"This is no longer a missing-persons investigation." "It's a murder." "I'm Mr. Fitz, your new English teacher." "I would never wanna do anything that would get you in trouble." " Tell them what really happened." " I don't think it would matter what I say." "I saw the way you were looking at my dad." "I have eyes." "Find someone who's available." "My dad isn't." " Who is that?" " Toby." "Toby Cavanaugh." "Whisper, whisper, whisper." "Almost feels like Alison's still here." "Ben, I can't do this right now." "Get off." "Stop it!" "I think there's something wrong with me." "Where are the pictures?" "First paper's due Monday, and I've written two words:" "My name." "Look." "Is that yours?" "Alison's." " What do you think?" " I don't wanna do this right now." "Hanna, why are you taking Sean's car?" "Hanna." "MAN Five-thirty-two, copy that." "We'll get back to you." "I never wanted to see another police car in front of this house." "I thought we were done with that." "I didn't total his car." "They can fix it." "There is nothing I can do about this." "Do you understand me?" "How bad did your mom bust you over wrecking Sean's car?" "Okay, I did not wreck it, I damaged it." "And, actually, everyone's being really mature about it." " Oh." " There's no, "Oh."" "We're just being grownups." "That's all." "Okay, so the town is gonna put in a new bench." "We'll plant the flowerbeds." "And there's gonna be a pathway of art tiles." " Art tiles?" " Mm-hm." "Messages, pictures, memories of Alison." " Oh." "Like little headstones." " Hanna." " What?" " We should each do a tile." "I've had Alison's bracelet since the day we found it in the woods and I don't want the responsibility anymore." " I don't want it." " Seriously, somebody take this." "Look at us." "Bunch of babies." "There's nothing that A can say or do to get us into trouble..." " ...without making trouble for herself." " Are you sure it's a her?" "Him, her." "Doesn't make any difference." "What are you doing?" "I'm gonna block all messages from people that I don't know." "IMs, texts, e-mails, everything." "Screw A." "There." "Who's next?" "I spy with my little eye something that begins with F." "Hey, Mr. Fitz." "Looking good, Mr. Fitz." "My turn." "There are teachers that you don't wanna see on a bike." "There are teachers you do wanna see on a bike." "I would not wanna see Mr. Gilardi on a bike." "I don't wanna think of Mr. Gilardi in motion of any kind." " Ah, Mr. Fitz." " Hanna, your turn." " You talk to Ben?" " Nothing to talk about." "So you're really done?" "It's okay." "I'm fine." "Okay." "If you say so." "Ah." "I wish we had a drumroll for this." "All right." "Here goes." "We are officially A-proofed." "Listen." "All those little messages zipping through the air all around us." "Yep." "And none of them from A." " This feels like a good thing." " Of course it's a good thing." "Out of mind, out of sight." " Hey." " Hey." "I got something for you." "I saw this and thought it was the greatest color on the planet." "I was right." "It's spectacular." "It's..." "It's great." "Thanks." "Catch you later." "Why didn't your folks take you to New York with your sister?" "I mean, you deserve some retail therapy too." "Not as much as Melissa." " Oh, hot scarf, Em." " Thanks." "Is it new?" "No." "Go ahead." "Answer it." "We know who it can't be from." "Hanna?" "It's my dad." "Hey, Dad." "Has she even, like, talked to her dad since he walked out on them?" "I don't know." "Hanna and her father, it's one of those "don't ask, don't tell" situations." "We shouldn't stare at her." "Come on." "My brother's post just showed up on my Loop." " You added him as a favorite?" " Yeah." "A moment of weakness." "Sorry." "My fault." "I wonder if we just bumped into A." "Doesn't matter." "We're done with A, right?" "Right." "Yeah." "But I'm still staying out of Toby's way." "Yeah, and Jenna's." "I guess that's the safest thing to do." "TOM There's no way I was coming to Pennsylvania and not seeing you." "If you've got something you have to do..." " No, Dad." "I haven't got anything." " Then I'll come by, pick you up at 7." " How does that sound?" " Sounds great." "I'll tell Mom." " Um, Dad?" " Yes?" "Did Mom...?" "Did your mom what, honey?" "You know, never mind." "Uh, I'll see you tonight." " Bye." " Bye." "Hi." "Hi." "I..." "I saw you riding around town the other day." "On your bike." "Yeah." "I saw you too." "I waved." "Remember?" "I would've stopped, but you weren't alone." "My friends thought you had nice legs." "What do you think?" "That I was embarrassed that my friends thought you had nice legs." "It's a little awkward, under the circumstances." "Aria, what are the circumstances here?" "If you know, please tell me, because this is completely new territory to me." "Yeah, me too." "Maybe this isn't smart." "I promise you it's not smart." "But we need to talk." "There are things that we need to cover that we can't between classes." "Uh, I'm home tonight." "I could make you one of two dishes that I actually know how to cook." "But I wanna talk to you when I'm not looking at you over a desk or through Dan Farren's faux-hawk." "What time?" "Seven." "Seven's good." "He has to be in New England but he's making a special trip out to see me." "That's..." "That's great, Hanna." "What?" "It's just, do you think he's out here because of the thing with Sean's car?" "No, he's not." "Look, I asked." "Absolutely not." "And besides, even if he was, at least he's still coming out to see me." " Spencer." " Mr. Sheldrake." "I was gonna tell you in class, but, uh, here you are." "Remarkable job on the Russian History essay." "Oh, thanks." "Very lucid presentation." "It's not really a new idea." "I've submitted it for the Golden Orchid." "Wait, you what?" "There's an honorarium." "The upside to winning a competition is how it looks on your applications." " Wait." "Can we...?" " We'll discuss the details after class." "Okay, what's a Golden Orchid?" "It's a national competition for historical writing." "More academic bling for Spencer." "Okay, see you later." " Hi." " Hi." " Are you gonna be in this lab?" " Starting today." "Cool." "You were wearing a scarf this morning." "Yeah, I was." " I took it off." " It looked good on you." "Thanks." "Go ahead and just take a seat." "Oh, please, no." "Not here." "Oh, please." "Oh, please." "Oh, please." "So I guess we're lab partners." " You okay with that?" " Sure." " Hey." " Hi." "Chicken oh-my-gosh in the middle of the week?" "Yeah, I felt like making a little treat for your dad, something special." "Are you okay with veggie burgers?" "Actually, I said I'd have dinner at Spencer's." "Oh, okay." "And Mike is gonna be out too so I guess your dad and I will have the place to ourselves." "That's great." "Isn't that your dad's car?" " You so totally have to tell her." " Tell her what?" "You saw your dad making out with someone who was not your mom." " You have to tell her." " How am I supposed to tell her?" "I don't know, okay?" "But you have to." " Ah." "It's my dad." " Don't answer." "Well, I have to." "He'll try and talk you out of telling." "You can't do that to your mom." "You have to tell her, Aria, before somebody else does." "Then you'll lose both of them." "God." " Mom?" " Yeah?" "Can I have a carrot?" "Sure." "I wish I had a sister to steal papers from." "Using Melissa's paper was supposed to be a stopgap." "If I ask Sheldrake to withdraw the essay, he'll know something's wrong." "Spencer, what makes you so sure you're gonna win the competition?" "Oh, right." "I forgot." "It's in your DNA." "Here." "Try this one." "This has to be the perfect outfit." "My dad hasn't seen me since I lost the weight." "That jacket's really not you." "Then it's perfect." " Spencer?" " What?" "Have you peeked?" "We blocked whoever it was, and that's it." "United front, remember?" "No." "No, yeah, I know." "I just wondered if you peeked." " No." " Yeah." "Me neither." "Hey." "Can I talk to you for a sec?" "Look." "Oh!" "Great." "You found them." " Where were they?" " In my chemistry book." "Did you put them in there?" "Just tell me if you did." "I won't be angry." "What's there to be angry about?" " I think we look cute." " Did you put them in my book?" "No, I didn't." "Emily, it's no big deal." "Somebody must've grabbed them at the party." "That somebody saw these." "This is us." "You and me kissing." "Understand?" "Mm-hm." "Maya." "I have to get back to work." " Hanna." " Dad." "Oh." "Oh, my God, there's barely enough left of you to hug." " I missed you." " Missed you too." "I'll get my bag." " Hello, Tom." " Ashley." " How are you?" " Good." " Good." "So you ready to go?" " Yep." "Uh, Ash." "Think maybe we got our wires crossed about tonight." "L..." "My idea was that this would be a good time for me to catch up with Hanna." " Oh." "I guess I must've misunderstood." " My mistake." "Does that work for you, honey?" "Um, just you and I tonight?" "Um, yeah." "Okay." " Not too late, Tom." " Sure." " Bye, Mom." " Bye." "Have a good time." "It's a new car, so I hope you don't mind if I drive, do you?" "Hanna?" "This is about Sean's car." "Mom did call you." " It's a little more complicated than that." " Let me uncomplicate it for you." "If you came here to yell at me, let's go back and get it over with." "Or yell at me here so all the neighbors can watch me take my medicine." "I didn't come back to yell at anybody." "I came back to help you through a rough spot." "You're a good girl." "You've always been a good girl." "But you can get a little overenthusiastic." "I remember you as a great tree climber." "You sometimes needed some help to get back down." "We'll get through this." "I promise." "Now, if you wanna go to dinner, we can go to dinner." "If you wanna go to the shooting gallery at the Jolly Roger, we can do that." "Okay?" "Yeah." "Okay." "Miss." "Do you use this?" "As a paperweight." "Ahem." "Heh." "Mostly it's to remind myself that there was literature before laptops." " What do you think?" " It's nice." "Yeah, I like it." "Thanks for asking me." "You're welcome." "How are things at home?" "Ah." "Fine." "Um, my mom and dad are having a date night." "Mm." "Well, maybe they're working things out." "They can have all the alone time in the world but she's gonna be miserable when she finds out." "Aria, has it ever occurred to you that maybe your mom knows more about this than you think?" "No, she doesn't know." "That's the worst part." "Well, almost the worst part." "It's possible that your parents have come to some understanding..." " ...that you don't know about." " No, it's not possible." " What do you mean, "an understanding"?" " Okay." "Um, when I was 12, my parents broke up." "It threw my brother and me for a loop." "I found out later, they'd both been cheating." "They worked through their infidelity." "Something else killed their marriage." "But that's your family, not mine." " What are you trying to tell me?" " I'm just saying even though your dad put you in this position..." " ...it's not your problem to fix." " I'm not trying to fix it." " I'm trying to deal with it." " They should be dealing with this." "What you can't see now is your parents need to figure it out, like adults." " Like adults?" " Right." "Like I'm not mature enough to deal with this?" "I didn't say that." "Yeah, I think that's exactly what you said." "You said I am a child, and I should mind my own business." "I guarantee you that's not what I said." "Well, if I'm such a child, why did you ask me here?" "I asked you here because I don't see you as a child." "That's why we need to figure out what's going on between us." "Okay." "Just leave my parents out of it." "You came to me about your father." "Do you remember that?" "You know, I, uh..." " I think I made a mistake coming here." " I don't think you did." "I do." "It's not something an adult would have done." "It was great." "Incredible, really." " Where'd your dad take you?" " Jolly Roger's." " The lame amusement park?" " Okay, it is not lame." "We didn't go on the Tilt-A-Whirl." "We walked around and talked." "And I told him about what's going on." "Some of what was going on." "And he listened." "And he wants to take me to a real dinner tonight." "He said he has something to tell me." "I don't know, I think he wants to spend more time with me." "I mean, maybe summers in Maryland." " Seriously?" " Would you go?" "Well, I wouldn't move away." "Not forever." "I don't wanna leave my mom alone, but I would like to see my dad more." "Wow." "Good for you." "I'm wondering, is anybody else bothered by Atticus' hypocrisy at the end of the novel?" "No?" "Well, he's Mr. Due-Process when it comes to Tom Robinson." "And as soon as Bob Ewell gets stabbed, he's willing..." " ...to buy into the sheriff's cover-up." " He was protecting Boo." "Protecting him?" "From what?" "The justice system?" "Atticus is an officer of the court, and he's conspiring to cover up a crime?" "He's willing to let his son take the fall for something Boo did?" " It was a trade." " What was a trade?" "Mr. Ewell would have killed those kids." "Boo saved them." "And Atticus was still feeling guilty over Tom Robinson so he offered Jem to take Boo's place." " Almost like a sacrifice." " Oh, very noble." "Too bad Jem was unconscious." "You think he had a different opinion?" " Jem would've said yes." " You're sure?" "He was brought up right." "I'm sorry, do you have something to add to the discussion, aside from phlegm?" "Just..." "Well, his dad was a lawyer." "He could get the kid off." "Um, being brought up right had nothing to do with it." "The book is about what shapes us into adults." "Have you been paying attention?" " I'm saying..." " You're saying that Aria made an attempt to understand this book, and you haven't." "No, I wasn't saying that, Mr. Fitz." "Sorry, what are you trying to say?" "Well, it'd probably be easier for Atticus to get the kid off than to get Boo off." "That's all." "Yes." "No way." "Well, I am honored to get you two nights in a row." "You think Sean will be jealous?" "I haven't spoken to Sean since the party." "I was waiting for you to say something about what happened." "Well, I was having too much fun." "I wonder if, uh, all this has a little less to do with Sean..." " ...and more to do with something else." " Something else?" "How are you about what happened with Alison?" "I don't know." "I mean, sometimes I just wanna get away." "You know, be somewhere else for a while." "Somewhere you can clear your head, maybe get a new perspective on things?" "Yeah, that's exactly what I mean." "Hanna, there's a couple of matters that we have to discuss." "Really?" "What matters?" " Hey." "Here you are." " Hi." " Mm, hi." " Tom." "Hanna, this is Isabel, my fiancee." " Fiancee?" " I am so happy to meet you, Hanna." "Oh." "Um, and this is Isabel's daughter, Kate." "Kate, this is Hanna." "Hanna." "I, uh, thought it was time we all met." "Hello?" " Who is it?" " Where the hell are you?" "Oh." "I picked this for you from the garden." "Wren, what the hell are you doing here?" " I've come here to set things right." " You're drunk." "One does not come unfortified to the house of Hastings." "Wren, I thought you were an ax murderer." "I tried calling you, but you were blocking my number." "Uh..." "Oh, no, I wasn't blocking you." "I just..." "Did you break through the back door?" "I had difficulty locating the front of the house." "I'm sorry." "Wren, go, now." "I've thought of nothing but you since you came to see me." "I've been a coward." "But that ends tonight." "I'm here to take full responsibility." " Summon your father." " Ha, ha." "I'm not summoning anybody." "My parents are in New York with Melissa." "Then I shall depart." "Great." "Just..." " Hello." " Just great." "Your face is very fair." "How about some black coffee?" "I've been drinking Scotch." "I'd rather not mix my beverages." "Okay." "Come on." "Right here." "Okay." " Right here?" " Yes." " You scared the hell out of me." " Sorry." "Okay, I have never been so embarrassed in my life." "First you complain about me being immature and then you act like that in class, like I needed to be protected." "Everybody knew there was something weird going on." "God, what was that?" "What?" "Were you trying to teach me some kind of lesson?" "Because I totally don't need that from you." "You don't know anything about my parents so don't say that they have some kind of arrangement or understanding because you don't know them, and you don't know me, okay?" "Yeah, you're right." "I am?" "I really don't know anything about you." "I'm sorry about the mess." "I'll clean that up later." "I'm not talking about the geranium." "Why do you think you had to get drunk to talk to my father?" "For many complex psychological reasons but mainly because he scares the vinegar out of me." "He's really not that bad once you get to know him." "Things will go back to normal." "Eventually." "Yeah." "What passes for normal around here." "I thought you wanted things the way they were." "I guess I do." "I don't know." "I've never known anything else." " I know I never wanted to hurt Melissa." " Yeah." "I know sometimes it looks like North and South Korea between us but she's my sister." "That still counts." "Well, I think I've imposed enough." "Um, you can't drive like that." "Oh, I'm not going all the way to Philadelphia." "I got a room in the Edgewood Motor Court." "You can't drive anywhere." "Give me your keys." "Come on." "You gotta..." "Here." "So I turn around, and there's Jeff behind me and he is so focused on beating me that he forgets to lift the dagger board as we're approaching the beach." "So he gets all hung up in the shallows, and I simply walk onto the beach and take a bow." " Hanna, do you sail?" " No." "Oh, well, you should." "Kate could teach you." " She's a very good teacher." " Especially with beginners." "It would be so much fun for both of you, going out together on a boat." "Seeing who's coming back." "Heh." " Heh." "Is that a joke?" " Of course it was a joke." "And this is a fork." "Heh." "Just so you know, Hanna, I had a chat with Sean's father and everything's gonna work out." " You talked to Sean's dad?" " Mm-hm." "He, uh, gave me an estimate on the damage you did to his car." "We agreed to settle things without getting the insurance companies involved." "I'll write a check, and you will work off the cost of repairs..." " ...in Sean's mother's office." " Sean's mother is a dentist." "Well, you won't be drilling teeth." "You'll be cleaning up, doing light clerical work, answering phones." " After school and on weekends." " That could be interesting." "You know, I am fascinated by dentistry, aren't you?" "Plaque, cavities, fake-Iooking veneers." "Sorry." "You okay?" "Yeah, I'm fine." "I mean, as okay as I can be taking out the garbage." "I know that you're not crazy about having me for a lab partner." "No, it's okay." "I'm cool with that." "Really?" "You wouldn't switch if you could?" "I understand." "You have to be careful with who you get close to." "I know people think I'm some kind of freak." " I can't do anything about that." " But it's got to bother you." "Idiots running around, putting shaving cream in your locker laughing at you, making stuff up about who you are." "I didn't say it doesn't get to me, it's just that there's nothing I can do about it." " Like you said, they're idiots." " Sorry." "You noticed how much you and I keep saying sorry to each other?" " Sorry..." " Do you see what I mean?" "That other day in chemistry there was something in my book." "Some pictures." "Did you see them?" "Before I closed my book, did you see what they were?" "I don't think you wanted anybody to see them." "I'm cool with that." "You are?" " Do you still swim?" " Yes, I do." "Do you do it because people are watching you or because you like to swim?" "I do it because I love the way it makes me feel." "Then forget about the idiots." "They're going to see what they wanna see." "Even if you completely changed everything, they wouldn't be happy." "They don't want you to change." "They want you to go away." "I tried that." "I didn't like it." "And now you're back." "Yeah." "I am." " See you tomorrow?" " Tomorrow." "Mm." "You're lucky." "My cooking's always better the next day." " I make really good leftovers." "Don't laugh." " Ha, ha." "No, seriously." "The pesto will get up your nose." "We'll need the Jaws of Life in here." "I'm sorry about what happened in class." "I was mad at you for walking out of here." "It's stupid, but I was." "Going after Sperling like that not my finest hour as a teacher." "Well, you're right about me." "I am a fixer, when it comes to my family." "And I'm the one planning and negotiating and just trying to keep us together and keep things solid." "What are you afraid of?" "That things will change." "But that's not really helping, is it?" "It's just..." "It's just trying to keep things frozen." "It's human nature to try and hold on to things." "I feel like my Aunt Ruth." "She had her pet cat stuffed when he died." "And you walk in her house, and there's Mugsy on the piano." " Ha, ha." " He's there, and she talks to him and there's really not much difference between Mugsy alive and Mugsy stuffed." "I mean, he's a cat." "Aunt Ruth, she's really happy but the rest of us are just kind of creeped out." "I can't fix this." "And if it's gonna be fixed, then they're just gonna have to do it themselves." "And all I can do is tell the truth." "Or otherwise, I could lose the both of them." "I have to go." "Do you need help cleaning up?" "Uh..." "You could stay." "No, I have to go talk to my mom." "You sure about that?" "Yeah, I'm sure." " How are you gonna get home?" " Um..." "Don't worry about me." "I was telling the truth." "About wishing I'd met you first." "Come inside." "Done some pretty stupid things lately." "I'm way over my limit." "Good night, Spencer." "Bye, Wren." "MAN From the request line this next one goes out to Hanna from her best friend, A." "Here you go, Hanna." ""I Don't Need You Anymore."" "I don't need you anymore" "I'm gonna close the door" "I don't need you anymore" "Okay, whatever you're thinking, it's not what you think." "Hanna?" "We are so out of our league." "Hi." "Don't know what I'm supposed to do right now." "Hug you or shake hands." "I mean, there might be all sorts of security cameras around." " Sorry." " Don't say that." "You have every right to be mad at me." "I'm not mad at you." "I was wrong to jump on you about the pictures." "Is this about the pictures or is it about the kiss?" "I liked the kiss." "But I don't know what that kiss means." "You spend too much time thinking about what things mean." "A kiss." "A picture." "A scarf." "There's so much going on in my head right now and I'm just trying to figure out the right thing to do." "What do you need, right now?" "A little time." "Some space." "Not just with you, but with my mom, with everybody." "We can get some space here." "It's okay." "Thanks." "Good night." "I care about you." "So I'll wait." "You don't need to say anything." "You just need to know that." "Mom?" "I have to tell you something." "It's important." "There's, uh..." "There's something you should know." "Mom?" "What are we gonna do about A?" "I mean, he or she or it hasn't stopped." "They're calling radio stations, making dedications." " What do we do now?" " I don't know, Hanna." " It was your idea to shut her out." " Everybody went along with it." "United we stand." "Great." "Spencer." "Somebody's been in the house." "Alison's bracelet." "Is that Jungle Red?" "Alison's color."