Ali and Chloe Forever (Book 1)

Chapter 7: Dresses Are A Girl's Best Friends

"It is also likely that she may have been searching for the photos that have recently been turned in to the police. While the footage doesn't reveal who the person in the black hoodie is, it is more than likely that it was Miss DiLaurentis who was in the woods searching for photos she took on the night of June 20, 2006."

Now Chloe leaned against a wall at the far end of the lobby. A bunch of boys on the crew team were crowded around an iPhone, laughing about an app that made a toilet-flushing noise. Sean Ackard and Kirsten Cullen were comparing answers to that day's trig assignment. Jennifer Thatcher and Jennings Silver were making out near the Jenna shrine. Jennifer's hip bumped against the table, knocking over a small photo of Jenna in a shiny gold frame.

A knot tightened in Chloe's chest. She marched across the room and straightened the picture. Jennifer and Jennings broke apart, looking guilty.

"Have some respect," Chloe snapped at them anyway.

Hanna touched Chloe's arm. "Come on," he said gently. "Let's get out of here."

She pulled her out of the lobby and around the corner. Kids were at their lockers, hanging up their coats and pulling out books. In a far corner, Shark Tones, Rosewood Day's a cappella group, was rehearsing a version of "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" for an upcoming concert. Aria's brother, Mike, and Mason Byers were in a shoving match near the water fountains.

Hanna approached her locker and spun the dial. "It's like no one even remembers what happened," she murmured.

"It happened a year ago," Chloe said. "And maybe that's their way of dealing."

Hanna pulled off the blue Diane von Furstenberg coat Chloe had bought as a Christmas present and hung it in her locker. "I still can't believe Ali killed her."

"I can."

Hanna looked at her as though she'd said the worst thing ever. "How can you believe it?"

Chloe adjusted her blazer. "Ali has always been mentally unstable. It's not surprising that she killed Ian and Jenna. Even before all that, Ali was the ultimate mean girl. She teased other kids all the time, and she'd make me hang out with her clique."

"Every time she did that, it was because someone else had your attention," Hanna answered.

Chloe paused. "What?" she asked.

"I remember every time Ali did things like that. You were either talking to someone or having a nice interaction with that person, and Ali would start making fun of them. If you were going to hang out with us, she'd ask you to hang out with her, Naomi, and Riley instead. Sometimes you did, but when you hung out with us, Ali looked so angry and hurt."

Hanna paused and snapped her fingers at something across the hall. "Even last year, when she'd been friends with us. She wanted you with her everywhere she went. I could tell she was trying not to get jealous, but I don't think she could help herself."

Chloe looked at the hot pink poster Hanna was pointing to. It had black silhouettes of dancing kids all over it, like the once-ubiquitous iPod ads. But instead of holding Nanos and Touches, they were holding small white hearts. FIND LOVE AT THE VALENTINE'S DAY DANCE THIS SATURDAY, the poster proclaimed in sparkly red letters.

She remembered how Ali had been around this time last year. It seemed that Ali was trying to be good. I've changed, Chloe. I know I've done awful things, but I'm trying to be good now. You don't understand. I get jealous seeing you with other people because I don't want them to take you away from me. You know I can't help it.

But Ali, being good and having friends is better than being mean and jealous, Chloe had said.

And it was true. When Ali returned to Rosewood last year, she'd offered Courtney and the girls a genuine apology for how she treated them over the years. She pleaded to them she'd changed and deserved a second chance. What she didn't tell them was that she was A, and she'd killed Ian and Jenna—she'd already confessed everything to Chloe. And Chloe promised to keep her secrets if Ali promised to be good.