Credit: ABC Family

The most recent episode of Pretty Little Liars introduced a novel concept to us viewers: the possibility that Melissa (Torrey DeVitto) and Alison (Sasha Pieterse) could have been friends. With the recent reveal that Ali was pals with later nemesis Toby, is the idea of Mel and Ali being more friends or, at least, frenemies (Ali did go after Melissa’s boyfriend) so crazy to consider? Here are three reasons we think these two schemers spent more time together than the Liars have ever suspected.

Mask-making shop

In Season 4, Episode 3: “Cat’s Cradle,” the Liars discover that both Alison and Melissa had masks made at Hector Lime’s shop. Though it’s possible that the girls went their separately (or one followed the other, as suggested in the ep), we can’t help but think the PLL Powers That Be stressed the possibility that Melissa and Ali went there together. Melissa and Ali had a lot to squabble about - namely, their mutual attraction to Ian - but they also had a lot in common. Both girls are master manipulators who seem to take pleasure in lording secrets over others. We’ve always assumed this made them enemies (and the Liar-based flashbacks supported this theory), but what if it made them friends?

Hilton Resort

The mask-making shop isn’t the only random location both Melissa and Alison have ties to. In Season 1, it is revealed that both Ali and Melissa spent time at the Hilton Head, a hotel in South Carolina, right before Ali’s death. The Liars originally suspect that Ian was there with Ali, but Melissa eventually claims that she was there with Ian that weekend. This claim is thrown into question when Ian and Melissa screw up the details of their story, implying they had separate rooms. What if it wasn’t Ian who was meeting up with Melissa and/or Ali that weekend, but it was Melissa and Ali who were catching up?

Cape May

The final unexplored coincidence on our list is another non-Rosewood location Ali frequented in the summer before she died: Cape May. Last season, we found out from Cece that Ali spent a lot of time with “beach hottie” (speculated to be Wilden) that ill-fated summer. Cece shows the Liars a pic of she, Wilden, and Ali together, but who snapped the photo? Melissa. We’re not sure what went down on Cape May, but it is yet another example of the elder Hastings and Ali hanging out. Did these two have more in common than just their scheming ways? Could they have been — dare we say it — friends?

Do you think Melissa and Ali were friends? Let us know why or why not in the comments below!
