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Emily opened her mouth, but no words carade, too? But Ali and Emily were friends then How had Eave E look, as if she understood what Euys saw her Remember the day before our sleepover when I found you on the patio, but you said you’d just seen me upstairs in my room?"

Eht Ali in her bedroo a notebook Mrs DiLaurentis had appeared and sternly told the girls to go downstairs Minutes later, when Ali found them in the backyard, she’d acted as if the incident in the bedroom had never happened She had on a completely different outfit, and she seemed startled that Emily and the others were there, like she’d had no memory of the past tenain After that, I stayed away froht, and I ran out of the barn But Billy didn’t attack me like everyone thinks--I ran back tosister"

Emily put her hand over her mouth "But…I don’t understand…"

"My sister was supposed to stay in her bedrooht," Courtney--no, Ali--went on "When , they assumed I was Courtney--Ali was supposed to be in Spencer’s barn I tried to tell my parents that I was Ali, but they didn’t believe me--that was Courtney’s act I’m Ali, I’m Ali, she always said"

"Oh my God," Emily whispered The peanut butter crackers she’d eaten earlier roiled in her stoht was Ali didn’t coured I was Courtney, and that I had done sohter hoirl they thought was her back to the Preserve the next afternoon Except…it waswith tears "It was horrible They didn’t visit me once Jason used to visit Courtney all the time, but even he wouldn’t listen to ht switch went off in their heads and I was dead to the Honda Civic passed A dog barked, then another Eirl who claimed to be Ali "But…why didn’t you call us before they shipped you off?" Emily asked "We would’ve known the truth"

"My parents wouldn’t let me use the phone And then at the hospital, I wasn’t allowed toin prison" Tears streamed down Ali’s face "The ht I was I realized that the only way to get out was to act like I really was Courtney My parents still don’t knoho I aht send ain"

Ehtstand, and then took one herself "So whose body did the police find?"

"Courtney’s We’re twins, so we have the saazed at E about you, Emily I was the one who did that dance e smoked the dandelion seeds I’m the one in these photos on your wall I remember hoe met, and I especially re"

The smell of vanilla soap filled E the stunned look on Ali’s face after she’d kissed her She and Ali had never directly discussed it There were plenty of times Emily had wanted to, but she’d been too afraid Ali had started teasing her about it so quickly afterward

"I was talking about an older boy I liked," Ali rehashed, "and then suddenly, you kissed ot all self-conscious and scared, but then you wrote that note to me The one that said how otten a note like that from anyone in my life"

"Really?" Eht I was a freak"

Ali winced "I was scared And stupid I acted like an idiot But I had al years in the hospital to think it over" She placed her palms on her knees "What more do I need to say to make you believe me? What can I do to prove that I’led fro with shock But as stunning as this was, she’d known, deep down, that so about Courtney was amiss She’d felt that special spark between them, like they’d known each other for years And they had

Emily had dreamed of this moment for years She’d consulted horoscopes and tarot cards and nuical charts, desperate for a clue that Ali was alive She’d saved every single one of Ali’s notes, randoifts, unable to let theed that this wasn’t over Ali was still out there She was okay

And all this tiest wish of all

The clouds lifted froed out a constant, steady beat, clear and pure She gave Ali a wobbly s her arlad you came back"

13

BLAST FROM THE PAST

Spencer adjusted the scoop neck of her Milly halter dress and flashed a fake ID to a bald bouncer at Paparazzi, a two-story club in Old City, Philadelphia The bouncer studied it, nodded, and handed it back to Spencer Sweet