“I’m happy to be here,” Emily answered, though after her run-in with Isaac, all she wanted to do was go home.
Then Mr. Marin turned to a woman who’d just joined the group. She had ash-blond hair, perfect posture, and wore an impeccable suit that looked like it cost a small fortune. Emily started, her body suddenly on fire. No. It couldn’t be. Emily had to be seeing things.
The woman noticed her, too, and stopped talking mid-sentence. “Oh!” she blurted, her face going white.
Bile rose in Emily’s throat. It was Gayle.
Mr. Marin noticed the strange look pass between both of them and cleared his throat. “Uh, Emily, this is Ms. Riggs, one of my biggest donors. She and her husband recently moved to the area from New Jersey. Ms. Riggs, this is my daughter’s friend Emily.”
Gayle pushed a strand of blond hair from her eyes. “I thought your name was Heather,” she said in a measured, ice-cold voice.
All eyes were on her. Hanna shot around and stared at Emily. It felt like ten years passed before Emily spoke again. “Uh, you must have me confused with someone else,” she blurted. And then, unable to stand there a moment longer, she whipped around and ran as fast as she could for the nearest door, which led to a back storage room. She shut herself inside and leaned against the wall, her heart thudding in her ears.
As if on cue, her phone chimed. Emily grabbed for it, her stomach jumping all over the place. One new text, the screen said.
Hey, baby mama. Guess the jig is up! —A
9
HELL HATH NO FURY LIKE A RICH LADY SCORNED
As Mr. Marin took the stage at the town hall meeting, beaming at his adoring crowd, Spencer banged through the back doors of the banquet room into a small parking lot. Only a few spaces were occupied, taken by beat-up pickup trucks and compact cars. At the back of the lot, next to a green Dumpster stuffed with empty cardboard boxes, Emily hopped from foot to foot as if her sweater dress was on fire.
The door opened again, and Aria and Hanna stepped outside. They were both holding their phones and looking confused. Just moments ago, Emily had sent all of them a cryptic text saying they needed to talk and to meet her here. Spencer had texted back asking if they could talk inside—it was cold out—but Emily had written back NO!
“Em?” Aria called out, walking down the rickety metal steps. “Are you okay?”
“My dad’s going to wonder where I am.” Hanna held the railing tight, cautious in her high heels. “What’s going on?”
Emily thrust her phone toward them when they were close. “I just got this.”
The girls read the note on the screen. Spencer’s stomach flipped as she took in the words. “Wait. A knows about the baby?”
Emily nodded, looking terrified.
“But how is that possible? And why didn’t A mention it before?” Spencer asked. She still couldn’t believe Emily had had a baby. Before school was dismissed last year, Emily had looked—and seemed—so normal, like nothing was bothering her at all. But halfway through July, shortly after Spencer’s run-in with the police for possession of Easy A, Emily had called Spencer in a panic, saying she was pregnant. At first, Spencer had thought it was a joke. Not a very funny one, either.
“I don’t know,” Emily answered, tears in her eyes. “Maybe because A knows everything. Has anyone else gotten a note?”
Spencer shakily raised her hand. “Actually, I did. Last night. I was going to tell you tonight.”
She pulled up the text on her phone, and the others gathered around.
Think your college friends would let you into their Eating Club if they knew about your appetite for murder?
Just reading it again made Spencer’s heart gallop. She’d barely slept a wink last night, running over the possibilities of who A might be.
“How could A know about Tabitha and the baby?” Emily whispered.
Hanna exhaled sharply, her breath visible in the frigid air. “The same way A knows everything.”
“Plenty of people saw you.” Spencer shivered in the thin blazer she’d chosen to wear. “You were in Philly all summer. A could have been, too. Maybe that’s how A knew about me and Kelsey.”
Emily paced up and down a faded yellow line demarcating a parking space. “You know how big I got. I didn’t look like the girl on that People cover. But I suppose someone could have figured it out.” She arched her back and stared at the spindly tree branches above their heads.
“This isn’t just any random someone,” Aria pointed out. “It’s a person who’s out to get us. Someone we wronged. Someone who wants revenge.”
“But who?” Hanna cried.
Emily stopped pacing. “You all know who I think A is.”
Spencer groaned. “Don’t say Ali, Em.”