Ali's Pretty Little Lies (Prequel)

Twenty-Five: Tree Houses Make Great First Dates.

By eleven o'clock, the party had wound down and almost everyone had gone home. Aria said she was tired, Hanna said she was sick, and Spencer had a field hockey camp orientation the following morning, so Emily was the only one who stayed over. The next morning, the two of them sat on the patio, staring at the rising sun and then the gaping hole in the backyard. A tarp flapped on top of it. A few tools had been left on the grass nearby.

"Have the workers said anything to you?" Emily whispered.

"Here and there," Ali said, pretending to be upset.

"That is so wrong." Emily clucked her tongue.

Ali pulled her legs underneath her on the chair. The truth was, even when she'd paraded in front of the workers in a bikini, they'd barely looked at her. She wondered if her dad had warned them or something.

She stretched out her legs. "Did you have fun last night?"

"It was okay." Emily shrugged. "Hanna seemed really upset about Sean, though."

"Yeah." Ali inspected her fingernails, hoping Emily hadn't seen any of the machinations of that. But even if she had, she might not ask.

"Aria seemed quiet," Emily went on. "So did Spencer."

"Sort of," Ali said.

"Do you know what's going on with them?"

The overhead light seemed to make a halo over Emily's head. She was flicking the loose threads of her Jenna Thing again and again. "I think they should probably tell you themselves," she said.

Her phone beeped, startling both of them. Ali grabbed for it, hoping it was Nick, but the call came up as Unknown. She turned the phone over.

"Do you need to get that?" Emily asked.

"Not right now." Ali gave her a tight smile.

The phone stopped, but immediately started ringing again. Ali groaned and kicked it under the table with her foot, then stood. "Come on," she said to Emily. "Let's walk around."

They wandered over to the half-dug hole and looked inside. The workers had dug down several feet more than the last time she'd checked it out, exposing more twisted roots and loamy dark soil. Several banged-up shovels lay in the bottom, and a Swiss Army knife lay abandoned by the edge.

Ali scooped up the knife and stared into the bottom. "I dare you to jump in the hole."

Emily looked worried. "What if I can't get out?"

"You could," Ali said, but when she looked into the hole again, she wasn't so sure. It seemed deeper, suddenly, than it had even a moment ago. "On second thought, forget it," she decided. "I'd get too dirty pulling you out."

Emily turned and eyed the tree house at the back of the property. Suddenly, she grabbed the Swiss Army knife from Ali's hand and walked toward the solid trunk. After a moment, Ali heard scratching sounds. Emily was cutting something into the bark.

"Are you cutting down my tree?" she asked, walking over to her.

"Nope." Emily stepped away from the tree and showed off the trunk. Carved into the bark was EF + AD. "Do you like?"

A dizzy feeling swept across Ali's body as unexpectedly as a pop-up thunderstorm might come upon a town. "Cute," she said, her voice cracking.

"I'm just so happy we're friends," Emily gushed. "I wanted to...I don't know. Show you, I guess."

'Uh-huh." Ali's throat suddenly felt dry.

Emily dropped the Swiss Army knife on the grass and peered up at the tree house. "It's been ages since we've been up there."