Chapter 36: The pArty

"I thought you didn't want Lindsay to come." Aria, who's wearing a Confetti Sequin Dress from Nasty Gal, simply because she's thee only one courageous enough to, says, blowing a bubble with her strawberry-flavored gum.

It's the night of Noel's party, and we're getting ready to head over with Lindsay. Spencer refuses to come with us, bringing Emily with her, and I wasn't originally going to, either, but the situation changed. "Well, we're living in the same house. We might as well go together." I reply. My Flapper Keeper Backless Red dress clings snugly to my sides.

The doorbell rings, and I make an expression that's somewhere in between a smile and a grimace.

Aria and I answer the door. Lindsay stands with one hand on her hip. She wears a strapless dress that's black on top and sea green on the bottom that could only be from Lulu's. Her face lights up when she sees us.

"Hey, guys!" Her black heels clack on the floor as she enters the house. "Love the dresses."

"Thanks." Aria beams. "Yours is awesome, too." I look Lindsay up and down again. Not only is the dress cute, but it looks absolutely perfect on her. It complements her skin tone and shows off her curves. I can't help but be a little jealous.

"Are you guys ready to leave?" I ask.

They nod and we climb into Aria's car.

I just hope this works.

As we pull up to Noel Kahn's house, Lindsay looks at it, excited.

"I can already tell this is going to be great." She whispers.

"It's about time." Spencer walks up behind us, making me jump. Her BCBGeneration One Shoulder Layered Pleated Dress from Macy's clings to her skin. She raises an eyebrow. "What took you so long?"

Emily, who stands behind her, puts a hand on Spencer's shoulder. Spencer crosses her arms. "Calm down, Spence."

We walk into the house together and I notice Lindsay poke Emily's side.

"You buy from Lulu's too?" Lindsay asks, pointing to Emily's My Cherie Amour mint green lace dress.

Emily beams, noticing Lindsay's dress. "Yeah."

"Who's going with who?" I whisper to Aria. It's time to put our plan into motion.

"You and Emily are staying with Lindsay. I don't know why you changed your mind, but Emily refused to go with Spencer to, you know, so now I have to. The last person I want to see is Noel." She wrinkles her nose as she replies.

When I turn back, Lindsay already has a red cup in her hand. "Want some?" She grins, holding out the cup to me and the other girls. We all shake our heads. "Your loss." Lindsay holds the cup to her mouth and takes a small sip.

"Actually, I'll have some." Emily takes the cup and gulps down the alcohol.

"Ok, so, Spencer and I promised we'd meet someone here, so we're going to see if we can find them. We'll be back to drive-"

"Who is that?" Lindsay asks, obviously not listening. Her cup is dangling from her hands so loosely I think she might drop it. Her eyes are planted on someone from across the room. I follow her gaze, and my heart sinks a little.

Noel.

I take in a small gulp of air and turn back to Lindsay. "That's Noel Kahn. He's the one throwing the party." I look at the other girls for help, but I know no one can say anything to change her mind. She has that look that Alison used to make when she was determined to do something, or get someone. "But, trust me, he's bad new. You don't want to-"

"I'm gonna get me some of that." Lindsay glances over at me, slightly exaggerating the words get and that. She takes another dainty gulp. I give the others a nervous look, begging for backup, but Lindsay's already dancing her way through the crowd towards Noel.

My eyes start to burn as Lindsay sits down next to Noel. He gives her a once-over and flashes his signature grin. I can't make out what they say, but the start laughing, and she scoots closer to him. He says something and they both get up.

I glare into the back of their heads as they walk away.

This so isn't going to end well.

"So, what was the plan, anyway?" I ask, downing my whole cup of beer as all four of us watch Noel and Lindsay dance together.

"We were just going to spy on him and see if we found out anything." Aria explains.

"And then we were going to search his room." Spencer adds.

"Well, now we can all spy on both of them." Emily rolls her eyes. "Maybe we could just ask Lindsay to look into it."

"And tell her about ~A? Good idea, Em." Spencer grimaces.

"Plus, all she has to do is put on a blonde wig, and she'd be Alison. I don't think we can trust her." I shake my head.

"That's not true." Emily's hands ball up into fists and she grits her teeth.

"Come on, Em. Do you really think we can trust that girl?" Spencer rolls her eyes.

Instead of answering, Emily stomps away, grabbing a cup along the way and downing it in one big gulp.

"I'm going to see if she's ok." Aria whispers and runs after Emily, yelling her name.

"I'll go check his room. You can keep watch over them." I tell Spencer. She opens her mouth, most like to reject, I run up the stairs before she can say anything.

I go towards the end of the hallway, where I know Noel's room is. I knock, but no one answers. The doorknob turns slowly, and I take in a deep gulp of air.

No one's there, and when I look down both sides of the hallway, they're clear, too. Hastily, I step inside and close the door behind me. I immediately go through his drawers, but find nothing other than clothes, a few hair products, and a pen.

I let out an exasperated sigh, and collapse on the ground in an 'X'. Of course I wouldn't find anything. If Noel was ~A, he would have hidden any evidence. I turn over, suddenly exhausted.

That's when I see it.

A small cardboard box under his bed.

It was probably originally used for books, but Noel doesn't read. I can see a phone peeking out of it.

Score.

I reach for the box.

And then the door opens.

Author's note: These dresses I used in the chapter do exist, but I do not own them. All I simply did was look up party dresses so... Yeah.