Isabel Rivers never really had a safe place to land. That was before she met queen bee Alison DiLaurentis. She was Ali's favorite. They also had four other friends. It was the perfect group.
Right until Ali went missing one summer.
And turned up...
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"You're supposed to stop her from doing stupid things like this, not help." -Emily Fields
Isabel arrived at Spencer's. She was sitting on her bed, in a bath robe with a towel wrapped around her neck. 'A' had locked her in her steam shower when they saw her kiss Wren.
"Oh, my God. Are you alright?" Emily asked as she and Isabel rushed in. They took turns hugging her, but Spencer held on longer for Isabel.
Spencer nodded warily. "Yeah."
"Thank god Aria got here when she did," Emily went on as Aria sat down on one side of her, and Isabel sat down on the other. "Where's Hanna?"
"I don't know," Aria shrugged. "She won't answer any of my texts or calls." Both of them looked at Spencer expectantly.
"So, who is it? Who's helping Mona?" Emily asked, eyes wide and begging for an answer.
"We should wait for Hanna," Isabel mumbled, looking at her feet, and Spencer nodded.
"No, this is too important to wait," Aria scoffed, getting up.
Spencer looked down before answering. "Okay, but you guys need to know that I've been warned not to tell you."
"What else is new?" Isabel asked sarcastically, and Aria looked like she was about to cry with relief, since Isabel was being sarcastic again. Maybe she'd go back to her normal self? No.
"Wait a minute," Emily frowned. "You knew who it was before tonight?"
"Yeah. I've known for a few weeks," Spencer gulped.
"Why didn't you tell us any sooner?" Aria asked incredulously.
"I-I wanted to be sure," Spencer stammered, shaking her head. "I didn't want to believe that it could be true, but after tonight happened, I can't keep this to myself anymore."
Isabel took one at her and knew who it was before she answered.
"Toby is 'A.'"
-
Emily and Aria sat there in shock, but it was like a swing in the dark for Isabel. First Jason, now Toby. Who's next? Caleb? Her father?
"So, what are we saying?" Aria asked from her spot at the open window. "That what Ali wrote in Emily's notebook was true?" She walked back over to Spencer, who was fiddling with her hands. "That Toby's secretly hated us ever since Ali threw that firecracker in his garage?"
"Yeah, I guess so," Spencer muttered, still not meeting anyone's eyes.
"And the whole time that you two... were together, he was just pretending," Aria went on incredulously. It did seem a bit... off.
Tears ran down Spencer's face as Emily frowned, "Okay, we all know how much Toby loves you."
"This can't be true. There has to be more to the story," Isabel muttered, speaking up for the first time in a while. They all stared at her.
