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.
35
JUST YOU WAIT
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?”
“Um, sure,” Spencer stammered. “Whatever I can do.”
Zombielike, she caught up with her old friends, who’d gathered under a weeping willow. “What did he want?” Aria asked.
“They want to talk to me, too,” Emily said quickly. “It’s not a big deal though, is it?”
“I’m sure it’s the same old stuff,” Hanna said.
“He couldn’t be wondering about…,” Aria started. She looked nervously to the church’s front door, where Toby, Jenna, and her dog had stood.
“No,” Emily said quickly. “We couldn’t get in trouble for that now, could we?”
They all glanced at each other worriedly.
“Of course not,” Hanna finally said.
Spencer looked around at everyone talking quietly on the lawn. She felt sick after seeing Toby, and she hadn’t seen Jenna since the accident. But it was a coincidence that the cop had spoken to her right after she’d seen them, right? Spencer quickly pulled out her emergency cigarettes and lit up. She needed something to do with her hands.
I’ll tell everyone about The Jenna Thing.
You’re just as guilty as I am.
But no one saw me.
Spencer nervously exhaled and scanned the crowd. There wasn’t any proof. End of story. Unless…
“This has been the worst week of my life,” Aria said suddenly.