Aria's POV
"I'm going to take a break." I tell Hanna, exhausted from dancing around her. She nods her head in agreement and follows me to the kitchen where we left Emily but of course, she wasn't there. I didn't expect her to just sit there and not do anything while me and Han have fun.
"Where do you think Emily went?" Hanna questions me while looking around the area. I shrug my shoulders.
"Well, we know she's not talking to a girl." I respond, not really helping. I grab my phone and see that I have two unread messages. I open the first one but it's from an anonymous text.
One down. Two to go. Poor Em was the first to go.
-A
I hit Hanna on the arm and show her the text, freaked out. Where's Emily? Is she okay?
"Who the hell is A?" Hanna questions while looking around to either look for Emily or to see if anyone looks suspicious.
"I don't know but we have to find Emily. I'll check upstairs, you check around here." Once Hanna heads off into another room, I practically run up the stairs. A couple people stare at me as I nearly face planted at least twice going up the long staircase. "Emily?" I call out, hoping she will hear me.
I really hope this is some kind of joke and Emily is okay. If it is a joke, it's not funny. I open several doors but there was no Emily. I text Hanna telling her she is not up here. Right as I'm about to turn around, the water reflection from the end of the house catches my attention. Maybe Emily is outside and has been this entire time.
I walk over to the glass door and open it to look around outside. My eyes land on someone floating in the pool. But not just someone. It's Emily. I immediately start running down the stairs off to the side of the house, yelling Emily's name, panic washing over me.
My heart is pounding against my chest harder and harder the closer I get to Emily who isn't moving at all. "Emily!" As soon as I get to her, I grab her arm from the edge of the pool and pull her toward me.
"Oh my God, Emily!" Hanna comes up beside me and helps me pull Emily out of the pool. There's a big gash on her forehead and I can tell she's lost a lot of blood. How long has she been out in the pool like this? I feel sick to my stomach.
"She's not moving!" I scream. "Emily, wake up!" I try CPR on her several times and do mouth to mouth but nothing happens.
"She can't be dead." Hanna whispers beside me with tears in her eyes.
"Hanna, I need you to call the ambulance." Hanna quickly nods her head and pulls her phone out with shaky hands. She's just as terrified as I am.
Everything around us just kind of tunes out. I can't hear anything. I barely even know what's going on. I just know that Emily is dead. She's not waking up.
BZZZ. BZZZ. BZZZ.
I pull out my phone and look at the text that nearly makes my heart fall out of my chest.
You're too late.
-A
***
Alison's POV
Emily hasn't texted me ever since she left like she said she would. She told me she would keep me updated so I know that she is okay. It's been two hours since she left and nothing. I'm starting to worry. I grab my phone off the charger to text her but I already have one unread message.
It's from Emily. Thank God.
I open the message only for my phone to drop out of my hands. No! I rush out of the house with my keys in my hand before getting into my car. This can't be happening! This isn't supposed to happen.
Tears stream down my face as I drive over the speed limit to get to the hospital. The only thing the text said was Emily is in the hospital. We don't know if she's going to make it. That's all it said. I don't know what happened to her. I don't know anything.
As soon as I get to the hospital, I run inside to see Aria and Hanna with worried expressions as they sit in the chairs of the waiting room.
"What happened to her?" I ask, my voice angry. I know it's not their fault but none of this would be happening if Emily would have just stayed with me. Not go to some lame party that might have gotten her killed!
"We found her in the pool." Aria is the one to speak up because Hanna is too busy staring off into space. "We have no idea what happened to her."
"Why wasn't she with the two of you?" I grit. Why did they leave her alone?
"She didn't feel like dancing but we wanted to." Aria's voice is light and timid. I can tell she's afraid of me.
"So that gives you the right to leave her alone?" I snap.
"Hey, leave her alone." Hanna stands up, defending Aria. "Stop making this out as if it's our fault when it's not!"
I close my eyes and breathe in. She's right. It's not their fault.
"I'm sorry. I'm just worried for Emily."
"We all are." Hanna responds.
"I don't think this was an accident." Aria speaks up while Hanna eyes her like she just said a bad word.
"What do you mean?"
"I got a text before we found Emily in the pool." Aria takes out her phone and shows me.
"Who is A?"
"We don't know. And after we found Emily, A sent another text saying we were too late."
"Emily was targeted by this A person?" I question. It doesn't make sense. Who in their right mind would want to hurt Em?
"That's the only thing that text could mean." Hanna speaks up while shaking her head.
"Well, whoever this A person is, is dead when I find out who they are." I grit with a look of disgust.
***
Emily's POV
The sound of a monitor beeping wakes me up from my dreamless sleep. The lights are bright and blinding so I can barely see where I am. I try to sit up in bed but I can't. My head hurts like a bitch.
Once my eyes focus, I realize that I'm in a hospital room. How did I get here? What happened?
"Emily, you're awake!" Next thing I know, I'm being pulled into a hug. "I am so glad you are okay." The girl sighs and then pulls away. I give her a confused look.
"I'm sorry but do I know you?" The blonde instantly frowns and her expression turns to worry.
"You don't know who I am?" Her voice shakes as if she's about to cry. I just shake my head no. "I have to go." She goes to turn and leave but I grab her hand.
"Ali, I'm kidding." I laugh and pull her closer to me. She immediately slaps me on the arm.
"God, Em! Don't ever do that to me again!" She wipes her tears away and then pulls me into another hug. I hug Alison tighter while my lips form into a smile.
**
"So you don't remember anything at all?" Hanna questions me while I sit on her couch with a blanket over me. Alison wanted me to spend the night with my friends for once.
Ms. Marin freaked out when she saw the bandage on my head so we came up with a lie. I had hit my head while swimming and she seemed to believe it.
"I remember talking to Alison. She was mad at me for wanting to go to the party." I try to think but nothing comes to me. "The rest is blank."
"So we have no clue who this A person is." Aria sighs and takes a sip of her tea.
The girls filled me in on what they saw and how this A person texted them. It just doesn't make sense to me.
"Why would this A person target us?" I ask the question that none of us knew the answer to.
"I don't know about you guys but my money is on Paige." Hanna says seriously. "I mean you texted us saying you were with her and then next thing you know, you're nearly dead."
"I don't think Paige would hurt me." I tell them honestly. "The girl has a crush on me, why would she kill me?"
"You're right. That doesn't make sense." Aria agrees with me but Hanna shakes her head.
"I just need to get some sleep." Hanna stands up from the couch and stretches. "I'll go get the blankets for me and Aria to sleep on the floor. There is no way I am sleeping in my room by myself tonight."
Later that night as I'm settling down to sleep, my phone buzzes beside me. Hanna and Aria are cuddled up together sleeping peacefully. I open my phone to see it's from Alison.
From Ali:
I miss you:(
To Ali:
I miss you more
From Ali:
How are you feeling?
To Ali:
Could be better if I were with you;)
From Ali:
Sneak over;)
To Ali:
Don't tempt me:)
From Ali:
Get some rest. I love you
To Ali:
I love you too
I turn my phone off and set it back on the table beside me before going to sleep.
All of you are seriously amazing! I love you all so much and I can't thank you enough for giving my book a chance! 💙💙 let me know your thoughts on this chapter😊