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Aria glanced at Hanna sharply. “Please. You’re probably secretly thrilled.”
“Aria!” Hanna’s eyes were wide.
“Wouldn’t it be easier if Noel and I broke up? Then you’d be able to continue your witch hunt guilt-free.”
Hanna shook her head vehemently. “We’re not anti-Noel. We’re not anti-you. Believe me, all of us hate this. No one wants this to be happening.”
Aria touched the sculpture’s hand, biting back a sob. She knew Hanna was telling the truth, but it still stung every time they came to her with a new, damning Noel tidbit. She wanted to scream at them, Aren’t we friends? Don’t you care about me? It was like when her mom had warned her about dating Gunter, a boy in Iceland—he was trouble, and Aria had known it, and she also knew her mom had only said it to protect her. But it still didn’t feel good to hear it.
Hanna leaned against the sculpture’s other arm. “Has Agent Fuji called you again?”
Aria stared at the ground. “No . . .”
“She’s contacted me and Spencer. Emily, too. Apparently she wants to talk to us again.”
Aria raised her head. “Why?”
Hanna threw up her hands. “How should I know? My guess is that A said something about one of our secrets. Maybe the painting. Maybe Tabitha. Who knows?”
Aria’s stomach twisted in knots. On the one hand, she was relieved she hadn’t received another call, too. On the other, why hadn’t Fuji contacted her? “What should we do?” she asked shakily.
Just then, Ryan stuck her head out the door. “Aria? We have a question about the papier-mâché stars.”
Aria glanced at Hanna, then shrugged and followed Ryan back into the barn. As she instructed how the stars should look, her stomach churned. They couldn’t talk to Agent Fuji, not with that painting in Aria’s closet. They had to figure this out soon.
And even though she’d lashed out at Hanna for it, the new detail about Noel scared her, too. Noel didn’t know anyone at the Bill Beach. Why was he there? To see Graham?
To steal meds?
She reached into her pocket and touched the ticket stub she’d found in Noel’s wallet yesterday—she’d given Mike the wallet to return to Noel this morning and prayed he wouldn’t notice the stub was missing. The movie from only a few years ago, after Courtney’s death, when Real Ali was definitely imprisoned in The Preserve. That weird message on the back about Noel believing in someone. Aria hadn’t told her friends about it—they’d jump all over the hockey-girl doodle. Other people drew girls wielding hockey sticks, though. It didn’t necessarily mean anything.
Still, she was curious. Darting to her bag across the room, she pulled out her iPad and typed THE WOODS CINEMA into Google. In a split second, the results came up. The first entry was for a cinema in Maplewood, New Jersey.
Aria’s mouth went dry. Tabitha was from Maplewood. And Ali and Tabitha had clearly been at The Preserve together—and were even friends. Did this mean Noel had visited Ali when she was at The Preserve? Did he spring Ali and Tabitha out for a night so they could go to a movie? It made no sense, though—why would they go all the way to New Jersey? And why would Noel say to Agent Fuji that he’d never met Tabitha if he clearly had?
“Aria?”
Aria spun around. Noel stood behind her, almost like she’d conjured him. His hands were in his pockets, and there was a serious look on his face.
“H-hey,” Aria said shakily, turning the iPad facedown on the table.
Noel glanced toward the door. “Can you talk?”
Aria nodded and slipped her iPad back into her bag. When they walked into the sculpture garden again, Hanna was gone. For a while, there was only the sound of their footsteps. Halfway down the path, Noel stopped next to what everyone called the Slinky. “So I’ve been thinking about Olaf.”
Aria felt her throat close. “Noel, I . . .”
He put his finger to her lips. “I was an ass**le that trip, Aria. I felt jealous that I didn’t know the Iceland side of you, and I was afraid that when you got there you were going to change and not be into me anymore. Instead of stepping up, I just acted like a whiny, ridiculous idiot. I should have just let you go with Hanna and Mike instead of coming along, too. I’m not happy that you hooked up with that guy, but I also sort of get it.”
Aria blinked. It was the last thing she’d thought he was going to say. Just last week, she would have been flattered and touched—here was gorgeous Noel, worrying she was going to drop him. But now she felt hollowed out. Suspicious. Why was Noel forgiving her so easily?
Noel took her hands. “I still want to be with you. I want to go on another vacation and do it right. We can even go back to Iceland if you want. This time, I’ll ride one of those silly horses.”
Aria knew she was supposed to laugh, but she couldn’t muster the emotion. She looked away instead, a lump in her throat. Her hands felt like two dead weights. Ali and Tabitha, her mind screamed. Maplewood. Hockey-player girl. Ask him.
Noel cocked his head. “You seem miserable.”
“I’m not,” Aria said, her voice squeaking. “I just . . .” She trailed off. If only there was a way to bring Tabitha’s name into the conversation without it seeming really random or suspicious. But how?
Noel pulled his hands away. “What the hell, Aria? Here I am, bending over backward for you, telling you everything, getting you the decor chairwoman spot, putting up with your weird moods, forgiving you for cheating on me, and you’re still treating me like shit. It’s getting kind of old, okay? The secrets, the strange behavior . . . it’s like I’m not fully part of your life.”
