Sara Shepard - Wicked

Yup, Ians dead. And our favorite foursome probably wish they were. Hannas daddy hates her. Spencers broke. Arias a hot mess. And Emilys switched teams so many times Im getting whiplash. Id feel bad for them, but yknow, thats life. Or, um, death, in Ians case.

I suppose I could let bygones be bygones, forgive and forget, yadda yadda. But wheres the fun in that? These pretty little bitches got everything I ever wanted, and now Im going to make sure they get exactly what they deserve. Does that make me sound awful? Sorry, but as every pretty little liar knows, sometimes the truths uglyand it always hurts.

Ill be watching.

Mwah!

A

Emily Fields leaned back on the chestnut brown leather couch, picking at the chlorine-dried skin around her thumb. Her old best friends, Aria Montgomery, Spencer Hastings, and Hanna Marin, sat next to her, sipping Godiva hot chocolate from striped ceramic mugs. They were all in Spencers familys media room, which was filled with state-of-the-art electronics, a seven-foot movie screen, and surround-sound speakers. A large basket of Baked Tostitos sat on the coffee table, but none of them had touched it.

A woman named Marion Graves was perched on the checkered love seat across from them, a flattened, folded-up trash bag on her lap. While the girls were in ratty jeans, cashmere sweats, or, in Arias case, a beat-up denim miniskirt over a pair of tomato red long johns, Marion was in an expensive-looking deep blue wool blazer and matching pleated skirt. Her dark brown hair shone, and her skin smelled of lavender moisturizer.

Okay. Marion smiled at Emily and the others. Last time we met, I asked you guys to bring in certain items. Lets put them all on the coffee table.

Emily offered a pink patent leather change purse with a swirly E monogram on the pocket. Aria reached into her yak-fur tote and pulled out a creased, yellowed drawing. Hanna tossed out a folded-up piece of paper that looked like a note. And Spencer carefully laid down a black-and-white photograph along with a frayed blue rope bracelet. Emilys eyes filled with tearsshe recognized the bracelet instantly. Ali had made one for each of them the summer after The Jenna Thing happened. It was supposed to bind them together in friendship, to remind them never to tell that theyd been the ones whod accidentally blinded Jenna Cavanaugh. Little did they know that the real Jenna Thing was a secret Ali was keeping from them, not something they all were keeping from the rest of the world. It turned out that Jenna had asked Ali to set off the firework and blame it on her stepbrother, Toby. This fact was one of the many heartbreaking things theyd discovered about Ali after shed died.

Emily swallowed hard. The leaden ball that had been lodged in the middle of her chest since September began to throb.

It was the day after New Years. School started again tomorrow, and Emily prayed this semester would be a little less action-packed than the last. Practically the minute she and her old friends stepped through Rosewood Days stone archway to start eleventh grade, each had received mysterious notes from someone known simply as A. At first, they all thoughtin Emilys case, hoped that A might be Alison, their long-lost best friend, but then workers found Alis body in a cemented-over hole in Alis old backyard. The notes continued, prying deeper and deeper into their darkest secrets, and two dizzying months later, they found out that A was Mona Vanderwaal. In middle school, Mona had been a Fear Factor obsessed dork who spied on Emily, Ali, and the others during their regular Friday-night sleepovers, but once Ali disappeared, Mona transformed into a queen bee and became Hannas best friend. This fall, Mona had stolen Alisons diary, read all the secrets Ali had written about her friends, and set out to destroy their lives just as she believed Emily, Ali, and the others had ruined hers. Not only had they teased her, but sparks from the firework that blinded Jenna had burned Mona, too. The night Mona plunged to her death down Falling Man Quarryalmost bringing Spencer with herthe police also arrested Ian Thomas, Alis super-secret older boyfriend, for Alis murder. Ians trial was set to start at the end of that week. Emily and the others would have to testify against him, and while getting up on the witness stand was going to be a million times scarier than when Emily had had to sing a solo part at the Rosewood Day Holiday Concert, at least it would mean the ordeal would really, truly be over.

Because all of that was way too much for four teenage girls to handle, their parents had decided to call in professional help. Enter Marion, the very best grief counselor in the Philadelphia area. This was the third Sunday Emily and her friends had met with her. This particular session was dedicated to the girls letting go of the many horrible things that had happened.

Marion smoothed her skirt over her knees as she looked at the objects theyd laid on the table. All of these things remind you of Alison, right?

Everyone nodded. Marion shook open a black garbage bag. Lets put everything in here. After I leave, I want you girls to bury it in Spencers backyard. This ritual will symbolize laying Alison to rest. And with her, youll be burying all the harmful negativity that surrounded your friendship with her.