Chapter 1

Loserboy901 [You] signed on

Kahnordie: GIRLS SEND NUDES!

theseanackard: yo kahn is thirsty fo hoezz!

"Toby!" Daniel Cavanaugh yelled. "Toby, come downstairs right now. You're going to be late for school if you don't hurry up!"

"Coming, Dad," the blue-eyed teenage boy said before shutting his laptop.

He wanted to be a part of the chat. All those kids at his school made accounts and just joined in on the fun. So, he made a test account. It had no name or any information that indicated who he was. It was more of a fake account to see what the others were saying online.

He always sat there, watching everyone else chat for hours. He tried to think of something clever or funny to say to catch people's attention, but never could do it. It always ended with him signing off and finding something else to do.

"What took you so long?" Daniel asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Uh, I couldn't pick what to wear to school today," he lied, biting his lip.

"You never take time to choose what you're going to wear to school!" Daniel exclaimed, his eyes lighting up. "Am I reading the signs wrong, or did you meet a woman that you like at school? Tell me about her."

"Dad!" he cried, feeling weirded out.

His stepsister Jenna climbed down the stairs and joined them.

"Guess what, Jen?" Daniel jokingly said. "Your brother met a girl. He's been trying to impress her. This is the outfit he chose to show off to her. Hot or not?"

"Not," Jenna joked. "You'll have to do better than that to win your girl over, Toby."

"You know what? I'm not going to stand for this game," Toby said in a mock-offended way, half-smiling. "I have a school to get to. Beat you there, Jen."

x

aribear signed on

Kahnordie: THE BABE IS BACK! Post nudes babeee

BCoogan: Dayum if I had a dime 4 every time yo ass said that kahn

Kahnordie: cmon who here would want arias nudes? Every1! Hot bodz

AliD: LOL Noeeel

naomiZ: LMAO let's see u post some nudes here kahnyy

Kahnordie: O DAMN Naomi wants it?

Without responding the any of them, Aria Montgomery signed off. She was so sick of Noel and his friends ruining the chat room. They were always talking about nudes, sex, and stuff she didn't want to be a part of. She thought that Rosewood High's chat room would be a place for her to meet people and make friends, but it was a stupid place where horny teenagers came to talk.

So, she had a plan— she was going to make her own chat room. Hopefully Noel and the gang wouldn't join in. They probably wouldn't, since they were too busy acting like freaks together. She didn't think her new chat room really meant anything. Maybe she would meet some more horny weirdos, or a few nice people to have a quick chat with.

thetechdude signed on

thetechdude: what is this?

aribear: my escape from Noel Kahn

thetechdude: lol this is genius. U block him from the room?

aribear: one step ahead of u dude

thetechdude: Awesome. I was trying 2 get away from him 2. I'm Caleb btw

aribear: Aria ;)

thetechdude: Grade?

aribear: Junior

thetechdude: junior as well. Never seen U b4 though

aribear: mayb u have but just didn't know my name

thetechdude: Yeah probably. U wanna make this a pm?

aribear: Totally

Okay, she didn't have much luck in relationships. Her first boyfriend was a douche bag... Noel Kahn. He thought it was hilarious to make jokes about sex and nudes. All he ever did on the chat room was talk about sex and nudes! The next guy was an attractive bad boy named Jason that she fell for. He was Alison DiLaurentis's older brother. They dated for a while, but then Jason broke up with her because he wanted to 'find himself'. Basically, he drove off in his car to figure out his life. She was pretty sure he just wanted to go partying across the country, though. Then, she finally met a nice guy named Holden Strauss. Of course, the only good guy in her life decided to leave.

Yeah, Holden didn't last too long. They dated for about three months after sophomore year. It was during the summer before junior year, which was the grade she was currently in. One day, Holden revealed to her that he would be moving to Iceland before junior year started. Aria was quite obviously devastated that he was leaving. He was a genuinely good guy who she actually had a lot in common with. She sort of believed she loved him, although she never had the guts to tell him before he left.

So, when she was in the chat room with Caleb, she couldn't help but flirt. She liked him already! He didn't want to be in the same chat room as Noel Kahn, which immediately meant they had common ground. She was thrilled by Internet dating. She would get to know his personality online, and then finally meet him in person, where their love would prosper. Yeah... she read it in a book somewhere.

lifesuckss signed on

aribear: Who r u!?

lifesuckss: couldn't take Noel, saw this, came here

thetechdude: We were talking. Didn't u make it private Aria?

aribear: Srry I forgot to... but did u say u couldn't take Noel?

lifesuckss: Um yeah! Who can take that douche?

aribear: Damn a hater of Noel is a friend of mine

lifesuckss: lol

aribear: I'm Aria and techy boy is Caleb

thetechdude: What happened to not exposing my personal details to strangers?

aribear: Um I'm a stranger and u told me ur name. and stfu it's not like I gave them ur address

lifesuckss: Lol i'm Spencer

thetechdude: 2 dudes one chick!

lifesuckss: omg ugh why does this always happen! I'm a girl

thetechdude: oops

thetechdude: u know u have a dude's name

lifesuckss: SHUT UP

aribear: Whoa calm down it was a misunderstanding

lifesuckss: Yeah but the joke wasn't needed!

swimmergirl16 signed on

thetechdude: And another one comes in!

swimmergirl16: Sorry lol what is this thing?

aribear: An escape from Noel Kahn!

swimmergirl16: OMG thank god! He's ruining this place

aribear: thank god ur another anti noeler

swimmergirl16: Is this Aria Montgomery from English class?

aribear: Who do u have?

swimmergirl16: Mr. Fitz 1st period- this is Emily fields

aribear: OMG yeah we have HOMEROOM 2gether! Aren't u the swim team captain?

lifesuckss: Um r u guys forgetting about Spencer Hastings from 1st period? I heard she's really cool.

aribear: oops lolol Sorry

lifesuckss: Oh it's cool! I love it when people forget about me

thetechdude: uh well I don't take AP classes so hii I'm Caleb

glossgirl1994 signed on

glossgirl1994: Theres another chat room here? Who's on this?

aribear: Just some people who don't like Noel Kahn

glossgirl1994: REALLY!? Ugh thank god he's such a sleaze!

aribear: Welcome to the club of haters

thetechdude: Do u just welcome anyone who hates Noel?

aribear: Pretty much

thetechdude: This is f****** lame! There's no guys here except me. Not even Spencer

lifesuckss: stfu caleb

glossgirl1994: ok well I'm Hanna just putting that out there

lifesuckss: no 1 asked

glossgirl1993: jeez ur a downer

lifesuckss: yeah couldn't u tell

glossgirl1994: uh now? How would I be able to tell what goes on in ur life

swimmergirl16: HER USERNAME IS LIFESUCKSS.

glossgirl1994: oh lol didn't see that

lifesuckss: omg

glossgirl1994: ugh sorry whatever. Who's in here btw

lifesuckss: Spencer

aribear: Aria

thetechdude: Caleb (the greatest guy ever)

swimmergirl16: Emily :)

glossgirl1994: wait fields? Captain of the swim team?

swimmergirl16: Well yeah I guess

lifesuckss: ugh I hate modest people

glossgirl1994: god ur mean

lifesuckss: well what can you do about it

glossgirl1994: Well I could call you mean

lifesuckss: you already did

glossgirl1994: then I could do it again!

lifesuckss: wow.

When Toby got home from school that day, of course he logged on to the chat room. But this time, he saw a second room. The owner was 'aribear'. He looked at the users in the room, and there was no sign of Noel Kahn or any of the usual friends of his that started trouble on the main room.

Loserboy901 signed on

lifesuckss: Loserboy? Maybe we can mope about life together

aribear: Wait do you like Noel Kahn?

Loserboy901: Noel Kahn? Hell no!

And that was the first time he began chatting on the Rosewood High chat room. His piercing blue eyes lit up, and his smile grew wide when he joined in with others. He was a part of the chat for once, and they made it comfortable and easy for him. They all hated Noel, so it was an easy topic. Somehow, they all were able to talk to each other easily.

aribear: Well then you're welcome here.

Loserboy901: Good. They made it impossible to join in without feeling stupid

thetechdude: WAIT boy!? You're a dude!?

Loserboy901: Is that shocking?

thetechdude: We finally have one guy. Every1 else is a girl lol

glossgirl1994: Uh most guys would be happy to have so many girls surrounding him... Gay, much?

thetechdude: Noo! F u! I'm straight but I needed a guy to talk to. It can't be ladies all the time

glossgirl1994: Gay. It's not bad! Don't be ashamed of who u r

thetechdude: Shut up! I got my eye on a pretty lady actually ;) Ariaa

Aria felt happy to see that Caleb seemed to like her back. She giggled as she typed her next message back to him. At that moment, she knew this chat room would be a lot of fun.

aribear: Ur too sweet Caleb;)

lifesuckss: This is not a room to flirt

aribear: Why not? It can be anything we want it 2 be

rwsharksgirl signed on

swimmergirl16: Another 1? R u on the swim team

rwsharksgirl: Yeah? What is this?

aribear: It's a getaway from Noel and his douche friends lol

rwsharksgirl: OMG YES ugh thank god I could never say anything in there bc of him!

swimmergirl16: There r 2 new people... Names?

rwsharksgirl: Oh lol Paige

swimmergirl16: We're on the team together! This is Emily

Paige McCullers swallowed hard. She was chatting with the captain of the swim team, and one of the hottest girls at school that she'd seen. Emily Fields was a legend at Rosewood High. Paige could only dream of being as amazing as her at swimming.

Loserboy901: I'm Toby

The rest of them introduced themselves to the two new chatters, as they did to all the previous people who joined.

glossgirl1994: Uh Aria can u lock the room already?

lifesuckss: yeah one of Noel's douche friends probably will spy if u don't lock it

aribear: Ok ok fine. This is it. This is gonna be the roster for the chat room

Behind each computer screen was a complex person, and the chat room was there way to let out what they were feeling. Each one, deep down, was excited for the chat room. They all knew they had made relatable friends. They all had fun chatting that day. However, they didn't know that the chat room would be the best and worst part of their lives all at the same time. Every message they sent furthered them into developing relationships with people that they had never given a second glance in real life. And that was the beauty of communicating online.

x

"I hope you got a lot of good research done today in the computer lab," Ezra Fitz, the 11th grade AP English teacher told his class. "Remember, projects are due Friday, and I won't be accepting any late turn-ins. So, get working at home. If you can't access a computer at your own home, remember that the computers in the computer lab are open until six o' clock, provided that you have your student ID card with you. Class dismissed."

The flock of students started to exit his classroom. The quite young English teacher made his way to a computer that a student forgot to turn off. He had the intention to just turn it off, however that changed when a web page that was open caught his attention. It was a chat room website, and the kids had created one that revolved around Rosewood High.

"Noel Kahn," he silently muttered, taking his clipboard and docking the student points for using other websites during research time.

The fact that Noel was on a different website wasn't the reason Ezra was so baffled by this website—it was the messages that people were sending. He was watching as many students that went to their school were typing loads of inappropriate messages. But what was even more shocking was a locked chat room below.

Ezra wasn't the kind of guy to be nosy, but his instincts told him that something bad was going on. It wasn't that he thought these students were doing drugs or something like that, but rather that he could easily tell who some of these students were. And for some reason, he found it strange that these particular students were grouped together in a chat room.

He could always tell by looking at these certain students. They always looked down. Was it really good for them to be chatting together? His curiosity made him decide to create his own fake account and see what they were discussing. It was sort of like a project.

So, he closed the web page, shut down the computer, and went back to his classroom, only to reopen the website on his own laptop. Ezra Fitz was ready to begin his own project.


A/N: Okay, I know it may seem a little boring, but I think it'll get better. Everyone has a purpose! It's probably really weird right now, I know, I know. Don't even hate me for the Aria and Caleb romance (sorry, I had to create a super unlikely pairing!). ARIA AND CALEB will have a romantic storyline, but they're not endgame! They actually lead into their other romances. I'm pretty sure you can guess. Plus, some figures from Aria's life will be returning sometime in the story!

You will also get back stories for Spencer, Caleb, Hanna, Emily, and Paige soon. I sort of went into Aria's, but it gets more complex. And Toby's gets complicated, too. I'm super excited for this story. It's so much fun to write!