Hanna blinked hard. “You quit!” she squeaked. “And you said you were miserable!”
Hailey’s nostrils flared. “You convinced me I was doing the right thing.”
Hanna’s mouth opened, then closed. “But . . .”
Hailey held her hand up to stop her. “But nothing,” she hissed. Her eyes were hard and cold. “You’re a bitch and a liar, Hanna. I asked you how I was doing time and again, and you lied and lied and lied. ‘You’re great, Hailey.’ ‘Good job, Hailey.’” She wagged her finger in Hanna’s face. “I’m going to hurt you. Mark my words.”
And then she spun around, heading back to her rental SUV, a huge Escalade she often complained about driving around Rosewood’s windy back roads. “Hailey!” Hanna called out weakly. But, to no surprise, the girl ignored her, throwing herself into the front seat, gunning the engine, and pulling out of the lot as fast as she could.
A few hours later, Hanna stood at the Rosewood Amtrak station, glancing again and again at her phone. So far, she’d sent Hailey twelve texts, but Hailey hadn’t replied to any of them. I made a mistake. And, I’m sorry. And, I’ll back out of the role, just say the word. She’d reached out to Jared, too, hoping he’d tell her Hailey sometimes got like this and would calm down in a few days, but he hadn’t replied, either. It wasn’t fair: The most wonderful thing had happened. She should be completely happy. Instead, she felt antsy and uneasy, with a gnawing pain in her stomach.
At least Mike was due any minute; he’d celebrate with her. I’ve got a surprise for you, Hanna had texted him, though she hadn’t told him what it was. She paced up and down the platform, checking her watch again and again. Though it was just a little after four, with hours of daylight left, the spooky, empty station left her feeling uneasy. Something metal clanged on the stairs, just out of view. She whipped around. Ali? There was another clang, followed by a long sigh. Her skin prickled. She waited, terrified by who might appear around the corner. But no one came.
A shrill whistle blew. The train puffed into the station, and Hanna waited excitedly as all of the passengers disembarked. Mike brought up the rear, shouldering the Jack Spade bag she’d bought him last Christmas. Hanna let out a squeal and waved for him, but when Mike looked up at her, his eyes were dead. He walked toward her, and then past her, heading up the stairs.
“Uh, hello?” Hanna said, scampering behind him. “How many beers did they give you on the train? Are you so drunk you forgot what your girlfriend looks like?”
Mike reached the top of the stairs, but instead of heading for Hanna’s car, he walked toward the auxiliary lot. “Where are you going?” Hanna demanded, suddenly feeling nervous.
“My dad’s picking me up,” Mike said in monotone.
“Mike.” Hanna grabbed his sleeve. “I have a car here. What’s going on?”
Mike glared at her coldly. His eyes were red-rimmed, as if he’d been crying. Hanna’s heart started to beat hard. Finally, he shoved his phone at her. “Is this your surprise?”
Hanna stared at the screen. It was the mobile site for TMZ. BURN IT DOWN COSTARS COZYING UP! read the headline in garish red lettering. And there, just below, was a picture of Hanna and Jared—kissing at the nightclub in New York.
Hanna could feel the blood draining from her face. “H-he kissed me for one second,” she blurted. “And then Hailey snapped a picture before I pulled away.”
Mike snorted. “Yeah, right.” He grabbed the phone back. “Then why does the article say you kissed him? You would do anything for the attention of a big movie star, even cheat on your boyfriend?”
“Mike, no!”
She reached for him, but he ducked away. “A guy on my floor sent me the link when I was only fifteen minutes away from here. ‘Hey, your girlfriend’s hooking up with some other guy.’ Some of the comments even said you submitted this yourself.”
“Of course I didn’t!” Hanna roared.
“So who did?”
Hanna blinked hard. All at once, it came to her. I’m going to hurt you, Hailey had said. It made perfect sense.
She lowered her eyes. If she hadn’t been so ambitious, if she hadn’t wanted to be a star so badly, none of this would have ever happened. She couldn’t even blame any of this on Ali. She’d brought all this on herself.
“Mike, I’m sorry,” she murmured, feeling the tears roll down her cheeks. “Please, let me explain.”
Mike hitched his bag higher on his shoulder. “I have to go,” he muttered, heading toward the auxiliary lot. For the second time that day, Hanna watched as someone she cared about walked away from her in angry silence.
26
ARIA’S ANGEL—OR DEVIL—INVESTOR
The boning on the emerald-green strapless dress Aria was wearing to Rosewood Rallies dug into her boobs, and she was wearing uncomfortable heels, but when she glanced at herself in the long mirror in the lobby of the country club, she had to admit she looked pretty damn good. So did her dad, who had on a dark suit, and Meredith, who wore a structured red dress with a gardenia tucked behind her ear.
But it was Harrison who looked truly amazing. He’d shown up in Rosewood earlier that day wearing a crisp, slim-fit black suit with a huge bouquet of flowers for Aria. Now, as he regarded the two of them in the mirror, he slung his arm around her waist. “I am, without a doubt, with the prettiest girl in the room.”
Aria ducked her head bashfully and said something that came out like, “Oh, you.” She wanted to feel something for Harrison—she really did. He was perfect for her: He said sweet things, he fawned over her, and they had the same interests. But a nagging feeling told her she should have felt more flattered than she did, more fluttery, more turned on by how gorgeous he looked in that suit. Right now it was hard to muster up any feeling at all beyond generalized nervousness at being back in the Rosewood Country Club among all her peers.