"Attention Rosewood students, there will be a fire drill sometime in first period today. Please leave your classroom quickly and quietly so it can all run smoothly!"

Hanna rolled her eyes as the assistant principal's nasally voice was heard around school. She flipped her hands over to inspect her nails.

"Hey Han." Aria said adjusting the backpack strap on her shoulder. They were standing in the commons area ten minutes before the bell. Aria leaned against the large, brick pillar that was located off to the side.

"Hey." She replied barely looking up.

Aria saw Spencer through the wall of glass windows looking into the cafeteria. She was talking on her cell phone one finger plugging the other ear. Spencer paced back and forth.

"Who's she talking to?" Hanna asked pointing to Spencer. She noticed Aria looking curiously over in that direction.

"I don't know…but it doesn't look good."

They shared a worried glance. Spencer closed her phone and walked out the doors towards them.

"Who was that?" Aria asked.

Spencer sighed. "Toby. He has to go out of town to do some work all weekend."

"Well it won't be so bad." Aria said putting her hand on Spencer's shoulder.

"Yah but with everything going on, I need a masculine figure to protect me."

Hanna snorted. "We have Mr. Fitz."

Spencer's face dropped. "That I can trust!"

Aria shot her an 'Excuse me?' glance.

"You know what I mean." She pressed.

They stood there silently for a few seconds looking around. Thankfully Emily came up behind them.

"Great news!" She said enthusiastically

"Mr. Long is sick?" Hanna asked suddenly over-excited.

"No, I just got a call from another college out of state, they were in town last weekend checking out some swimmers and they're interested in me!"

"That's cool Em, where?" Aria asked.

"University of Pennsylvania in Philly." She beamed. "I'm so excited to tell my mom, maybe she'll forget about Danby and I'll never have to worry about it again."

"I thought you fixed things with Danby?" Hanna asked.

"Yah but I have this feeling my mom's gonna keep going back to Danby. I just want her to know that another human being is interested in me be."

"Well good for you." Spencer smiled genuinely. The bell rang warning students they should start heading towards class. The girls made their way to Mr. Fitz's classroom.

Aria took her normal spot. Ever since his suspension ended she'd been extra careful around him and sitting next to him was already becoming too much to handle. He started to come down the aisle towards his seat.

"Aria, I forgot to tell you how much I missed you when I was gone…" Noel leaned over and whispered softly. Aria's heartbeat quickened. His lips curled into a wicked smile. "Except that would've been a lie."

Aria narrowed her eyes. Noel leaned in and whispered in her ear. "You break my heart…you'll pay."

He lingered by her ear. Ezra walked in, the first thing he noticed was Noel hovering over Aria. He clenched his teeth.

"Let's take our seats." He announced. He glared at Noel as he retreated back to his seat. He obviously wasn't fazed because he smiled at Mr. Fitz so nonchalantly. A big toothy grin covered his face. Ezra turned before rolling his eyes. He sighed out loud and started to write on the board.

Aria glanced at Noel. Out of the corner of his eye he saw her and turned his head. He blew a kiss then snickered.

"Noel Kahn, is there something you'd like to share to the class?" Ezra asked harshly barely able to contain his anger anymore.

"I was just finishing up my conversation with Aria, Mr. Fitz. You understand right?" The entire class looked from Noel to Mr. Fitz and back and forth obviously puzzled. Ezra walked down the aisle.

"No I don't understand Noel." He stopped in front of his desk. "Why would you want to risk getting in more trouble than you already are? You understand right?"

Some students laughed under their breathes while others looked more confused than amused.

"One more wrong move and you could be back in suspension." He warned.

Noel narrowed his eyes. He then turned and looked at Aria who was avoiding the stares she was now getting. She tried to sink into her chair further.

Ezra and Noel locked eyes once again. The tension was unbearable for Aria and on top of all that, everyone noticed that something wasn't quite right between these two.

All of the sudden a sudden shrill of an alarm sounded. Aria jumped in her seat.

"Single file! No talking! Go out the main doors!" Ezra yelled over the alarms as he made his way to the front of the room. Everyone rushed out the door and followed the rest of the floor out the main doors and into the parking lot.

Once outside, Mr. Fitz's class lined up in one long stretch amongst the other students. Ezra walked down the line counting as he went. 20…21…22… His brow crinkled with confusion. Twenty-two? His class consisted of twenty-three students. He walked back down the line again counting more slowly. Twenty-two? That meant someone wasn't here. He glanced at the line trying to recognize the missing student. He eyes went over the whole line and towards the end, Spencer, Hanna and Emily. At the very back was a tall, blonde boy who had his hands shoved in his pockets. He looked back at the front of the line.

He looked over everyone again. There was the quiet girl who sat in the back. The loud and obnoxious blonde who popped her gum. Mona Vanderwaal stood in line studying her manicure. He saw Noel Kahn and his football buddies. He noticed the two boys who spent the entire class texting each other were talking through a small slit in the corner of their mouths. He again saw Hanna, Spencer and Emily and suddenly a pang of worry hit his stomach.

He cleared his throat. "Has anyone seen Aria Montgomery?"

Spencer craned her neck around the lot. He heard various nos. Some students from other lines had heard him and started looking too. No one seemed to know where she was.

He brushed his hand through his hair and breathed out. She had to be around here somewhere. He looked over and saw Noel Kahn looking directly at him…and he was smiling. Something rushed over Ezra. He was suddenly angry and tired of Noel playing these games. He clenched his jaw and marched up to Noel.

"Where is she?" He whispered harshly.

Noel threw his hands up in surrender. "Why do you think I have something to do with this?" He got louder with every word he said. The whole parking lot seemed to look over, soon some people were whispering all around. Hanna, Emily and Spencer passed nervous glances. Spencer tried Aria's cell. She didn't answer.

"Where could she be?" Emily panicked. Was this A? Was A trying to toy with Ezra too?

Ezra turned sideways, he casually leaned in. Through clenched teeth he said, "I'm not going to ask again. Where. Is. She?"

Noel narrowed his eyes. Ezra's glare could've burned a hole right through his skin.

"Answer my damn question or you'll wish you would have never messed with me, messed with us, in the first place."

Ezra got face to face with him and Noel lost it. He pushed Ezra hard sending him backwards. There was a collective group of harsh 'ooh's coming from all around. Still on his feet, he stormed back over anger surging through his veins.

Spencer gasped. Other kids were starting to talk out of hushed tones.

"You think for a second that I'm scared of you?" Noel yelled then quieted down once Ezra was in front of him. "You should be scare of me, remember?"

It took every ounce of self-control for Ezra not to punch him in the face. Large footsteps approached. A fat man in a brown suit looked questioningly at the two of them. The principal of Rosewood Day had a raspy voice and his face that reddened every time he got angry.

"Mr. Fitz, what's going on here?" He demanded his face as red as a tomato.

Noel raised an eyebrow at him. Mr. Fitz paused then replied, "Nothing, sir."

He looked at the both of them and considered pressing more questions, but he decided against it. This was Noel Kahn. He was a hothead and constantly causing trouble. He straightened his spine and turned his back to them.

Ezra watched him go and turned back to Noel with his eyebrow raised.

"I have no idea where she is!" He whispered. "No clue."

Mr. Fitz looked back towards the school and rested his hands on his hips.

Suddenly he heard tiny Ping! He peered at the back of the line where the sound came from.

Hidden behind another classmate was Hanna who was clutching her phone. Spencer and Emily looked curiously over her shoulder.

I BET YOU'RE WONDERING WHERE SHE IS RIGHT? TELL MR. FITZ YOU KNOW THEIR LITTLE SECRET AND YOU'LL GET YOUR PRETTY FRIEND BACK

-A

Spencer widened her eyes. She felt like she had just swallowed something cold and hard. Hanna felt a chill run down her spine. Emily was speechless.

"Should we do it?" Emily whispered in Spencer's ear.

Spencer shook her head. "No, A always does this. It's time to take matters into our own hands."

She squeezed out of the line and walked up to Mr. Fitz.

"Mr. Fitz?"

He turned around surprised to see Spencer.

"Yes Spencer, what is it?" He dropped his hands from his waist.

She quieted down and whispered under her breath, "Aria's in trouble."

Ezra's face paled. He searched the grounds once again. "Where is she?"

Spencer looked down. "I think she's in the school…"

He curiously looked past Spencer where Emily and Hanna were peering their direction. "How do you guys know where she is?"

"Look, I can't explain now but we have to go back inside." She warned. Ezra looked around. The alarms were still sounding.

"I don't think we can yet."

"Mr. Fitz, trust me." She was eye to eye with him now. "She's not safe…and I know you care…"

She looked down at her shoes. Ezra's whole face dropped and his heart started to beat faster. She knew? Did the others know as well? Who else knows?

"Get back in line." He instructed. Spencer worried he was angry or didn't believe her, but he surprised her by walking over to the principal.

"What did you say?" Hanna asked. Spencer got back in line.

"I told him the truth…Aria's in trouble and I know he cares about her."

"So you basically just told him what A wanted us to…?" Emily whispered trying hard not have anyone else hear them.

"I guess. Look we've known for a while, it's better the secret's out." Spencer crossed her arms over her chest. Ezra was pointing towards the building, the principal nodding at every word he said. Finally, he gave Ezra the okay to enter the school again. The principal continued to ask other teachers if anyone else was missing.

Ezra entered the school with a jog. He slid into his classroom, but unfortunately it was empty. He walked the halls and searched the cafeteria. He tried calling her name. He entered the hallway towards the main doors again and screamed her name again.

"Aria?" He walked slowly in the direction of the doors. "Aria?" He asked in a more panicked voice.

"…Ezra?" He heard a soft, muffled voice to his right.

"Aria?" He asked again.

This time he heard his name again but louder. "EZRA?"

He heard it clearly now, it was coming from a supply closet.

"Help!" He heard Aria shouting. He tried opening to the door but it was locked.

"It's locked." He said through the door. He moved his foot and heard something scrape the floor. He lifted his shoe and underneath was a shiny, silver key. He studied it for a second then quickly jammed it into the lock. Aria ran out panting. She involuntarily hugged Ezra.

"What happened?" He asked. He peered to his left the students were now coming back. He let go of Aria.

Aria shook her head. "I don't know."

Ezra heard her voice quiver but he didn't ask any more questions, she was fine, she was safe again.

"Aria!" Spencer called. She ran down the hall. "What happened?"

Emily and Hanna appeared behind her, they looked just as worried as Spencer was. Ezra felt like he didn't belong in their huddle so he backed away awkwardly. He felt his heart rate slow down dramatically. But he still pondered what Aria was doing in a supply closet in the hall. Didn't she follow everyone out? Something didn't seem right. He looked over. Spencer and the others were listening intently to what Aria was saying.

"Someone pushed me in there and locked it." She said almost stuttering. "It was dark and I was screaming for help for what felt like an hour. No one came."

"We had a…situation outside?"

"What kind of situation?" Aria asked longing for answer.

"It was between Noel and Mr. Fitz…" Emily answered. She pointed to Noel who was laughing with his buddies and a couple of girls. He caught them staring and smiled a large toothy grin.

"He's not A! Remember?" Hanna exclaimed.

"A?" Aria asked.

Spencer nodded. She dug out her phone and showed it to Aria. Her eyes widened and she looked up. "It was A?"

They all nodded sympathetically.

"Can't we ever catch a break?" Hanna asked in a loud voice. The hallway had coincidentally quieted down at the exact moment. Every eye looked their direction.

Ezra now knew something was wrong, but one thing became clear. Aria ended up in that closet against her will. He looked over at Noel who wasn't even looking at Aria, he was laughing with his friends. Glancing around the hall, he noticed everyone had continued moving or was on their way towards their classes. Aria and her friends all looked like they just saw a ghost. She caught his glance and Ezra smiled. She smiled back, but he could tell it was forced. They all headed back to his classroom. The whole fire drill took longer than they expected so what was left of the class was only ten minutes. Aria approached his desk.

"I just want to let you know I'm fine." She smiled. "Thanks for finding me."

She was about to turn but stopped. "How did you open it? I thought it was locked."

"There was a key on the ground." He replied. Aria silently turned around.

A put the key there for her to be let out. Did they really tell Mr. Fitz their secret?

"Did you tell Ezra that you knew?" She whispered to Spencer. She diverted her eyes quickly to Mr. Fitz then back to Aria.

"I wasn't going to…but at the moment it just felt like the right thing to do. I'm sorry."

Aria frowned. "Ezra found a key by the door."

The girls froze.

"A kept her word." Aria mumbled.