Page 27 (1/2)

Ezra turned his head and noticed as on "Shit," he said "I’azines and Thai takeout menus on his coffee table and finally found the remote He switched one channel up, which was QVC Joan Rivers was selling a giant dragonfly-shaped brooch

Ezra pointed at the screen "I’ll buy that for you, if you want"

Aria giggled "No thanks" She put her hand on Ezra’s and took a deep breath "So, what you said…aboutthis work I…I think I want it to ith you, too"

He brightened and Aria could see her reflection in his glasses The old grandfather clock near Ezra’s dining room table chimed out the hour "R-really?" he ht" She sed hard "I have a boyfriend right now So…I have to take care of that, you know?"

"Sure," Ezra said "I understand"

They stared at each other for at least a lasses off, and kissed hio now," she said wistfully

"Okay," Ezra answered, his eyes not leaving hers But when she slid off the couch and tried to put on her shoes, he pulled at the edge of her T-shirt Even though she’d wanted to leave, she just…couldn’t

"Come here," Ezra whispered, and Aria fell back into hiht her

28

SOME OF HER LETTERS ALSO SPELL JAIL

A little before eight on Saturday night, Spencer was lying on her bed, watching her palo around and around The fan cost ed her mom to buy it because it looked identical to the fan in her private cabana the time her family stayed at the Caves in Jamaica Noever, it looked so…Spencer at thirteen

She got out of bed and slid her feet into her black Chanel sling-backs She knew she should muster up some enthusiasain, everything had been different last year All day, she’d been having strange visions--fighting with Ali outside the barn, Ali’sa step toward her, a crack It was as if the memory, pent up for all these years, wanted to be the star

She swiped htened her kimono-sleeve black dress, and clomped downstairs When she reached the kitchen, she was surprised to see that herat the table around an eled at their feet Her father wasn’t wearing his standard unifor clothes, but a soft white T-shirt and jeans Her a pants The room smelled like steamed milk from the Miele espresso maker

"Hey" Spencer couldn’t remember the last tiht They were all about being seen--whether it was at a restaurant opening or at the symphony or at one of the dinner parties the partners at her father’s fir

"Spencer! There you are!" Mrs Hastings cried "Guess e just got?" With a flourish, she presented a printout she had been holding behind her back It had the Philadelphia Sentinel ’s gothic-script logo on the top Underneath was the headline, Move Over, Tru! Spencer stared at the photo of herself sitting at her father’s desk The battleship gray Calvin Klein suit with the raspberry silk caood choice

"Jordana just e-e won’t be ready until to, of course, but your story is already up online!"

"Wow," Spencer said shakily, too unfocused to actually read the story So this was really happening How far was this going to go? What if she actually won?

"We’re going to open a bottle of chas said "You can even have some, Spence Special occasion and all"

"And s asked

"Moed

"She doesn’t want to sit here and drink chane and play Scrabble"

"Nonsense," Mrs Hastings said "It’s not even eight yet Parties don’t start this early, do they?"

Spencer felt trapped They were all staring at her "I…I guess not," she said

She dragged a chair back, sat down, and kicked off her shoes Her father got a bottle of Mo&eue, popped the cork, and took out four Riedel glasses frolass for hilass for Spencer Melissa put a Scrabble rack in front of her

Spencer plunged her hand into the velvet bag and selected letters Her father selected his letters next Spencer was aaes’ final decision is?" he asked, taking a sip of his chalanced at Melissa, who gave her a brief, indecipherable smile Spencer hadn’t talked to Melissa since their hot-tub session last night, and she felt a little strange around her sister Apprehensive, almost

"I had a chance to read it yesterday," Mr Hastings continued, folding his hands "I love how you updated the concept for oes first?" Spencer asked shrilly There was no way they were talking about the content of the essay Not around Melissa

"Didn’t 1996’s Golden Orchid winner win a Pulitzer last year?" Mrs Hastings asked

"No, it was a National Book Award," Melissa said

Please stop talking about the Golden Orchid, Spencer thought Then, she realized: for once, they were talking about her--not Melissa

Spencer looked at her tiles She had I, A, S, J, L, R, and H She rearranged the letters and alue LIAR SJH SJH, as in Spencer Jill Hastings