PLL- Flawless (editing)

Chapter One

“It’s for you, sweetie!” Mom called me from downstairs.  I was in my room with Jackie, my best friend, and we were about to prank call her boyfriend when the phone rang.

“Who is it, Mom? I’m busy!” I shouted so she could hear me all the way across the house on the first floor.

“Just pick up!” She answered. Rolling my eyes, I picked up the phone.

“Hello?” I made my voice sound annoyed and bossy, reflecting how I felt.

“Am I speaking to Crystal Mason, former friend of Alison Dilaurentis?” A husky male voice on the other side of the line asked. My heart skipped a beat when he mentioned my ex-best friend’s name.

After she had disappeared, never to be found again, from Spencer’s barn while we were having a sleepover, my parents had decided Rosewood was not a safe place for me to grow up in. We moved to a neighboring town, and I never heard her name again.

“Y-yes” My voice was shaky, insecure. What could he possibly have to say about her? Jackie looked at me quizzically. I turned away from her, not wanting her to see my reaction to the mysterious phone call.

“I am very sorry to be the one to deliver this message, but yesterday, the first of September, your friend’s body was found. More details are in a letter that was sent to your house. I am so sorry.” He finished speaking and hung up. I stood there, paralyzed.

“What happened?!” Jackie asked. I couldn’t answer, I could barely breathe. I felt the tears well up in my eyes, and I pointed a trembling finger at the door.

“You should go” My voice surprised me, calm and steady, exactly the opposite of how I was feeling.

Ali’s body- found! This meant she was dead, and she probably had been for the last three years. My ex-best friend had been dead for the past three years and I had no idea. I felt depressed, angry and even a little guilty.

After Jackie left, I laid down on my bed and buried my head in my pillow.

Ali and I were a part of a group of best friends, along with Aria, Hanna, Spencer, and Emily. Ali was the leader of our group of friends, one of the reasons was because she was the most popular girl in school.

I had changed a lot since she disappeared. Before the incident, I was like a puppy, following her around. But since moving out of Rosewood, I became more independent.  I listened to my intentions, wore what I wanted to and acted like I wanted to.

I had a group of friends with no leader, which made me feel welcome and good about whom I was.

“Sweetie, what happened? I heard Jackie slam the door… Did you two get into a fight? Who was that on the phone? Are you alright?” Mom entered my room without me noticing; I was too lost in thought about Alison.

“We didn’t get into a fight, mom. I’m fine. I don’t know who it was on the phone. He just hung up” My voice was muffled by the pillow, but I wasn’t going to let her see my tears.

“Well, dinner’s ready!” I heard her footsteps as she left my room. It was so typical of Mom to notice something was wrong… But then not to care.

I didn’t go to school the next day, though it was only the third day of school. Mom and Dad always left before I did, so I just stayed home, trying to reassemble my life.

All the memories that flooded back to me from 6th grade were overwhelming, and the fact that my best friend was dead was also too much for me to handle. I didn’t go to school the day after that, and the day after that, and the day after that…

On September 6th the letter came. It was Saturday, which meant no school for me, not that I had been going anyways, but my parents were also staying home.

“Sweetie, there’s a letter for you!” Mom yelled. I groaned, forgetting about Alison entirely. Today I had planned to forget about Ali by hanging out with some friends at the beach.

“Put it in my room, I got to go!” I ran downstairs, giving Mom and Dad each swift kisses on the cheek and left.

"Caroline, I need to talk to you... Alone" I addressed Caroline, another best friend of mine. We told each other everything, she was the only one in my group of friends who knew about Alison.

"Not now, Crys!" She giggled. She and Max were acting like five-year-olds, making baby faces at each other.

"Caro, it'll mean the world to me if you stop drooling over Max and listen to me for a second!" That got her to stop.

"What?!" She practically yelled. We were on the bus home from the beach, and I was sure the whole bus heard her.

"Alone" I said, directing my gaze at Max. She made another baby face at him and he left to sit alone.

"It's about... Alison DiLaurentis" I whispered, not wanting anyone to hear.

"I heard her body was found. It's all over the news" She said accusingly, as if I should'vetold her before that day. Didn't show know how hard this was for me?

"You should go back to Rosewood, for respect and all that" She added. I hadn't though of going to Rosewood, but now that she mentioned it, it seemed like a good idea.

"I was thinking... About The Jenna Thing" Caro was the only one who new about the accident except whoever witnessed it. Ali had made me vow to keep it a secret, but after she disappeared I considered the vow to be broken.

"You think someone killed her because she knew to much?" Caro joked. Suddenly I realized what the letter I got hat morning was for. "I don't know... But I'll find out soon enough" I slipped out of my seat and got out at my stop.

Dear Ms.Crystal Mason,

We are very sorry to inform you of your friend, Alison DiLorentis's death. Her funeral will be held ...

I put the letter down, not caring to read where or when Ali's funeral will be. There was no information about the death itself. Curiousity boiled inside of me; I had to find out more of her disappearence and death. It was final. I was going to Rosewood.