chapter thirty one
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Josie, Hanna and Emily were waiting outside the morgue while Spencer searched for the missing page. "Ugh! smells like death out here." Hanna whined, before turning to her friends. "Go in there and tell Spencer to hurry up." she said as she looked down the hallway to make sure no one was coming their way. "I don't want to see dead bodies." Emily said with a frown, making Josie sigh as she shook her head. "Oh, come on, Em, you love zombie movies." Hanna said, wanting to get out of the hospital. "I don't want to be in one." Emily complained before Hanna turned to Josie. "Jo?" she asked.

"No way. I've already been there once and that was enough." she said before the three of them heard the elevator ding, signalling someone was there. "They're coming over here. What do we do?" Hanna asked her friends. "Pretend like you're supposed to be here," Josie said as she stood in between Hanna and Emily. "So I was telling the patient in two-one-two 'I am not shaving that!'" Hanna said with a faux disgusted smile as Emily looked over with a raised brow as Josie stifled a laugh as the nurses walked away. Hanna made sure they were gone before poking her head inside on the morgue. "Spencer! Time to go! Now!" she said. Spencer walked out of the morgue, making her friends face her.

"Did you find the missing page?" Josie asked with crossed arms. "No." Spencer replied as she shook her head. "I looked in the cabinet where we found Ali's folder." she said. "I even tried the coroner's computer, but it's password-protected." she added, causing the girls to sigh. "How can one page just disappear?" Hanna asked in shock. "My guess is someone got in here before us." Emily said as she looked at Spencer. "Somebody like jason?" she questioned.

"Do you think there was something in there that might have nailed him, something the cops overlooked?" she rambled as she looked from Emily to Hanna and then to Josie. "The only evidence we have against him is that he's a creep." Hanna said, making Josie sigh as she looked down the hallways, making sure no one was coming their way. "That's not true. We know that it was a hockey stick that probably knocked Ali out, and Jason had my stick." Spencer cut in as the elevator dinged, signalling someone was there, they looked over to see Jenna with a nurse.

"The first thing I'm gonna do when they take the bandages off is go to Cape may. I can't wait to see the ocean again." Jenna said as she and the nurse walked down the hallway, causing the girls to move out of the way. "You must be so excited, the tests will only take a few minutes." the nurse said, as they walked further away, making Josie turn to her friends. "We are way in over our heads." she whispered as she frowned.

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The next morning Josie was with her Mum eating breakfast before school. "How's Emily?" Jennifer asked her daughter as she put milk into her coffee while Josie ate at the kitchen island. "She's good, better," Josie answered with a nod. "That's good," Jennifer mumbled. "Richie and I are dating," Josie blurted out, causing her mother to look up at her in shock before she smiled so wide. "About time." she laughed, making Josie confused.

Jennifer sighed before she faced her daughter again. "Hun, that boy has been in-love with you for years, I don't know how you didn't notice, I'm sure your friends did." she said, making Josie blush as she smiled. "But if he hurts you I'll hunt him down." Jennifer added bluntly, making Josie laugh before standing up and rounding the kitchen island to hug her mother. "I love you mum." Josie mumbled into her mothers shoulder as her mother rubbed her daughters back. "I love you too sweetheart."

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"She really said that?" Richie asked as he and Josie walked into the cafeteria to join the girls for lunch. "Yeah, and you know how scary she can be," Josie said as she and Richie sat down in between Spencer and Aria. "Who's scary?" Aria asked as she turned to look at the couple. "Jo's Mom. She told me she'd hunt me down if I hurt her," Richie said, making the girls laugh as they waited for Hanna to join them. "She is scary sometimes." Aria agreed. "Oh did you find out what Jenna was doing at the hospital?" Josie asked as she looked at Spencer. "She's getting tested to see if she qualifies for a prosthetic cornea transplant." Spencer answered. "English, please." Aria requested as Hanna sat down at their table. "They're gonna see if they can replace the damaged part of her eyes." Spencer explained

"What are we talking about?" Hanna asked, confused. "Jenna." Richie said, looking towards the girls, making everyone else as well. "They're taking out her eyeballs?" Hanna asked, looking at Jenna. "No, it's not the whole eyeball. It's just the flap over the pupil." Spencer explained making Josie grimace pushing her food away, suddenly not very hungry. "Thanks for that Spence." she mumbled. "Could we not talk about eye flaps while we're eating, please?" Emily asked as she stopped eating as well. "They really think that this can work?" Aria asked after taking a sip of water. "I don't know. Toby says she still needs to take more tests to see if she qualifies, but... it's possible." Spencer said, causing Josie to sigh. "So, if Jenna gets her sight back, does that mean that we're off the hook for... " Hanna trailed off as she looked at her friends. "No. I mean, guilt-wise, maybe, but if you break somebody's leg with a baseball bat, even if that leg heals, you could still be charged with assault." Spencer said

"She wouldn't come after us if she still thinks we have Ali's tape." Emily said, looking towards Spencer. "But we don't. And that'll be much easier for her to figure out if she can see." Spencer replied. "Guys, maybe if she can see again, we can stop all this whispering." Aria said, making everyone look over at her while Josie grabbed Richie's hand for comfort. "She'll lose her taste for revenge." Aria finished. "Yeah, or things could get worse." Spencer said as she leaned back in her seat. "Things are already bad, how could they get any worse, Spence?" Josie asked as she looked at her. "Well, for one, she will be able to aim a gun." Spencer pointed out making Josie more freaked out, causing Richie to kiss the top of her head, hoping to bring his girlfriend a sense of comfort. "Look, Spencer's right. Jenna's scary enough with four senses, can you imagine what she's gonna do to us with all five?" Hanna asked, making Richie sigh. "Jesus." he muttered as the friends sat in silence.

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"You think 'A' was outside?" Josie asked as she finished getting her dinner ready, her phone on speaker sitting on the kitchen island. "Somebody is watching us." Emily said from the other side of the phone. "I don't know how, but they are." she added. "Josie, what am I supposed to do? We can't play cards forever." Emily said, making Josie sigh "Emily..." she trailed off. "If those lab results get out, I will be permanently screwed. I will never get to swim on a team again." Emily said with sadness, making Josie's heart break her friend, knowing swimming was the most important thing to Emily.

"you're playing poker. Bluff." Josie suggested as she moved to the living room, making sure to take her phone with her as she sat down. "That's easy for you to say. it's not your relationship 'A' is kicking around." Emily said, making Josie sigh. "I know, I'm sorry this whole thing sucks." Josie sighed. "hey... how's your stomach?" Josie asked after a moment. "It's the least of my problems." Emily replied. "if you end up back in the hospital, then 'A' really wins." Josie says as she presses play on a movie. "Come on, em, it's your turn!" She can hear Samara say over the phone. "i-i gotta go." Emily stuttered, causing Josie to sigh. "Call me... later, tomorrow. okay?" Josie asked. "Yeah, I will. thanks." Emily agreed before they both said goodbyes and hung up.

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The next day Richie and Josie had decided to chill at his house instead of hers. "I feel so bad for Emily, she doesn't deserve this," Josie said as she leaned into Richie as they laid on his couch, watching a movie. "None of you girls deserve the torment you're going through." he said before kissing her on the forehead making her blush. "I know it's just..." she trailed off, not knowing what to say. "How about you think about something else." Richie suggested, making her look at him.

"What do you-" she was cut off when Richie kissed her, making her relax into her boyfriend as she kissed back, wrapping her arms around his neck and it wasn't long before they pulled away, needing to breathe. "Oh, yeah we could do that," she spoke quickly, making him laugh before she pulled him back into a kiss and he kissed her back instantly.

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Later that night, Josie had returned home after a while, and she couldn't wipe the smile off her face but when her phone rang, she pulled it out to see a text from Hanna.

Hanna Marin

Can you please come over?

Josie instantly grabbed her car keys again and made her way to Hanna's and when she got there the door was already open, she assumed Hanna had have left it open for her. She was confused until she walked in and spotted Hanna on her stairs, red cheeks, obvious that she had been crying. "Oh Hanna, what happened?" Josie asked as she sat next to her friend and pulled her into a hug as she let Hanna cry on her shoulder. "He left. Caleb went to montecito to see his mother." She cried, making Josie sigh as she pulled Hanna into a tighter hug and it wasn't long before the girls moved to the kitchen as Josie made something for Hanna, in case she was hungry. Josie watched as Hanna picked up her house phone. 

"Dad, it's me." Hanna paused as Josie rounded the kitchen island to sit on a stool. "Um...I'm calling to see where I should go for the fitting." she said before hanging up and turning to Josie who opened her arms for the blonde. Josie didn't know how long she held Hanna for before she went to bed and Josie went back home, not surprised that her mother was already asleep.

⎯ AUTHORS NOTE
new chapter !! so sorry i've been so un-active, i've been planning future books but i promise i'll post more <3