Ali's Pretty Little Lies (Prequel)

Thirty-Two: The Lost Puzzle Pieces.

Ali ran down the slippery path, looking right and left for a familiar shape in the darkness. Her sister had to be close, but where?

A horrible vision appeared in her mind: a stark, antiseptic hospital bed. Being shoved into a tiny room, the door slamming. We're never letting you out again, a voice taunted. She pictures herself pressing her hands against a window at the Preserve, watching her parents—and Courtney—drive away.

It couldn't happen.

A whiff of something stopped her, and she cocked her head. It smelled like a cigarette. But before she could figure out where it was coming from, the smell was gone.

"Ali!" a voice cut through the night. "Ali, come back!"

Ali paused on the slate path and looked over her shoulder. The pagoda-shaped lanterns on the footpath didn't provide much in the way of light, but she could just make out Spencer coming toward her. A new fire sparked in her stomach. Spencer wasn't supposed to be outside. She might see something—or, more accurately, someone.

She squared her shoulders, waiting as Spencer caught up with her. Spencer's cheeks were flushed, and there was a guilty expression on her face. "Where are you going?" she asked in a wounded voice.

Ali blinked. All of a sudden, it seemed like Spencer maybe didn't know. She looked so worried right then, like she was afraid Ali was going to ditch her forever. But Spencer couldn't be out here right now, not with her twin hanging around. Ali said the first thing she could think of that would make Spencer turn around and go back to the barn. "I'm going somewhere way cooler than hanging out with you guys."

Spencer's features hardened. "Fine. Go." And yet she didn't move.

Ali gritted her teeth, scrambling to think of something else. Something rustled in the woods, and her eyes flickered toward the trees. Ian? Her sister? Spencer needed to get out of here. Now.

"You try to steal everything away from me, Spence," she teased, trying to keep the desperation out of her voice. "But you can't have this."

Spencer squinted. "Can't have what?"

Ali laughed nastily. "You know."

Spencer waved a hand. "You're delusional."

"No, I'm not." There was another flutter in the woods; Ali stepped closer to Spencer, boxing her in so she couldn't see. "You are."

Anger flashed in Spencer's eyes, and she pushed Ali hard on shoulder. Ali staggered back, surprised by the forcefulness of it. Her feet slipped on the path, and she twisted to the right, grabbing a tree branch for balance.

She straightened up and gawked at Spencer. "Friends don't shove friends."

Spencer stood tall. "Well, maybe we aren't friends."

"Guess not," Ali said. She wanted to add, So go back to the barn.

But still Spencer lingered. It had gotten past the point of annoyance. Now Ali wanted to hurt Spencer. She suddenly realized how. She licked her lips, the twist to the secret like rich juice on her tongue. "You think kissing Ian is so special," she teased. "But you know what he told me? That you didn't even know how."

Spencer stepped back as if Ali had slapped her. "Ian told you that? When?"

"When we were on our date," she lied.

Spencer's lips parted. No words came out of her mouth.

Ali edged closer. "You're so lame, acting like you don't know we're together. But of course you do, Spence. That's why you liked him, isn't it? Because I'm with him? Because you're sister's with him?" She shrugged. "The only reason he kissed you the other night was because I asked him to. He didn't want to, but I begged."