Aria was lost in her thoughts when suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder. She flinched and turned, her heart racing. Standing behind her, wearing a ratty Hollis College sweatshirt and a pair of jeans with a hole through the left front pocket, was Aria's father, Byron. She crossed her arms over her chest, feeling awkward. She hadn't really spoken to her father in a few weeks. "Jesus, Aria. Are you all right?" Byron blurted out. "I saw you on the news." "I'm okay," Aria said stiffly. "It was Hanna who was hurt, not me." As her father pulled her in for a hug, Aria wasn't sure whether to squeeze him tight or let her arms go limp. She'd missed him since he'd moved out of their house a month ago. But Aria was also furious that it had taken a life-threatening accident and a TV appearance to motivate Byron to leave Meredith's side and reach out to his own daughter. "I called your mother this morning, asking how you were, but she said you weren't living there anymore." Byron's voice quivered with concern. He ran his hand over the top of his head, mussing up his hair even more. "Where are you living?" Aria stared blearily at the brightly printed Heimlich maneuver poster tucked behind the Coke machine. Someone had drawn a pair of boobs on the choking victim's chest, and it looked like the person giving the Heimlich was feeling her up. Aria had been staying at her boyfriend Sean Ackard's house, but Sean had made it clear she wasn't welcome there anymore when he'd ordered a raid on Ezra's apartment and dumped Aria's crap on Ezra's doorstep. Who had tipped Sean off about Aria's affair with Ezra? Ding ding ding! A. She hadn't given a new living situation much thought. "The Olde Hollis Inn?" Aria suggested. "The Olde Hollis Inn has rats. Why don't you stay with me?" Aria vigorously shook her head. "You're living with--" "Meredith," Byron stated firmly. "I want you to get to know her."

"But..." Aria protested. Her father, however, was giving her his classic Buddhist monk look. Aria knew the look well--she'd seen it after he'd refused to let Aria go to an arty summer camp in the Berkshires instead of Hollis Happy Hooray day camp for the fourth summer in a row, which meant ten long weeks of making paper-bag puppets and competing in the egg-and-spoon race. Byron had donned the look again when Aria asked if she could finish school at the American Academy in Reykjav韐 instead of coming back to Rosewood with the rest of the family. The look was often followed by a saying Byron had learned from a monk he'd met during his graduate work in Japan: The obstacle is the path. Meaning what wouldn't kill Aria would just make her stronger. But when she imagined moving in with Meredith, a more appropriate quote came to mind: There are some remedies worse than the disease. 2 ABRACADABRA, NOW WE LOVE EACH OTHER AGAIN Ali sank onto one hip and glared at Spencer Hastings, who stood across from her on the back path that led from the Hastingses' barn to the woods. "You try to steal everything from me," she hissed. "But you can't have this." Spencer shivered in the cold evening air. "Can't have what?" "You know," Ali said. "You read it in my diary." She pushed her honey-blond hair over her shoulder. "You think you're so special, but you're so lame, acting like you didn't know Ian was with me. Of course you knew, Spence. That's why you liked him in the first place, isn't it? Because I'm with him? Because your sister's with him?" Spencer's eyes boggled. The night air turned sharp, almost acrid-smelling. Ali stuck out her bottom lip. "Oh, Spence. Did you really believe he liked you?" Suddenly, Spencer felt a burst of anger, and her arms shot out in front of her, pushing Ali in the chest. Ali teetered backward, stumbling against the slippery rocks. Only, it wasn't Ali anymore--it was Hanna