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She trailed after Iris down the sweet-s corridor toward the Contes, someone yanked her arm Spencer was crouched behind a table full of Marc by Marc Jacobs satchels "Psst," she whispered

E here?"

Spencer’s eyes darted back and forth "I special-ordered shoes for prom at Saks" She peered down the corridor at Iris, as now posing in front of a three-wayyet?"

"Not since you last asked," E what?"

Eirl in the picture looked a little like Jordan, which ned her out of The Preserve and before I o to the city so she could make out with a Ben Franklin i, I had to drive her to her old school Iris wanted to cli a brass bell at the top" She’d looked like a spider on that rope, all spindly ars, the jeans Emily lent her held up by a child-sized belt

"It turns out high school kids hide pot up that pole," Eot an escaped mental patient and pot at my house My parents will freak if they find out"

As soon as she said it, she realized how ridiculous it sounded Her parents would freak eventhe secret that Aria had stolen a priceless painting And helped shove a girl off a roof And everything else

Spencer shifted her weight "So she’s told you nothing about Ali?"

E her blond head by a rack ofon it" She’d asked Iris for an Ali tidbit last night, but Iris had said that E to really deserve information yet--she would have to prove herself When Emily asked Iris what, specifically, she had to do to receive a blessed piece of infored, and said, "I’ll knohen I see it"

"And A doesn’t know Iris is with you, right?" Spencer whispered

Eain that Iris had changed the rules on her The tissue paper inside crinkled "No"

"What should we do about that painting?"

The cloyingEmily a headache "I don’t know What do you think we should do?"

Spencer slowly shook her head "I don’t have a clue"

Emily stared into Spencer’s clear blue eyes She still couldn’t believe that Aria had kept her secret for so long, especially given that she knew about things Spencer, Emily, and Hanna had done over the suht have been one time around Christmas when Aria had tried: They were at Spencer’s annual party, and after a couple of drinks, Aria had pulled E awful," she’d whispered into Emily’s ear "I can’t live with myself"

Emily had assumed she "

Aria shook her head, her eyes glittering with tears "You don’t understand You just don’t understand What I did will ruin everything, and--"

"There you are!" a voice said from behind them, and suddenly Noel clapped a hand on Aria’s shoulder Aria’s features cru a smile "Hey, will you coes!" Noel said

"Sure!" Aria said brightly, her

And just like that, he was steering her away from Emily In retrospect, perhaps a bit territorially Like Aria was his possession

But the next tiht up with her, she’d been buoyant and lively What if Aria had been trying to tell her about hooking up with Olaf? Stealing the painting?

"Ooh! These are pretty!"

E Mrs Fields a pair of teal-blue jeans They were a size 00--and E on Iris

She was about to stand up to go join therabbed her arm "Do you really think Noel was on a ski trip the weekend Olaf was killed?"

There was a deterot when she, Ali, Eether puzzles on the floor of Ali’s Poconos living roo the puzzles a race, and Spencer, desperate to beat Ali, shoved pieces together even when they didn’t fit

"I don’t think we should go on a witch hunt quite yet," Emily said slowly

"But Noel makes so much sense, don’t you think?" Spencer whispered

Emily shut her eyes She didn’t want Noel to make sense It would kill Aria "I don’t know," she said wearily

"E straight for them

Emily shoved Spencer out of the way and stood "Hey!" she called, trying to s on the floor?" Iris stared suspiciously at the spot where E Blessedly, Spencer had scaht Then Iris pressed an armful of silk blouses at E I already pulled the electronic tags off"

She glared at Iris "Myup a leopard-patterned jacket to her torso and twisting this way and that in the mirror

Iris scoffed "So? She won’t see" She inched closer "I’ll give you a really good Ali tidbit if you do"

"Fine," E back and forth, she took a deep breath and shoved the shirts deep into her swi that sorabbed her elbow "We’re going now"

"So soon?" Mrs Fields looked disappointed "We just got here! And isn’t this cute?" She showed E special"