Ali and Chloe Forever (Book 1)

Chapter 3: Chloe Hastings: Queen Bee Of Rosewood Day

One Year Later

Chloe Hastings shut her locker door on Monday afternoon and hefted her biology, trig, and history books into her arms. A piece of paper slid out from inside one of her notebooks. Pretty Little Killer, read the flyer. The TV biopic, which was based on the return of Alison DiLaurentis to Rosewood and the fatal obsession with Chloe that led to the fire in the Poconos last February, was scheduled to air in a few days. The trailer announcement had reported it would air on the anniversary of the Poconos fire.

Figures, Chloe thought. She stared at the flyer, noticing the contrast between her and Ali. If she couldn't have her, no one could, read the small headline below the photo of Ali and Chloe standing in front of the podium at the press conference the DiLaurentis had done the week of the Valentine's Day dance and the Poconos fire. Then she noticed another piece of paper behind the flyer. Boston Art Show said big, curly letters.

Earlier that morning, one of the art students was handing out flyers for an art show that was going to take place tomorrow in Boston, Massachusetts. The boy who'd handed her the flyer was in a rush, passing the flyers out as quickly as he could. Chloe accepted the flyer, but she wasn't interested in attending the art show. She had plans to hang out with Courtney and the four girls all week and that coming weekend.

A few sophomores passed behind her and gave her admiring glances. Chloe flipped her hair over her shoulder, and a junior boy dropped his biology textbook. It wasn't a surprise that everyone at Rosewood Day was either in love with her or wanted to be her. After all, she was the Queen Bee of Rosewood Day. It had been that way through elementary school, middle school, and now high school. Technically, Chloe was in eighth grade, but the newly implemented high school program at Rosewood Day allowed students in seventh and eight grade to participate in certain subjects on the high school campus while their other classes were on the middle school campus across the courtyard.

Chloe balled up the flyers in her hands, tossed them in the nearest trash can, and continued down the hall. The classical between-classes music lilted through the overhead speakers. Red-and-pink posters for the upcoming Rosewood Day valentine's Ball wallpapered the halls. There was the usual traffic jam on the stairs, and someone had farted in the stairwell. It was a status quo Monday at school . . . except for one thing: Chloe felt like she was being watched.

Ever since the fire in the Poconos happened, Chloe had always been under the impression that Ali was dead. She had every intention of taking Ali up on her offer to run away together—that was why she'd left the door open for Ali—but when Ali just vanished, she assumed Ali was dead. They never found her body or her remains in the rubble, and because of that, Chloe knew that Ali was alive.

Back in November, Chloe began to experience the feeling of being watched. Every so often, she'd see flashes of blond hair: This person would duck behind trees or bushes, appear at windows, lurk in the halls of Rosewood Day or the woods behind Spencer's house, and even in the cornfield near Emily's house. Chloe would also hear a high-pitched giggle, as though someone were close by, watching her every move. And every now and then, she'd see a car that was clearly a black Acura driving slowly down the street while someone else would either be lurking around outside or watching her from the backseat from behind the tinted windows. Chloe never saw the person's face. She only saw their blue eyes peering back at her since the window was slightly cracked open. The car always drove off afterward, but Chloe knew whoever was inside was still watching her.

Now Chloe descended the stairs and began to walk toward Steam, Rosewood Day's chic coffee bar. Everyone moved out of the way as she walked down the hall, their eyes staring at her in awe. Chloe was the most beautiful girl in all of Rosewood, and the most popular girl at Rosewood Day. No one could do anything about that.