Not that it was true. Hanna was so mixed up about Mona Vanderwaal, her best friend since eighth grade who’d turned out to be A, the person who’d taunted her with her secrets, publicly embarrassed her more times than she could count, and yes, tried to run Hanna over with her car. There were still days when Hanna woke up, grabbed her phone, and started to text Mona about what shoes she was wearing to school before she remembered. At Mona’s funeral, Hanna had actually cried, eliciting gapes from her peers. Hanna knew she should despise Mona with all of her heart—and a big part of her did. But another part couldn’t just forget all the time they’d spent together gossiping, plotting their rise to popularity, and throwing fabulous parties. Before everything with A happened, Mona had been a better friend to her than Ali ever was—they’d felt like equals. But now Hanna knew it was all a lie.
Hanna stared down at her empty plate. Two ravaged pizza crusts lay in a lake of grease, but she couldn’t remember eating the rest. Her stomach let out an unattractive gurgle.
Mr. Marin wiped his mouth. “Well, we have a lot of unpacking to do.” He touched Kate’s arm. “You girls should take a break. Why don’t you and Hanna go to that new mall that just opened. What’s it called?”
“Devon Crest,” Hanna piped up.
“Ooh, I heard that place is very nice,” Isabel cooed.
“I’ve been, actually,” Kate said.
Isabel looked surprised. “When?”
“Uh, yesterday.” Kate fiddled with the bangle on her silver David Yurman bracelet, which she’d bragged was a gift from Isabel for winning an essay contest last year. “You guys were busy.”
“You two could go together, get to know each other a little better.” Mr. Marin looked back and forth between Hanna and Kate. “Go shopping. Buy something nice for yourselves. Leave the unpacking to us. What do you say?”
Kate took a long sip from her water bottle. “Thanks, Tom. That sounds really great.”
Hanna snuck a peek at Kate. Surprisingly, she looked sincere. Was it possible Kate had changed since Hanna had seen her last at a dinner in Philly, when she’d ratted Hanna out for stealing Percocet from a clinic? Hanna was back in touch with her old best friends, Emily, Aria, and Spencer, but none of them were big fashion followers, and she was kind of dying for a new best friend to replace Mona. Especially since she and her old friends had started attending group grief therapy together. She needed a break from all the Ali and A stuff—stat.
“I suppose I have some free time today,” Hanna said.
“Great. Run along, then.” Mr. Marin rose from the table and cleared everyone’s plates. “Izz? Which room do you want to unpack first?”
“Uch, let’s start with the kitchen. I’m not drinking out of this for another second.” She wrinkled her nose at one of Hanna’s favorite mugs, a majolica goblet her parents had bought on a trip to Tuscany.
The two of them left the room, chattering about which box their wineglasses might be in. Hanna rose from her seat. “So, I’m ready to go when you are,” she said to Kate. “Is their Nordstrom any good? Is it true there’s a Uniqlo? That place has amazing cashmere sweaters for pennies.”
Kate let out a snort. “God, Hanna,” she said, her expression suddenly venomous. “I was just saying I’d go to the mall to get your dad and my mom off my back. Did you actually think I was going to go anywhere with you?”
She sauntered out of the room, her chestnut ponytail swinging. Hanna’s mouth made an O. Kate had set a trap, and she was the dumb animal who’d walked right into its steel jaws.
Kate paused in the hall, pressed some buttons on her phone, and then held it to her ear. “Hey,” she whispered to whoever had picked up. “It’s me.” She laughed flirtatiously. It figured. Kate had only been here for two days and she already had a boyfriend.
Hanna twisted her napkin so forcefully she was surprised it didn’t rip. Whatever—she and Kate probably would’ve had a horrible time shopping together anyway. Then, she heard a faint snicker spiraling from somewhere close by. On instinct, she glanced out the windows, certain she’d see a blond flash slipping through the trees. That was crazy, though. A—Mona—was gone.
Chapter 2
Puke-a-tan
A few days later, Hanna sat on the cushy microfiber couch at her boyfriend Lucas Beattie’s house, in front of the soft glow of the family’s tinsel-heavy Christmas tree. The TV was playing an infomercial for a new ab-crunching device—“Get your body ripped by New Year’s!”—the overly loud sales guy kept screaming. On the floor in front of them was a gift tin filled with butter, cheese, and caramel popcorn.
“The Kate worship was even worse than usual at dinner yesterday,” Hanna moaned as she pushed another handful of cheese popcorn into her mouth. “All my dad and Isabel talked about was this absolutely wonderful speech Kate gave during tenth-grade commencement last year. And Kate just sat there beaming, all yeah, I know I’m awesome.”
“I’m sorry, Han.” Lucas took a sip from his can of Mountain Dew. “You really don’t think you guys can become friends?”