“Of course.” Noel took Aria’s face in his hands. “You know, I really like this new let’s-always-be-honest policy.”
“Me too,” Aria said, but then fiddled with the ties on her sailboat-printed blouse. She and Noel were really trying to stick to an honesty-is-the-best-policy rule, telling each other the truth about everything. When Aria didn’t want to watch Game of Thrones on HBO again, she said so. When Noel really, really wanted McDonald’s drive-thru instead of another dinner at Aria’s favorite vegan restaurant, he made it clear.
It was liberating, but Aria also felt like a fraud because she still hadn’t told him her big secrets, like what had happened in Iceland last summer—only one person knew about that. He didn’t know that there was a new A in town, either, or that she and her friends had done something terrible in Jamaica.
Worse, now that Tabitha’s death had been deemed a murder, Noel was suddenly interested in the story. While the two of them were hanging out at his house a few days earlier, a CNN report about Tabitha had popped on the screen. Noel had paused and squinted at Tabitha’s picture. “She looks really familiar,” he’d murmured.
Aria had quickly changed the channel, but she could feel Noel’s mind working. He’d taken note of Tabitha while in Jamaica. When would he make the connection? Once he did, he’d likely tell the police everything he remembered about her from the trip. He’d tell them that Aria had been with him in Jamaica, too, and then the police would ask her questions.
On the phone with the girls, she’d mentioned an idea that had been brewing in her mind all week: turning herself in. On one hand, it would be a huge relief—she wouldn’t have to hide anymore. On the other, her life would be over. Did she really want that?
Aria had hoped to use the time on this cruise to really figure out what she wanted to do, but she worried about the police investigation. What if the cops figured it out before she’d decided? What if A gave them a clue they didn’t even know A had yet? Aria would rather the confession be on her terms, her decision, but it felt like she was running out of time.
Now they passed a bunch of booths offering sign-ups for short-fiction workshops, pottery classes, and an ecotour sponsored by Greenpeace. Then Aria spied a sign that said SCAVENGER HUNT! Next to it were pictures of kids looking at clues, riding down zip-lines, and trekking through the rain forest. EXPLORE THE ISLANDS! a sign read. MAKE AN ENVIRONMENTAL DIFFERENCE! WIN BIG PRIZES!
“Cool.” Aria grabbed a flyer.
A pudgy strawberry-blonde with a name tag that said GRETCHEN stepped forward, a big smile on her freckly face. “Interested?” she asked. “We give you clues that send you all around the three islands. There’s some research involved, so it would meet your for-credit class requirement. It’ll be a lot of fun, too.”
“That sounds great.” Aria could easily imagine hunting for clues and exploring the islands with Noel. But when she looked at Noel for his opinion, he was talking to a tall guy with sunburned cheeks at another table. BECOME A CHAMPION SURFER IN SEVEN DAYS, read a banner over Sunburned Guy’s head. Amazingly, it was a for-credit class, too, the cruise ship’s version of PE.
“Dude, sign me up,” Noel said excitedly, grabbing a pen from a cup with a surfer on the front.
“Noel, wait.” Aria caught his arm. “Doesn’t this look like it could be fun for both of us?” She pointed to the scavenger hunt sign.
Noel frowned. “Let’s surf instead.”
Aria turned to Sunburned Guy, who was presumably the instructor. “Is it okay that I’m not a strong swimmer?”
He wrinkled his freckled nose. “Can you do the crawl?”
“I can dog-paddle,” she said optimistically. She had never technically learned how to swim—there were so many other more interesting activities she’d wanted to try out when she was little instead. Cliff-diving in Jamaica had terrified her half to death. She’d always made Emily stay very close to where she landed so she could rescue her if she needed it.
The instructor looked skeptical. “Surfers need to be able to paddle through some pretty tough waves. I don’t think you’d be able to handle it.”
Noel looked crushed. Aria smiled at him. “Take the surf lessons anyway.”
“No!” he said quickly.
“It’s okay.” Aria squeezed his hands. “Who cares if we don’t do the same activity? We could do the same volunteer job, maybe. Or hang out at other times.”
“Are you sure?” Noel’s voice wavered.
“Absolutely.” Aria kissed his nose. “I want us both to be happy.”