So sorry that it has taken me so long to update! I was in California over the weekend and just got back late last night. Thanks to RHatch89, BadSmiles, nick2951, and Diane61 for the reviews, and to tret190 for following. I appreciate the feedback as always, and please review and let me know what you think of this chapter!

Chapter 63

I think it really says a lot about what my life has become that I'm not even surprised to see Spencer and Hanna staring right at us. I don't even question why they're in Radley. Of course they are. Half the town could be in Radley right now and I wouldn't even bat an eyelash.

"What the hell?" Hanna bursts out.

Spencer's eyes have narrowed angrily. "You guys were down here the whole time?"

"Was that you?" Hanna adds, obviously referring to the crashing noises we had been making just a few moments ago.

"Answer us!" Spencer says loudly, and her voice echoes around the small room.

"Just let us go," Mona says. Her voice is wavering again. "Please. I'll explain later."

"No," Spencer says furiously. "You're gonna explain right now."

"Why were you following us?" Hanna demands, folding her arms across her chest.

Without pausing to wonder if this is a bad idea, I reach over and snatch the file out of my sister's hands. "We came to get this," I announce, waving it in the air.

"Viola!" Mona snaps, sounding horrified, but Spencer has already grabbed it right out of my hands. "Just give it back to me, okay? This doesn't have anything to do with you guys."

"Why were you stealing your file?" Hanna asks angrily, but I roll my eyes, holding out my hand just as Spencer's beginning to open it.

"Don't bother. It's not hers. It's Lesli's."

Two pairs of wide eyes meet mine. "Wait, what?" Hanna cries. "Lesli was a patient here, too?"

"Yes," Mona says, glancing at me. "And she doesn't want it to go public."

Spencer looks shocked, but Hanna looks like everything suddenly makes a lot more sense. "Come on," Spencer says to Hanna, pulling her purse off of her shoulder and opening it. "Let's get out of here."

I fold my arms and raise my eyebrows, ready to get out of here myself, but Mona has gone pale. "You can't take that!"

Hanna rolls her eyes as Spencer shoves the file into her purse, snapping it closed. "I think there's more to this story than either of you are telling us," Spencer says abruptly.

"Your friend's just gonna have to live with everyone knowing just what a psycho she really is," Hanna adds, and with that, they're gone, striding out of the room.

I fully expect my sister to run after them, and even put my hand on her arm just in case, but she stares at the ground for a full two minutes before finally grabbing my wrist and pulling me down the hallway. " 'We came to get this,'" she mocks, looking furious. "Congratulations, Viola. You just screwed us both over."

"What are you talking about?" I say, stumbling in my haste to keep up.

"When Lesli finds out that I didn't get her file…" she says, and fear has replaced the anger in her voice. "I don't know what she's going to do."

I roll my eyes and scoff, mostly to hide the fact that I'm on the verge of panic as well, "Oh, please. What's she gonna do? Call you another stupid name?"

We reach the car, thankfully without running into anyone else, but before I can even pull out my keys, Mona grabs my arm, looking at me intently. "You of all people should know not to underestimate someone," she says quietly, then jumps into the car.

I lean my hand against the bumper for a moment, thinking about that. It does seem like we would all have a lot less problems if we automatically pegged everyone we meet for a murderer or psycho.

…

The lights are on in the living room when we pull into the driveway.

I glance at the clock on the dash, and then meet my sister's eyes for a long, terrified moment. It's almost one in the morning.

Crap.

"Well," I breathe, but I can't figure out a positive way to finish that, so I push open the door and get out of the car.

"Maybe it's just Dad," Mona says nervously as we walk very slowly up to the front door.

"Maybe," I say enthusiastically. It's probably because he's rarely home, but our dad never really yells at us. I have a feeling that this might be an exception to that rule.

I take a deep breath and push open the door, hoping for the best.

"Girls."

Our mother is standing right in front of us. Her arms are folded across her chest and her brow is furrowed in anger, but her face is pale, almost green. I realize with an awful jolt of my stomach how freaked out she must have been.

"Mom, we were just – " Mona begins calmly, but our mother cuts her off.

"Do you have any idea how worried we've been?" she demands, and I glance into the living room. My dad is sitting on the couch, his hands clasped together over his knees. He's watching us with an expression that is much worse than anger.

Disappointment.

"How did you know we were gone?" I ask shakily, putting my hands behind my back so she can't see them trembling.

"I've been checking in on you both every night," my mother snaps, pressing her lips together thinly. "Just to make sure you're still alright. Imagine my surprise when I poked my head into your bedrooms to find not one, but both of my daughters gone."

My stomach sinks lower with every word. I've done some pretty awful things over the past year, but I don't think I've ever been more ashamed than I am right now.

I open my mouth to tell her that, but my mother keeps talking. "You don't know what it was like," she whispers, pressing a hand to her temple. "I went from having two wonderful daughters to zero in less than three months. When your rooms were empty tonight, I thought…"

Mona seizes my hand tightly. I squeeze back and look over at my dad. He's still silent, but he's not even looking at us anymore. He's staring down at the carpet.

"I'm sorry," I burst out, my voice hoarse. "Really."

"It was a mistake," Mona adds, sounding near tears as well. "We'll never – "

My mother holds up a hand, closing her eyes. "We'll talk about this tomorrow. Both of you, go to your rooms. Now."

Side-by-side, we slink guiltily up the stairs. I still feel like I'm going to throw up, but I don't dare even stop at the bathroom. "That was so not worth it," I mutter, pressing a hand to my stomach and stopping outside of my room. "God. Do you feel like you're gonna be sick?"

"I don't think I'm gonna be getting much sleep tonight," Mona replies with a shaky laugh.

I can't even muster up a smile, so I just shiver and walk into my room, closing the door behind me. I have sent threatening messages, vandalized people's houses, and participated in the torment of four girls, but I have never felt this guilty in my life.

I flop down on my bed without bothering to change clothes, staring up at the ceiling. My poor parents. How could we have been so stupid? I glance over at the still-open window with a grimace.

My phone chimes and I reach for it immediately, sure that any minute now my mother is going to burst in here and make me turn it over. I definitely won't be keeping my cell phone privileges after that stunt.

So I look at the text while I still have the chance. It's from Hanna. We read the file and we need to talk. Spencer's house, first thing tomorrow morning.

I wince. Out of all things that aren't going to happen tomorrow, either of us going anywhere makes the top of the list. I don't think so, I text back with a sigh. We got busted.

I hesitate, my fingers hovering over the phone, and I finally give in to my curiosity and send another message. I didn't read the file. What did it say?

There is such a long silence that I finally accept the fact that she's not going to tell me. It seems like any trust those girls placed in me is gone after tonight. Strangely, I don't really care. Everything seems so mundane after the dollhouse.

But after nearly ten minutes, a response comes, and shocks me more than I thought possible after tonight.

Lesli was Bethany Young's roommate.

...

Thanks for reading, and once again, please let me know what you think! Next, the girls inform Viola of an unsetting discovery, and an unexpected visitor drops by.