Ali's Pretty Little Lies (12 page)

“Oh, definitely,” Hanna said, giving Ali a quick smile.

Ali walked to the TV and flicked it on, wanting to forget what had just happened. Hanna was all too eager to plop down beside her, probably relieved to let things drop, too. But as they flipped through the channels, all Ali could see was herself lying in a spare hospital bed at the Preserve. Tied down, as they used to do at the Radley to girls who got too upset.

I know what you’ve been doing
, her sister’s voice echoed in her mind.
Say your good-byes.

14

2 GOOD + 2 BE = 4 GOTTEN

The following day, the girls cruised up and down the aisles of Saks. The store was tastefully lit with recessed lights on signature pieces, and the walls were painted in black-and-white stripes. Dance music pumped out of hidden speakers, and thin, pretty salesgirls floated around the room with warm smiles on their faces. But Ali’s favorite thing about Saks was that it always smelled like they were inside a perfume factory. No other department store smelled as good.

Hanna plucked a quilted Chanel purse from a shelf. “This. Definitely.” The girls were playing their favorite game: What Would You Buy If You Had All the Money in the World?

“Really?” Ali made a face. “That’s so grandmotherly.”

Hanna looked horrified and dropped it. “Uh, I picked up the wrong one. I meant this.” She showed her a red Louis Vuitton. Ali nodded her approval, and Hanna smiled with relief.

“I’m into this one,” Emily said, holding up a Chloé satchel. “Can’t you just see me carrying this to school?”

“That’s gorgeous,” Ali said, sighing. “I wish I’d seen it first.”

Emily pushed it toward her. “You take it. I can pick something else.”

Ali rolled her eyes. “It’s just a
game
, Emily.” She selected a Dior satchel from the wall. “I’ll make do with this.”

“Can I help you, girls?” a saleswoman asked behind them. She raised an eyebrow when she saw the luxury pieces in their hands. Ali glanced at the others, and they burst out laughing, then dropped everything and scampered away.

“Let’s go to Contemporary,” Ali announced. “I actually want to spend some money today.”

They filed onto the escalators and peered at their reflections in the mirrored walls. Ali was wearing skinny jeans and a flowing hot-pink top she’d seen on the cover of
Teen Vogue.
Aria had put a blue streak in her hair and wore a silver sequined shirt, blue flare-leg jeans, and clunky wedges. Hanna had on a beautiful French Connection mini-dress that was, unfortunately, way too small on her. Spencer looked superpreppy in a Lacoste tennis dress and Tory Burch flats, and Emily wore her uniform of baggy jeans and a plain blue T-shirt. Ali made a mental note to persuade her to buy something cute today.

As they got off at Contemporary, Ali spied a skinny ice-blonde by the dresses and froze. It was Iris, her sister’s old roommate at the Preserve. She was with two other girls her own age, and when she saw Ali, a malicious smile spread across her face. She waggled her fingers in a taunting wave.

Emily frowned. “Do you know her?”

“No,” Ali said, guiding her friends across the sales floor, far, far away.

She took deep breaths as they headed toward the jeans.
It doesn’t matter that she’s here
, she told herself.
She won’t say anything about the Preserve. She probably doesn’t want the girls she’s with to know she was committed.

She stared intensely at the rack of jeans, pretending Iris wasn’t there. Aria, Emily, and Spencer drifted over as well, and soon, all five of them were at the jeans wall, pulling out their sizes in skinny-legs and bootcut, dark wash and light. Then they trooped for the dressing rooms, squeezing into one together before the salesgirl yelled, “Only one girl per room, please.”

Halfway through her massive pile of clothes to try, Ali spun around in the three-way-mirror; then noticed Emily sitting on the couch at the end of the dressing room hall with a wistful, faraway look on her face. She stopped. “Why aren’t you trying anything on, Em?”

Emily shook her head. “This stuff is way too expensive. My parents would die if they saw the prices.”

“We’ll chip in and buy you something,” Ali offered.

But Emily seemed in her own world, simply offering Ali a vague smile and a shrug. “I’ll just watch you try stuff on. I don’t mind.”

Suddenly, Ali perked up, a thought forming in her head. She perched on the edge of the couch. “Did something happen between you and that guy?” she asked excitedly.

Emily frowned. “What guy?”

Ali cuffed her gently. “You know! Your crush, silly!”

“Oh.” Emily’s mouth twitched. “No. Nothing has happened with that.”

“Are you going to tell me who he is yet?” Ali asked.

“Who
who
is?” Aria asked, bursting out of another dressing room in a pair of skinny corduroys. “Do you like someone, Em?
Who?
”

Emily looked back and forth, a panicked expression rolling across her features. She suddenly reminded Ali of the cat, Kiki, her family had when she still lived at home—whenever they tried to corner Kiki to take her to the vet, she’d arch her back and widen her eyes just like Emily was doing now. “Um . . .”

“Is it that guy from swimming?” Spencer asked. “What was his name . . . Ben? He’s so cute.”

“I think she should like Kenneth Griggs in my art class,” Aria said.

“He’s gorgeous!” Hanna stepped out of a dressing room, too. “You guys would look amazing together!”

“It’s not Ben,” Emily said in a small voice. “Or Kenneth.”

Suddenly Ali knew what she had to do. “Guys, if Em doesn’t want to tell us quite yet, then we need to give her some space.”

The girls nodded and stepped inside their dressing rooms once more. After the doors closed Ali grabbed Emily’s hand and pulled her into the shoe area. “Sorry they overheard. But you can tell
me
, right?”

Emily looked like she really, really had to pee but was trying to hold it in. “I don’t think so.”

A wave of hurt coursed through Ali. Why wasn’t she good enough to tell? She disguised it with a frown of disgust. “I don’t understand. Why is it such a big deal?”

Emily paused and stared at the Kate Spade pumps on the wall. As Ali waited, she felt the distinct sense that someone was staring at her. Across the room, Iris had reappeared, leaning against a rack of blazers, her gaze on Ali, a strange smile on her face. Ali swallowed a lump in her throat and turned away.

“Please, Em?” Ali said softly. “Maybe I can help. Is it someone your parents wouldn’t approve of? Someone older?”

Emily’s big, freckly face reddened. She shook her head.

Annoyed, Ali tried a last-ditch effort. “You know my friend Cassie? She asked me to be her BFF. And I’m thinking about it.”

Emily blinked with this change of subject. “Really?” She sounded crushed.

“I wasn’t going to be, but if you won’t trust me, then maybe we’re not as close as I thought,” Ali said.

Emily’s eyes were wet with tears. “I can’t,” she whispered. And then, swallowing hard, she ducked around a rack of Jimmy Choos and ran.

“Emily!” Ali cried, running after her.

Emily darted into the skin-cream section, but Ali lost her near the makeup. She searched for the strawberry-blond head in Accessories and Men’s, but Emily was nowhere. Then she spied a small, discreet sign for a women’s bathroom a few paces down and jogged over to it.

Classical music tinkled inside. The room smelled like roses and had a small basket on the sink containing hair spray, gel, spray-on deodorant, tampons, and butterscotch candies. The towel girl, who was leaning against the sink and tapping on her cell phone, smiled at Ali. One pair of sneakers was visible under the stall door. They were Emily’s.

Ali spied a familiar denim backpack on the counter. She couldn’t remember how many times she’d told Emily that carrying around a backpack wasn’t cool, but Emily always said it was the best on her swimmer’s shoulders. The flap was open, and a few of her notebooks peeked out. The doodles Emily was so fond of drawing were visible on the cover.

Ali glanced at the feet under the stall, then at the bag again. It felt like Emily had purposefully left it there for Ali to find.

When the towel girl’s back turned, she pulled the bag toward her and slid the top notebook out.
Upper Main Line Swimming!
Emily had written in bubble letters on the front, the name of her year-round competitive swim club. Below it, she listed the names of the girls on her state-champion relay team. Next to that were doodles of the dog character on
Family Guy
, which Emily wasn’t allowed to watch at her house, and a large red heart with the letter
A
in the center.

A
, Ali thought, her stomach jumping. She was on to something.

She lifted the cardboard cover of the notebook and looked at the first page, but there was nothing written there. She flipped through the pieces of lined paper, but they only contained notes about the Pythagorean theorem and little geometric diagrams. There was a rattling sound of toilet paper on the roll, and Ali froze and looked up. Emily’s feet shifted beneath the stall. She let out a loud sniff, like she was crying.

Whose name started with
A
? Andrew Campbell? Austin Chang? That hot senior Aaron Gearheart?

Oh God, it’s Aaron Gearheart
, Ali thought, her stomach sinking. Aaron dated girls from Hollis—rumor had it he’d even gotten someone pregnant. He’d eat someone like Emily for breakfast.

She flipped through more pages, praying it wasn’t Aaron. When she got to the very last piece of notebook paper, she spied a small red heart in the corner. It was so small, in fact, Ali could only read the handwriting if she put her face very close and squinted.

I love Ali.

15

PLAYLAND ISN’T JUST FOR KIDS

The following afternoon, Ali stood in the doorway at Rive Gauche. Bartenders in crisp white shirts flitted around pouring drinks and cleaning glasses. A waitress rushed past with a tureen of rich-smelling fondue. A few girls from school were sitting in a booth, including Melissa Hastings, who had already noticed Ali and was glowering. Ali craned her neck, looking around for Nick—he was working today and had asked if she’d stop by during his break—but she didn’t see him anywhere.

She was so happy he’d texted. In some ways, she
needed
to see him, needed to confirm to the world that she liked a
guy
. Finding that heart on Emily’s notebook had shaken her to her core—she’d dropped the notebook and run out of the bathroom as fast as she could, mumbling a lame excuse to Spencer and the others and begging Jason to come pick her up right away. How had she not sensed Emily’s feelings? All those times Emily had defended her, all those compliments she gave. Even yesterday, Emily had been content just sitting on the couch in the dressing area watching Ali model the jeans in front of the three-way mirror. Ali had changed in front of her a zillion times, thinking nothing of it. This totally explained why Emily had watched Ali so closely when she did that sexy dance to the Justin Timberlake album a few weekends ago. And she’d made a contented little sigh when Ali was finished, like she’d dream about Ali later that night. . . .

Ali wasn’t sure how she was supposed to handle it. It was clear Emily was terrified to tell Ali her feelings. She probably knew Ali would tell her she didn’t feel the same way and that their friendship would crumble. Emily was too valuable of a friend for that, though—she was so easy to talk to and, more than that, so
controllable
. She did anything Ali asked—Ali would never find a sidekick like that again.

“Earth to Alison?”

Ali looked up and saw Nick in the doorway, dressed in Rive Gauche’s white shirt and black pants. “Hey,” she said with a big smile. Just being with him again made her suddenly feel so relaxed, as though she’d slipped into a warm bath.

A beep sounded, and Nick glanced down at his phone. After staring at the screen for a moment, he dropped it in his pants pocket. “So,” he said, grinning at her, his blue eyes bright and clear. “Do you want to go on the merry-go-round with me?”

Ali almost burst out laughing. “Are you serious? The one in the kiddie playland down the hall?”

Nick smirked. “Why? Are you too cool to go on a merry-go-round?”

Normally, Ali would have said yes, but something about riding a merry-go-round with Nick seemed kind of fun. “I’ll go if you go,” she challenged.

“You’re on.” Tingles shot up Ali’s spine as he grabbed her hand. Together, they walked out of the restaurant and down the long corridor, passing a cluster of stores, including Woof, the luxury pet store. When she’d first taken her sister’s place in Rosewood, she’d spent hours in there, admiring the cashmere blankets, leather pet clothes, and organic treats even though her family didn’t have a pet.
This is a place where even
dogs
have to wear the right clothes
, she’d thought.

Nick looked at the store. “Are you a dog person or a cat person?”

“A gerbil person, remember?” Ali teased. “But I guess I’d pick cats over dogs.”

“That means you’re aloof and mysterious,” Nick said.

“Or that I don’t like dog slobber,” Ali pointed out.

“Or that you don’t like watching dogs hump everything that moves.”

Ali burst out laughing.

They passed Chanel, Bloomingdale’s, and a high-end kids’ store, chatting about school, homework, and Nick’s new job—he’d already had a woman who could’ve been his mother hit on him today. “It was totally weird,” he admitted. Then he looked at her. “Have you ever gone out with anyone older?”

Ali thought of Ian, then of her and Spencer’s game to kiss as many older boys as they could. She’d made out with a few eighth graders, and once even a ninth grader, but they’d just been simple kisses, nothing more. “Not really,” she admitted. “Have you?”