“Noel, no!” Aria cried, grabbing for his hands.
Noel wrenched away from her, a horrible twist of anger on his face. “And here I thought you were open-minded.” He spun around and went back inside, slamming the door so hard the house shook. A dreadful silence followed.
Aria stared at her shaking hands, questioning if what had just happened was real. She waited for Noel to come back, but he didn’t. How had this happened? She thought she’d done the right thing, when she’d just made things a million times worse.
And then it hit her: Maybe A had meant for things to play out this way. Maybe A had known that Mr. Kahn’s cross-dressing was an open secret all along but led her to believe it would destroy Noel’s family. After all, the only thing that was worse than A ruining a relationship was Aria sabotaging it all on her own.
26
OD-NO SHE DIDN’T
“Spencer. Psst! Spencer!”
Spencer opened her eyes. She was lying on a small cot in the middle of a room that smelled pungently of antiseptic. Her limbs felt welded to the mattress, and she was certain someone had stuffed a torch down her throat. As her vision cleared, she saw a pretty girl with blond hair and big eyes standing at the foot of the bed. She was wearing a familiar yellow dress and had a knowing smile on her face.
Spencer shot up, recognizing her instantly. “Tabitha?”
Tabitha spread out her arms. “Nice to see you again. How are you feeling?”
Spencer touched her forehead. It felt wet, as though covered in sweat—or blood. “Not great. Where am I?”
Tabitha giggled. “Don’t you remember what happened?”
Spencer tried to think, but her mind was a deep, black hole. “I don’t remember anything.”
Tabitha’s heels rang out on the cold, hard floor as she stepped closer to Spencer. Her skin smelled like the same vanilla soap Ali used to use. “You’re here because of what you did,” she whispered, her breath hot on Spencer’s face. “What all of you did. She told me you’d pay for this, and she was right.”
“What do you mean, she? Who?”
Tabitha pretended to zip her lips and throw away the key. “I swore I wouldn’t tell.”
“What happened to me?” Spencer tried to move her legs under the covers, but they were strapped down with thick leather belts. “Where am I?”
Tabitha rolled her eyes. “Do I have to spell everything out for you? I thought you were smart. You got into Princeton, after all. Not that you’ll be going there now.”
Spencer’s eyes widened. “W-why not?”
Tabitha’s smile was crooked and strange. “Because you’re dead.” And then she leaned over and touched Spencer’s eyes, as if to close them. “Say good-bye!”
Spencer shrieked and fought to keep her eyes open, kicking against the leather restraints. When she opened her eyes again, she was in a different room. The walls were green, not pink. An IV pole and a bunch of whirring machines stood next to her bed, measuring her blood pressure and pulse. Just within reach was a small tray table containing a yellow plastic pitcher, her cell phone, and three round white pills. When Spencer looked at the cotton gown she was wearing, it was printed with the words PROPERTY OF PRINCETON GENERAL HOSPITAL.
Tabitha’s voice reverberated in Spencer’s mind. It’s because of what you did. What all of you did. She told me you’d pay for this, and she was right. Was Tabitha talking about Gayle? But how did she and Gayle know each other? Or did she mean Real Ali?
More importantly, what the hell was she doing in a hospital? All she remembered was wandering to Ivy’s backyard and hearing something in the woods. There had been footsteps . . . someone had grabbed her . . . and then what?
Her monitor chirped. As if on cue, a nurse wearing blue scrubs and a terry-cloth headband entered the room. “Ah, you’re up.” The nurse looked at the machines, then shone a light in Spencer’s eyes. “Your name’s Spencer Hastings, right? Your driver’s license says you’re from Pennsylvania. Do you know what day it is?”
Spencer blinked. Everything was moving too quickly. “Um, Sunday?”
“That’s right.” The nurse wrote something down on the clipboard she was holding.
“W-what happened to me?” Spencer squeaked.
The nurse placed a blood pressure cuff on Spencer’s arm. “You overdosed on a dangerous mix of drugs. We had to pump your stomach about an hour ago.”
“What?” Spencer sat up in bed. “That’s impossible!”
The nurse sighed. “Well, your blood tested positive for marijuana, Ritalin, and LSD. The tox screen for the twenty-six other kids at the same party also tested positive for those substances, but they keep telling me they didn’t do any drugs, either.” She rolled her eyes. “I wish one of you would have just admitted it when we brought you in. It would’ve made our lives a lot easier.”