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SITUATED IN THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA, Rosewood was a picturesque small town that at first impression was peaceful for people who wanted to settle down and start a family. For people who did not mind that everyone knew everyone. For people from whom you can read as if from an open, but by that I mean the most boring book you've ever reached.
Rosewood was for people who had nothing to hide. People lived one on top of the other, meddling in business that did not pertain to them. People who gossiped when someone stood out in appearance or a particular trait of personality.
The same people who say be yourself! and then judge you for it. It was just code for: be yourself, but make sure you blend in with our standards.
Rosewood was hell on earth beneath the exterior of a picturesque backdrop for people who wanted to keep their lives private.
"Girls, are you okay?" asked Ella.
Kennedy was not even in the same vicinity of being okay, and Aria's facial expression left much to be desired. If the decision had been up to Kennedy, she would never have thought of moving back to Rosewood.
"It's weird to be home." said Aria with a shrug, sitting on one of the many packed boxes with her stuff inside.
Could this place still be called their home?
Kennedy knew every corner like the back of her hand, but the place she had come to move into seemed like a foreign place.
"We were gone a year." Their mother reminded them that the sense of alienation they felt was understandable, but would pass in time. "When you're young, that's a long time."
"I still think about her every day." confessed Aria, in spite of such a long time that should have healed, all it took was a move back to Rosewood for everything to return.
"Why don't you call your friends?" Ella encouraged. "They don't know we're back from dad's sabbatical."
"I have already reached out to Madison." said Kennedy, but she also knew that this was not the answer her mom was waiting for.
Madison Everett was the only individual from Rosewood with whom Kennedy kept in touch during her one-year stay in Iceland. Their friendship grew more solidified over distance than when Kennedy lived in Rosewood and Alison DiLaurentis was around.
Alison DiLaurentis did not have a good reputation. Her beautiful face did not make up for the sordid heart she had.
The Rosewood blonde beauty seemed undeterred by that. People admired her from close up and wished her the worst from afar ⎯ and maybe this is what happened to her in summer of 2009 when she disappeared into thin air.
