(no subject)
When Aria came home, she was in a daze. Emily had gone with Hannah and between spencer going to jail and Mona dying such a gruesome death, it was too much to process. On top of everything, she would have sworn that she spotted Ali. She was smug and Aria wanted to slap her. No matter what Mona had done, it wasn’t funny and she didn’t deserve to die such a disgusting death, all because she had helped them. It was painful to watch Mrs. Vanderwaal’s expression and Aria knew that soon, she’d be seeing the same reaction. Ezra had told her that it was better to come from her, but she wasn’t sure she could do it. Unlike the others, Aria had a moment with Mona before all of this. Mona really did having feelings for Mike and she was just as scared as the others.
“Are you okay?” Mike’s voice broke her thoughts and she was already sad. Her mother had her heart broken and now her brother would have his; their family had gone through enough. “I heard something on the news. What’s going on?” he asked.
“We need to talk. I have to tell you something,” Aria said as she stared at the wall. “Okay, sure. Hey, have you seen Mona? I called but she didn’t pick up,” Mike said, a worried look on her face. Aria closed her eyes; he was just a kid. “Is she okay? Aria, what happened?” Mike asked insistently.
“Mike, something’s happened. I wanted to tell you before you found out on the news,” Aria said hoarsely. “What? It’s always something with you all,” Mike grumbled. “Look, we were on our way to her house. We needed her help with something and we were all going to meet up,” Aria explained.
“Was she crying? You could have called me,” Mike said. “Mike…Mona’s dead,” Aria said sadly. “Wait, what? Why would you say that?” he asked. “That was the story on the news. We went to go see her and Hannah was the one who found out. There’s no body, but Mike…no one could have survived,” Aria said as her voice cracked. She didn’t blame Hannah and it was in the living room and wall, too.
“You’re lying! What happened? Tell me the truth,” Mike said as he raised his voice. “Mike, you know Mona had enemies. She was really, really afraid lately and I didn’t think it would come to this. God, none of us thought this could happen. Mike, she was murdered. I can’t imagine how scared she must have been, but someone broke into the house. When we got there, the door was open,” Aria said as she touched his shoulder. She flinched when he yanked it away; she hated having to hurt him. Hearing it on the news was a lot worse and he’d see the blood.
“Why? Why did she tell you? You hate her,” Mike said. “Oh, god…” she couldn’t really deny it and they had just started to trust her. Mona wasn’t exactly trustworthy, even if she had helped Mrs. Marin. She had done terrible things and even if she’d never forget the apology, Mona really had taken her anger out on them.
“Why were you always so mean? People change, Aria. She lied about detective Wilden to protect Hannah’s mom, didn’t she? You kept getting mad when you saw her at the house and it’s none of your business. Who cares if she’s two years older? What about you and Mr. Fitz?” Mike demanded.
Aria was taken aback; she hadn’t thought about it. She couldn’t tell him the truth about Ezra or he’d be twice as angry and tell their parents. “You are such a fucking hypocrite. She was sorry, damnit. She had issues and she was afraid to let me in. I loved her and she wasn’t that bad,” Mike said bitterly.
“Mike…” Aria couldn’t take it and covered her mouth; it was horrible. She didn’t think things were that serious, she only knew that she caught Mona crying and Mona did want to hear that Mike had feelings for her. “God, go away. She’s gone now and you can’t make fun of her again. Shouldn’t you be with Allison? You can all laugh about how crazy she was,” he said before he broke down.
Aria didn’t say anything, she simply pulled him into her arms. Tears flowed from her cheeks and the harder he cried, the more she did. She had never laughed because it wasn’t funny. They didn’t make fun of Mona, they were afraid of her. If he thought that, the rest of the school probably would as well. They only stopped talking to Allison recently and they had never ben friends with Mona.
“This isn’t fair. Why does it have to be her? Why couldn’t Allison stay dead? She’s mean to everyone, she called most of the kids at school losers and everyone wants her gone. Mona wasn’t the only one who was afraid of her and all she does is make people feel like crap,” Mike said as he pulled away.
“I know, which is why we’re not friends with her. Mike, we never made fun of her. She scared us because she was A and she did still come after us. She was with us for a bit, but even if she helped Hannah’s mom, she made it really hard to trust her. I know it was Ali anger now because she did say sorry. We would have let her in, but when we went over, we knew something was wrong. Mike, why would this be okay? Don’t watch the news,” Aria said sternly. It had nothing to do with how they felt about Mona and A had threatened her before. It was disgusting, they were never okay with all the bodies and Maya was the last person their age that died.
“Why? Tell me, Aria. I’m not a baby,” Mike said as he glared at her. “Mike, it was awful. We saw blood on the wall and by the door and we went upstairs to see what happened. Hannah was the one who got to her room first and she screamed,” Aria said. Just talking about it was making her sick and Mona’s words haunted her. As soon as she’s done with me, you’ll be next.
“Oh, god…who would do this?” Mike’s face drained of all color and Aria sighed; she couldn’t tell him. Ali’s face seemed smug, but Aria could have been mistaken. It could have been anyone on the team and they all turned on Mona. The odds of them catching whoever did it were slim and it was up to them to figure it out; they could be next. Either way, if Ali was A, then they really were screwed.
“I hope they rot in hell. What about Mrs. Vanderwaal?” Mike asked. “Mike, she was there when detective Holbrook said it was a homicide. She’s really upset and I think she’d like it if you went to visit her,” Aria suggested. “I will, but I just don’t get it. The cops aren’t going to do anything. They never do,” Mike muttered.
“I know, but Mike, we can make this right,” Aria said. The message had been sent with neon lights and someone had to find poor Mona’s body. “What do you care? You know why she was in that group with me? She was lonely. No one wanted to be her friend after she came back and even when she tried to change, no one believed her. Why didn’t she get any slack, but Ali does, even if she hasn’t changed?” Mike said angrily.
“Mike, of course I care!” She was shocked and she wasn’t a monster. “Since when? She went to the bathroom after you said something to her,” Mike pointed out. “I know and I said sorry. We talked and I think she loved you, too.” There was no way to be sure, but it would make Mike feel better. “Look, Mona and I talked and I was just trying to protect you. I didn’t think she really liked you and that she was being like this because she was so scared. I saw her be a person and she didn’t deserve to die like that. If she was alive, I’d forgive her, I promise.” It was too late for what-ifs and all that mattered was finding out who killed Mona, what happened to her body and trying to make sure that they weren’t next.
“She was? That’s so unfair and it should have been Ali,” Mike said, an edge in his voice. “Don’t talk like that. No one should have died, period. Maybe it made me a hypocrite, but I thought Mona was using you. It wasn’t fair to make everyone turn on her, but all of us are scared. Mona wasn’t all alone because Lucas cared,” Aria pointed out.
“I did too after she dumped me, but she had issues. She thought she was doing me a favor, but she wasn’t. Was Lucas there?” Mike asked. “He was and we’re all in shock. Just…don’t go there. It’s sealed off anyway and it’s a mess. It’ll be okay, though. We’ll get through it together,” Aria assured him.
“Thanks, Aria. For telling me, I mean. I did hear something on the news, but I didn’t think it was about her. I just can’t believe she’s gone,” Mike said as he formed a faint smile. “Of course. I’m going to give you some space,” she said before she left. It was Thanksgiving and the holidays were going to be depressing.