❝ I genuinely thought the worst of this nightmare was over ❞
Halle Brewster told a lie, and the secrets kept growing. After slaying one stalker, another reared its nasty head, and Halle was starting to wonder if she'd ever be free from the friendshi...
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Under the dim glow of the Fields' front porch, the incomplete group was one short even as Emily joined them. Night was slowly falling, turning the violet sunset into an inky blue sky. Huddled under a large jumper, Halle clung to the warmth of the soft fabric.
"I thought Hanna was joining us for dinner," Emily mentioned, as she shut the front door behind her.
"Hanna hasn't eaten since Tuesday," said Spencer depressingly, while the off-centred four descended the steps and began walking down the paving to the sidewalk.
"Should we grab a pizza and go over there?" suggested Emily sincerely.
"Not unless the topping is Caleb," Spencer remarked.
"He's in bits, too," Halle inserted in defence of her friend.
"Have you spoken to him?" Spencer asked her.
Halle shrugged. "Briefly," she said. "Just on the phone. He's gone to see his mom in Montecito, now she's out of the hospital."
"God," Spencer scoffed, shaking her head, "I can't believe A drove her off the road."
With creased eyebrows, Halle pulled a sour face and shot out, "A drove both me and Hanna down, remember?"
Spencer gave a gentle hum, acknowledging the incident. Although the teens had been through it before — back when the game was Mona's — it felt new.
After staying silent for so long, Aria finally spoke up. She was a ball of knotted anxiety, pleading with her friends. "If you guys wanna see Hanna, can you just go without me?" she said. "I already feel bad enough that I convinced her to tell Caleb—"
Emily cut in. "Okay, with or without you, she was backed into a corner."
"Yeah," agreed Spencer wholeheartedly. She stopped, them all coming to a halt on the sidewalk just outside Emily's house. "This A does not feel like a high school girl playing games."
A sarcastic scoff left Halle. "What told you that? The fact they took a flight to take out Caleb's mom or the empty grave of our dead friend?" She huffed and protested, "It's a whole new game — new level, new rules."
"Okay, well, if you figure out those rules, can you tell the rest of us?" Aria mused, depleted.
Her sadness replaced by a tight faltering smile, Emily remarked, "You know what? I'm not really hungry anymore."
"Me neither," Aria voiced. Her palms ran over her belly, face screwing up. "My stomach's in a knot."
"Ditto," Halle said. The only time she had managed to settle it was either when her brain was too preoccupied to think about it: at work or cheer, or when she was with Jason. Still, it could creep in unexpectedly and she'd get that ugly feeling in her gut that churned everything up.
