Ali's Pretty Little Lies (Pretty Little Liars 1)
Page 58“No,” Ali almost shrieked.
“Why not? They’ll understand. They won’t care that you kept this from them, if that’s what you’re worried about. People keep things from people all the time.”
“Yeah, you know that all too well,” Ali snapped.
Mrs. DiLaurentis flinched. Reflexively, she raised her hand to Ali, and Ali thought she was going to slap her again, but she only used it to push a strand of hair out of her eyes. “Let’s not get into that again,” she said in an even tone.
Ali gritted her teeth. Did her mother just expect her to forget everything? There was a man out there who was her real father—she was sure of it—someone her mother was keeping from her. She was determined to find out who it was. She’d considered telling Mr. DiLaurentis, but then she’d decided that it was more powerful to wait until she uncovered the man’s identity.
When she turned back to the window, Emily was in the yard now, too, wearing a pair of baggy jeans and a nondescript blue T-shirt. She and Aria were joking around near Ali’s flower bushes. And then Ali had another thought: If she didn’t go out soon, her friends would ring the doorbell. Maybe they’d insist on coming in the house. What if Courtney appeared at the top of the stairs? What if the girls wanted to go upstairs, into Ali’s room, and Courtney loomed in the doorway?
She nudged open the front door with her toe and flounced out to greet them. The hem of her field hockey skirt, which she’d worn to the team’s end-of-the-year party this afternoon, fluttered in the breeze.
“You guys!” she crowed in the happiest voice she could muster.
“Your barn,” she said to Spencer, breaking away and steering them through the hedges. She needed to get off this property, fast.
Blessedly, the girls followed behind her like good little sheep. But her sister’s face haunted her as the five of them moaned about how long the school year had been. And when she heard someone calling “Hey, Alison! Hey, Spencer!” her stomach seized. It sounded, for a moment, like her sister’s voice.
She turned around and saw Mona Vanderwaal and her band of geeks coming toward them. Part of her wanted to throw her arms around Mona in relief. Instead, she blurted, “Not it!”
“Not it,” her friends said milliseconds after.
Mona rolled up on her scooter. Chassey Bledsoe and Phi Templeton followed behind, Chassey on a mountain bike, Phi on foot with her trusty, ridiculous yo-yo.
“You guys want to come over and watch Fear Factor?” Mona asked.
“Sorry,” Ali simpered, dredging up the appropriate level of nastiness. “We’re kind of busy.”
Ali yanked her arm. “C’mon,” she said.
They walked the line between Ali’s backyard and Spencer’s. A huge, garishly yellow bulldozer was parked at the back next to a cone-shaped pile of dirt. “I’m so happy the workers aren’t here right now,” Ali said loudly, making sure everyone’s attention was on her—and not on the window.
Emily stiffened. “Are they saying stuff to you again?”
“Easy, there, Killer,” Ali joked, and the girls giggled. She glanced over her shoulder once more. The light in the window was off now. The face was gone. But was her sister going to sit idly by in her room all night like a good little girl? It seemed impossible.
The barn was just ahead. Ali led the others toward it, praying that her sister wasn’t watching from the kitchen to see where they were going. What if their mother took her eyes off her? What if she got out?
Giggles sounded from inside the barn. “I said, stop it!” a voice squealed. It was definitely Melissa.
Spencer stopped short. “Oh God. What is she doing here?”
“I did.” Spencer flung the door open to reveal Melissa and Ian lounging on the couch, several bottles of beer between them. Melissa shot up and adjusted her headband. Ian’s eyes canvassed the girls, his smile lazy and beguiling.
“Were you spying on us?” Ian teased.
Spencer looked horrified. “It’s just . . . I didn’t mean to barge in. . . . We’re supposed to have this place tonight.”
Ian playfully hit Spencer’s arm. “I was just messing with you.”
A spark seemed to pass between them, which, in turn, sent a rush of possessiveness through Ali’s body. “Wow,” she said loudly. “You two make the kuh-yoo-test couple. Don’t you agree, Spence?”
Spencer blinked hard. Melissa gave Ali a strange look, then tugged on Ian’s shoulder. “Can I talk to you outside for a sec?”