Sara Shepard: Pretty Little Liars

“No, it was something else, but I’m okay,” Emily answered, even though that wasn’t true.

“Spencer.” Hanna’s head popped up. “I, um, I saw you at the mall recently.”

Spencer looked at Hanna. “Huh?”

“You were…you were going into Kate Spade.” Hanna looked down. “I don’t know. I was going to say hi. But, um, I’m glad you don’t have to order those purses from New York anymore.” She put her head down and blushed, as if she’d said too much.

Emily was startled—she hadn’t seen Hanna make that expression in years.

Spencer’s brow crinkled. Then, a sad, tender look came over her face. She swallowed hard and looked down. “Thanks,” she murmured. Her shoulders started to shake and she squeezed her eyes shut. Emily felt her own throat choking up. She’d never actually seen Spencer cry.

Aria put her hand on Spencer’s shoulder. “It’s okay,” she said.

“Sorry,” Spencer said, wiping her eyes with her sleeve. “I just…” She glanced around at all of them and then started crying even harder.

Emily hugged her. It felt a little awkward, but by the way Spencer squeezed her hand, Emily could tell she appreciated it.

When they sat back, Hanna pulled a tiny silver flask out of her bag and reached over Emily to pass it to Spencer. “Here,” she whispered.

Without even smelling it or asking what it was, Spencer took a huge swallow. She winced but said, “Thanks.”

She passed the flask back to Hanna, who drank and handed it to Emily. Emily took a sip, which burned in her chest, then passed it to Aria. Before drinking, Aria pulled on Spencer’s sleeve.

“This’ll make you feel better too.” Aria tugged down the shoulder of her dress to reveal a white knitted bra strap. Emily immediately recognized it—Aria had knitted heavy woolen bras for all the girls in seventh grade. “I wore it for old time’s sake,” Aria whispered. “It’s itching like hell.”

Spencer sputtered out a laugh. “Oh my God.”

“You’re such a spaz,” Hanna added, grinning.

“I could never wear mine, remember?” Emily chimed in. “My mom thought it was too sexy for school!”

“Yeah.” Spencer giggled. “If you can call scratching your boobs all day sexy.”

The girls snickered. Suddenly, Aria’s cell phone buzzed. She reached into her bag and looked at the phone’s screen.

“What?” Aria looked up, realizing they were all staring at her.

Hanna fiddled with her charm bracelet. “Did you, um, just get a text message?”

“Yeah. So?”

“Who was it?”

“It was my mom,” Aria answered slowly. “Why?”

Low pipe organ music began to lilt through the church. Behind them, more kids shuffled in quietly. Spencer glanced nervously at Emily. Emily’s heart started to pound.

“Never mind,” Hanna said. “That was nosy.”

Aria licked her lips. “Wait. Seriously. Why? ”

Hanna’s adam’s apple rose with a nervous swallow. “I…I just thought maybe strange things had been happening to you, too.”

Aria’s mouth fell open. “Strange is an understatement.”

Emily clutched her arms around herself.

“Wait. You guys, too?” Spencer whispered.

Hanna nodded. “Texts?”

“E-mails,” Spencer said.

“About…stuff from seventh?” Aria whispered.

“Are you guys serious ?” Emily squeaked.

The friends stared at each other. But before anyone could say anything else, the somber-sounding pipe organ filled the room.

Emily turned around. A bunch of people were walking slowly up the center aisle. It was Ali’s mom and dad, her brother, her grandparents, and some others who must’ve been relatives. Two redheaded boys were the last to come down the aisle; Emily recognized them as Sam and Russell, Ali’s cousins. They used to visit Ali’s family every summer. Emily hadn’t seen them in years, and wondered if they were still as gullible as they used to be.

The family members slid into the front row and waited for the music to stop.

As Emily stared at them, she noticed movement. One of the pimply, redheaded cousins was staring at them. Emily was pretty sure it was the one named Sam—he’d been the geekier of the two. He stared at all the girls and then slowly and flirtatiously raised an eyebrow. Emily quickly looked away.

She felt Hanna jab her in the ribs. “Not it,” Hanna whispered to the girls.

Emily looked at her, puzzled, but then Hanna motioned with her eyes to the two gangly cousins.

All the girls caught on at the same time. “Not it,” Emily, Spencer, and Aria said at once.

They all giggled. But then Emily paused, considering what “not it” really meant. She’d never thought about it before, but it was kind of mean. When she looked around, she noticed her friends had stopped laughing too. They all exchanged a look.

“I guess it was funnier back then,” Hanna said quietly.

Emily sat back. Maybe Ali didn’t know everything. Yes, this might have been the worst day of her life, and she was horribly devastated about Ali, and completely freaked about A. But for a moment, she felt okay. Sitting here with her old friends seemed like the tiny beginning of something.

The organ started up again with its dreary music, and Ali’s brother and the others filed out of the church. Spencer, tipsy from a few slugs of whiskey, noticed that her three old friends had stood up and were filing out of the pew, and she figured she should go, too.

Everyone from Rosewood Day hung out at the back of the church, from the lacrosse boys to the video game–obsessed geeks who Ali no doubt would have teased back in seventh. Old Mr. Yew—the one in charge of the Rosewood Day charity drive—stood in the corner, talking quietly to Mr. Kaplan, who taught art. Even Ali’s older JV field hockey friends had returned from their respective colleges; they stood in a teary huddle near the door. Spencer scanned the familiar faces, remembering all the people she used to know and didn’t anymore. And then, she saw a dog—a seeing-eye dog.

Oh my God.

Spencer grabbed Aria’s arm. “By the exit,” she hissed.

Aria squinted. “Is that…?”

“Jenna,” Hanna murmured.

“And Toby,” Spencer added.

Emily turned pale. “What are they doing here?”

Spencer was too stunned to answer. They looked the same but totally different. His hair was long now, and she was…gorgeous, with long black hair and wearing big Gucci sunglasses.

Toby, Jenna’s brother, caught Spencer staring. A sour, disgusted look settled over his face. Spencer quickly jerked her eyes away.

“I can’t believe he showed up,” she whispered, too quietly for the others to hear.

By the time the girls reached the heavy wooden doors that led to the church’s crumbling stone steps, Toby and Jenna were gone. Spencer squinted in the sunlight of the brilliant, perfectly blue sky. It was one of those lovely early-fall days with no humidity, where you were dying to skip school, lie in a field, and not think about your responsibilities. Why was it always on days like this that something horrible happened?

Someone touched her shoulder and Spencer jumped. It was a blond burly cop. She motioned for Hanna, Aria, and Emily to go on without her.

“Are you Spencer Hastings?” he asked.

She nodded dumbly.

The cop wrung his enormous hands together. “I’m very sorry for your loss,” he said. “You were good friends with Ms. DiLaurentis, right?”

“Thanks. Yeah, I was.”

“I’m going to need to talk with you.” The cop reached into his pocket. “Here’s my card. We’re reopening the case. Since you were friends, you might be able to help us. Is it okay if I come by in a couple of days?”