𝐂𝐋𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐘||𝐌𝐈𝐊𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐆𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐘

𝟒. 𝐇𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭

   IN HIND SIGHT, PERHAPS IT HAD BEEN foolish for them to think that they could completely block A from their lives, they had made it more than obvious that they wouldn't be backing down very soon. Brooke had been hounded each day with a new picture of her and Mike, not only was it a constant reminder that A had something they could hold over her head, but it also worried her that whoever they are, they had been around long before Alison disappeared. They had more experience than the girls would ever know.

    It had been sunny the day that they all sat on the bench in the park where the town had finally allowed them to dedicate a bench to their deceased friend. They had felt lighter after using Spencer's laptop to block all texts that weren't their contacts, they had laughed about seeing their new english teacher riding past on a bike in some shorts that Hanna found particularly appealing. And said blonde had revealed what really happened after Noel Kahn's cabin party—aka her wrecking his car in a drunken anger and as a result having to work at his moms office to pay back the debt. But that only reminded Brooke of what she had been doing while her best friend had been having a melt down.

    But, the bracelet they had found in the woods had been weighing on their mind more than anything else, just as much as it had been weighing down Hanna's bag. She had tried to force the other girls into taking it, but none of them wanted to have to look at something that Alison might have lost on her last day alive, wondering whether she had lost it in an effort to escape her killer. That made them feel sick and nobody wanted that responsibility.

     And while the outing hadn't been Brooke's most ideal excursion, it did allow her to escape her home for a few hours. It had been a strange few days at the Bentley home, strangely quiet. Neither of her parents was really speaking to each other or Brooke and Mason, the siblings seemed to be the only two not in a row with one another. The Bentley girl hated silence, because there was always silence before a storm and she wasn't sure she was prepared for the storm this time. Nothing good came after silence.

As a result of the silence, Mason and herself found any excuse to leave the house and avoid there parents, skipping breakfast and dinners and eating out to escape the animosity. But that morning they hadn't been so lucky. Before they had the chance to walk past the kitchen unnoticed, their mother spoke, halting their steps. "We're having dinner tonight. So neither of you make any plans it's important." She told them while their dad sat beside her in silence, twiddling his thumbs.

They were the first words they had heard from their parents in days. The siblings exchanged weary glances as they walked out the door, mumbling replies as they went. There went their plan of going to the grill instead.

"Weird." Brooke hummed as they both climbed into the car, dumping their bags in the back, an uneasy feelings in their chests for the rest of the car drive, wondering what could be so important.

✧

      BROOKE'S FIRST LESSON THAT DAY WAS history of all subjects. As if the looming conversation with their parents wasn't enough to drive her crazy, then an hour with Mr Stein certainly would. He loved picking on the teenage girl, she didn't know if he found it amusing just how clueless she was, or if he just enjoyed seeing the frustration on her lips. He was a bit creepy.

      But, one thing that was sending her stomach into a frenzy was the boy who sat behind her. She had managed to avoid him for their first few lessons—given she didn't really know where they stood—but after the party she didn't know where to look, how to feel, what to say.