Spencer's POV

Emily and I were sitting in our seats in second period English class already when Aria rushes into the room and slides into her seat right as the bell rang. She makes eye contact with Mr. Fitz but then quickly looks the other way. What was she hiding? Mr. Fitz hesitates, and then starts his lesson on The Great Gatsby. I figure that Hanna just skipped again, nothing to be worried about. I was paying attention, but my phone vibrated in my pocket. I pull it out and check it in my lap. The message horrifies me. It was none other than A.

You should keep Aria on a short leash. If you don't, I will. –A

I swallow, and then tap my pencil twice on my desk, a sound we used to get each other's attention in class. Emily looks over in question, but she isn't who I'm trying to talk to, so I shake my head and point to Aria, who just kept listening to the lecture and watching Mr. Fitz. I did a fake cough, and tap my pencil twice on my desk again. Nothing. She just kept staring at him. I casually push my book off my desk and it hit the floor with a bam. Aria's head jerks to face me, but unfortunately so did the rest of the class. I lean over in my seat to pick it up.

"I dropped my book." I state, and Mr. Fitz continued. Aria mouths "what?" I point to my phone and mouth "A" Aria's face turns pale and motions for the phone. I'm sliding the phone across the aisle with my foot to Aria when we hear the mechanical, obviously fake voice of the loudspeaker.

"Aria Montgomery, please report to the main office. Aria Montgomery, to the main office." It bleeps. I pull my phone back to me while Aria clumsily puts her things in her bag and stood up. Mr. Fitz looks concerned and watched her go, but quickly went back to his lesson. Aria was definitely hiding something. I promise myself I will show Aria the message when she got back. I have Emily's attention, so I point to my phone and mouth "A" again.

"For Aria?" She mouthed. I nodded. We were getting pretty good at lip reading.

Aria's POV

I was concerned about Spencer's A text, but quickly became more worried that maybe someone saw Ezra and I together and that's why I was called to the office. I try to calm myself down as I walk through the empty hallways. The hallways are much different when there weren't a hundred other kids hustling to class through them. I see the occasional student, rubbing sleep from their eyes and rushing to class late. I open the door to the main office and look around. There doesn't seem to be anyone here. I walk in further to the desk, and the door shuts behind me. I quickly turn around and see that it shut by itself.

"Is anyone here?" I call out. Something feels wrong. If I was called over here, there has to be someone here. I look around and walk to the other side of the office. I hear papers rustle behind me and jump to face where the noise came from. The thing that you flip on a trash can is swinging back and forth. Before anything else. I pull out my phone as fast as I can and group text Spencer, Hanna, and Emily. I send the text saying S.O.S. Right after I put the phone back in my bag, the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end when I hear breathing right behind me. I spin around to face A. A shoves a cloth that smells really strange against my nose and mouth with one hand and holds the back of my head with the other. My vision gets blurry before I can identify A, and I drop like a rock to the ground. I try screaming, but I'm using all my energy fighting for consciousness. I suddenly think back to Spencer getting an A text… but everything goes black.

Spencer's POV

It's been over half an hour and Aria hasn't come back to class. I'm supposed to be reading, but all I can think about is the leash I'm supposed to keep Aria on. My phone vibrates, and I pull it into my lap the same time Emily does. It's from Aria.

S.O.S

My eyes widen and I look over at Emily, who looks like she is about to bolt out of the classroom. Mr. Fitz sees us with our phones out, which we weren't bothering to hide.

"Are we interrupting you?" he asks in that annoying teacher voice.

"Sorry." Emily and I both mutter. The bell rings, and we literally sprint out of the classroom. Emily pounces on me in the hall.

"What did A text you?" she bombards me. I wordlessly show Emily the A text. Her face turns white. "We have to check the main office!" she tells me. We are about to run in the direction of the office, when I phone vibrates. We stop dead in our tracks. "Is it Aria?" Emily almost shouts. But I can't answer her because I'm in denial. I show her the text and her mouth drops open.

Your leash was too long. Don't worry, mine can't get any shorter. –A

It also showed a picture of Aria's tiny hands tied together to a metal bar somewhere.