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Aria shook out her hands Noel would probably talk to the officer for two irls hadn’t killed Tabitha--A had bludgeoned her on the beach

Of course, they were the only ones who knew that

"Should we ent Fuji?" Hanna asked

"It’s not like we can say no" Aria bit a nail "Maybe we could all ether At least then we’ll all tell the same story"

Then Hanna pushed her phone toward Aria "I also got this"

Aria read the ainst losers Make any effort to win, and not only will you lose hty little lies --A

"Mike was trying to persuade me to run for May Queen," Hanna whispered "And then Chassey Bledsoe walked in looking all fabulous"

"I saw her!" Aria exclaimed "She looks sort ofairbrushed, doesn’t she?"

Hanna shrugged "I don’t know The weird thing is, A sent this practically theThere were tons of kids at Rive Gauche that day, but I didn’t see anyone texting"

"A is everywhere," Aria whispered, shivering They’d been through so many different New A suspects, but each had resulted in a dead end--one of theuy Aria had befriended on the cruise who also happened to be Tabitha’s ex-boyfriend For a little while, Aria had worried that Graha so strangely, insisting that he had so to tell her She now realized he’d wanted to tell her that so her But A had set off a bomb before Graham had said whoperhaps because A didn’t want Grahaotten any A notes?" Hanna slipped the phone back in her pocket

Aria shook her head, then showed Hanna a new iPhone in a pink neoprene case "But ot this It has an untraceable nu," Hanna said She stared nervously at the field "Do you think A could frame us for Tabitha?"

Aria licked her lips A had all those horrible photos of theht And who knehat else A hadn’t shown them yet

She was about to anshen suddenly the speakers mounted on top of the bleachers screeched with feedback "Attention!" said an echoing voice A loud cough and a lugee-hocking sound followed It was Principal Appleton For some reason, he always cleared his throat into thenoises that often sounded like belches

"All seniors! I have so and Queen no, it’s Joseph Ketchum and Noel Kahn!"

Everyone in the bleachers cheered Hanna nudged Aria, and guys on the field clapped Noel on the back in that jokey, let’s-pretend-proh-it-sort-of-does way

"And for queen," Appleton went on, "we have Hanna Marin"

Hanna smiled nervously Aria squeezed her arm

"and Chassey Bledsoe!" Appleton finished

A spattering of applause followed A couple of people frowned, asking who Chassey was--as if they hadn’t all gone to school together since kindergarten Hanna set her mouth in a line

"You’re not actually worried about Chassey winning, are you?" Aria asked

"I can’t ca on her skirt "There’s no way I’uys down just so I can be May Day Queen"

The speaker crackled again "As for May Day decor," Appleton said, "we’ve gotten a lot of applications for decor chairperson We’ll make an announcement as soon as we choose!"

The crowd murmured Hanna looked at Aria "Did you apply for that?"

"I wanted to, but I forgot," Aria said, feeling a flutter of disappointment Rosewood Day took its decor chairperson job seriously--those ere interested had to fill out a ten-page application with design ideas and sketches ital portfolios and personal videos explaining why they should be chosen--but people who had held the title in the past always gushed about how fun it was Besides designing all the pro and took pictures of goofy-but-exclusive pro and queen at the graveyard near the Four Seasons hotel in Philly, where the event was held every year Aria had been so consumed with A that she’d missed the application deadline

"But I can tell you that we’ve decided on a theme!" Appleton went on "Student Council has decided onThe Starry Night!"