Broken

chapter five

My phone rings on my nightstand, the screen lit up by Emily's caller ID. I don't reach it before it stops, but before I can redial the number she is already calling me back.

"This had better be good," I groan.

"We have a problem."

"I know."

"You do?"

"Yeah, you woke me up at six-thirty in the morning and I'm tired," I reply.

"Aria, I'm serious."

"So am I." I yawn.

"Nicole and Ezra were arguing yesterday," she says.

"So?"

"Well, Sabrina told me she could hear them from the café floor. They had to close early."

"Jesus. Was it that bad?" was all I could think of saying.

A pause stretches out between us.

"Why are you telling me this, Em?"

"What happened between the two of you yesterday?"

"How do you know about that?"

"All the staff know about that."

"Nothing happened. She just said I needed to stay away from Ezra. And then she said, and I quote, bitches in Rosewood get buried." I pinch the bridge of my nose, sensing an upcoming migraine.

"Meet me and Spencer at Lucky Leon's in an hour. There's something we need to tell you."

Before I could answer, she hangs up. I manage to say a weak "okay" into thin air.

*

I sit down at one of the tables with Emily and Spencer, who are already enjoying drinks; my mouth waters at the smell of the latte. After apologising for my tardiness, Emily pushes the coffee towards me from the middle of the table that I didn't realise was there.

"So what's this about?" I ask, wiping the coffee foam from my mouth with a napkin.

"Have you been getting anonymous texts? Not spam, just anonymous texts," Emily asks, quietly.

"How did you-"

"We used to get them a long time before you came to Rosewood high, and just figured it was someone messing with us. We didn't take them seriously. One day they just stopped. Until you arrived," Spencer explains.

"I thought it was Alison. It makes sense," I say.

"We thought so too. But..." Emily glances over to Spencer for approval on what she's about to say next. Spencer nods. "We think Nicole might have something to with it too. It's too much of a coincidence.

"Do Alison and Nicole even know each other?"

"You could say that," Emily replies.

"They're like sisters," Spencer adds.

"Why didn't you tell me about this?" I suddenly feel betrayed. There were countless opportunities for them to tell me this, especially Emily.

"We didn't think it was important. We're sorry." Emily says.

"Not important? Emily," I quieten my voice in case someone's listening in to our conversation, "they've both been giving me a hard time since I arrived here and neither of you could find any time to tell me they know each other?"