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ambulance screamed past. A gust of wind kicked up, blow-
ing dust into her face. She wiped her eyes and stared as the
ambulance got to the top of the hill and paused at Alison s
street.
Now it was turning onto Alison s street. Fear seized Emily.
Ali s street was . . . Maya s street. She gripped the rubber
handles of her bike.
With all the craziness, she d forgotten the secret Maya had
told her last night. The cutting. The hospital. That huge,
jagged scar. Sometimes I just feel like I need to, Maya had
said.
Oh my God, Emily whispered.
She pedaled furiously and skidded around the corner. If
the ambulance sirens stop by the time I get around the
corner, she thought, Maya will be okay.
But then the ambulance pulled to a stop in front of Maya s
212
house. The sirens were still roaring. Police cars were every-
where.
No, Emily whispered. White-coated medics got out of
the vehicle and ran for the house. A ton of people littered
Maya s yard, some with cameras. Emily threw her bike at the
curb and ran crookedly toward the house.
Emily!
Maya burst through the crowd. Emily gasped, then ran
into Maya s arms, tears messily running down her face.
You re okay. Emily sobbed. I was afraid
I m fine, Maya said.
But there was something in her voice that was clearly not
fine. Emily stood back. Maya s eyes were red and watery.
Her mouth was drawn down nervously.
What is it? Emily asked. What s going on?
Maya swallowed. They found your friend.
What? Emily stared at her, then at the scene on Maya s
lawn. It was all so eerily familiar: the ambulance, the cop
cars, the crowds of people, the long-lensed cameras. A news
helicopter hovered overhead. This was exactly the same
scene as three years ago, when Ali went missing.
Emily stepped back out of Maya s arms, grinning in dis-
belief. She had been right!
Alison was back at her house, like nothing had ever hap-
pened. I knew it! she whispered.
Maya took Emily s hand. They were digging for our
tennis court. My mom was there. She . . . saw her. I heard her
scream from my bedroom.
Emily dropped her hand. Wait. What?
I tried to call you, Maya added.
Emily wrinkled her brow and stared back at Maya. Then
she looked at the twenty-strong team of cops. At Mrs. St.
Germain sobbing by the tire swing. At the POLICE LINE, DO
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NOT CROSS tape loops around the backyard. And then at the
van parked in the driveway. It said, ROSEWOOD PD MORGUE.
She had to read it six times for it to make sense. Her heart
sped up and suddenly she couldn t breathe.
I don t . . . understand, Emily sputtered, taking another
step back. Who did they find?
Maya looked at her sympathetically, her eyes shiny with
tears. Your friend Alison, she whispered. They just found
her body.
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31
Hell Is Other People
Byron Montgomery took a big sip of coffee and shakily lit
his pipe. They found her when they were excavating the
concrete slab in the DiLaurentises old backyard to put in a
tennis court.
She was under the concrete, Ella jumped in. They knew
it was her from the ring she was wearing. But they re doing
DNA tests to make sure.
It felt like a fist was pummeling Aria s stomach. She
remembered Ali s white-gold initialed ring. Ali s parents had
gotten it for her at Tiffany s when she was ten after she got
her tonsils out. Ali liked to wear it on her pinkie.
Why did they have to do DNA tests? Mike asked. Was
she all decomposed?
Michelangelo! Byron frowned. That s not a very sensi-
tive thing to say in front of your sister.
Mike shrugged and jammed a piece of sour green-apple
Bubble Tape into his mouth. Aria sat opposite him, tears qui-
etly running down her cheeks, absentmindedly unraveling
215
the edge of a rattan place mat. It was 2 P.M., and they were
sitting around the kitchen table.
I can handle it. Aria s throat constricted. Was she
decomposed?
Her parents looked at each other. Well, yes, her father
said, scratching his chest through a little hole in his shirt.
Bodies break down pretty fast.
Sick, Mike whispered.
Aria shut her eyes. Alison was dead. Her body was rotted.
Someone had probably killed her.
Sweetheart? Ella asked quietly, cupping her hand over
Aria s. Honey, are you all right?
I don t know, Aria murmured, trying not to start bawling
all over again.
Would you like a Xanax? Byron asked.
Aria shook her head.
I ll take a Xanax, Mike said quickly.
Aria nervously picked at the side of her thumb. Her body
felt hot and then cold. She didn t know what to do or think.
The only person who she thought might make her feel better
was Ezra; she thought she could explain all of her feelings to
him. At the very least, he would let her curl up on his denim
futon and cry.
Scraping back her chair, she started for her room. Byron
and Ella exchanged glances and followed her to the spiral
staircase.
Sweetie? Ella asked. What can we do?
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