perfect little lies | jason dilaurentis

010. Keep Your Friends Close

Hanna stared into her locker mirror, moving her head from side to side. The rest of the girls stood around her, watching her do this. She suddenly huffed and shut her locker.

"Okay, I need to ask you guys something, and I need you to be totally honest with me." Hanna began. Each of the girls said they would be. "Is this side of my face fatter than this side of my face."

Rachel looked at her face, as the other girls did. Rachel couldn't tell if it did, so she immediately said no. The others did afterward. Hanna didn't believe them and sighed, pressing her hands to her face.

Aria looked away from Hanna's facial problem and noticed someone immediately. "Is that Ian?"

This made Rachel look right away. Her head snapped towards where Aria was looking and she was right, there stood Ian. That uneasy feeling returned to her.

"Yeah. I heard he's the new field hockey coach." Emily explained. Great, now Rachel had to see him every day. How could her school get so much worse?

"Does Melissa know he's back?" Emily asked Spencer.

"I don't know why she ever broke up with him." Hanna commented.

"She didn't." Spencer replied, "He broke up with her."

Rachel didn't say a word about him. She felt too uncomfortable. Before anyone got to say more about Ian, Mona approached the group carrying envelopes.

"Hey! The first two are for my besties, and one for each of you." She handed Rachel and Hanna the black and white invitations with gold ribbons. Then, she gave the remaining girls them. "My besties' other besties."

"Oh, uh..." Aria looked at the invitation, "What's this?"

"Oh, nothing. Only an invitation to the most awesome birthday party ever— "Camp Mona"." Mona explained excitedly. The girls looked around at each other, all looking apprehensive except Hanna and Rachel.

"Camp Mona?" Aria repeated.

"Mhm! Don't let the camping part scare you, it's 'glamping' not camping." Mona explained, "'M' is for Mona and massages, not mosquitoes."

Then, Mona saw two of her friends and ran off to talk to them. Rachel gently put the invitation into her bag. She always went to Mona's birthday parties, even if it was just to drop off her gift and have a slice of cake.

"Why is Mona inviting us to her birthday party?" Spencer asked the two girls, chuckling lightly.

"She knows that we're friends again, and she's just trying to reach out to you." Hanna explained, "So, are you guys gonna go?"

"I know she's yours and Rachel's friend, but..." Spencer didn't finish her sentence.

"I'm gonna have to pass. I've got this... I've got a lot of stuff going on this weekend." Aria tried her best to come up with an excuse. Each of the girls came up with their reason until it seemed like only Rachel and Hanna were going. But that was when each of their phones rang.

The girls pulled them out and read the message that was sent to them; "Camp Mona's a scavenger hunt, and I'm the prize. Come and find me, bitches." -A

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After an incredibly long day of shopping and eating at overpriced restaurants, both Rachel's wallet and legs were exhausted. She was hanging up the jacket she bought while she was out and laughed as Leo got his food all over his face.

She got a towel and lightly wiped the milk from his face and smiled as he smiled back at her. "I don't know how you manage to get in such a mess, Leo."

Rachel didn't bother to go to school after shopping with Mona. She wanted as much time with Leo as possible and spending that precious time in music class didn't sound all too appealing. She was never great at the flute.