Meredith slammed an upstairs door shut, making the whole house shiver. Aria had never actually told anyone that she’d dubbed guys like Noel Typical Rosewood Boys—not her parents, not her friends, and certainly not a Typical Rosewood Boy himself. “You seem so, well, preppy,” she fudged. “Well adjusted.”
Noel rested his elbow on a stack of baby catalogues, his dark hair falling into his face. He breathed in a couple times, as if he was ramping up to say something, and finally looked up. “Okay, it’s true—I don’t go to seances because I like Led Zeppelin.” He shot her a look out of the corner of his eye, then stared into his glass, as if the ice cubes were tea leaves that contained his future. “Ten years ago, when I was six, my brother killed himself.”
Aria blinked, caught off guard. She thought of Noel’s two brothers, Erik and Preston. They were constant fixtures at the Kahns’ house parties, even though they were both in college. “I don’t understand.”
“My brother Jared.” Noel rolled the top catalogue tightly in his hands. “He was a lot older. My parents don’t talk about him much anymore.”
Aria clutched the edge of the worn table. Noel had had another brother? “How did it happen?”
“Well, my parents were out,” Noel explained. “Jared was babysitting me. We were playing Myst, this computer game, but then it got late and I started dozing off. Jared seemed reluctant to put me to bed, but he finally did. When I woke up a while later, something just felt . . . weird. The house was too quiet or something. So I got up and walked to the end of the hall. Jared’s door was closed, and I knocked, but he didn’t answer. So I just went in. And . . .” Noel shrugged and unfurled the catalogue. It flopped open to a page showing a blond, smiling baby in a red bouncy chair. “There he was.”
Having no idea what to say, she touched Noel’s hand. He didn’t pull away.
“He’d . . . you know. Hung himself.” Noel closed his eyes. “I didn’t really understand what I was seeing at first. I thought he was just playing or whatever, maybe punishing me because I hadn’t stayed up to play Myst with him longer. My parents came home then and I don’t remember anything after that.”
“God,” Aria whispered.
“He was going to Cornell the following year.” Noel’s voice cracked. “He was an all-star basketball player. His life seemed . . . awesome. My parents didn’t see it coming either. Neither did my brothers or his girlfriend. No one did.”
“I’m so sorry,” Aria whispered. She felt like an insensitive, sanctimonious ass. Who knew Noel had such an awful secret? And here she thought he’d been just pulling a stupid prank on her. “Have you ever been able to talk to him at seances?”
Noel fiddled with the frog-shaped saltshaker in the middle of the table. “Not really. But I keep trying. And I talk to him at the cemetery a lot. That seems to help.”
Aria made a face. “I’ve tried to do that with Ali, but I always feel so weird. Like I’m talking to myself.”
“I don’t think so,” Noel said. “I think she’s listening.”
The vacuum cleaner groaned to life, vibrating the ceiling above them. Aria and Noel sat still for a moment, listening. Noel’s piercing green eyes met hers. “Can you keep this to yourself? You’re kind of the only person who knows.”
“Of course,” Aria said quickly, studying Noel. He didn’t seem mad that she’d forced this out of him at all.
When she looked down, she realized that her hand was still touching his. She pulled it away fast, suddenly feeling very flustered. Noel was still staring at her. Aria’s heart began to pound. She fidgeted nervously with the antique silver chain around her neck. Noel moved closer and closer until she could feel his breath on her neck. It smelled like black licorice, one of Aria’s favorite candies. She held her breath, waiting.
But then, as if awakening from a dream, Noel jerked back, grabbed his glass from the table, and stood. “I guess I’ll go find Mike now. See ya.”
Giving her a little wave, he ducked through the archway and into the hall. Aria pressed her cool glass of water to her forehead. For a moment there, she’d thought Noel was going to kiss her. And in a very untypical Aria moment, she kind of wished he had.
Chapter 14
Even Good Girls have Secrets
Early that same Wednesday evening, Emily crunched across the fields behind Lucy’s house, carrying a bucket of water to the animals in the barn. The wind whipped across her face, making her eyes water. A couple of houses in the distance already had their lanterns lit, and a horse and buggy clopped up the dirt path toward the road, the reflective, triangular sign on its back glowing.
“Thanks,” Lucy called, catching up to Emily. She carried a bucket of water too. “After this, all we have to do is clean the floors of Mary’s house for her wedding ceremony on Saturday.”
“Okay,” Emily said. She didn’t dare ask why Mary was having her wedding in her house instead of the church. It was probably just some Amish thing she was supposed to know.
Their day had been jam-packed with early-morning farm chores, hours at the one-room schoolhouse reading Bible passages and helping the younger kids learn the alphabet, and then helping Lucy’s mom prepare dinner. Mr. and Mrs. Zook, Lucy’s parents, looked classic National Geographic Amish—Lucy’s father had a big, bushy, gray, moustacheless beard and wore a black hat, and her mother had a stern, makeupless face and rarely smiled. Still, they seemed gentle and kind enough—and they didn’t suspect Emily was faking. Or if they did, they didn’t say anything. But amid all that activity, Emily had still looked for clues about Ali everywhere they went. But no one had uttered a name even close to one that sounded like Alison or talked of the missing girl from Rosewood.