Ali's Pretty Little Lies (Prequel)

Twenty-Nine: She's Ba-ack.

Mrs. DiLaurentis set a pan zucchini lasagna on the table. "Careful, it's hot," she warned, and then proceeded to pour lemonade into everyone's glasses. "It's fresh-squeezed," she crowed. "It tastes better that way, don't you think?"

It was a few later, and the family was sitting in the dining room, which was usually used only for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Each seat had a hold placemat, and they were drinking out of the good crystal goblets. Mrs. DiLaurentis had even lit candles, and the light made eerie shapes against their faces. And there they all sat: Mr. and Mrs. DiLaurentis at the heads of the table, then Jason, then Ali...and then the third daughter. The twin. "Courtney".

"So dig in," Mrs. DiLaurentis announced as she took the oven mitts off. "The lasagna's nothing fancy, but the ingredients are all fresh."

"It looks superb," Mr. DiLaurentis said, reaching for his fork.

"Absolutely," Jason agreed, taking a hearty sip of lemonade.

Ali shot him a look, but Jason didn't glance her way. Jason had actually set the table today. And offered to get the bread out of the oven. And volunteered to bring her sister's stuff upstairs, to which "Courtney" had smiled and said that would be great. All traces of Elliot Smith was gone.

Then Ali turned to Courtney. Her sister was politely waiting as their father spooned a rectangle of lasagna onto her plate. Her parents had picked her up while Ali and Jason were at school, saying today worked better for Mr. DiLaurentis's work schedule. She'd arrived home just before the buses pulled out of the Rosewood Day parking lot, which meant it was fairly unlikely that anyone Ali's age had seen her. Not that it made her feel much better.

Courtney's hair, which was just about the same length as Ali's, was swept back from her face with little bobby pins that had tiny stars on the ends. She wore a striped halter with a ruffled neck that Ali had never seen before, one neither from her closet now nor her packed things from a year ago, and black skinny jeans. Away from the harsh light of the hospital, her sister's skin had an extra healthy glow, as if she'd just gone on a hike. And she seemed to be smiling a lot, which set Ali on edge. She'd even smiled at Ali when she'd walked in the door, stepping forward and giving her a huge hug and saying how good it was to her. But when her lips were close to Ali's ear, she'd whispered it again: Say your good-byes.

"Thank you so much," Courtney said now, in a gracious tone. "This is all so nice of you." She raised a modern-day Polaroid camera to her eyes and took a picture of her mother. "Say cheese!"

"Cheese!" Mrs. DiLaurentis said, smiling. The camera made a whirr sound, and a photo spits out. At first, Ali had thought it was her Polaroid camera, but Mrs. DiLaurentis had noticed Ali's in the kitchen and had seemed interested in it, so they'd gotten one today, too.

Ali cleared her throat. "Funny you're interested in photography, Courtney. That's my favorite hobby, too."

Courtney blinked innocently. "Don't worry, sis. I'm not going to pretend I'm you."

She tilted her chin down and winked. Ali curled her toes inside her shoes. What if they were exactly what her sister had planned?

Mrs. DiLaurentis took a square of lasagna. "Lots of people can like photography, girls."

Courtney smiled bashfully, then reached for the Parmesan, which was in a little silver bowl Ali had never seen—usually, they just used the shaker.

"Oh, I'll do that for you," Mr. DiLaurentis said, spooning a bit of cheese onto Courtney's lasagna. As if she was as invalid and couldn't do it herself.

"So we had a very nice chat with the doctors today," Mrs. DiLaurentis said between bites, staring at Ali as she spoke. "Courtney was a model patient this past year at the Preserve. She made a lot of friends, really participated in the group programs, did great at her studies..." She clapped a hand on Courtney's shoulder.