A little later that Wednesday evening, Hanna hovered in the entrance of Rive Gauche, the King James Mall's French bistro, balling up her fists and releasing them. Serge Gainsbourg lilted out of the carefully hidden speakers, and the air smelled like steak frites, melted goat cheese, and Dior J'Adore. If Hanna shut her eyes, she could almost imagine it was last winter and Mona was at her side. Nothing had gone wrong yet—Ali's body hadn't turned up in that awful hole, there was no garish scar on her chin, no creepy Ian out on temporary bail, no new fake A notes. Hanna and Mona were still BFFs, checking out their reflections in the antique mirrors that hung over the booths and ogling the newest copies of Elle and Us Weekly.
She'd come to Rive Gauche since Mona, of course—Lucas worked here on the weekends, and he always slipped Hanna free Diet Cokes with the teensiest splash of rum. But it wasn't Lucas standing next to her tonight either. It was…Kate.
Kate looked good—fabulous, even. Her chestnut hair was held back by a black silk headband. She wore a vermilion empire-waist dress with a pair of dark brown Loeffler Randall boots. Hanna was wearing her favorite black patent leather Marc Jacobs heels, a fuchsia cashmere cowl-neck, skinny jeans, and her favorite ultra-red Nars lipstick. Together, they looked a gazillion times better than Naomi and Riley, who were huddled like ugly garden gnomes at Hanna's rightful table.
Hanna glowered. Naomi's super-short hair and stumpy neck made her look like a turtle. Riley's ratlike nose twitched as she wiped her nonexistent lips with a napkin.
Kate glanced at Hanna, registering what was happening. "They're not your frenemies anymore, remember?" she said out of the corner of her mouth.
Hanna let out a sign. In theory, she backed Kate's if you can't beat 'em, join 'em plan. But in reality…
Kate faced Hanna. She was three inches taller than Hanna, so she had to look down at her when she talked. "We need them as friends," Kate said calmly. "Strength in numbers."
"It's just—"
"Do you even know why you hate them?" Kate snapped.
Hanna shrugged. She hated them because they were bitchy…and because Ali had hated them. Only, Ali had never explained the odious thing Naomi and Riley had done that had made her drop them cold. And it wasn't like Hanna could've asked Naomi and Riley about what they'd done. Ali made Hanna and the others promise never to speak to Naomi and Riley, ever.
"Come on." Kate put her hands on her hips. "Let's do this."
Hanna groaned, glowering at her soon-to-be stepsister. There was a tiny indication of a blemish at the corner of Kate's lip. Hanna wasn't sure if it was just a pimple…or something else. She'd been obsessing over the puzzling secret Kate had alluded to yesterday at breakfast—that she'd slept with a guy, but it had led to a complication. Herpes was certainly a complication, wasn't it? And didn't herpes lead to cold sores?
"Fine, let's go," Hanna snarled. Kate smiled, grabbed her hand again, and proceeded toward Naomi and Riley's table. The girls noticed them, waving at Kate but looking at Hanna suspiciously. Kate marched right up to the banquette and plopped down on the plushy red seat. "How are you guys!" she squealed, giving them air kisses.
Naomi and Riley fawned over Kate for a few moments, admiring her dress, bracelet, and boots, pushing their uneaten fries in her direction. Then Naomi glanced at Hanna, who had remained standing by the dessert cart. "What's she doing here?" she said in a low voice.
Kate pushed a fry into her mouth. She was, Hanna had observed, the kind of girl who could super-size everything and not gain an ounce. Bitch. "Hanna's here because she has something to say to you guys," Kate announced.
Riley raised an arched eyebrow. "She does?"
Kate nodded, folding her hands. "She wants to apologize for all the mean things she's done to you over the years."
What? Hanna was too stunned to speak. Kate had said they should be nice, not sell out. Why would she apologize to Naomi and Riley? They'd done just as much to Hanna over the years as Hanna had done to them.
Kate continued. "She wants to start fresh with you guys. She told me she didn't even know why you were fighting in the first place."
Hanna shot Kate a look that could have frozen molten lava. But Kate didn't flinch. Trust me, her expression said. This will work.
Hanna faced forward, running her hand through her hair. "Fine," she mumbled, lowering her eyes. "I'm sorry."
"Good!" Kate crowed. She faced the others encouragingly. "So, truce?"
Naomi and Riley glanced at each other, then smiled. "Truce!" Naomi exclaimed loudly, making the diners at the next table look over in annoyance. "Mona screwed us over, too. She acted all BFF and then dumped us after your car accident. For no reason at all!"
"Well, now we know the reason," Riley corrected raising a finger. "She wanted to ditch us to get back on your good side so, like, no one would suspect that she hit you with her car."
"God." Riley pressed her palm to her chest. "So evil."
Hanna winced. Did they really need to get into all that right now?
"Anyway, we feel so awful for what you had to go through, Hanna," Naomi simpered. "And we're sorry, too, about our fight. So truce, definitely!" She jiggled up and down excitedly.
"Great!" Kate cried. She nudged Hanna, and Hanna mustered a smile too.
"So sit, Hanna!" Naomi said. Hanna sat cautiously, feeling like a Chihuahua who had walked into a testy Rottweiler's yard. This seemed way too easy.
"We were just looking at the new Teen Vogue," Riley announced, shoving a dog-eared magazine toward them. "There's that benefit this weekend, after all. We have to beat all those ugly bitches to the best dresses."
Hanna raised a suspicious eyebrow, noticing the date on the Teen Vogue cover. "I thought this issue didn't come for another few weeks."
Riley took a sip of her seltzer and cranberry juice. "My cousin works there. This is just a mock-up, but the issue's already been put to bed. She sends me early issues all the time. Sometimes she even sends me local sample-sale invites, stuff the public never gets invited to."
Kate's blue eyes were saucers. "Nice."
Riley leafed through a few pages of the magazine and pointed at a flirty black cocktail dress. "Omigod, this would look so beautiful on you, Hanna."
"Who makes that?" Hanna leaned forward curiously.
"And this would look awesome with your eyes, Kate." Naomi pointed at a robin's egg blue sheath by BCBG. "Prada makes these gorgeous satin shoes in the exact same color. Have you been to the Prada store yet? It's just over there." She pointed.
Kate shook her head. Naomi clapped her hand over her mouth, mock horrified.
Kate giggled and then glanced down at the magazine again. "I bet we're supposed to bring dates to this benefit, right?" she said, touching the glossy pages. "I don't even know any guys here."
"You have nothing to worry about." Naomi rolled her eyes. "Every guy in school has been talking about you."
Riley flipped a page. "And Hanna, you already have a date."
Hanna immediately tensed. Was that sarcasm she detected in Riley's voice? And what was with that ugly smile on Naomi's face? Suddenly, it hit her—they were going to make a snarky crack about Lucas. About his after-school-club obsession, maybe, or about the queer vest he had to wear when he bussed tables at Rive Gauche, or that he wasn't a lacrosse player. There was even that ridiculous—and very untrue—rumor Ali had seeded years ago that Lucas was a hermaphrodite.
Hanna clenched her fists, waiting. She'd known this forgive-and-forget thing was too good to be true.
But Naomi simply gave Hanna a benign smile. Riley clucked her tongue. "Lucky bitch."
A model-thin waitress laid down the leather booklet with the check at the corner of the table. Across the room, a young couple in their twenties was sitting under Hanna's favorite old French poster, a green devil dancing with a bottle of absinthe. Hanna peeked at Naomi and Riley, the girls who had been her enemies for as long as she could remember. The things she and Mona used to tease them about suddenly didn't seem so valid anymore. Riley's love of leggings was actually pretty fashion-forward—she'd started wearing them before Rachel Zoe picked them out for Lindsay Lohan. And Naomi's new haircut did make her look chic, and she definitely got credit for trying something so daring.
She stared down at the magazine, suddenly feeling magnanimous. "Riley, you'd look stunning in this Foley and Corina," she said, pointing to an emerald green gown.
"I was thinking the same thing!" Riley agreed, giving Hanna a high five. Then she got a cunning look on her face. "You know, the mall's still open for another hour. Wanna hit Saks?"
Naomi's eyes lit up. She gazed at Hanna and Kate. "What do you say, girls?"
Hanna suddenly felt like someone had wrapped her in a big, cozy cashmere scarf. Here she was at Rive Gauche with a group of girls, getting ready to hit all her favorite stores. It made everything she'd been worried about list minutes ago ooze away. Who had time to be bitter or afraid when there was shopping to be done with her new BFFs? Hanna thought of the dream she'd had when she was in the hospital after her accident, where Ali leaned over Hanna's hospital bed and told her everything was going to be okay. Maybe Dream Ali had been referring to this moment.
As she reached down to grab her bag to follow the others out, she noticed her BlackBerry was flashing with a new text. Hanna glanced up. Kate was busy shrugging into her princess-seamed coat, Naomi was signing the bill, and Riley was reapplying her lip gloss. The waiters swirled around Rive Gauche, taking orders and clearing plates. She tossed her hair behind her shoulders and opened the text.
Dear Little Piggy,
Those who don't remember the past are doomed to repeat it. Remember your unfortunate "accident"? Tell anyone about little ol' moi, and this time I'll make sure you don't wake up. But just to show that I'm willing to play nice, here's a helpful hint: Someone in your life isn't what they seem.
Love ya! —A
"Hanna?"
Hanna covered the BlackBerry's screen fast. Kate was a few paces away, waiting by the marble-topped bar. "Everything okay?"
Hanna took a deep breath, and slowly, the spots in front of her eyes receded. She let her cell phone slip back into her bag. Whatever. Screw knockoff A—anyone could have heard about that Little Piggy stuff and her accident. She was back on top where she belonged, and she wasn't about to let some stupid kid mess with her.
"Everything's perfect," Hanna chirped, zipping up her bag. Then she strode across the restaurant and joined the others.