Unbelievable (22 page)

Hanna sat back, stunned. She felt like she was on one of those amusement park swings that abruptly changed directions halfway through the ride. “You and Lucas…dated?”

Mona lowered her eyes and pushed a stray lock of golden hair off her mask. “I’m sorry I never said anything about it before. It’s just that…Lucas is a loser, Han. I didn’t want you to think
I
was a loser too.”

Hanna ran her hands through her hair, thinking about her conversation with Lucas in the hot-air balloon. She had told him
everything,
and his face had been so innocent and open. She thought about how intensely they’d kissed, and the little moaning noises he’d made when she ran her fingers up and down his neck.

“So, he was trying to be my friend and saying nasty things about you to…to get back at you for dumping him?” Hanna stammered.

“I think so,” Mona said sadly. “
He’s
the one you shouldn’t trust, Hanna.”

Hanna stood up. She remembered how Lucas had said she was so pretty, and how
good
that had felt. How he’d read her DailyCandy blog entries while the nurses changed her IV fluids. How, after he’d kissed her in the hospital bed, Hanna’s heart rate had stayed elevated for a full half hour—she’d watched it on the heart monitor. Hanna had told Lucas about her eating issues. About Kate. About her friendship with Ali. About
A
! Why had he never told her about Mona?

Lucas was now sitting on another couch, talking to Andrew Campbell. Hanna made a beeline right for him, and Mona followed close behind, grabbing her arm. “Deal with this later. Why don’t I just throw him out? You should be enjoying your big night.”

Hanna waved Mona away. She poked Lucas in the back of his pin-striped vest. When Lucas turned around, he looked genuinely happy to see her, giving her a sweet, ecstatic smile.

“Mona told me the truth about you,” Hanna hissed, placing her hands on her hips. “You guys used to date.”

Lucas’s lip twitched. He blinked hard, opened his mouth, then shut it again. “Oh.”

“
That’s
what this is all about, isn’t it?” she demanded. “It’s why you want me to hate her.”

“Of course not.” Lucas looked at her, his brows furrowed. “We weren’t serious.”

“Right,”
Hanna scoffed.

“Hanna doesn’t like boys who lie,” Mona added, appearing behind Hanna.

Lucas’s mouth dropped open. A bloom of redness crawled from his neck to his cheeks. “But I suppose she likes
girls
who lie, huh?”

Mona crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m not lying about anything, Lucas.”

“No? So then you told Hanna what really happened at your party?”

“It doesn’t
matter
,” Hanna screeched.

“Of course I told her,” Mona said at the same time.

Lucas looked at Hanna, his face growing more and more crimson. “She did something awful to you.”

Mona inserted herself in front of him. “He’s just
jealous
.”

“She
humiliated
you,” Lucas added. “
I
was the one who came and saved you.”

“What?” Hanna squeaked in a small voice.

“Hanna.” Mona grabbed Hanna’s hands. “It’s all a misunderstanding.”

The DJ switched to a Lexi song. It was a song Hanna didn’t hear often, and at first she wasn’t sure when she’d heard it last. Then, all at once, she remembered. Lexi had been the special musical guest at Mona’s party.

A memory suddenly caught fire in Hanna’s mind. She saw herself wearing a skin-tight champagne-colored dress, struggling to walk into the planetarium without her outfit bursting at the seams. She saw Mona laughing at her, and then she felt her knee and elbow hitting the hard marble floor. There was a long, painful
riiiip
noise as her dress gave way, and everyone stood around her, laughing. Mona laughed the hardest of all.

Underneath her mask, Hanna’s mouth dropped open and her eyes widened.
No.
It couldn’t be true. Her memory was scrambled from the accident. And even if it was true, did it matter now? She looked down at her brand-new Paul & Joe bracelet, a delicate gold chain with a pretty butterfly charm clasp. Mona had bought it for her as a welcome-back-from-the-hospital present, giving it to Hanna right after A sent Mona that taunting e-card. “I don’t want us ever to be mad at each other again,” Mona had said as Hanna lifted the jewelry box lid.

Lucas stared at her expectantly. Mona had her hands on her hips, waiting. Hanna tied the mask’s ribbon closure in a tighter knot. “You’re just jealous,” she said to Lucas, putting her arm around Mona. “We’re best friends. Always will be.”

Lucas’s face crumpled. “Fine.” He wheeled around and ran out the door.

“
What
a lame-ass,” Mona said, sliding her arm in the crook of Hanna’s elbow.

“Yeah,” Hanna said, but her voice was so quiet, she doubted Mona heard.

28

POOR LITTLE DEAD GIRL

The sky was darkening on Friday night as Mrs. Fields dropped Emily and Trista off at the country club’s main entrance. “Now, you know the rules,” Mrs. Fields said sternly, draping her arm over Emily’s seat. “No drinking. Be home by midnight. Carolyn will give you girls a ride home. Got it?”

Emily nodded. It was kind of a relief that her mom was enforcing some rules. Her parents had been so lenient since she’d come home, she was beginning to think that they both had brain tumors or had been replaced by clones.

As Emily’s mom sped away, Emily straightened the black jersey dress she’d borrowed from Carolyn’s closet and tried not to wobble in her red leather kitten heels. In the distance, she could see the huge, glowing party tent. A Fergie song blared out of the speakers, and Emily heard Noel Kahn’s unmistakable voice cry, “That’s so
hot
!”

“I am so excited for tonight,” Trista said, grabbing Emily’s arm.

“Me too.” Emily pulled her jacket closer around her, watching the skeleton wind sock twist from the country club’s main entrance. “If you could be any Halloween character in the world, what would you be?” she asked. Lately, Emily had been thinking of everything in Tristaisms, trying to figure out which sort of spaghetti noodle she was most like, which Great Adventure roller coaster, which kind of deciduous Rosewood tree.

“Catwoman,” Trista answered promptly. “You?”

Emily looked away. Right now, she kind of felt like a witch. After Trista surprised Emily in the yearbook room, she’d explained that since her father was a pilot with US Air, she got big discounts even on last-minute flights. After Emily’s text yesterday, she’d decided to hop on a flight, accompany Emily to Hanna’s masquerade party, and camp out on Emily’s bedroom floor. Emily didn’t quite know how to say, “You shouldn’t have come”…and didn’t quite want to, either.

“When’s your friend meeting us?” Trista asked.

“Um, she’s probably already here.” Emily started across the parking lot, passing eight BMW 7 Series cars in a row.

“Cool.” Trista spread ChapStick over her lips. She passed it to Emily, and their fingers lightly touched. Emily felt tingles run through her, and when she met Trista’s eyes, the amorous look on Trista’s face indicated she was thinking equally tingly thoughts.

Emily stopped short next to the valet stand. “Listen. I have a confession to make. Maya is sort of my girlfriend.”

Trista stared at her blankly.

“And I kind of told her—and my parents—that you’re my pen pal,” Emily went on. “That we’ve been writing for a few years.”

“Oh,
really
?” Trista nudged her playfully. “Why didn’t you just tell her the truth?”

Emily swallowed, crushing a few dried, fallen leaves under her toe. “Well…I mean, if I told her what really happened…in Iowa…she might not get it.”

Trista smoothed down her hair with her hands. “But nothing
did
happen. We just danced.” She poked Emily in the arm. “Geez, is she
that
possessive?”

“No.” Emily stared at the Halloween scarecrow display on the country club’s front lawn. It was one of three scarecrows around the grounds, and yet a crow was perched on a nearby flagpole, not one bit frightened. “Not exactly.”

“Is it a problem that I’m here?” Trista asked pointedly.

Trista’s lips were the exact same pink as Emily’s favorite tutu back when she’d taken ballet. Her pale blue shift dress pulled against her shapely chest and showed the flatness of her stomach and the roundness of her butt. She was like a ripe, juicy fruit, and Emily sort of wanted to bite her. “Of course it’s not a problem you’re here,” Emily breathed.

“Good.” Trista pulled her mask over her face. “Then I’ll keep your secret.”

Once they entered the tent, Maya found Emily immediately, untied her rabbit-shaped mask, and pulled Emily close for an extra-passionate kiss. Emily opened her eyes in the middle of it, and noticed that Maya was staring directly at Trista, seemingly flaunting what she and Emily were doing. “When are you going to ditch her?” Maya whispered in Emily’s ear. Emily looked away, pretending she hadn’t heard.

As they moved through the party tent, Trista kept grabbing Emily’s arm and gasping, “It’s so beautiful! Look at all the pillows!” And, “There are so many hot
guys
in Pennsylvania!” And, “So many girls here wear diamonds!” Her mouth fell open like a little kid’s on her first trip to Disney World. When a crowd of kids at the bar separated them, Maya pulled off her mask.

“Was that girl raised in a hermetically sealed terrarium?” Maya’s eyes bugged out. “Honestly, why does she find
everything
so amazing?”

Emily glanced at Trista as she leaned up against the bar. Noel Kahn had approached her and was now seductively running his hand up and down Trista’s arm. “She’s just excited to be here,” she mumbled. “Things are pretty boring in Iowa.”

Maya cocked her head and stood back. “It’s quite a coincidence that you have a pen pal in the
exact same
Iowa town you were banished to last week.”

“Not really,” Emily croaked, staring at the shimmering disco ball in the middle of the tent. “She’s from the same town as my cousins, so Rosewood Day did an exchange with her school. We started writing a couple years ago.”

Maya mushed her lips together, her jaw tense. “She’s awfully
pretty.
Did you pick pen pals by their pictures?”

“It wasn’t, like, Match.com.” Emily shrugged, trying to act oblivious.

Maya gave her a knowing look. “It would make sense if you did. You loved Alison DiLaurentis, and Trista looks a lot like her.”

Emily tensed up, her eyes flicking back and forth. “No, she doesn’t.”

Maya looked away. “Whatever.”

Emily considered her next words very carefully. “That banana gum you chew, Maya. Where do you get it?”

Maya looked confused. “My father brought me a carton from London.”

“Can you get it in the States? Do you know anyone else who chews it?” Emily’s heart pounded.

Maya stared at her. “Why the hell are you asking me about banana gum?” Before Emily could answer, Maya turned away. “Look, I’m going to go to the bathroom, okay? Don’t go anywhere without me. We can talk when I get back.”

Emily watched Maya snake through the baccarat tables, feeling like she had hot coals in her stomach. Almost immediately, Trista emerged from the crowd, holding three plastic cups. “They’re spiked,” she whispered excitedly, pointing to Noel, who was still standing by the bar. “That boy had a flask of something and gave me some.” She looked around. “Where’s Maya?”

Emily shrugged. “Off being pissy.”

Trista had removed her mask, and her skin glowed in the flashing dance floor lights. With her pursed, pink lips, her wide, blue eyes, and high cheekbones, maybe she did look a little like Ali. Emily shook her head and reached for one of the cups—she would drink this first, figure out everything else later. Trista’s finger ran seductively down Emily’s wrist. Emily tried to keep her face impassive, even though she felt like she was about to melt.

“So, if you were a color right now, what color would you be?” Trista whispered.

Emily looked away.

“I’d be red,” Trista whispered. “But…not a mad red. Like a deep, dark, beautiful sexy red. A lusty red.”

“I think I’d be that color, too,” Emily admitted.

The music thumped like a pulse. Emily took a long, needy drink, her nose tickling with the spicy flavor of rum. When Trista curled her hand around Emily’s, Emily’s heart jumped. They moved closer, then closer still, until their lips were nearly touching. “Maybe we shouldn’t do this,” Trista whispered.

But Emily moved closer anyway, her body rippling with excitement.

A hand smacked Emily on the back. “What the
hell
?”

Maya stood behind them, her nostrils flaring. Emily took a giant step away from Trista, opening and closing her mouth like a goldfish. “I thought you were going to the bathroom” was all Emily could think to say.

Maya blinked, her face purple with fury. Then, she turned and stormed out of the tent, pushing people out of her way.

“Maya!” Emily followed her through the doors. But just before she was about to exit, she felt a hand on her arm. It was a man she didn’t recognize in a police uniform. He had short spiky hair and a lanky build. His badge said
SIMMONS
.

“Are you Emily Fields?” the cop asked.

Emily nodded slowly, her heart suddenly quickening.

“I need to ask you a couple questions.” The cop placed his hand gently on Emily’s shoulder. “Have you…have you been getting some threatening messages?”

Emily’s mouth fell open. The flickering strobe lights made her woozy. “W-why?”

“Your friend Aria Montgomery told us about them this afternoon,” the cop said.

“What?” Emily shrieked.

“It’ll be okay,” the cop reassured her. “I just want to know what you know, all right? It’s probably someone you know, someone right under your nose. If you talk to us, maybe we can figure it out together.”

Emily looked out the tent’s filmy opening. Maya was darting across the grass, her heels sinking into the dirt. A horrible feeling washed over Emily. She thought of how Maya had looked at her when she said,
I heard that the person who hit Hanna was stalking her.
How could Maya have known that?