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That was the first day Ali had ever talked to any of them, and for a while, she’d seemed almost friendly She didn’t even stop the conversation when Mrs DiLaurentis stepped out on the porch and told Ali she was leaving Looking back on it now, E Courtney to the Preserve, the new facility If she’d paid more attention to the DiLaurentises’ Mercedes as it pulled away from the house, would she have seen a face eerily identical to Ali’s in the backseat?

The waitress approached their table and asked if they’d decided what they wanted for breakfast Carolyn ordered a western oian waffle After the waitress strode away, Carolyn du "Courtney seems really different than Ali"

E to remain neutral "Why do you say that?"

"I’er on it, but the differences are there"

The bell on the counter rang The waitress carried two trays of food in her arht Emily wished she could tell Carolyn the truth about Ali, but Ali had sworn her to secrecy E Ali would have to pretend to be Courtney Until she was eighteen? Forever?

Carolyn raised an eyebrow, looking past E out the"Isn’t that Officer Wilden?"

Eether across the parking lot A blond girl in a checkered coat was talking to a familiar cop It was Wilden and Spencer’s sister, Melissa Whatever they were saying looked heated

Melissa shook her finger in Wilden’s face Wilden said so his hand like he didn’t believe what Melissa was saying Melissa threw her hands in the air in apparent frustration, and Wilden walked away She called out to him, but he didn’t turn around

"Whoa," Carolyn said quietly "What was that all about?"

"No clue," Emily said softly

The door of the diner opened, and two guys in Tate Prep Diving war another sip of coffee "So are you and Isaac going to the Valentine’s Day dance? I haven’t seen him around lately"

Isaac For a moment, E ago, she’d thought Isaac Colbert was the love of her life--enough even to sleep with him But then he hadn’t believed E her It felt like it had happened a o "Uh…I doubt it"

"What happened?"

Emily pretended to be fascinated by the laminated place mat in front of her, a kitschy, fact-filled ht she’d gone on a choir trip to Boston with Isaac a feeeks ago, but she’d really been in A inforht Eht she’d alht Jenna was killed--she’d told her a the Boston trip Emily was pretty sure her mom didn’t believe her, but Mrs Fields hadn’t pressed the issue

After a couple of seconds of Eht, a s across her face "You’re not with Isaac any her words carefully "I like someone else"

Carolyn’s eyes widened It probably wasn’t hard for her to guess who: Mona-as-A had time crush on Ali very plain to the entire school

"Is Courtney…like that?" Carolyn whispered

"I don’t know" Emily pressed her thuain, Ali had said Was Ali like that? Why else would she say those things?

The waitress set down their plates Emily stared at her syrup-and-butter-laden waffle She was suddenly too nervous to be hungry

Carolyn placed her palms flat on the table "You should ask her to the dance," she decided

"I can’t!" E so open-minded

"Why not? What do you have to lose?" Carolyn popped a bite of omelet into hera litime boyfriend

Eain Carolyn didn’t understand This wasn’t a normal crush like the one she had on Maya or Isaac For years she’d thought of being with Ali, of going to Stanford with her and then ether with one of those cute rooster weather vanes out front The idea of co her chances with Ali paralyzed E, and if Ali rejected her, E crushed if she kept her feelings to herself

Eain, and she yanked it open Ali had texted back with a line of Xs Then again, what if Ali wanted this, too?

17

WHO’S AFRAID OF THE BAD, BIG SISTER?

Around the sa SUV and waited as her sister ran inside to get her sunglasses In a rare show of helpfulness, Melissa had offered to drive Spencer to school Spencer dropped her Kate Spade tote on the backseat The car sue froraphs that shed new light on the Rosewood Serial Killer case," a reporter announced