“It’s not that great inside,” Noel mumbled. He climbed out of the car and walked over to Aria’s side. He looked repentant. Good. She rolled down the window. “Can I call you later?” he said softly, touching Aria’s arm. Aria nodded begrudgingly.
Courtney shifted in her seat as they pulled away. Aria considered turning up the radio, but what if they broke in with yet another news bulletin about Billy? She certainly didn’t want to get into a discussion about him. “The bypass is the quickest way to Yarmouth, right?” she said stiffly, her eyes on the road.
“Right,” Courtney said quietly.
“Okay then.” Aria made a jerky right onto the highway, almost jumping the curb.
They drove past a huge parking lot for the local Barnes & Noble and Fresh Fields grocery store. Aria stared straight ahead, pretending to be fascinated by the COEXIST bumper sticker on the Honda in front of her. Each of its letters was comprised of a different religious symbol. She could feel Courtney watching her, but she didn’t take the bait. It was like the Buckingham Palace Guard game Aria and Mike used to play on long, boring car trips: Aria would stare straight ahead like a palace guard while Mike tried to make her laugh.
Courtney took a deep breath. “I know what you’re thinking. What everyone’s thinking.”
Aria broke from her spell and shot Courtney a brief, puzzled look. “Um…”
Courtney continued, her voice low. “Everyone is wondering how I coped, living so far away from my family for so long. They want to know how I can forgive my family for keeping me out of the loop all those years.”
“Uh,” Aria wavered. Truthfully, she was thinking that.
“But that’s really not my biggest problem,” Courtney continued. “What’s worse is that my parents are basically living this lie, pretending their issues don’t exist.” She turned to face Aria. “Did you know my mom had an affair?”
Aria got too close to the Honda in front of her and slammed on her brakes. “You knew about that?”
“Yeah. Ali and I both knew for years. And what’s more, my dad isn’t even my dad. Surprise!” Courtney laughed wearily. Her voice was thick, as if she was about to cry.
“Huh.” Aria pressed on the gas and whipped past a white BMW, then a red Jeep Cherokee. The speedometer said she was doing almost eighty, but it felt like she was standing still. Spencer had told her about her dad’s affair—and that she was Ali and Courtney’s half sister. But she’d had no clue that Ali had known about the affair.
Aria took the exit off the highway into Yarmouth. The sign for Darrow Farms loomed ahead. Aria would never forget the day she and Ali caught Byron and Meredith making out in the Hollis parking lot. Ali had relentlessly teased Aria about the affair, talking about it as if it was a celebrity scandal on TMZ. Has anything happened at home? said Ali’s texts. Does Ella suspect? Remember the look on your dad’s face when he caught us? You should look through his stuff to see if he’s written his girlfriend any love letters!
Ali had tortured Aria, but all that time she’d been going through the exact same thing.
Aria glanced over at the girl in the passenger seat. Courtney had her head down and was fidgeting with a beaded bracelet on her right wrist. With her hair over her face and her bottom lip stuck out ever-so-slightly, she looked much more fragile and weaker than Ali ever had. Much more innocent, too.
“A lot of parents are messed up,” Aria said softly.
A few brown, dead leaves swirled past the car. Courtney pressed her lips together, her eyes narrowed. For a moment, Aria was afraid she’d said the wrong thing. She pulled into the DiLaurentises’ driveway, and Courtney quickly opened the car door. “Thanks again for the ride.”
Aria watched as Courtney ran across the yard and disappeared into the house. She remained at the curb for a few moments longer, her thoughts swarming. She certainly hadn’t expected that conversation.
She was about to shift into drive when the hair on the back of her neck stood on end. It felt like someone was staring at her. Aria swiveled around and peered into a dark knot of trees across the street. Sure enough, someone was standing there, her eyes on Aria’s car. The figure disappeared into the woods fast, but not before Aria caught a quick glimpse of a head of pale blond hair, cut bluntly at the chin. She gasped.
It was Melissa Hastings.
12
DREAMS REALLY DO COME TRUE
Late Wednesday afternoon, Emily stood in front of her bedroom mirror, turning first to the right, then to the left. Should she have used a curling iron on her stick-straight, reddish-blond hair? Did her sister Carolyn’s pink lip gloss look stupid? She pulled off the striped T-shirt she was wearing, threw it on the floor, and slid on a pink wool-cashmere sweater instead. That looked wrong, too. She checked the digital clock on the nightstand again. Courtney would be here any minute.
Maybe she was overthinking this. Maybe Courtney hadn’t even been flirting with her in gym class. She had been in unconventional schools her whole life—she might not be well-versed in the fine art of flirtation and other social cues.
The doorbell rang, and Emily froze, staring at her wide-eyed expression in the mirror. In an instant, she was thundering down the stairs and scampering through the hall to the door. No one else was home—her mother had taken Carolyn to a doctor’s appointment after swimming, and her dad was still at work. She and Courtney would have the house to themselves.
Courtney stood on the steps, her cheeks pink and her blue eyes sparkling. “Hey!”