sending her to juvie camp for three months." Emily revealed making Josie gasp. what the hell. "What happened?" Josie asked. "My mother. That's what happened." She said with.

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As the girls went into the school, they saw Noel Kahn being escorted by the principal and a police officer making Josie share a look with the girls, confused. "Step aside, please." The principal asked Noel. "Somebody set me up." he said, trying to defend himself but no one was paying attention to him. "You'll have to explain this one, Mr. Kahn." the principal said as he shook his head.

"You have to believe me." Noel said as his locker was opened and the principal pulled out test papers. "You stole the answers to three midterms, Mr. Kahn. I can't imagine ever believing in you again." The principal said, shocking everyone in the hallway as they all watched. "This is really unacceptable and I'm really, really disappointed in you." The principal said the police escorted Noel out of the school as the girls watched Mr. Fitz and Aria share a look when the girls' phones rang.

BLOCKED ID
A is for Alison.
Not amateur.
⎯ A

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The girls were sitting at Spencer's kitchen island while they waited for Emily. "I don't know who I'm more afraid of. A, the bitch who tried to flatten Hanna or, A, our new frenemy." Aria said as she let a smile creep up on her face. "What?" Spencer asked, confused. "A saved my relationship." She said as she smiled. "Yeah, well, A tried to kill me." Hanna replied. "I don't think A's plan was to save your relationship, this has to have a bigger meaning." Josie said as Spencer nodded in agreement before turning to Hanna.

"Because A thought you saw her. A clearly knows now that you didn't." Spencer replied to Hanna as the front door opened and Melissa walked in so Spencer started talking like they were studying. "So the, uh, law of cosines is an extension of the Pythagorean theorem to the arbitrary angles around..." she trailed off as Hanna cut her off. "Uh, English, please," Hanna said, making Josie smile. "It's nice to see the posse together again." she said with a smile. "The posse?" Aria asked. "This is me playing nice, Aria. Spencer and I have called a truce." Melissa replied as she looked over at her sister. "Oh, well, I'll play along. How does it feel to be married?" Hanna asked her. "It feels like I don't have to try so hard all the time, like things are settled." Melissa replied happily, making Josie smile a bit, despite who she married.

"Yeah, that's how my mom felt before my dad met Isabelle." Hanna replied, making Melissa laugh. "One thing I don't have to worry about is Ian looking at other women." She replied as Ian walked in behind her. "You ready, wife?" he asked. "I am, my handsome husband." She replied before she kissed him as Spencer waved bye to them and as soon as they were gone Emily walked through one of Spencer's back door, causing all of them to turn to her.

"What?" Emily asked them, confused once she saw them smiling at her. "There is something that I need to show you in my room." Spencer said and went to bring her up but Josie jumped up and stopped her. "Wait, no. I think she should find it herself." she said with a smile as Hanna stood up. "I agree, but first..." Hanna trailed off as she fixed Emily's hair and unbuttoned the top button of her jacket. "There. Now you can go." she said as they all watched Emily go upstairs. "Go" Hanna and Spencer said in sync as Emily looked back at them before continuing up the stairs.

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While Emily was with Maya, the girl looked through Ian's boxes that were sitting in the living room. "Hey," Aria said, gaining the other girl's attention. "Look at this," Aria said as she flipped it over to reveal a newspaper, one with Alison's photo on it with the title 'STILL MISSING'. "Everyone kept that," Spencer said as she looked away from it and to the box she was looking through. "What's this?" Hanna asked as she flipped through an old yearbook of Ian's. "You guys, look. Really?" Spencer said as she lifted a pair of binoculars out of a box. "For spying." Hanna said as Aria said. "It's so creepy." she said, It was silent for a few seconds til they heard Emily and Maya giggles, making the girls smile. "You know, I am officially jealous of Emily's love life." Hanna spoke up, making Josie laugh.

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"We've got comic books, more comic books and...more comic books." Aria said as she, Hanna, Josie and Spencer looked through a box, only to find it filled with Comic Books. "Evidence of geekdom, but not a crime." Hanna said with a sigh as Emily and Maya walked back down stairs. "Thank you guys so much." Maya said with tears in her eyes as She hugged the girls before leaving. "Thank you," she said as she hugged Spencer. "Of course," she said with a smile. "You'll be back soon." Hanna said, optimistic as always, but she was right, the camp she was going to wasn't forever. After she said one last goodbye to Emily, she was left and Emily sat down on the couch.

"I don't even know how to thank you guys. Tonight was the best gift anyone could have ever given me." she said. "Where are they sending her?" Spencer asked. "Uh, some place called True North." Emily replied. "Seriously?" Hanna asked. "Is it bad?" she said. "They sent Betsy Berger there for huffing spray-paint. She came back as a drummer in gospel band." Hanna said, making Emily sighed sadly.

"Maya's an amazing person, Em. She's gonna be fine." Josie said, trying to assure her. "Yeah," Emily mumbled quietly. "Did you guys find anything?" Emily asked. "We looked through every box and found a big, fat nothing." Spencer said, frustrated just before our phones started ringing.

BLOCKED ID
Don't say I never gave you anything.
Turn on your computer.
⎯ A

As soon as Aria finished reading out A's message, the girls got up and rushed over to Spencer's computer and turned it on to find that she had an email, she clicked on it and the video of Alison appeared. "If the girls knew I was seeing you, my God, they'd never shut up about it." Alison said in the video, making them gasp. "It's the video Agent Cooper showed us." Josie said in shock.

"I wish they were more mature but.." she trailed off. "We don't have a lot of time, I have to get back before they wake up." she paused. "I know you wanna kiss me." she remarked as the camera came closer to her and she stood up, walking towards whoever was holding the camera, turning it the other way, showing that it was Ian she was talking to, making the girls gasp. "Oh my god!" Spencer exclaimed.

"Come closer." Ian in the video instructed as she heard Alison's laugh faintly in the background as Ian's hand covered the Camera's lens, making it hit the ground as they heard heavy breathing on the video making them hold their breath when Alison's hand hits the ground making the girls gasp and when Alison's hand grabbed a handful of dirt, they gasped again. Josie covered her mouth in shock. Did Ian kill Ali? She thought when they heard a noise from outside, startling them as they turned and gasped.

The girls ran outside, chasing whoever they had heard outside, but it was no use, they had lost whoever it was. "Do you see anything?" Spencer asked as Josie shook her head 'no'. "That bitch is fast." Emily said in shock. "Let's go back." Josie suggested as her friends nodded in agreement as the five of them walked back to Spencer's house.

⎯ AUTHORS NOTE
double update! <3