Thursday evening that same day, Chloe walked down the street in Old Hollis, the commercial district next to the college that boasted bars, restaurants, funky T-shirt shops, and a psychic who read tarot cards. A neon sign in the shape of an ice cream cone swung from an awning ahead, and her stomach did a nervous flip. She was on her way to hang out with Courtney and Spencer, and even though they were all probably going to think it was just the three of them, Chloe knew Ali would be nearby, watching them.
Chloe couldn't stop thinking about how this would be the last moment alone with Courtney and Spencer. She'd already said goodbye to Aria, which was difficult to do, but this was even harder.
"Chloe?"
She stared across the dark street. A figure in a blue checked coat was waving at her from Snooker's, a college bar with Eagles pennants and Pabst Blue Ribbon lamps. He had a wrist brace on his hand and spiky dark hair. When he called her name again, Chloe recognized the voice immediately. It was Nicholas Maxwell, Ali's accomplice and boyfriend.
Chloe looked around, making sure no one was watching her, then stealthily made her way over to him. As she crossed the street and got a better look at him, she noticed how he looked different than how he normally was. But that was most likely because he was dressed in a disguise to keep people from knowing his actual appearance.
"I'm just checking on you to make sure you're okay." Nick grabbed Chloe and engulfed her into a huge hug. Even though Nick was Ali's boyfriend and accomplice, he didn't think of Chloe as just Ali's little sister—he saw her as his little sister, too. "Ali's been worried about you. She thinks you're going to leave her for Courtney and those girls. And I'm scared she's going to run and not go through with the plan of getting out of here and leaving Rosewood for good. She hasn't done anything yet, but I can't promise she won't."
Chloe looked out at the dark street, as though Ali might be watching, which she definitely was. When Chloe had been the townhouse with Ali and Nick two nights ago, she had a feeling Ali wasn't going to like the idea of Chloe leaving to spend time with Courtney and the four girls. She remembered how hurt Ali looked when Chloe told her she wanted stay a few more days so she could say goodbye to them. But then she remembered how she'd pretended to be asleep, and what she heard and saw made Chloe realize that the little girl Ali used to be was still there.
Chloe closed her eyes, and suddenly, she was back in the townhouse again. She could remember everything very vividly. As she lay on the mattress, pretending to be asleep, she could see the faint outline of Ali's figure. Ali looked at her, a strange mix of horror and relief on her face. She stared down at her hands with that same where-did-these-come-from expression. Then she turned and looked at another figure that loomed next to her. Nick.
"I didn't mean to hurt her," Ali said. "I just lost it, and then I don't know what happened."
"Of course you weren't trying to hurt her," Nick answered. "Chloe knows that, and I'm sure she knows how much you love her."
"How are you feeling?" Nick asked.
Ali's jaw wobbled. "I don't know," she said, looking back at Chloe, a hand over her mouth. "I can't believe I just . . . did that."
"But you didn't meant it. And this was our plan all along. Chloe is here with us."
Ali got to her feet and stared down at Chloe again. Then her hands trembled. "I can't do this." She rushed for the door, but Nick grabbed her arms and whirled her around.
"You can't leave, Ali," Nick said.
Ali tried to wrench free. "Let me go," she rasped. "You don't understand. This isn't the first time I've hurt her." It didn't even sound like her voice.
"But it was an accident," Nick said, not releasing his grip on Ali.
"No," Ali said, her voice thick, as though she was about to cry. "I wasn't trying to hurt her, but it doesn't matter. I can't be here if I'm going to lose control and hurt her."
Ali struggled to get free and tears ran down her cheeks. "Let me go. Please. Just let me go."
She burst into tears, and Nick hugged her hard. "I love you, Ali. And I know how much you love Chloe. I saw the look on Chloe's face when you two were dancing together. She's so proud of you because she knows you're capable of being good."
"But I hurt my little sister," Ali sobbed.
"Ali, stop," Nick said lovingly. "You're trying, and that's all that matters."
Ali cried into Nick's shoulder, remorseful and regretting what she'd done. But Chloe knew what Ali was going to do next.
A half hour later, Nick was asleep on the floor in the sleeping bag he'd shoplifted from a nearby store—Ali made him sleep there because she wanted to sleep with Chloe on the mattress. Ali sat on the floor, watching Chloe as she pretended to sleep. Her eyes darted back and forth, pondering what she should do. Then she glanced at the door.
Ali looked back at Chloe, then at Nick. She slowly got up and crept out of the room. Chloe opened her eyes fully and listened for any sounds of Ali. Feeling brave, she quietly got out of bed and went to the door. As she peered out into the hall, she saw a black-hooded shape slip downstairs to the first level of the townhouse. She realized Ali must have tiptoed the entire way down because she didn't hear any footsteps.
Chloe waited until she heard a creaking sound, as though a door was being opened. Click. Chloe ran downstairs and waited a few more seconds. Then she opened the door and stared out at the woods. A figure darted in and out of the trees.
And then Chloe took off running.
Chloe ran close behind Ali, hiding behind the trees. They didn't run far, though, because Ali tripped over something and fell to her knees. Ali looked at the object she just tripped over, then behind her. She scanned the trees, but Chloe stayed hidden.
Ali picked up the item that caused her to fall and stared at it. She traced it with her finger, as though she were remembering something very significant. Then she put her ear to it, listening for sounds of the ocean: It was a seashell.
Chloe watched Ali as she took the seashell from her ear and placed it in her lap. Ali put her head down and began fidgeting with a beaded bracelet on her right wrist, the one Chloe had given her the week of the Poconos fire. With her hair over her face and her bottom lip stuck out ever-so-slightly, she looked much more fragile and weaker than she ever had. Much more innocent, too.
But that was because that was the true Ali.
Moments later, Ali got to her feet and started running the same way she came. Chloe ran ahead of Ali, making it out of the woods and back into the townhouse. She shut the door behind her, bolted up the stairs, and jumped back into bed, as though she'd never left. When she saw a shadow pass by the door out in the hall, she closed her eyes slightly, pretending to be asleep. But she saw Ali come into the room, a warm smile on her face and the seashell in her hands.
That was the Ali Chloe knew and loved. It was the same Ali who used sing her to sleep every night. The same Ali who would sit on her bed when she woke up scared in the middle of the night until she fell back asleep. The same Ali who took care of her when she wasn't feeling well. The same Ali who found her asleep under the bed when no one else could find her around the house. The same Ali who she shared food with at the dinner table.
And it was the same Ali who'd been friends with Courtney years ago, then a year ago before the Poconos fire.
Chloe saw traces of that same Ali when they were bringing her into the townhouse. "Be careful with her," Ali said as she and Nick picked Chloe up out of the trunk of Nick's car. Ali had also been the one to tuck her in, just like when they were friends. She'd kissed Chloe's forehead and stroked her hair, something she'd always done, before and after she went crazy.
Everything else that followed after that was more proof that Ali still had good in her: the breakfast, the dance party, the poem, the wishes, and the nose nuzzling. It made Ali happy, which made Chloe happy.
And Chloe meant it when she told Ali she always thought she was pretty. Even with her face full of burn scars, Chloe still saw her big sister, Ali.
Now Chloe stood in front of Nick on a busy street in Hollis. "Ali doesn't need to worry about anything. I love her, and I want to be with her."
She is patted Nick's shoulder. "I have to go now." She turned to leave, but Nick called her back.
"Chloe?"
"Yeah?" Chloe said.
Nick paused, then spoke again. "Ali said to tell Courtney she says hi."
Chloe nodded, already knowing that Ali meant no harm. And with that, she turned on her heel and hurried down the street.
She passed a retro toy store, a bank, and an empty storefront. Then, as she pushed into the ice cream shop, another memory came to her mind. The bells on the door chimed cheerfully.
During the weeks that Ali had pretended to make progress while being in the Preserve, the same weeks leading up to the day Ali came home with the intention to kill Courtney, Chloe could sense that Ali was watching her everywhere she went. According to the doctors, Ali had been a model patient that year at the Preserve. She made a lot of friends, really participated in the group programs, did great at her studies, and they even let her play on an intramural field hockey team that met close by.
This meant that Ali left the grounds for whole practices. And Ali was watching Courtney. But mainly, she watched Chloe more than anyone else. Ali had denied it when Chloe brought it up during a family dinner they had the day Ali came home from the hospital. But Chloe knew it was bullshit.
She'd said the supervisors were on her butt the whole time, and that she played intramurals, went to a local ice cream parlor a couple of times, and that was it.
The part about the ice cream parlor was true. Chloe had been there both times, hanging out with Molly while Ali sat at a table nearby, watching them.
Courtney and Ali both liked ice cream, which was why they always took Chloe to the local ice cream parlor, before and after Ali went crazy.
Now, as Chloe gazed hard at the menu board, two familiar faces approached her. It was Courtney and Spencer. As she gazed at Courtney, though, her eyes looked bluer than ever in the bright light of the ice cream parlor. Chloe could always tell the differences between the twins. She didn't understand why no one else could tell them apart, even her parents or Jason, because to her, the differences were obvious.
She knew Ali's eyes were a little bluer and wider than Courtney's eyes. She knew Ali's hair was slightly darker, shorter, and more wavy. She knew Ali's waist was slightly thinner, and her breasts were slightly larger. She knew Courtney's face was more heart-shaped than Ali's face. And she knew Ali stood straighter, and her ears didn't stick out as much as Courtney's ears did. She could also tell the differences between their voices. They both had husky, seductive voices, but Ali's voice had an aggression to it that Courtney's voice didn't have. They even spoke in very distinct ways, which helped Chloe to be able to tell the differences between them.
There were two other differences that always stuck out to Chloe, differences that only she'd be able to tell. The first difference was that Ali stroked her hair, and Courtney didn't. The second difference was that Courtney was the safe one to be around, and Ali wasn't. Chloe was always scared around Ali, and she never felt safe with her. Courtney, on the other hand, always made her feel safe and secure. That difference in particular was something that Chloe would always remember for the rest of her life.
But despite that second difference, Ali never wanted Chloe to feel unsafe with her. Ali loved her, and for the first time in years, Chloe felt safe with Ali at the townhouse. The one next door to the townhouse Ali had lured Chloe to initially.
"What flavors do you want to get?" Courtney asked, giving Chloe a smile.
Chloe looked at the menu board once more. "Either cherry vanilla or rocky road."
Spencer looked at her phone, then at the menu board. "I think I want to get chocolate chip cookie dough."
Chloe was glad they couldn't tell what was really going on. To them, this was just another sisterly outing. After Chloe had woken up in the hospital a couple of weeks after the Poconos fire had happened, Spencer's parents filed for emergency custody since Courtney and Chloe were also Peter Hastings' biological daughters. The motion was granted within a few hours, and when Chloe was discharged, she went to live with her new family along with Courtney and Spencer.
The line shifted, and Chloe, Courtney, and Spencer moved closer to the register. "It feels weird without Ali here," Courtney said.
Chloe kept her gaze fixed on the chrome ice cream scoops behind the counter, remembering all the fun times they had with Ali in the months leading up to the Poconos fire. During that time, Ali had been present with them for things like this. And she was on her best behavior. Chloe had wondered if Ali was only doing that to throw them off. Or maybe, just maybe, she trying her best to be good.
"It feels nice without Ali here," Spencer said bluntly. "Do you remember what she did to us? She was crazy." She glanced at Chloe worriedly, as though she might have said the wrong thing.
Courtney looked around, as though she thought Ali might be watching them. "Ali was crazy, but she wasn't always bad. She had her good moments, especially with Chloe."
Spencer looked at them regretfully. "That's because Ali and Chloe had a different relationship." She looked directly at Chloe. "It seemed like Ali was obsessed with you."
Chloe shook her head. "Ali wasn't obsessed with me. She was just protective." It was the truth. Ali had even confessed it to her and Courtney last year when they found out that Ali's passwords to her phone, her Netflix account, and her email address were all Chloe's name and birthday.
I'm not obsessed with her, Ali had said. I'm just protective. She's my baby girl, and I love her.
Spencer scoffed, then rubbed her hands against her arms, shivering in the cold air of the ice cream parlor. "Ali may have loved Chloe, but she was still evil."
"If she was evil, then how could she be capable of love?" Courtney said.
Spencer looked at Courtney, as though she couldn't believe what she was hearing. But she didn't say anything after that.
It was their turn to order, and they stepped up to the counter. A motorcycle engine revved, and she glanced at the street out the window. There, across the wide avenue, backlit by the neon sign of the Hollis Liquor Store, stood someone in a black hood, staring at Chloe. At first, she thought it might be Nick, but this person was smaller, thinner.
Ali.
Chloe shot away from Courtney and Spencer and wound around the tables to get a closer look, but by the time she was at the glass, the figure was gone.
An hour later, Chloe, Courtney, and Spencer left the ice cream parlor in good spirits. As they got further down the street, Chloe stopped. "Oh my God. I left my phone at the ice cream parlor. I'll be right back."
She didn't wait for Courtney or Spencer to respond and took off in the direction of the ice cream parlor. Chloe slipped back inside and saw that no one else was in line. She ordered three scoops of mint chocolate chip, Ali's favorite ice cream flavor, and took it outside with her once it was ready.
Chloe looked around, making sure Courtney and Spencer weren't anywhere to be seen. Then a lilting giggle sounded from around the corner. Chloe turned and cocked her ear. There it was again. It was coming from the alley.
Chloe set down the container filled with mint chocolate chip ice cream on the ground. The sprinkles formed a heart, as though Chloe was telling Ali she loved her. Chloe, Ali, and Courtney used to make messages or symbols for each other with the sprinkles whenever they got ice cream together.
After staring at the ice cream for a few seconds, Chloe turned and walked back down the street. She waited until she was a safe distance away, then she ran back to the spot where she'd left the ice cream.
It was gone.
Then there was a sniff. Chloe poked her head into the narrow strip of road between two university buildings. THESE SPACES RESERVED FOR ART HISTORY DEPARTMENT FACULTY ONLY read a placard in front of a parking spot. She saw a figure standing in the lot, their hood pulled tight around their head. Chloe hid behind the brick wall as the person held something in their hands, something that looked like a container of ice cream. Whoever it was pressed their hand to their face and let out a whimper. Chloe realized that the person was crying, and the voice sounded like a girl.
It was definitely Ali.
"Chloe?"
The figure's head shot up. Chloe whirled around. Courtney and Spencer stood behind her, wondering what she was doing. "Did you find your phone?" Courtney asked.
Chloe nodded. There was a shuffling sound behind her, as though someone was running away. "Yeah. I found it ..." she said, poking her head back into the alley. But it was empty now. It was like whoever was there had never been there at all. But Chloe knew they had been. And she knew it was Ali.