Sara Shepard - Wanted

Ali grabbed her arm. “Look!”

Hanna gazed into the crowd. Guys in red ties and girls in flirty pink and white dresses were staring at the sheets of paper she and Ali had Xeroxed this morning. The whispers began immediately. Jade Smythe and Jenny Kestler nudged each other. Two soccer boys hooted at Riley’s use of the word loins . Even Mr. Shay, the wizened old biology teacher who chaperoned every Rosewood Day event, chuckled giddily.

“Kate wants to go to V Club!” Kirsten Cullen tittered.

“I always knew there was something off about Naomi,” exclaimed Gemma Curran.

“ When you touch my arms during blocking, I feel there’s a real spark between us, ” Lanie Iler guffawed, reading from Riley’s letter to Christophe.

Ali nudged Hanna’s side. “Another problem solved by Ali D!” Her eyes sparkled.

Hanna spied Naomi, Kate, and Riley at the entrance. They were all dressed in identical satin gowns, Kate’s bloodred, Naomi’s virginal bride white, and Riley’s wallflowery blush. They pranced in like princesses.

“ Fag hag! ” someone croaked. Riley looked up, cocking her head like a dog.

“Hey, Naomi, want to see my Speedo?” another voice called. Naomi frowned.

A boy passed Kate a pink sheet of paper. She gave it a cursory glance at first, but then her jaw dropped. She nudged Naomi and Riley. Naomi covered her mouth. Riley glared around the room, searching for whoever had done this.

The whisperings and giggles intensified. Hanna squared her shoulders, seizing the opportunity. She marched straight up to Kate. “I thought you should have this.” She dropped a silver ring into Kate’s limp palm. “It’s a purity ring. You’ll need it when you join V Club.”

The crowd behind Hanna snickered. Hanna signaled to Scott Chin, her old friend on yearbook. He leaped out with his camera and snapped a picture of Kate’s horrified face. For once, Hanna was on the right side of the joke. They were laughing with her, not at her.

Kate’s cheeks bulged, as if she was about to vomit. “You did this, didn’t you? You and Courtney.”

Hanna shrugged nonchalantly. There was no point in denying it. She turned to Ali, wanting to give credit where credit was due, but Ali was gone.

Kate picked up the crumpled paper from the ground, smoothed it out, and shoved it into her quilted Chanel clutch. “I’m telling Tom about this.”

“Tell him,” Hanna announced. “I don’t care.” And then she realized: She didn’t . So what if Kate told her father? So what if he punished her again? Even if Hanna acted pure and sweet for the rest of her days, her relationship with her dad would never be the same.

Riley flapped her arms up and down like a scrawny chicken. “I get why you’d stoop so low, Hanna. But why would Courtney do this? She’s our friend.”

Hanna leaned against a column decorated with red and white streamers. “Please. You two have had this coming for years.”

“Huh?” Naomi huffed. Her boobs were nearly spilling out of her low-cut dress.

The crowd was getting thicker. More and more kids poured into the room and headed to the dance floor. “Courtney wanted to get back at you, obviously,” she answered loftily. “For what you did to Ali.”

Riley and Naomi exchanged a shocked glance. “ Huh? ” Riley exhaled. Her breath smelled like banana liqueur.

Hanna gazed down her nose at them. “You did something to Ali. That’s why she ditched you. This is Courtney’s way of getting even.”

Heart-shaped confetti suddenly rained magically from the ceiling, sprinkling the top of Naomi’s blond hair. She didn’t brush them away. “We didn’t do anything to Ali.” She shook her head. “One minute, Ali was our best friend. The next, she acted like she didn’t know us at all. I don’t know why she dropped us cold—or why she picked you to replace us. Everyone thought it was a joke, Hanna. You were such a loser.”

Hanna bristled. “It wasn’t a joke….”

Naomi shrugged. “Whatever. Ali was crazy and a liar, and her sister obviously is, too. They’re identical twins, remember? They share everything.”

Disco lights spiraled above Hanna’s head. She burped, tasting champagne. Her body felt hot, then cold. What they were saying couldn’t be true.

Naomi and Riley remained rigidly still, waiting for Hanna’s response. Finally, Hanna shrugged. “Whatever,” she said airily. “We both know you did something terrible, even if you won’t admit it.”

Hanna flipped her hair over her shoulder and swiveled around. “It’s your funeral!” Naomi called out as she walked away. Not that Hanna listened.

The enormous Valentine’s Day dance tent was overflowing with people by the time Emily arrived. Heat lamps were set up along the walls, making the room feel cozy but not stuffy, and a DJ in a red velvet jacket bopped on the stage, mixing a Fergie song into something by Lil Wayne. Mason Byers was swinging Lanie Iler around, Big Band–era style. Nicole Hudson and Kelly Hamilton, Naomi and Riley’s on-and-off sophomore toadies, were glaring at each other, annoyed because they’d both worn the same ruffled red gown. A couple of sheets of paper lay on the floor, big shoe marks over them. Emily picked one up. It seemed like a love letter to Sean Ackard. It was signed Kate Randall.

Emily straightened the pale pink dress Ali suggested Emily buy from BCBG. She’d gone all out for tonight, blow-drying her hair so that it was sleek and straight, borrowing Carolyn’s foundation, blush, and bronzer to make her skin look glowing and sparkly. She’d forced her flat, flipper-like swimmer’s feet into a pair of red Mary Janes she’d worn only once to a sports banquet. Emily wanted Ali to be dazzled by the sight of her.

A knot of kids gyrated on the dance floor. Andrew Campbell spun Spencer around, their hands entwined. Hanna had her arms in the air and was doing a slinky, sexy dance Emily could never pull off. The girl next to her was dressed in a gorgeous, lacy red gown, her hair piled seductively on her head. Ali. Then she noticed James Freed standing behind Ali, snaking his hands along her hips, up her waist, and dangerously close to her boobs.

It took Emily a couple of seconds to realize what was happening. Her heart lurched. But by the time she’d marched over to the circle, James had peeled off and started dancing on his own, doing a faux Justin Timberlake move that involved spinning on one heel.

“Hey,” Emily said in Ali’s ear.

Ali opened her eyes. “Hey, Em!” She kept dancing.

Emily paused, waiting. Surely Ali would do a double take. Certainly she’d blurt out, Oh my God, you look incredible! But now Ali was whispering something to Hanna. Hanna threw her auburn head back and cackled.

“For all you Valentines out there,” crooned the DJ as a slow, bluesy John Mayer song came on. Spencer hugged Andrew’s waist. Hanna danced with Mason Byers. Emily stared meaningfully at Ali’s back, but Ali still didn’t turn around. She fell into James’s arms as if they’d been a couple for years. They began rocking back and forth to the music.

A couple bumped into Emily from behind. She staggered to the side of the dance floor. Ali had said she…the other day at her house… I meant what I said about how I feel about you. A cold sweat crept down Emily’s neck. Did Ali mean it…or didn’t she?

Couples were disappearing into a smaller tent that said TUNNEL OF LUV toward the back. Rosewood Day had trotted out the creaky ride since Emily was in fifth grade, renting it from a local carnival supply company. The ride had about ten plastic swans, big enough for two people. The swans were so old that their yellow beaks were now a jaundiced tan, and much of the paint on their white bodies had flaked off entirely.