Hanna parked her Prius at the curb of Ali's house, straightened her dress, and then climbed into Ali's BMW. "Ready?" Ali said, grinning behind the wheel. Wilden had helped her quietly get a license when her parents checked her out of the Preserve.
"Absolutely," Hanna answered.
Her eyes traveled up and down Hanna's mulberry-colored Lela Rose dress, which had a ruffled collar and a cinched waist, and stopped mid-thigh. The dress was even named the Angel, which seemed especially perfect for Valentine's Day. "Ugh," Ali said. "I hate that you look better than me tonight. Bitch."
Hanna blushed. "You're the one who looks awesome." Dressed in a fitted, lacy red sheath, Ali looked like she could grace the cover of Vogue.
Ali shifted the car into drive. They were the only two riding to the dance together—Andrew Campbell was escorting Spencer, and Emily had promised to go with her sister Carolyn. Ali had told Naomi, Riley, and Kate that she was doing an exclusive CNN interview today and would meet them on the dance floor.
The car pulled away from the curb, leaving Ali's dark house behind. For a split second, Hanna swore she saw someone slipping behind one of the pine trees across the street. She thought again about the discussion she, Ali, Emily, and Spencer had had at Spencer's house this afternoon. Could Melissa really have been the stalker behind the barn…and the murderer?
When they rolled past the stone Rosewood Day sign and up the winding path to the school, she saw girls in swishy gowns strutting down a Valentine-pink carpet that had been laid across the icy road. A couple of kids were doing Hollywood starlet poses as if they were at a movie premiere.
Ali pulled into a parking space, whipped out her cell phone, and hit a speed dial button. Hanna heard a guy's voice on the other end. "You all set?" Ali whispered. "Everyone's getting the papers? Good." She clapped the phone shut and gave Hanna a wicked grin. "Brad and Hayden are manning the doors with the letters." Brad and Hayden were two freshmen she'd conned into helping them.
They got out of the car and started toward the party. As Hanna and Ali passed, Hanna noticed a familiar chiseled profile. Darren Wilden. What the hell was he doing here? Booze police?
"Hi, Hanna," Wilden said, spying on her, too. "Long time no see. Everything okay?"
He was staring at her so curiously that Hanna bristled, wondering if she smelled like champagne. Wilden sometimes got all dadlike because he'd dated Hanna's mom for like a second. "I didn't drive," she snapped.
But Wilden's eyes were on Ali, who'd moved down the pink carpet. "You and Courtney are friends?" He sounded startled.
Courtney. It was crazy he still thought that was her name. "Uh-huh."
Wilden scratched his head. "We've been trying to get Courtney to talk to us about the note she got from Billy the night of the fire. Maybe you could convince her that it's really important."
Hanna pulled her silk scarf tight around her shoulders. "You were the one who rescued her the night of the fire. Why didn't you ask her then?"
Wilden stared across the drive at Rosewood Day's main building, a massive redbrick structure that looked more like an old mansion than a school. "It wasn't exactly the first thing on my mind."
There was a hardened, stern look on his face. A wary feeling swirled in the pit of Hanna's gut as she suddenly remembered how Wilden had played chicken with an oncoming car when he'd driven her home from running a few weeks ago. Freak. "Gotta go," Hanna blurted, scampering away.
The inside of the tent was done up in pinks, reds, and whites, with bouquets of roses everywhere. There were intimate, two-person tables scattered all around the room, complete with votive candles, heart-shaped petit fours, and long-fluted glasses of what Hanna assumed was sparkling cider. Mrs. Betts, one of the art teachers, was giving temporary tattoos in a booth in the corner. Mrs. Reed, the sophomore English teacher, was leaning against the DJ booth, clad in a tight-fitting red gown and heart-shaped sunglasses. There was even an old-fashioned Tunnel of Luv at the far end of the gym. Couples coasted through a makeshift candlelit tunnel in mechanical swans.
Hanna couldn't help but wonder what Mike was doing that night. Something told her he wasn't there.
Ali grabbed her arm. "Look!"
Hanna gazed into the crowd. Guys in red ties and girls in flirty pink and white dresses were staring at the sheets of paper she and Ali had Xeroxed this morning. The whispers began immediately. Jade Smythe and Jenny Kessler nudged each other. Two soccer boys hooted at Riley's use of the word loins. Even Mr. Shay, the wizened old biology teacher who chaperoned every Rosewood Day event, chuckled giddily.
"Kate wants to go to V Club!" Kirsten Cullen tittered.
"I always knew there was something off about Naomi," exclaimed Gemma Curran.
"When you touch my arms during blocking, I feel there's a real spark between us," Lanie Iler guffawed, reading from Riley's letter to Christophe.
Ali nudged Hanna's side. "Another problem solved by Ali D!" Her eyes sparkled.
Hanna spied Naomi, Kate, and Riley at the entrance. They were all dressed in identical satin gowns, Kate's bloodred, Naomi's virginal bride white, and Riley's wallflowery blush. They pranced in like princesses.
"Fag hag!" someone croaked. Riley cocking her head like a dog.
"Hey, Naomi, want to see my Speedo?" another voice called. Naomi frowned.
A boy passed Kate a pink sheet of paper. She gave it a cursory glance at first, but then her jaw dropped. She nudged Naomi and Riley. Naomi covered her mouth. Riley glared around the room, searching for whoever had done this.
The whisperings and giggles intensified. Hanna squared her shoulders, seizing the opportunity. She marched straight up to Kate. "I thought you should have this." She dropped a silver ring into Kate's limp palm. "It's a purity ring. You'll need it when you join V Club."
The crowd behind Hanna snickered. Hanna signaled to Scott Chin, her old friend in the yearbook. He leaped out with his camera and snapped a picture of Kate's horrified face. For once, Hanna was on the right side of the hoke. They were laughing with her, not at her.
Kate's cheeks bulged, as if she was about to vomit. "You did this, didn't you? You and Courtney."
Hanna shrugged nonchalantly. There was no point in denying it. She turned to Ali, wanting to give credit where credit was due, but Ali was gone.
Kate picked up the crumpled paper from the ground, smoothed it out, and shoved it into her quilted Chanel clutch. "I'm telling Tom about this."
"Tell him," Hanna announced. "I don't care." And then she realized: She didn't. So what if Kate told her father? So what if he punished her again? Even if Hanna acted pure and sweet for the rest of her days, her relationship with her dad would never be the same.
Riley flapped her arms up and down like a scrawny chicken. "I get why you'd stoop so low, Hanna. But why would Courtney do this? She's our friend."
Hanna leaned against a column decorated with red and white streamers. "Please. You two have had this coming for years."
"Huh?" Naomi huffed. Her boobs were nearly spilling out of her low-cut dress.
The crowd was getting thicker. More and more kids poured into the room and headed to the dance floor. "Courtney wanted to get back at you, obviously," she answered loftily. "For what you did to Ali."
Riley and Naomi exchanged a shocked glance. "Huh?" Riley exhaled. Her breath smelled like banana liqueur.
Hanna gazed down her nose at them. "You did something to Ali. That's why she ditched you. This is Courtney's way of getting even."
Heart-shaped suddenly rained magically from the ceiling, sprinkling the top of Naomi's blond hair. She didn't brush them away. "We didn't do anything to Ali." She shook her head. "One minute, Ali was our best friend. The next, she acted like she didn't know us at all. I don't know why she dropped us cold—or why she picked you to replace us. Everyone thought it was a joke, Hanna. You were such a loser."
Hanna bristled. "It wasn't a joke…"
Naomi shrugged. "Whatever. Ali was crazy and a liar, and her sister obviously is, too. They're identical twins, remember? They share everything."
Disco lights spiraled above Hanna's head. She burped, tasting champagne. Her body felt hot, then cold. What they were saying couldn't be true.
Naomi and Riley remained rigidly still, waiting for Hanna's response. Finally, Hanna shrugged. "Whatever," she said airily. "We both know you did something terrible, even if you won't admit it."
Hanna flipped her hair over her shoulder and swiveled around. "It's your funeral!" Naomi called out as she walked away. Not that Hanna listened.