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Melissa elbowed Spencer. A murmur went through the bleachers. A few girls exchanged incredulous smiles. Colin tried for another serve, and this time his shorts hid nothing. A couple people burst out laughing. The line judges’ jaws dropped. The chair judge shifted uncomfortably. When Colin double-faulted and covered his crotch with a towel, the judge called out through his bullhorn, “Do you need a minute, Mr. DeSoto?”
“Uh-huh,” Colin groaned, walking bowlegged back to his seat.
The laughter intensified. Yvette covered her eyes. Colin stared at his crotch in horror, his face bright red.
“Come on.” Melissa looped her purse around her shoulder and stood. “We don’t need to see the rest of this, do we?”
“I guess we don’t,” Spencer agreed. They filed down the bleachers, snaking around the laughing girls and horrified fans. At that very moment, Colin glanced up and looked at both of them.
The sisters burst into laughter. Spencer gave him a three-finger wave. Melissa did, too. Maybe Colin would never know it had been them who’d spiked his drink, but they would—and that was all that mattered.
Chapter 17
Stick with Me, Sister
Spencer and Melissa giggled hysterically the whole four-block walk back to Nana’s house. Melissa imitated Colin’s stiff-legged waddle. Spencer glanced down at her crotch, pretending she was horrified. “That was the best revenge ever.” Melissa gave Spencer a nudge. “I should have known you’d think up something truly evil like that.”
Spencer flinched. “It wasn’t that evil.”
“I didn’t mean it like that,” Melissa said. Then she twisted her mouth. “Okay. Maybe I did. I don’t know.”
They fell silent. A strong scent of flowers wafted in Spencer’s nose, making her queasy. “I’m really sorry about everything,” she said quietly as they turned up the driveway.
“I know. I’m sorry, too.”
Spencer stopped next to a blooming hydrangea. “We always . . . do this. Compete like crazy people. Try to outdo one another. It isn’t right.”
Melissa shrugged. “It’s not like I started this.”
Spencer stared at her. “Yes, you did. I was the one who liked Colin first. You were the one who wanted to help me, and then . . .”
“You were the one who turned in Ian,” Melissa reminded her.
Spencer threw up her hands. “That wasn’t to hurt you! I swear!”
“Well, it did hurt me.” Melissa’s mouth tightened. She stared in the direction of Nana’s house. “And I’m sorry, Spence, but you’ve hurt me a lot this year. You pushed me down the frickin’ stairs, remember?”
“How many times have I said I was sorry about that?”
Melissa sighed and shoved her hands in her pockets. A cool breeze blew up Spencer’s shirt, drying the sweat on the back of her neck. She pressed her fingers into her raw eye sockets and sighed. A few minutes ago, they’d been laughing and joking. Everything had been perfect. Now it felt ruined again.
“I just wish I could wave a magic wand and make everything go back to how it used to be,” Spencer whimpered.
Melissa glanced at her. “How it used to be when?”
“When we were little. When we were friends. When we used to play Castle and spy on Mom and Dad.”
Melissa scrunched up her face. “Spence, you were, what? Five years old? Six? Life’s a little bit more complicated now. Things have changed.”
Tears filled Spencer’s eyes. Everything Melissa was saying was completely true. There was no going back. Too much had happened. But did that mean they had to sabotage each other at every turn? Was Melissa saying that their prank on Colin was a one-time thing, not an indication that they could form a stronger bond?
Melissa’s face softened, as if she could read all of Spencer’s thoughts. “Look, Spence. I don’t want to fight with you, either. And maybe, someday, we’ll figure out how to make things work between us. But I just don’t think there’s an easy solution, and I don’t think it can happen overnight. I’m sorry.”
She gave Spencer a pat on the shoulder, then shrugged and turned for the house. All sorts of feelings swarmed through Spencer at once. Regret. Sadness. Disappointment. But hope, too. Maybe, in time, things would improve between her and Melissa. They just had to learn how to work together. When they did, they made a remarkable team. After all, they could bring tennis stars to their knees—literally.
A faint giggle sounded, and Spencer peered off into the bushes. She’d heard that laugh so many times now that it was getting almost commonplace. Her skin prickled all the same, and she felt such an ominous sense of foreboding that her stomach clenched. What if someone was watching her? What if this nightmare wasn’t over?
But that was impossible. Flicking her hair over her shoulder, she turned and headed toward the house, too, putting A and the horror of last semester behind her once and for all.
Happy New Year to Me!
Now that I’ve done all my sightseeing, my holiday bliss is complete. And my, my, my have our pretty little liars been busy! Hanna got the boot from boot camp. Emily bribed a cop. Aria got married, to an eco-terrorist, no less. And Spencer—well, let’s just say she really knows how to get a guy’s, er, blood pumping.
Poor Spence. What she wants most in the world is a family who doesn’t hate her. A sister who will help her get a guy without stabbing her in the back. Parents who will listen to her problems and always be there. Little does she know there’s a reason that they treat her like an outsider. Her flawless family isn’t nearly as perfect as it seems. The Hastingses have some huh-yuge secrets. And who better to tell Spencer than moi?
