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Noel’s face fell. It was clear he knew exactly who Aria was talking about—in the cemetery during prom, Aria had explained, briefly, hysterically, that Ali was after them. “I don’t think so. ”
Aria bristled. “Why? Because you love her so much and can’t see how evil she is?”
Noel recoiled. “I don’t love her, Aria. ”
Aria stared at him, waiting. He’d said he did.
“Look, I loved someone who didn’t exist,” Noel protested. “I stopped loving her when I fell in love with you. ” He choked back a sob. “I’m sorry. I know that doesn’t excuse anything. I know we can’t be together. But I want you to know that I’ll always regret what I’ve done. ”
His voice was so small and scared that it made Aria’s heart quake. “I want you to tell me everything,” she said in the toughest voice she could muster. “How often you saw Ali at The Preserve. Who else you saw there. What she said to you. If she told you . . . ” Aria took a breath, trying not to burst into tears. “If she told you what she was going to do to us. ”
“I had no idea what she was going to do to you, I promise,” Noel said fiercely.
“Fine. Then tell me at least why you started seeing her. ”
He sighed. “I don’t know. I felt sorry for her. ”
“How did you know she was at The Preserve?”
He shifted under the blankets. “My parents had me talk to someone after my brother committed suicide. It was a therapist who worked in an outpatient building at The Preserve. One day, I bumped into this girl going in when I was coming out—it was Alison. She was really cagey, and I thought it was, you know, the girl I knew from school. The next time I went, she was there again—and I was really confused, because the sixth-grade field hockey team had a game that day, and Mason, who was watching the game, had just texted me that Ali had scored a goal. ”
Aria nodded. “Got it. ”
Noel paused to take a breath. “I kind of put it all together in my head as I was looking at Ali come out of the therapist’s office. She realized it, because she waited for me after my appointment and confessed who she really was. She told me she was Ali’s twin, trapped in a hospital, blah blah blah. ”
“And you believed her?”
“Well, sure. She didn’t seem crazy. Just . . . a victim. ”
Aria pinched the bridge of her nose. “So that’s where you guys got to know each other? Outside the shrink’s office?”
Noel looked ashamed. “No. After that, I . . . I visited her at the hospital. ”
A pain shot through her. “How often?”
“Regularly. ”
“Why?”
He twisted his mouth. “She made me feel heard. Important. ”
Sucker. Ali—both Alis—had a way of making you feel very, very special. But it was always for their own selfish needs. “And let me guess, she made it out like Courtney was the crazy one?” Aria spat.
Noel nodded. “Pretty much. ”
“You had no problem hanging out with Courtney, though,” Aria pointed out, remembering how Noel had attended every party Their Ali threw. He’d sat at their lunch table and winged Cheetos at Ali’s head. He’d partnered with Ali for a three-legged race during the sixth-grade field day, laughing hysterically when they’d stumbled over the finish line. “In fact, in seventh grade, you even went out with her!”
Noel cocked his head. “No, I didn’t. ”
“You did, too! I know because Ali—Courtney—told you I liked you first—but you came back and said you liked her instead. She liked you, too—but then dumped you after a few dates. ” It was something she and Noel had never gotten into, but Aria could remember the incident as clear as day. Ali had broken Aria’s heart when she’d announced Noel was into her.
Noel shifted in the bed, wincing as he twisted his torso. “Courtney never told me about you. I never liked her. She probably said that I liked her just to piss you off. ”
That was something Their Ali would do, but Aria didn’t want to give Noel the satisfaction of being right. “If you really thought Courtney was dangerous, why didn’t you warn anyone?”
For a moment, there were only the sounds of the beeps on Noel’s monitors. “Because she didn’t really seem dangerous. I stayed out of it. Besides, Ali told me not to tell a soul the truth. I kept my promise. ”
“And that’s why you didn’t tell me? Your girlfriend?”
Noel cut his gaze away. “I wanted to so many times. But . . . ” He sighed. “I’m sorry. ”
She balled up a fist in her lap. Sorry? “So, at the end of seventh grade, did you know that the real Ali was out of the hospital for a few days?”
Noel took a sip from the plastic cup on the tray next to his bed. “I went to the DiLaurentis house the day before graduation. I only saw Ali, though. I didn’t see Courtney. ”
Aria wondered if Their Ali had been home at the time. If she wasn’t, she was probably out with Aria and the others . . . or else her new, older friends from field hockey. Had she been doing something completely innocent, like shopping at the King James Mall or hanging out at Spencer’s? Little did she know she was going to die the next day.
“When Courtney went missing, did you suspect Ali?” Aria asked.
“No way,” Noel said forcefully. “She seemed really happy that weekend, not like she was planning anything crazy. I really thought Courtney ran away. And when everyone found out about Ian, it made sense. I saw Courtney flirting with him. That guy could be a real asshole. ”
“Did Ali contact you when she was back in The Preserve?”
There was a loud ding, and Noel glanced at the monitor next to his bed. A heart flashed red, then vanished. “She wrote a letter saying that sending her back to The Preserve was a huge mistake,” he said. “She seemed so worried about her sister going missing and so shocked that they couldn’t find her. I fell for it. ”
“And you visited her again, for years. ”
“Yeah. ” Noel sounded ashamed. “Until Ian Thomas was convicted and Ali came back. ”
“Did you meet Tabitha Clark while you visited The Preserve?”
Noel swallowed hard. “I saw Tabitha around, but I didn’t hang out with her except for this one time when Ali was released for a weekend. Her parents didn’t want to see her, so she stayed with Tabitha in New Jersey. I took the train there and went to the movies with them. ”
Aria shut her eyes. Last week, she’d found a ticket stub for Spider-Man from a theater in Maplewood, New Jersey, where Tabitha was from. There had been handwriting on the back: Thanks for believing in me. So it was from Ali. “Did you meet anyone else at The Preserve?”
Noel raised his eyes to the ceiling. “A girl named Iris. Super-skinny, really blond. ”
That made sense. Last week, Emily had checked Iris out of the hospital for a few days to pump her for information. Iris was the one who’d explained that Ali had a secret boyfriend. When she saw a picture of Noel, she said she was sure it was him.
“How about any guy friends?” Aria asked.
Noel thought for a moment. “I can’t think of a single one. Why?”
“Ali had a boyfriend. ”
She waited for the impact, expecting Noel to look shattered and betrayed. But he just blinked. “I never met him. ”
“Did she ever talk about him?”
“Nope. ” He shook his head.
She stared at her hands in her lap. “So last year, when Ian was arrested and they let Ali out, she contacted you again, right?”
“We met once before that press conference. ”
“At Keppler Creek?” Iris had told Emily that while Ali was still at The Preserve, she talked on and on about how she was going to have a secret meeting at a park near Delaware.
Noel tilted his head. “No. At my house. She said that everyone would know about her soon enough. And then you guys did. When all of you seemed so friendly with one another, I thought it was great. She seemed really happy, too. A happ
y ending. ”
Aria narrowed her eyes. “Did she tell you she lied to us? Told us she was our Ali?”
“Of course not. ” Noel very gingerly sat up in bed, his face contorting. “Like I said, I had no idea until after the fire. ”
“What about the kiss?” Ali and Noel had shared a kiss at the Valentine’s Dance the night of the Poconos fire. Ali had acted like Noel had hit on her, not the other way around. Aria had been so mad at Noel, she’d joined Ali and her friends on their trip to the Poconos house.
“I wasn’t helping her in her master plan, I swear,” Noel urged. “She kissed me. ”
“And what about telling Agent Fuji I was lying?”
Noel squinted. “What are you talking about?”
“I saw an e-mail exchange between you and Agent Fuji. ”
“She let you read her e-mails?”
“No, I read your e-mails. ” Aria hated to admit it. “You told Fuji you thought someone had lied to her about Tabitha’s murder. Why did you say that? Were you trying to get her to investigate me?”
Noel stared at her like a third ear had sprouted out of her forehead. “I had exactly one conversation with Agent Fuji where I told her I didn’t know Tabitha and I didn’t know anything. I was the one lying. And why would I want her to investigate you?”
Aria pretended to fix a kink in her pant leg. Could Noel honestly not know about Tabitha? “I’m supposed to believe that someone hacked into your e-mail account and wrote fake messages to Fuji?”
Noel threw up his hands. “I don’t know. And while we’re talking about it, who is this someone who’s hacking into things and stalking you and beating me up? Do you really think Ali’s still alive? Why didn’t you tell me before?”
Aria scoffed. “I didn’t tell you because I was trying to keep you safe. ”
“But . . . ” Noel looked like he was going to say something else, then shut his mouth tight.
“But what?” Aria asked.
Noel shook his head. “Nothing. Forget it. ”
He was breathing hard by now, and his machine started to beep. Aria stared at it, grateful to have something to look at instead of his face.
A nurse swept into the room and checked the monitor. “I think you should probably get going,” she said to Aria.
She ushered Aria toward the door. Aria peeked back at Noel’s drawn expression, but she didn’t wave.
She felt disoriented and dizzy. For so long, Noel had been the only thing in Rosewood that was keeping her going . . . but now he was a stranger. How could she continue on here? How was she going to live in Rosewood, go to Rosewood Day, even enter rooms in her house without a Noel memory rearing its head?
She needed to get out of this place, once and for all. Leave Rosewood behind and never come back. But as she took a few faltering steps, her knees collapsed and her legs felt heavy. Right now, it was a challenge just to get out of the hallway and back to her friends.