Naomi stood and brushed muffin crumbs from her hands. “Sorry, Han, you may be Skidz-free, but you’re still a freak.” She re-knotted her Love Quotes silk scarf around her neck and beckoned the rest of the girls to follow. Riley fell in line behind her, then Kate.
Courtney remained at the table for a moment longer, her blue eyes glued to Hanna. “Your hair looks really pretty like that,” she finally said.
Hanna touched her hair self-consciously. It looked the same as it usually did, blown out straight and styled with a dollop of Bumble & Bumble finishing serum. She thought again of that drawing Iris had done of Courtney on the attic wall, Courtney’s eyes huge and haunting. A shiver ran up her spine. “Uh, thanks,” she murmured cautiously.
Courtney held her gaze for a few minutes more, a weird smile on her lips. “You’re welcome,” she said. Then she slung her purse over her shoulder and followed the others down the hall.
7
NOEL KAHN, ROSEWOOD WELCOME WAGON
A few hours later, Aria trudged into study hall, her third period of the day. It was held in a health classroom, which was adorned with posters describing the various symptoms of STDs, the havoc illegal drugs can wreak on your body, and what happens to your skin if you habitually smoke. There was also a heavy, waxy yellow blob at the back of the room that was supposed to represent what a pound of fat looked like in your body, and a long poster illustrating the various changes a fetus undergoes while in the womb. Meredith, Aria’s pseudo-stepmother, was twenty-five weeks pregnant, and according to the Health chart, the fetus was about the size of a rutabaga. Fun!
Aria took a long sip of coffee from her thermal mug. She still ordered coffee beans from the little dive near where they’d lived in Reykjavík, Iceland. It cost a fortune just in shipping, but Starbucks didn’t cut it anymore. Aria sat down as more students swarmed in. She heard a clunk nearby and looked up.
“Hey.” Noel plopped into a seat across the aisle. Aria was surprised to see him—though Noel was technically in Aria’s study hall, he usually spent the period in the school’s weight room. “How are you doing?” he asked, his eyes wide.
Aria shrugged noncommittally, taking another hearty swig of coffee. She had a feeling she knew what Noel wanted to talk about. Everyone wanted to talk to her about it today.
“Have you talked to…you know, Courtney?” His lips twitched as he said the name.
Aria bit her thumbnail. “I talked to her a little. But hopefully I don’t ever have to again.”
Noel looked startled.
“What?” Aria snapped.
“It’s just…” Noel trailed off, fiddling with one of the Absolut bottle–shaped key rings on his backpack. “I thought you’d want to get to know her, being that she’s Ali’s sister and all.”
Aria turned away, staring at a brightly colored food pyramid display across the room. Her father, Byron, had said the same thing at dinner the previous night—that reaching out to Ali’s long-lost sister might help Aria heal from Ali’s death. Aria was pretty sure her mother, Ella, would say that, too, though she’d been avoiding her mom these days. Whenever she called Ella, she always ran the risk of getting her sleazy boyfriend, Xavier, instead.
The whole Courtney thing weirded Aria out: Courtney standing there at the podium, waving to the crowd. The DiLaurentises hiding her away for years without telling a soul. The press salivating at their every word. In the midst of the circus, Aria had glanced at Jason DiLaurentis. He had nodded along with everything his mom said, his eyes glazed like he’d been brainwashed. All remains of the burning crush Aria had on Jason vanished in an instant. He and his family were more messed up than she’d ever imagined.
Aria opened her bio book to a random page and pretended to read a passage on photosynthesis. Noel’s eyes were on her, waiting. “It feels weird to be around her,” she answered finally without looking up. “It brings back a lot of memories of Ali’s disappearance and death.”
Noel leaned forward, making the old wooden desk creak. “But Courtney went through that, too. Maybe it would be good for you guys to deal with it together. I know you’re not into the group therapy thing, but talking with her could help.”
Aria pinched the bridge of her nose. If anything, she needed group therapy to deal with Courtney’s arrival.
A scuffle at the front of the room made her look up. Kids started to whisper. When Mrs. Ives, the study hall monitor, stepped away from the door, Aria’s heart sank. Standing there was Courtney herself.
Mrs. Ives pointed Courtney to the only empty desk in the room, which was—of course—right next to Aria. Everyone in the class stared as Courtney started down the aisle, her hips swaying, her long blond hair swinging. Phi Templeton even snapped a quick picture of Courtney with her BlackBerry. “She looks just like Ali,” Imogen Smith hissed.
Courtney noticed Aria and brightened. “Hi! It’s nice to see a friendly face.”
“H-hey,” Aria stammered. She had a feeling the expression on her face right now couldn’t be categorized as friendly.
Courtney slid into the seat, slung her shiny reddish-pink tote over the chair, and removed a spiral-bound notebook and a purple pen from the front pocket. Courtney DiLaurentis was written across the front of the notebook in bubbly letters. Even her handwriting was identical to Ali’s.
Bile rose in Aria’s throat. She could not handle this. Ali was dead.
Noel twisted around and gave Courtney a huge smile. “I’m Noel.” He extended his hand, and Courtney shook it. “Is this your first day?” he added as if he didn’t know.