Sara Shepard - Stunning

“I’ve really missed you,” Isaac went on.

Emily pulled back, feeling bad. Isaac deserved her full attention. It felt good to be wrapped in his arms, but she was so scared that any minute, the delicate house of cards that was her life would topple over.

She couldn’t help but scan the crowd again. Mr. Marin stood up and strode across the room to someone who’d just emerged from a side entrance. Emily craned her neck to see, but her view was blocked.

“So what do you say?” Isaac asked.

Emily blinked stupidly. Isaac had been speaking this whole time and she hadn’t heard a word. “What was that?”

Isaac licked his lips. “I wanted to know if we’re dating again.”

Emily’s mouth opened, but no words came out. Despite her distraction, despite the fact that she was keeping something huge from Isaac, the words felt welcome.

“There’s only one thing,” Isaac interrupted before Emily had a chance to speak. “Something is bothering you. Something you think you can’t talk about. But you can , Emily. Whatever it is, I’m here for you. If it’s something with that guy we saw at Hollis the other day, don’t be afraid to tell me.”

Emily shut her eyes. “It doesn’t have anything to do with Derrick.”

“But it is something?”

The trumpets blaring on the stage were starting to make Emily’s head hurt. “It’s nothing.”

“You seem so stressed.” Isaac’s voice was pleading. “I just want to help.”

Emily concentrated on the dance steps, delaying her answer. Isaac cared and wanted to make everything better, which made her feel relieved and terrible at the same time. She wanted him to like her. She wanted him to want to get back together with her. But what did she want for herself?

“Breaking up was a huge mistake, Emily,” Isaac said, staring deeply into Emily’s eyes. “I want to start over. What do you think?”

“I . . .” Emily started, but then she noticed another blond figure at the edge of the dance floor. She was the right height and build, and Mr. Marin was talking to her happily and graciously. Emily ducked, her heart jackhammering again. “Oh my God,” she whispered.

She grabbed Isaac once more, pulled him off the dance floor, and escaped around the corner to a small alcove that held a variety of meteorites behind glass. Isaac crossed his arms over his chest, looking fed up. “Are you going to let me in on what’s going on with you tonight?”

The woman talking to Mr. Marin turned slightly. Only a few more degrees, and she’d see Emily and Isaac. Thinking quickly, she grabbed the sides of Isaac’s face and planted her lips squarely on his. Isaac’s eyes widened for a moment, but then they fluttered closed, and he passionately kissed her back. Emily felt her pulse pounding firmly in her fingertips and her lips. The kiss felt good, but she knew it was only a means to an end. She felt like the worst person in the world.

Isaac pulled back for a moment and smiled crookedly. “So I guess that’s a yes?”

Emily swallowed hard, feeling like she’d just done something she couldn’t undo. She wasn’t acting like herself at all. She glanced again into the ballroom. The woman who’d been talking to Mr. Marin was gone.

Beep.

Her phone was glowing through the flimsy mesh fabric of her silver clutch. Emily stared at it in horror. “It looks like you have a text,” Isaac said, sounding relaxed and happy.

A lump formed in Emily’s throat. She pulled out the phone and peeked at the screen. Her blood ran cold.

“Isaac, I have to go,” she whispered.

“ Go? ” The content look on Isaac’s face vanished. “What are you talking about?”

Emily took a few frantic paces back into the ballroom. Mr. Marin was still talking to the woman, and though Emily was almost positive she was Gayle, her face was still turned away. Emily looked around the rest of the room. It was even more crowded than a few seconds ago. Where the hell was Hanna? Why didn’t she see Aria? There was no time to waste.

“Emily?” She felt a hand on her sleeve. Isaac was staring at her, his mouth a straight line. “Who just texted you?”

The band finished its song, and everyone on the dance floor clapped. Emily stared into Isaac’s open, caring face. She knew what walking away without explaining looked like. But she didn’t know what else to do.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, and then turned and fled across the dance floor.

“Emily!” Isaac called after her, but Emily kept going, weaving through the crowds until she reached the lobby. She dug inside her clutch, pulled out her cell phone, and read the horrible note once more. Just looking at the words made her stomach lurch. This couldn’t be happening.

I’ve got your baby. If you want her to be safe, come to 56 Mockingbird Drive. Ticktock! —A

Aria pulled into the Gemological Museum lot, fluffed her hair, and checked her makeup in the rearview mirror. She’d done a fair job of cleaning up the tear-streaked mess she’d been after her argument with Noel, but she still looked stressed and tired. Then again, she didn’t have anyone to impress at this party.

After she parked, she pulled out her phone and composed a text to Noel. Please let me explain , she wrote. Everything that happened . . . it was kind of out of my control. Someone forced me to break up with you. Someone is threatening me and controlling my life.

Then she hit DELETE fast. The text gave away too much. She couldn’t tell Noel about A.

Swallowing a sob, she slammed the door and walked toward the entrance, which was lit on either side by glowing Japanese lanterns. A gust of wind kicked up, rolling an empty Coke can down the sidewalk. Aria heard a whisper and whirled around, staring at the line of parked cars.

After a few seconds of peering into nothingness, sensing no movement, she pressed on. A few kids were clustered by the front hedges, staring at something on their cell phones. “ So desperate,” Riley snickered.

“She is loser, no?” Klaudia shivered in her strapless, barely-there black dress.

Aria peeked at the cell phone screen over Riley’s shoulder. There was a picture of Hanna wearing army fatigues and hiding in the plastic bushes at the mall concourse. Aria had no idea what it was all about, but before she could ask any questions, Emily barreled out of the double doors, grabbed her shoulder, and pulled her to the other side of the walkway.

“Thank God I found you,” Emily said, her voice full of fear. “I need your car.”

“What happened?” Aria asked. “Did you get Gayle’s phone already?”

“No, but this is much more important.”

Emily held her phone in Aria’s face. I’ve got your baby, said the screen. Aria clapped a hand over her mouth. “Do you think it’s true?”

“I’m not waiting around to find out.” Emily started toward the parking lot, then noticed Hanna trudging out the door with an ashamed look on her face. She waved her over. “You have to see this.”

Hanna looked pained, like she didn’t feel like dealing with anything right now, but she walked over and inspected the text. Color drained from her face. “ Shit . How could this happen?”

“I don’t know. But I have to save her.” Emily’s eyes darted back and forth. “If Ali has her, who knows what she’ll do?”

“Em, it’s not Ali who has Violet,” Aria whispered. “Don’t you see? It’s Gayle. I saw her going into Babies “R” Us last night with a huge, weird smile on her face. She was getting ready for when she found your baby.”

Emily frowned, then peered at the hulking museum behind them. “But isn’t Gayle here? I thought I saw her talking to your dad, Hanna.”