(This is day 2 of my 7 postings in 7 days exercise)

a/n There is so much more afoot in my dysphoric vision of Rosewood than can be coherently addressed in a single story. The Odd Squad focuses on the unlikely relationship between Paige, Aria and Mona, which is referenced in my other, AU story Viewed Through a Broken Mirror (VTBM). This won't be a particularly long saga, but it is important for me to get it down here and clear my head. My writing style is very Pynchon-esque and story telling heavily influenced by Mario Puzo (The Godfather, etc.).

Prologue:

Aria Montgomery walked into her classroom on the first day of third grade wearing a green and white striped skirt with a purple-on-grey star-spangled shirt and her favorite red hi-top Converse sneakers. A couple of girls at the front of the classroom raised their eyebrows but Aria ignored them. She was used to the haters. She quickly scanned the room of name tags on the doubled-up desks as well as the faces that accompanied said names. Honing in on the center of the room, Aria surveyed whom she would have the honor of sharing personal space with this year. There was Nikki Malloy, kind of short and stocky with shoulder-length brown hair and pretty eyes, Joel McCreedy, lanky, tall, but otherwise nondescript, an Average Joe. Beside Joe was Aria's ex-boyfriend Noel Kahn, who appeared to be putting his infamous moves on a girl Aria didn't recognize. The girl was relatively tall with greenish eyes wearing a green flannel shirt under a brown corduroy jumper, her dirty blonde hair was pulled back in a neat ponytail. Aria knew Noel's moves all-too-well. Last year, at the second grade picnic, he had used them on her. He had casually leaned on a bleacher, told her she had a pretty dress and asked to hold her hand. The hand-holding lasted through the rest of the picnic and even continued the next day, the last day of class. By the end of the day Noel had managed to steal 4 kisses, 1 on the cheek and 3 on the lips, without getting caught. The Kahn family went away on vacation immediately after school ended and by the time they returned to Rosewood Noel had grown bored with Aria. It was a short, intense relationship.

Somehow, though, this new girl seemed immune to Noel's advances.

The bell rang and the teacher, Miss Floden, a petite woman with hair down to her butt, called everyone to order. The principal then came over the loudspeaker with some encouraging words about the upcoming school year, then led the school in the Pledge of Allegiance. After the school pledge, Miss Floden introduced herself and showed the class her engagement ring (which was so gaudy it could've come from one of the quarter machines outside the pizza place). In a few short months she would be Mrs. Somebody. By that point Aria had stopped paying attention as she excitedly read the name plates on the desks and realized this was her lucky year. The unfamiliar name next to Aria Montgomery was Paige McCullers rather than Joel McCready, who always smelled like B.O.

Aria got along with the intriguing new girl Paige right off the bat. Paige just moved to town from a town called Copiague, on western Long Island with her mother, she was an only child. The morning passed along rather quickly until the elementary kids were whisked away to the cafeteria. Rectangular tables were lined end-to-end to create four long rows – one for 1st graders, one for 2nd graders, one for 3rd graders and of course one for 4th graders.

As Aria and Paige made their way to the cafeteria, Paige eyed Aria's purple lunch box warily. "What are you staring at?!" Aria exclaimed with exaggerated embarrassment. Then indignantly, "I'm a picky eater and school lunch food is gross. Plus all those old ladies wear funny hairnets and have lipstick on their teeth."

Paige giggled as she explained her silly imagination, "I didn't mean anything bad, it's just really unusual, like maybe it's used to hold the altar you to sacrifice tomatoes and carrots before eating."

"Just because I don't dress and eat like everyone else doesn't mean I'm some sort of witch," Aria replied with a hurt expression. She loved herself for following her own path.

"My favorite thing about you is that you don't dress and act like everyone else," Paige said, grabbing Aria's free hand. "Will you be my best friend?"

"I would be honored," Aria beamed as she squeezed Paige's soft hand.

After they walked into the cafeteria, Aria pointed towards the far corner of the room where there was a half-empty table. "I'll go sit there and save you a seat."

"Ok, sounds good," Paige dropped her new best friend's hand and headed towards the end of the lunch line. Standing just in front of Paige was a pudgy blond girl talking to a taller, slimmer dark-haired girl.

"Hi,' the blond girl said. "You must be the new girl that just moved in next door to our friend Alison's house. I'm Hanna, and this is Spencer," she said pointing towards the dark-haired girl.

"I'm Paige, moved to town a couple months ago but I haven't met any neighbors named Alison," she said, offering her hand, which Hanna viewed skeptically.

Spencer shook Paige's hand as she stared down Hanna. "It's nice to meet you. You probably haven't met Ali yet because she spent most of her summer visiting her cousins in New Jersey."

The lunch line was moving quickly, and the options for the first day of school were chicken nuggets or veggie burger with corn or peas and mashed potatoes or baked French fries. Drink options were skim milk, 1% milk or 1% chocolate milk. Paige chose chicken nuggets, corn and French fries with skim milk.

After paying for their lunch, Hanna and Spencer waited for Paige to bring her to their lunch table to meet Alison. Though Alison was not a picky eater, eating school lunches seemed to peasant-like for her haughty taste. As luck would have it, Alison was seated near Aria, so Paige would have her best friend nearby if things didn't go well. Alison DiLaurentis had a reputation for selective friendships and manipulation; if you got on her good side you'd be set for life, as long as you never disrespected her.

"Alison," Hanna said excitedly. "Meet Paige! She's the girl who moved in next door."

Alison squinted her eyes, studying Paige. "I know who she is," Alison replied. "Welcome to Rosewood, have a seat with the cool kids today." Despite her cold demeanor she was trying to be friendly, Alison truly had 'resting bitch face;' Alison both admired and feared Paige. Paige seemed easy going, was fairly attractive, and grew up just outside NYC so Alison thought it best to lay down the law right away to keep Paige from showing her up. Alison would be friendly to Paige and win over her loyalty before Paige knew what happened.

"Thanks Alison, it's nice to finally meet you. Thanks for the offer, but my new best friend Aria is saving me a seat over there," Paige pointed a few seats down from Alison.

"Best friend?" Alison scoffed. "Having friends like that will put you on the fast track to Loserville. Aria is the weirdest person in the entire school. It's unfortunate we didn't meet before the first day of school, considering we live next door to each other, I could have given you a run-down of who's who and prevented this awkwardness. I can break up with Aria for you if you want."

"Uhm, thanks but no thanks," Paige said fuming, as she looked at Aria who was staring down at her PB&J sandwich with tears in her eyes. "I can pick my own friends."

Paige walked over and sat down next to Aria, placing her tray on the table in front of her. She put a consoling arm around the petite brunette and whispered, "you're not weird."

Aria turned her tear-stained face to Paige and smiled. "Thank you. No one has ever stood up for me, and Alison has been mean to me since kindergarten, when the teacher always liked my paintings better than hers."

"Remember when I said one of my favorite things about you is that you don't dress and act like everyone else? I meant that, and my word for that is eccentric," Paige spoke with genuine care.

"Thanks Paige," Aria beamed again. "I like the word eccentric!"