I stepped on something hard, it was metal and covered in dirt but it still looked new. I didn’t think I would ever have any use for it, the police still hadn’t found her body. I checked the last caller, expecting it to be Aria, or Spencer, maybe her mom and I was right… everyone she knew had called, looking for her but there were all missed calls she had ignored them. But the most recent was Toby, and she had taken his call. I stuffed it in my pocket and drove home. I wish there was more on it, but she was good about keeping secrets and she didn’t trust me because my big mouth couldn’t keep secrets and I wanted to know all of hers. After all, it was Alison’s phone.

About a year later I heard that Aria Montgomery was back from Iceland. Everyone knew that when she went to Europe, she would meet some amazing guy; even in here Rosewood all the guys thought she was beautiful. Aria didn’t like keeping secrets but she did like Alison, so she had went along with it. If I could get a few secrets out her it would lead me up to Alison’s. But how do I get her secrets? Easy, make her my best friend. I saw her heading out of her new house with her brother and I followed her, maybe I could find something we had in common, she would be looking for new friends anyway since Alison’s little cult broke up. She went by the school and then to a pub, I hid behind the window outside, it was practically empty, only one other guy. I recognized the back of him, I had met him earlier; he was a new teacher at the high school. Weird to see teachers outside of school, but he blended right in. They started talking, then they went farther back into the building I couldn’t see what happened, but I had a pretty good idea. If she was placed in one of his classes, she had a secret, one that crucial to keep. Maybe I was taking the wrong approach, if I couldn’t become Aria’s best friend; I would make myself her worst enemy.
My work here was done; I wandered around town, looking for the three others. I saw Spencer head into the mall, it would too hard to hide myself there, and Hannah was with Mona who couldn’t give a crap about Alison. I went back home, at least I had Aria, and I caught sight of Emily with the new girl, they check-kissed each other goodbye, and at first I thought nothing of it, but the look on Emily’s face was too much to ignore. She looked guilty like she had just betrayed someone and I knew the only person she could ever betray was Alison. I remember a few summers ago, Emily and Alison, were sitting on her sing on her porch and Alison’s mom pulled up in the car, they kissed each other on the check and said goodbye. That was the only friend she ever did that with. She felt like she had found another friend to replace Alison.
Two secrets, this was going well, maybe track all four of them. But Hannah would be the hardest, she was the new it girl, she had no secrets…or at least that what people thought. I drove by Spencer’s house and she was just getting home. She got out of the car with a small plastic bag, filled with clothes and went around the back to see her small “apartment” that she had made. I heard she’d been working on it all summer and I followed her, edging into the bushes. She met Melissa and another man, probably Melissa’s boyfriend, and they seemed to be having a lively conversation. Spencer and Melissa never seemed to see eye to eye.

The first day of school at Rosewood High. Aria will get a nice surprise when she finds out her boyfriends is the new teacher. Even more surprised when she sees that someone knows her secret.

To: Aria

Maybe he fools around with his students all of the time. A lot of teachers do. Just ask your dad.

From:

...but what should I call myself? Of course I could never reveal my true identity; Alison taught me that - never say who’s telling the secret. Of course, I could just call myself Alison, but knowing these girls they would just get in some riot that maybe Ali was still alive, or A. D. But that would be obvious too. Or… maybe just A.

To: Aria

Maybe he fools around with his students all of the time. A lot of teachers do. Just ask your dad. – A


Perfect. But I of course Aria isn’t the one to share with, we all know that. Time it reveal another secret and since I only have one other, it’ll have to be Emily. Most people are thinking, so what if you cheek-kissed another girl? But I was watching Emily and Alison in the Library and to this say I cringe when I see the book Great Expectations. I drive up to the school. Good. No one’s here and I carefully sneak by office and sneak a peak at Emily in swim practice. She was always good at swimming, and for some reason I always respected that. Which is why I feel guilty for letting her find this right after, but Alison taught me not just one thing but many. One thing I will never forget: “don’t be guilty; a secret is still a secret if no one knows who knows”. So I dash into the locker room and slip the note into Em’s locker. With is signed “-A” she won’t know who knows her secret.

“Hey Em, I’ve been replaced. You’ve found another friend to kiss.”