Chapter Text
THE MUSIC WAS LOUD. Spencer Hastings could afford it to be since she and her friends were in the family barn, away from the house. It was strictly no parents tonight — the unwritten rule — and having the sleepover at Spencer's was the only way to reassure that happened for the girls.
It was their night. That was how Alison DiLaurentis sold it to them. This was going to be last weekend before they started sophomore year; they had to make the most of it and that meant no parents.
So, it was what the rest of girls wanted to do — and did. They did anything to please Alison DiLaurentis. Hanna Marin even stole a bottle of tequila from her mother's drink cabinet to impress the fellow blonde. The proud smile Alison gave to Hanna for a fleeting moment was worth the punishment she'd later face from her mother and the humiliation of Alison's back-handed compliment about big sweaters being useful.
All the girls lapped up Alison's approval. Even Halle Brewster, though she thought she was the only one who knew just how much power Alison truly had over them all. Halle realised the hold Alison had over her. The summer had shown her that and changed Halle in the process. She had stopped to pop the bubble Alison had placed around her and Halle started to notice things, clear and true — that perhaps pleasing Alison wasn't the thing she should be priding herself on.
"Halle, come join us." Emily Fields stood at the bottom of the ladders, looking up at the girl. She wore a soft smile, a sweet one, like all the ones Emily gave Halle. Out of the five girls Alison thrust upon Halle's life in the last year, Emily had become closest to Halle. Halle trusted her more than Alison, and she had known the blonde the longest.
Length wasn't what Halle was measuring her friendships on anymore — Halloween changed that for her. Halle made a promise that night to always be there for the four around her now, to protect them as best she could from the harsh glare Alison brought on their lives.
Halle cast her eyes down from where she was, sat up high by the top barn window. From there, she could watch the girls in their buzzed — almost tipsy — states. They were all happy, and Halle enjoyed seeing that. She liked watching them all be happy, smiling as they chatted the night away.
"Sure, one second." Halle put out the joint she was smoking and flicked it out of the window, it landing far away from the barn.
"My dad will find that," Spencer told her.
Halle stood at the top of the ladders and said, "Well, it's a good job you can lie, then. You have Jason and his stoner buddies to blame." She climbed down; Emily spotted her to make sure Halle didn't fall, and then Halle dusted herself off. Halle mentioned, "It's got to be near the property line anyway. Your dad probably won't even ask, he'll assume it's Jason."
Flashing Emily a smile, Halle linked her pinky with Emily's own and they walked towards the collection of furniture in the centre of the barn, purposely put there for the sleepover.
"I still can't believe you smoke," Hanna Marin said, in almost as much awe as she held for Alison.
Halle took a seat on a camping chair. "It's medicinal, Hanna," she joked, "there's been multiple studies."
"It's stupid, that's what it is," said Emily disapprovingly. She was worried, on edge. "If the coaches knew--"
"They won't know anything, will they?" asked Halle of her friends, a stern look in her dark eyes. Halle couldn't afford for this to get out — for it to ruin her life. But she saw how nervous her friends got; they gave Halle a similar reaction to what Alison usually got when she threatened them. So, Halle put on a smile again and faked a convincing laugh, encouraging the others to laugh too. "Besides," Halle said, "the season hasn't even started yet, what I did in my off-time — in my summer — has nothing to do with Coach. It's just a bit of fun, all the girls on the squad do it." Still, she noticed Emily's discomfort and leaned across to Emily, giving her friend's knee a quick, reassuring squeeze. "Relax, Em, this won't stop you swimming. Cheerleading doesn't even have mandatory drug-testing. I mean, only if the coaches get suspicious, but that won't happen. What I did this summer doesn't affect you, promise."
Emily appreciated the reassurance and returned Halle's smile before she went back to sipping at her drink. Tonight, Halle wasn't partaking in drinking Ashley Marin's tequila; she didn't drink and smoke — a piece of advice a senior cheerleader taught Halle, after Halle learnt it the hard way.
"I wanna know how you got it," Hanna said abruptly. She had a big, beaming smile on her face as she waited for an answer from Halle.
"Me too," agreed Spencer. Spencer crossed her arms and looked at Halle's face, unflinching like nothing would get past her.
"Was Eric Kahn?" asked Aria Montgomery, breaking her silence out of curiosity for the brother of the boy she had been harbouring a heavy crush on for a few years now.
Halle laughed. "You do realise you can call him just Eric, right? But no," she shook her head and said, "it wasn't Eric."
"It's so cool that you're dating an older guy," Aria commented, grinning ear to ear as she relished in her friend's more saturated love-life. It had been the height of their summer gossip when Halle told them the Eric Kahn had gotten her number off of Noel and had asked her out — an offer Halle would never refuse.
"And it's Eric Kahn." Hanna gossiped, "You know, he was even more popular in high school than Noel is."
"Aria still thinks Noel is cuter," Halle teased, and Aria, with pink streaks in her hair, flushed the same colour, making her friends laugh.
Hanna gasped, her hand slapping down on the arm of her chair. "Halle! Do you think you can set that up? Aria and Noel?" asked Hanna eagerly.
"I don't know, Han, it's—"
"How poetic, Aria starts dating Noel because of you and you're dating Eric because of Ali!" Hanna beamed, "I am so next!"
Halle mustered up a smile for the blonde. "For sure, I'll try." Her short reply got a wide-set grin and a gleeful squeal from Hanna. Halle said anything to make her friends happy — did anything to make them happy, even if that meant putting Alison on a pedestal. Though, Halle regretted that she had done her part in putting Alison DiLaurentis up there in the first place.
The girls laughed together — smiles wide as they enjoyed their last sleepover before school started again. Yet, it stopped quick. Lightning struck loud, wiping out the lights. Their laughter ceased and an eerie silence took a hold of their throats.
All was silent between the friends at first. Halle exchanged looks, eyes shifting to each girl to see if there was an inclination to how they felt, and everyone was on edge.
"Whoa, what was that?" asked Spencer, high-pitched and squeaky.
Halle tried laughing it off. "I told you it was a bad idea to sleep out here tonight. It's a bad storm," she said, in hope she convinced them because she failed to do so with herself.
Aria reached for a flashlight and switched it on. In the new light, Spencer stood and lit candles. Suddenly, a creak scared the girls and they shot upwards, all erected from their seats now. Petrified, five sets of eyes were glued to the door.
"Guys, there's something out there," whispered Aria.
The door swayed open a little more, causing a rush of cold air to sweep in. They shivered. Slowly, step by step, they moved together. Gripping onto each other for dear life, fear ran through them like blood, pumping around and coursing through their veins; it was as much as part of them as any organ.
CRASH.
They jumped, hurling out their own squeals of terror. Halle went to touch the door handle. In her mind, she'd push it to and then run backwards, back to the safety of the others. It was only the wind, only the wind, it was only the wind— that was what she told herself as her hand reached out further. All she needed to do was to push the door shut, but she never got the chance.
"Gotcha!"
Alison leaped out on them. The five girls screamed, nails dug into cardigans in terror, and Alison laughed at them. It amused her. A wicked smile came onto Alison's face as she watched her friends try to steady their breathing. Hearts in their throats — she really got them.
"That was so not funny, Alison," Spencer told the girl off.
"I thought it was hilarious, girls," replied Alison boastfully. Without another care, she simply strolled to the gathering of chairs laid out in the centre of the empty barn. She had no consideration for anyone else and she never will.
"Well, you would," mumbled Halle, as she, like the others, inevitably followed Alison and sat down. Halle pretended to laugh it off with the other four. This was still her life and Alison had made it into a game — one Halle would be playing until she finally left Rosewood.
"Hey, Ali, did you download the new Beyoncé?" Hanna asked, eagerly awaiting what Alison thought. Hanna valued Alison's opinions higher than any other and her doting on Alison was key to their friendship. She cared so much about Alison thought and said that Hanna, now, carefully sat down in the camping chair — afraid of breaking it. It was in fear that Alison would laugh and torture her if it broke. After all, Alison's favourite pass-time was bullying her friends. Still, Hanna listened to Alison and smiled at the attention she was given briefly by the glamorous blonde she so desperately wanted to be like.
"Not yet," Alison said.
A small, coy smile appeared on Emily's face. She said, "I'm loving her new video."
Alison teased her in response, poison laced in the words, "Maybe a little too much, Em." It made Emily's smile die, cheeks tinged pink in flush embarrassment. It was shame on Emily's face, Halle knew it well.
"Oh, Halle?" Alison called for her attention. She wore a sick, all-knowing smile on her lips and said, "I have something of yours." Alison grabbed something from within her bag and then tossed the item to Halle; the brunette was caught off-guard but still able to catch it. In Halle's hand was her lighter — mother of pearl, gifted to her by her grandmother along with the matching barrel-cigarette case. "It's yours, right?" Alison asked, though she already knew the answer.
"Yeah, yeah, it's mine," Halle said. "Thanks, I've been looking for this."
Smugly, Alison said, "You'll never guess where I found it... Jason's room. You'd be surprised at what you can find in there," she added, a little dead behind her eyes as she glared at Halle.
Hanna gave a gasp. "Was Jason who you were smoking with this summer, Halle?"
"Hanna, no, ew, that's Ali's older brother," Emily said. "Why would she be with him?"
Halle laughed at their reactions. "No, it wasn't Jason. I must have just left it the last time I was at Ali's and he took it. Trust me, Han, a lighter's a lighter when you want to spark up. Jason probably just used it and then pocketed it, after," she explained, giving one of the best lies of the summer.
"Yeah, Hanna, that's probably what happened," Alison agreed. She tormented Halle with her knowing smirk. Alison taught Halle how to lie and she knew all of Halle's tells. "Why else would be have it? Unless..." she dropped her voice low, "they're hooking up," hinted Alison. The barn went quiet, staying like that for a moment. Alison challenged Halle with a dangerous look, one to end a friendship.
Then, Alison snapped out of it. She threw herself back in the chair comfortable, laughing again. "Guys, I'm kidding. Halle would never do that to me, we're best friends," Alison said, causing the other four — unaware of the truth laced underneath — to laugh in relief.
"Good one, Ali," Aria laughed.
"Yeah, you really had me fooled," Emily agreed.
"I would've believed it more if she wasn't so loved up with Eric Kahn," Spencer teased playfully, and the girls — all except Alison and Halle — giggled. Noticing it, Halle faked a smile for the unsuspecting ones but kept her eyes on Alison, wary of the blonde's motives.
Alison knew for sure now what had been going on that summer and she was going to ruin Halle's life for it. This was just Alison's way of warning her. She was letting Halle know this was the end — that Alison was done with her.
The group's leader smiled and had an immediate change in attitude. She gave Halle a sickly sweet smile; her rosy cheeks reached high. Alison picked up a plastic cup and pushed it into Aria's hands, forcing it at her. "Your turn," she encouraged.
Aria never questioned it. None of the girls did. Instead, Aria took a large gulp of the liquid, feeling it burn her throat and doing everything in her power not to show it did. She was eager to impress Alison — they all were.
Spencer chuckled and said, "Careful, Aria, take too much and you'll tell us all your secrets," making all girls but Alison laugh.
Alison's face remained neutral. She only said, "Friends share secrets, that's what keeps us close, drink up."
If only they knew it was secrets that stole they friend away in the night, they never would have shared them with Alison DiLaurentis in the first place. Their secrets were going to wreck them and A was the wrecking ball.
all summers end eventually
•
DISCLAIMER
ALL RIGHTS OWNED BY PRETTY LITTLE LIARS, MARLENE KING AND SARA SHEPARD — APART FROM MY OWN ORIGINAL CHARACTERS AND STORYLINES.
READER WARNING:
FEATURES THEMES LIKE MISUSE OF ALCOHOL AND DRUGS, MENTAL ILLNESS, RACE AND IDENTITY, VIOLENCE, INAPPROPRIATE RELATIONSHIPS, SLUT-SHAMING, ETC.
ALSO, CHARACTERS IN SEASON ONE OF THE SHOW ARE REWRITTEN BY ME TO FOLLOW SEASON TWO ARCS BETTER AND SEASON TWO HAS THE FIRST CHANGES TO SUIT THE STORY I WISH TO TELL, INCLUDING WHAT HAPPENED THAT NIGHT AS WELL AS FUTURE SEASONS. PLEASE KEEP IN MIND THIS IS FIRST A PRETTY LITTLE LIARS FANFIC, SECOND A JASON DILAURENTIS ONE. JASON IS A LOVE INTEREST, NOT THE WHOLE STORY.