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Spencer shot up andfor her on the platforlanced back at the train, Toby was looking straight at them

"I see someone’s been let out of his little prison," Ali said with a sh it off "And he’s still a loser with a capital L"

But a feeeks later, Ali wentAnd then it wasn’t so funny

A slide-whistle noise co from Spencer’s computer made her jump It was her new e-mail alert She paced over to her coe

Hi, love Haven’t spoken to you in two days, and I’hed, a nervous sensation fluttering through her The ht hi had happened to her It was like…like he’d put a hex on her the second he sat down at Moshulu, took a sip of red wine, and met her eyes He was British, exotic, witty, and smart, and liked the sa for her milquetoast, priht for Spencer She knew it…and apparently he did too

Before Melissa caught theht, she and Wren experienced an unbelievable twenty minutes of passion But because Melissa tattled, and because Spencer’s parents always took her side, they banned Spencer fro hiroggy and unsettled, she walked down the stairs and passed the long, narrow gallery hall where her mother displayed the Thorandfather She stepped into her family’s spacious kitchen Her parents had restored it to look just like it had in the 1800s--except with updated countertops and state-of-the-art appliances Her faathered at the kitchen table around Thai takeout containers

Spencer hesitated in the doorway She hadn’t spoken to them since before Ali’s funeral--she’d driven there alone and had barely seen them afterward on the lawn Actually, she hadn’t spoken to her fao, and now they’d shunned her again by starting dinner without her And they had company Ian Thomas, Melissa’s old boyfriend--and the first of Melissa’s exes that Spencer had kissed--was sitting in what should’ve been Spencer’s seat

"Oh," she squeaked

Ian was the only one who looked up "Hey, Spence! How are you?" he asked, as if he ate in the Hastingses’ kitchen every day It was hard enough for Spencer that Ian was coaching her field hockey team at Rosewood--but this was bizarre

"I’ shiftily at the rest of her fa why Ian was scarfing down Thai food in their kitchen Spencer pulled up a chair to the corner of the table and started to spoon sorass chicken onto her plate "So, u dinner with us?"

Mrs Hastings looked at her sharply Spencer shut her h her

"We ran into each other at the, um, memorial," Ian explained A siren interrupted hi from the DiLaurentises’ house Police cars had been there non-stop "Pretty crazy, huh?" Ian said, running a hand through his curly blond hair "I didn’t know so many cop cars would still be here"

Melissa elbowed hi out there in dangerous California?" Melissa and Ian had broken up because he’d e at Berkeley

"Nah," Ian said Before he could go on, Melissa, in typical Melissa fashion, hadelse: herself She turned to Mrs Hastings "So, Mom, the flowers at the service were the exact color I want to paintroom walls"

Melissa reached for a Martha Stewart Living e She was constantly talking about ho the Philadelphia town house their parents bought her as a reward for getting into U Penn’s Wharton School of Business They’d never do anything like that for Spencer

Mrs Hastings leaned in to see "Lovely"

"Really nice," Ian agreed

A disbelieving laugh escaped from Spencer’s mouth Alison DiLaurentis’s memorial service was today, and all they could think to talk about was paint colors?

Melissa turned to Spencer "What was that?"

"Well…I mean…" Spencer stuttered Melissa looked offended, as if Spencer had just said soet it"

There was another silence Even Ian seemed to be wary of her now Her dad took a hearty sip of wine "Veronica, did you see Liz there?"

"Yes, I spoke with her for a while," said Spencer’s " By Liz, Spencer assuish aunt who lived in the area

"It ine"

Ian made an empathetic mmm Spencer felt her lower lip quiver Hello, what about uys remember? I was Ali’s best friend!

With every minute of silence, Spencer felt more unwelco up, offer her a piece of fried tempura, or at least to say, Bless you, when she sneezed But they were still punishing her for kissing Wren Even though today was…today

A lu everyone’s favorite: her teachers’, her hockey coaches’, her yearbook editor’s Even her colorist, Uri, said she was his favorite client because her hair took color so nicely She’d won tons of school awards and had 370 MySpace friends, not counting bands And while she ht not ever be her parents’ favorite--it was i her Especially not nohen everything else in her life was so unstable