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HIT AND RUN

Ever told a lie to save yourself? Maybe you blamed the dent in your parents’ Mercedes on your brother so you could still go to the spring forebra teacher you weren’t part of the group of kids who cheated on the h you were the one who stole the answer key from her desk You aren’t normally a dishonest person, of course But desperate times call for desperate measures

Four pretty girls in Rosewood told some very dark lies to protect the away froh they hated theht no one would ever know about it

Guess what They rong

It had been raining for eight days straight at the end of June in Rosewood, Pennsylvania, a wealthy, idyllic suburb about twenty miles from Philadelphia, and everyone was beyond fed up The rain had drowned perfectly ardens, turning everything to ue baseball fields, and the Rosewood Peach Orchard, which had been ra-of-sus of the season swirled down the gutter, LOST DOG signs turned to pulp, and a single wilted bouquet on the ceirl everyone thought was named Alison DiLaurentis washed away People said such biblical rain would surely bring bad luck in the cos, Aria Montgomery, Emily Fields, and Hanna Marin, who’d already had more bad luck than they could handle

No matter how fast the windshield wipers on Aria’s Subaru swept across the glass, they couldn’t brush off the driving rain quickly enough Aria squinted through the windshield as she headed down Reeds Lane, a twisty road that bordered thick, dark woods and the Morrell Strea creek that would h there were upscale developments a stone’s throay over the hill, this road was pitch-black, without a single streetlight to guide them

Then Spencer pointed at so ahead “Is that it?”

Aria hit the brakes and nearly hydroplaned into a speed li ready to start a suh the“Where? I don’t see anything”

“There are lights near the creek” Spencer was already unbuckling her seat belt and springing out of the car The rain soaked her i warmer than a tank top and workout shorts Before Aria had picked her up, she’d been running on the treadmill in preparation for this year’s field hockey season—she hoped she’d be an early decision shoo-in for Princeton after co at Penn, but she also wanted to be Rosewood Day’s star field hockey player to get that extra edge

Spencer cliuardrail and peered down the hill When she let out a little scream, Aria and Emily looked at each other, then bounded out of the car, too They pulled their raincoat hoods over their heads and followed Spencer down the embankment

Yellow headlights shone over the raging creek A BMW station wagon was T-boned into a tree The front end was ser side, but the engine was still hulass littered the forest floor, and the odor of gasoline eclipsed the sht, auburn-haired figure staring dazedly around as though she had no idea how she’d gotten there