Chapter 37: AftermAth
I look up, startled, just as someone enters the room.
"What the hell are you doing!?" Noel cries, coming next to me. "Why are you in my room!?"
My mind whirs. I have to say something. But it isn't like I can just reply, Hey, Noel. Sorry, I was just searching your room to see if you're my creepy, crazy, killing stalker!
Yeah, no. Then it hits me.
"You mean this isn't your bathroom?" I ask, purposely slurring my words. "I think I might have used your trashcan to-" I feel a smile creep onto my lips as I turn towards his garbage can and let the vomit I was holding in all night spill into it.
"Oh my God, Hanna. You're more drunk than I am." I look up at Noel, who I think might fall over.
"Can you get Spencer? She has my phone. She borrowed it so she could call someone." I close my eyes and hope this will work and my phone won't start ringing from my purse.
"Sure." Noel stumbles out of the room, and I reach back under the bed, pulling out the box. I look inside and see a bunch of cell phones. I pull one out, and then put it into my purse. Then another. And another. And then another one. Each one looks more ancient than the last. When all the phones are cleared out of the box, my purse feels like it weighs a thousand pounds. I'm about to stand up, when I notice something else is in the box. On instinct, I look around to make sure no one is watching. Then my hand dives into the box, just as the door opens again. I let out a little squeal.
"Relax. It's just me." Spencer says, closing the door quietly. "I knew something was up when he actually started talking to me."
"Well, first off, what the hell is wrong with you!? You were supposed to be watching Lindsay and Noel!" I let out a disappointed huff.
"Sorry. Lindsay came up to me, and I lost track of Noel." Spencer gives me a 'Please forgive me' look.
"And, look what I found." I open my purse, revealing the phones.
"Whoa. That's a lot of phones." Spencer gapes in awe. "Did he catch you!?"
"Almost." I let out a relieved sigh. "I played drunk. I didn't have the phones yet."
"Good."
"And that's not all." I gesture towards the box.
"Is that Noel's?" Spencer picks up the notebook at the bottom of the box.
I take it from her and open it. I quickly skim the words on the first page.
Dear Diary,
The girls were so overdramatic today. I suggested we go camping with a few other people from school, and they all totally freaked.
I don't know if it's because they didn't want to go back because what happened last time, or because they're afraid I'm going to ditch them. Well, I can't really blame them for thinking I might leave them. I mean, I could easily befriend the field hockey girls if I wanted to.
But, there's something about these four that makes me stay. I think it's that I know they won't go against me. They know if they do, I'll ditch them in a heartbeat.
Except Spencer. I think I keep her because she's a challenge. And it's fun to kick her ass.
Aria's strange. She's always so quiet. I know she won't go against me. That's why I picked her.
Hanna wants to be exactly like me. If she keeps up the good work and does everything I ask, I might just help her get there, although she'll never be as fabulous as I am.
And then there's Emily. She's the easiest. She's obviously completely in love with me, and that means I can use her to my advantage. I mean, why wouldn't she do what I ask? She's easily my favorite of the group. She'd never leave me, and if I left her, she'd be devastated.
I don't know how, but, somehow, I'll get the girls to go back to the campsite. It won't be too much of a challenge if you ask me.
Love,
The name at the end of the paragraph blurs before my eyes.
"No." I choke, finally answering Spencer's question. She gives me a questioning look and I swallow loudly. "It's Ali's."
After Spencer stuffed the notebook in her bag, we went back downstairs and found Emily and Aria.
"What do you guys want, now?" Emily asks, clearly annoyed. "Are you going to hate on Lindsay some more?"
"No." Spencer's eyes squint in confusion and her mouth forms a straight line. "This has nothing to do with her."
"I went up to Noel's room, and look what I found." I open my purse so they can see, and Spencer waves the notebook.
"Let me see that." Emily grabs the diary from Spencer's hands and opens it to the same page I read earlier. I watch the color drain from her face with each word. "How did he get this?"
"I don't know." I shrug.
"Then how about we go ask him?" Emily starts to storm towards Noel and Lindsay, but Aria grabs her arm to hold her back.
"Em, we can't ask him. Then he'll know what we did." She whispers.
Emily turns back to us. "So we're just going to let him get away with this!?" Her face turns tomato red from anger.
"Calm down. We're going to nail him." Aria rubs Emily's shoulder.
"The plan is to have all of us search the phones and the diary to see if Noel is ~A." I steady myself on Spencer.
"Well, how are we going to do it with all these people here? And we can't exactly do it in front of Lindsay." Emily glares at Spencer.
"We'll wait until tomorrow. Aria and Hanna can come to my house so that we know Lindsay won't come in."
A few kids smoking in the corner turn to stare at us. I give them a look and they turn away, one of them putting their hands up in surrender.
"Fine." Emily crosses her arms. "But while you guys be bitches to her, I'm going to try to be nice." She stomps over to Lindsay and Noel and shoots us a look, sitting down next to them. A phone dings from my purse. And then Spencer's, and then Aria's.
I dig mine out from the bottom of the bag and open the text.
"Good choice on Emily's behalf, if I do say so myself. Join the team, girls, or prepare for the worst year of your lives. That is, if you make it through. Bring your ~A game. Xoxo ~A"
I shiver as I look away from my phone.
Just in time to see Noel glance up and give us a haunting smile.
Author's note: Hey, guys! I just wanted to let you know that I will no longer be able to post on week days because of school. I will post the next chapter hopefully next weekend. Thanks for your understanding!