Note to reader: I'm taking some liberties with Beth, Emily's older sister's age, it doesn't say how old she is in the book but in Ali's Pretty Little Lies it doesn't say she lives with Emily so I'm saying that she's in college and has just gotten out for the summer. :) If anyone knows from an interview or something, please tell me.
"Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Airport!" the bus driver calls out, and I jolt awake. Emily's fallen asleep, and she's clutching a piece of paper tight in her hand. I lean over and talk into her ear. "Boo!"
Emily's eyes snap open and she claps a hand to her mouth to keep from laughing out loud. "Getting up, getting up," She smiles at me. "We're here?"
"Yeah," I say as I grab my bag. "Where to?" I ask as I put the money in the bus driver's hand.
"I don't know." Emily bites her nail as we get off the bus. People are swarming all around the bus station and I feel the sense of panic that I first got when I entered the Preserve. But this time it's different. I'm not getting jailed. I'm getting freed.
Without even really thinking about it, I grab Emily's hand and hold on tight. I can't supress the panic that's growing in my stomach. "What are we going to do?"
Emily looks at me. "You didn't plan?"
"My sister just got home tonight and I found her bobby pin on my pillow. Of course I didn't plan- I just ran." I answer. "I didn't know what she was going to do...but she'd already told me to say my goodbyes."
"Oh my God." Emily claps her hand over her mouth. "Do you think she was going to kill you?"
I nod. "You see why I had to run."
"Wait..." Emily looks like she has an idea. "My sister Beth has an apartment a few miles from here. She'd be home now- it's summer break and her college let out for break a few days ago."
"Beth?" I make a bit of a face. "Didn't you always say she was really boring and always followed rules? She'd be sure to tell your mom and dad and then I'd be right back in the same house with my murderous twin!"
"Maybe if I explain..." Emily looks doubtful. Then it looks like she got an idea. "Oh. Carolyn and Jason are at a summer program for Carolyn's college, and our parents told us to take the bus and stay there for today and tomorrow because they knew she'd understand, and they needed to drop them off and were going to stay a night because they'd be so late and we needed someone to take care of us but they couldn't find babysitters." She smiles devilishly. "My parents are always dumping me on her. It's not unlike them at all."
"No, Jason's going to Yale..." Then I understand. "It WORKS! Perfect! And at the end of the two days when she wonders why our parents aren't here yet we'll tell her the truth. So what's your sister's adress?"
Emily tells me, and I copy it down on my iPhone and Google Map it. "10 miles from here- we're gonna have to call a taxi."
"Do we have enough money for it?" she asks nervously.
"Credit cards are great, aren't they?" I flash mine. Then I walk over to the edge of the sidewalk, cutting through all the others waiting, and wave my hand. A driver catches sight and pulls his taxi up to the curb.
