keep me counting ? j. dilaurentis

eight.

maisey sat in the courtyard with the rest of her friends, talking about how the last twenty four hours went down. telling them all about it sounded like she was reading straight out of some fanfiction written by an inexperienced teen, but it was the reality. she told then about the text from a when jason pulled over on the way there, about the phone call from her mom, and about how she'd called them from the shower, explicitly stating that they were not in the shower together, and that he was sitting on the edge of the bathtub. she also mentioned how jason had said he would quit his job for her.

"that sounds familiar," hanna commented, eyeing aria, who only rolled her eyes. the girls began to laugh, except for maisey, who still felt anxious about her mom.

"girls," a lady interrupted, that lady being dianne fitzgerald, standing by the table, dressed in gingham and pearls.

"speak of the devil," maisey muttered under her breath as she stabbed at her salad.

"what?" mrs. fitzgerald snapped.

"nothing, mom," she answered, smiling up at the lady. "why are you here?"

"i wanted to check on you," she smiled, lacing her fingers together. "i actually wanted to talk to your guidance counsellor, but according to the secretary, he's been on leave since yesterday."

"oh, do you know why?" spencer questioned, making the girls shoot her a look. "sorry, curious."

"family emergency, they said."

emily choked on her drink, some family emergency that is.

"well, i'm doing alright, mom," maisey nodded. "you've checked on me. you should get going. i'm sure you're very busy with the functional members of our family."

dianne gave maisey a look, one meaning that the words she would have answered weren't words she could say in a public setting. "bye, maisey. bye, girls." she bid, instead. the woman turned around, beginning to walk, until she stopped and turned around to look back at the group. "i'll see you around, aria."

"see you, mrs. fitzgerald," aria said, voice cracking. the pearl clad lady smiled once more before walking out the courtyard, heels clacking against the concrete.

➳

thursday evening

she sat in ezra's apartment, watching a movie alongside her brother and aria. it was one she picked out herself, some indie coming of age movie, which was different from the black and white films ezra usually put on. the couple watched intently, but maisey scrolled away at her phone, having already watched the movie.

where are you? jason messaged, the notification popping up at the top of her screen.

ezra's. why? she replied.

i miss you.

she smiled at the screen, typing out her reply.

and waiting outside your building. he texted, before she had the chance to hit send.

what? she typed out, hitting send this time. im omw.

"um, i have, uh," maisey said to ezra and aria. she stood up, flattening her clothes. "company waiting outside."

"alright," ezra nodded, maisey returning the nod before making her way out the door. he turned to aria, trying to find the right words to say.