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"Emily, that color looks awesome on you," Ali said

"We should buy so it up to the Poconos after the dance," Spencer said, opening a coive each other makeovers"

Aria’s heart hurt It ached to see the fun without her, alht--were they seriously going to Ali’s Poconos house?

Just think about it, Ali had said to Aria in the woods Try to see things froirls had done just that

Aria ducked behind a pile of Ralph Lauren cable-knit sweaters and followed Mike away from cosmetics But as she wound around a table display of crystal vases, Aria couldn’t help but remember the first time she and her old friends had raided the Saks makeup counter It had been a couple days after the Rosewood Charity Drive, when Ali had chosen Aria to be in her new clique Ali had ht up to Aria’s table and cos her father had brought her from Spain It was the first time someone at school had paid Aria a compliment, especially someone like Ali From that day forward, Aria had felt so included, so special It was aave her advice, who found her in the halls between classes, who invited her to parties and shopping trips and excursions to the Poconos on the weekends She’d never forget the time at the Poconos when they’d hidden in one of the secret stairways off a guest bedroo to scare Jason DiLaurentis when he returned hoht they heard Jason’s car in the driveway, and when a plate rattled in the kitchen, Ali burst out of the secret stairway door and cried "Booga Booga Booga!" But it wasn’t Jason--a stray cat had sneaked in through the screen door Ali had screamed in surprise, and they’d all run back up the stairs and collapsed in a heap on the bed, laughing their heads off Aria wasn’t sure she’d laughed that hard since

Mike stopped and leaned over a counter, noticing a bunch of stainless steel chronograph watches Aria peeked across the store at Ali’s pale pink, catlike s the same tall, sexy black boots she’d worn the day she’d flirted with Noel in study hall--back when she was still pretending to be Courtney Suddenly, all Aria could reh she knew Aria liked hi Byron had given her, was lame And how Ali had tormented her about Meredith and Byron’s affair

A door in Aria’s ain All at once, the decision was clear and obvious: Everything was pushing her toward no For all kinds of reasons, Aria just couldn’t put the past behind her like her friends had done Soht

"Corab Mike’s sleeve and pull him out of the store She didn’t trust Ali, and she didn’t want her back And that was that

21

BLUSH, BONDING, AND BREAKDOWNS

An hour later, Spencer, Ali, Eathered in Spencer’s bedroom Bottles of foundation, trays of blush, and a variety of makeup brushes were splayed out before them The room smelled better than the inside of Sephora, thanks to their recent raid of the Saks perfuround

"It’s not like I threwa second coat of Bobbi Brown mascara to her top lashes "We had this instant…connection He wasn’t right for Melissa at all, but of course she blamed their breakup on me" Ali had asked each of them to fill her in on what had happened while she ay They had a lot of ground to cover

Ali splayed her fingers out to admire her freshly applied manicure "Were you in love with Wren?"

Spencer twirled a tube of ers Her affair with Wren felt like a o "Nah"

"What about Andrew?"

The tube of mascara slipped out of Spencer’s hand She felt Hanna’s and Emily’s eyes on her, too Part of her still felt certain Ali was going to make fun of Andrew, just like she’d made fun of him in the past

"I don’t know," Spencer answered hesitantly "Maybe"

Spencer braced herself for Ali’s laughter, but to her delight, Ali grabbed Spencer’s hands and squealed

Hanna pressed one of her bed pillows to her chest "What about you, Ali? Do you miss Ian?"

Ali turned back to the uys get together, anyway?" Spencer asked

"Long story" Ali tested a shade of Chanel lipstick on the side of her hand "I’ve moved way on"

"Totally," Hanna piped up, spreading white eye shadow across her eyelids

"Ancient history" Emily nodded

Ali laid the lipstick on the dresser "So are you guys ready for the Poconos tonight?"

"Absolua her thumb into some spilled powder on the dresser

"She’s been through a lot lately," E a bottle of nail polish "I think she finds it really hard to trust people"

Extre News flashed across the screen Spencer looked over, a queasy feeling in her sto to do with her life

"The new developments in the Rosewood Serial Killer case throw Williauilt into question," a reporter said in an authoritative voice The Polaroid of the ghostly face in theof the Hastings barn filled the screen "Could this be the face of Ms DiLaurentis’s real killer?"

The camera switched to a close-up of Officer Wilden There were purple circles under his eyes and his skin looked papery "Our forensic experts have done facial analysis on the new photo found two nights ago There’s a strong chance this is not Mr Ford"