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oh-the--places--you-will-go · 1 year

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crAcked: Chapter 1

Characters: Aria Montgomery, Spencer Hastings, Hanna Marin, Emily Fields, Alison DiLaurentis, Mike Montgomery, Byron Montgomery, Ella Montgomery, Darren Wilden, Melissa Hastings, Ian Thomas, Ezra Fitz

TW: Suicide mention, grooming, fatphobia, ED, bullying, murder

Word Count: 2,057

Author's Note: This is a PLL fanfic that I mainly started writing for myself. I'm a die hard PLL fan but, like a lot of other people, I was thoroughly disappointed with a lot of their choices so I decided to try my hand at writing what I wanted to happen in the story. I've never written fanfic, as most of my writing experience has been via Tumblr rp's but I thought I'd give this a try!

September 1st, 2009. That was a night that Aria Montgomery would never forget, not for as long as she lived. That was the night that everything had changed.

It’d be silly to ever think that she could erase those memories from her brain, so she didn’t even try. Instead, she had decided to accept it–after all, what else was there to do? Things had happened–things that were never supposed to happen. Yet, the events of that September night had changed everything. As Lady Macbeth famously said, “What is done cannot be undone.”

By sunrise, the whole town of Rosewood knew that blonde bombshell queen bee Alison DiLaurentis was missing and nothing would ever be the same again.

Even now, after a year had passed, Aria was still unsure about how she felt about the entire situation. As she unpacked her boxes and placed her books back in their rightful place, she thought about everything that had happened and the impact her choices had had upon everyone.

One thing was for certain–she was grateful to be back in her own bedroom. The warm, dark wood of her bedroom floor and bed frame were certainly much cozier than the cold, white walls she had grown accustomed to this past year. It felt good to be back at home again.

Of course, to the outside world, she’d been away on a special study abroad program in Iceland this past year, an incredible opportunity that had happened to arise in Aria’s time of need. Her little brother, Mike, had even agreed to try to keep her Facebook page updated with beautiful pictures of the stunning fjords of Reykjavik. However, the truth of Aria’s whereabouts were much more…complicated, per se, than a study abroad trip to Iceland.

She’d spent this past year locked away hiding away in Radley Medical Center, trying to repair her fragmented mental state. After September 1st, it hadn’t taken very long at all for her parents, Byron and Ella, to figure out that her best friend’s friend’s disappearance had taken a serious toll on her mental health. As soon as the “MISSING PERSON” fliers went up, Aria just about lost it. After attempting to take her own life near the end of September 2009, her parents felt as if they had no other choice but to try and get her the help that she needed.

However, in the town of Rosewood, being “mentally ill” was not acceptable, or even relatable–sure, everyone had their own struggles but you kept that quiet and to yourself. It was the “polite” thing to do. Besides, after Aria had woken up in a hospital room, realizing her attempt had been unsuccessful, she couldn’t face her friends–hell, it was nearly impossible to face her own family, especially her little brother. Therefore, it was decided: Aria would go to Radley Medical Center in order to heal, and no one would ever know. To the outside world, she’d be experiencing an incredible opportunity overseas in Iceland and none would be the wiser.

It was quite the ruse and honestly, her parents had been a little unsure about the entire thing. Sure, people who were open about their family problems were judged harshly in Rosewood but who even cared about petty scrutiny and gossip if their daughter wasn’t okay? But it was Aria that had begged her parents to keep the truth a secret, only letting the principal of Rosewood High School know what was actually going on so she could continue her studies.

Now, after nearly twelve straight months of intensive therapy and “rest,” Aria was ready to return to the real world of Rosewood and continue on with her life. Still, the night of September 1st, 2009 still haunted her–more than anyone would ever know.

In just a few weeks–and still, years from now–the town of Rosewood would be full of gossip: gossip about a particularly handsome new teacher and his apparent penchant for underage girls. Yes, by now, it’s no secret that Ezra Fitz had been taken with Aria Montgomery when they first met at the Hollis Pub the day before school started. However, what a lot of people don’t mention is how Ezra was able to manipulate his way into Aria’s life and strike when she was most vulnerable.

You’ll come to find very soon that everyone in the town of Rosewood has flaws and secrets–absolutely everyone. But some things are more forgivable than others. And what was unconditionally unforgivable was a grown man preying on the innocent young girls of Rosewood High. Ezra had zeroed in on Aria and was just waiting for the perfect opportunity to pounce.

After all, Ezra was already well aware of Aria’s own secret–well, at least one of them. You see, during his junior and senior year at Hollis, he had heard rumors about Professor Montgomery and one of his grad students. Now, Ezra didn’t usually listen to gossip–he believed himself to be above all of that. However, it had become rather difficult to simply ignore the rumors about a professor taking advantage of one of his students. Though he’d never actually had a class with Professor Montgomery, he knew of him and figured that the rumors were probably true.

Once he put two and two together–that Aria was the daughter of Bryon Montgomery–he knew that he had an in. He was aware that it was rather ironic. But this was different, he told himself. Ezra knew she was in a susceptible position–she needed guidance, someone to talk to, a shoulder to cry on. That’s what Ezra told himself and that’s what he set out to do. Truthfully, as cunning as she was, Aria never stood a chance against someone so sinister.

However, that didn’t mean that Aria didn’t have her own ammunition. Sure, her family was holding on by a thread–but the other girls had their own secrets, too. They always had. Luckily, Aria had always been incredibly observant. Though she could certainly have her moments of outspokenness, she also knew how to sit back and listen. One could learn a lot of information when they were simply listening.

Take Hanna Marin, for example. Poor little Hefty Hanna–Aria had always detested that nickname that Alison had placed upon Hanna’s head. It was cruel and unnecessary. But Alison was the queen bee and whatever she said simply…was. However, anyone with eyes could see the toll that it took on Hanna. Aria remembered that one time, during a sleepover, the girls had been enjoying chick flicks and ice cream. They had been watching Mean Girls, one of Alison’s favorites. Aria always assumed it was because she viewed herself as Regina George.

Just before the Burn Book fight scene started–arguably one of the best scenes in the film–Hanna had gotten up to go to the bathroom. Aria thought it a bit odd but continued watching and laughing along with the other girls. But the minutes continued to pass and Hanna still wasn’t back. Curious, Aria mentioned checking on Hanna and got up off the couch and headed to the bathroom, her feet padding on the hardwood floor. When she got to the bathroom door, the unmistakable sounds of retching came from the other side of the door. Aria gave a small knock on the door. “Hanna?... Are you okay?” Hanna cleared her throat and quickly said “Yeah, I’m fine. I’ll be right out.”

Sure, Aria probably should’ve said something about it–but what could she say? Hanna was clearly embarrassed, you could hear it in her voice. Wouldn’t it just make it worse to question her about it? Aria tried to tell herself that maybe Hanna’s stomach had just been acting up but deep down, she knew the truth. She knew how Alison made Hanna feel like shit about her body–honestly, it wasn’t very surprising that Hanna would attempt to find comfort in bingeing and purging. It made Aria’s heart sink but what else could she do?

As far as Spencer and Emily went, their secrets weren’t too difficult to figure out, either. Really, all you had to do was have eyes. The way Spencer so desperately wanted to be like her older sister, Melissa, was obvious to everyone. On top of that, the brains of their group suddenly seemed to become a brainless lovestruck girl whenever her sister’s skeezy boyfriend, Ian, walked into the room. He was not only her field hockey coach but, as everyone figured, most likely her future brother-in-law as well. However, no one could deny the brunette’s heart eyes whenever Ian cracked a subpar joke.

Emily was somehow even more obvious. Between the odd comments from Alison and the way you could practically feel Emily’s giddiness radiating from her every time the blonde bombshell simply spoke, it was clear to anyone with a brain that Emily was in love with Alison. Not to mention the time that Aria had accidentally overheard one of their conversations during another infamous sleepover. She’d forgotten her phone in Emily’s room and when she was approaching the doorway, she overheard the distinct sing-song sweetness of Alison’s voice. It was the voice she used whenever she really, really wanted something

“Look, Em, I’m sorry that I was so mean to you the other day in the locker room. I didn’t mean to snap at you, I just… I just don’t feel…that way. But that doesn’t mean that we can’t still kiss–but only if you want to, of course.”

Alison’s voice was sugary sweet and full of softness–god, she was such a manipulative bitch. Don’t fall for it, Em, Aria thought to herself. But then, seconds later, Aria could hear the undeniable sounds of lips locking, so she slipped back downstairs and never told another soul.

Truth be told, Aria was mildly horrified at the state of her friend group when she returned to Rosewood High. The girls hadn’t even tried to remain close to one another? The brunette realized that it was going to be a lot more difficult to get her friends back together than she initially thought.

What horrified her even more, though, was the face that she saw at the front of the classroom during first period on the very first day of junior year. It was none other than Ezra, the man boy from the bar. He looked just as equally horrified to see her face and she was certain that he’d never speak to her again. And honestly, if he were even half a decent man, he would have quit his job right then and there–but of course, “decent” was the last word anyone would use to describe Ezra Fitz.

The situation with her English teacher might’ve fully taken over Aria’s brain that night if it hadn’t been for the sirens that began to ring out around 9PM, just as Aria was about to get ready for bed. The sirens were down the street but something made Aria’s blood run cold and she followed that feeling out onto the sidewalk. Sure enough, the sirens were just a few streets over, down by the DiLaurentis house. Oh, fuck.

Alison DiLaurentis’ body was found buried under the gazebo her parents had put up the previous summer. The backyard had been under construction at the time, making it the perfect place to dispose of a body.

The day of Alison’s funeral was what finally brought all the girls back together. They sat with each other in the same pew, as if no time had ever passed. While waiting for the service to begin, the four girls realized that they’d all been getting messages from a mysterious person who signed their messages with nothing but an “A.” Was it “A” for Anonymous? It couldn’t have been “A” for Alison. After all…her body was lying in a closed casket just feet away from them.’

However, it wasn’t until the very end of the service that the girls realized how serious all of this was. Detective Wilden, a hot shot police officer, approached the girls and vowed to find out what happened the night that Alison disappeared, which sent a chill down Aria’s spine. Just as he walked away, all of the girls’ cell phones eerily rang at the same time and the threatening message stared back at them through the screen:

“I’m still here, bitches, and I know everything - A”

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