Sara Shepard - Unbelievable

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.

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parents had been so lenient since she’d come home, she was beginning to think that they both had brain tumors or had been replaced by clones.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.