Pretty Little Liars 3 - Perfect
12 AH, COURT LIFE
Tuesday evening, Hanna strolled down the main concourse at the King James Mall, puzzling over her BlackBerry. Shed sent Mona a text asking R we still meeting 4 my dress fitting? but she hadnt received a response.
A
Mona was probably still annoyed at her because of the Frenniversary thing, but whatever. Hanna had tried to explain why her old friends had been at her house, but Mona had interrupted her before she could even start, declaring in her frostiest voice, I saw you and your besties on the news. Congrats on your big TV debut. Then she hung up. So sure she was pissed, but Hanna knew Mona couldnt stay mad for long. If she did, who would be her BFF?
Hanna passed Rive Gauche, the mall brasserie where they were supposed to have their Frenniversary dinner yesterday. It was a copy of Balthazar in New York, which was a copy of zillions of cafŽs in Paris. She caught sight of a group of girls at Hannas and Monas favorite banquette. One of the girls was Naomi. The next was Riley. And the girl next to her was...Mona.
Hanna did a double take. What was Mona doing with...them?
Even though the lights in Rive Gauche were dim and romantic, Mona was wearing her pink-tinted aviators. Naomi, Riley, Kelly Hamilton, and Nicole HudsonNaomi and Rileys bitchy sophomore toadiessurrounded her, and a big, uneaten plate of fries sat in the middle of the table. Mona appeared to be telling a story, waving her hands around animatedly and widening her big, blue eyes. She came to a punch line, and the others hooted.
Hanna squared her shoulders. She strode through the cafŽs antique brown door. Naomi was the first to notice her. Naomi nudged Kelly, and they whispered together.
What are you girls doing here? she demanded, standing over Riley and Naomi.
Mona leaned forward on her elbows. Well, isnt this a surprise? I didnt know if you still wanted to be on the court, since youre so busy with your old friends. She flicked her hair over her shoulder and took a sip of Diet Coke.
Hanna rolled her eyes and settled on the end of the dark red banquette bench. Of course I still want to be on your court, drama whore.
Mona gave her a bland smile. Kay, tubbykins. Bitch, Hanna shot back.
Slut, Mona said. Hanna giggled...and so did Naomi, Riley, and the others. Sometimes she and Mona got in mock-fights like this, although normally they didnt have an audience.
Mona twirled a piece of pale blond hair around her finger. Anyway, I decided the more, the merrier. Small courts are boring. I want this party to be over-the-top.
Were so excited, Naomi gushed. I cant wait to try on the Zac Posen dress Mona picked out for us.
Hanna shot them a taut smile. This really didnt make any sense. Everyone at Rosewood knew Riley and Naomi had been talking about Hanna behind her back. And wasnt it just last year that Mona had vowed shed despise Naomi forever after Naomi gossiped that Mona had gotten skin grafts? Hanna had fake-friended Naomi for thatshed pretended she and Mona were in a fight, won Naomis confidence, then pilfered a cheesy love letter Naomi had written to Mason Byers from Naomis notebook. Hanna posted the letter anonymously on Rosewood Days intranet the very next day, everyone laughed, and all was right again.
All at once, Hanna had an epiphany. Of course! Mona was fake-friending! It completely made sense. She felt a little better, realizing what was going on, but she still wanted confirmation. She eyed Mona. Hey, Mon, can I talk to you for a sec? Alone?
Cant right now, Han. Mona looked at her Movado watch. Were late for our fitting. Cmon.
With that, Mona strolled out of the restaurant, her three-inch heels clacking against the shiny walnut floor. The others followed. Hanna reached over to grab her enormous Gucci purse, but the zipper had come undone and the entire contents spilled under the table. All her makeup, her wallet, her vitamins, the Hydroxycut shed stolen ages ago from GNC but was a little too scared to take...everything. Hanna scrambled to pick it all up, her eyes on Mona and the others as they snaked away. She knelt down, feverishly trying to stuff everything into her bag as quickly as possible.
Hanna Marin?
Hanna jumped. Above her was a familiar, tall, floppy-haired waiter. Its Lucas, he reminded her, fiddling with the cuff on his white button-down, the Rive Gauche uniform. You probably dont recognize me because I look so French in this outfit.
Oh, Hanna said wearily. Hey. Shed known Lucas Beattie forever. In seventh grade, hed been popularand, bizarrely, for a second, hed liked Hanna. Word had gotten around that Lucas was going to send Hanna a red heart-shaped box of candy on the schoolwide Candy Day. A boy sending you a heart-shaped box of candy meant love, so Hanna got really excited.
But then, a few days before Candy Day, something changed. Lucas was suddenly a dork. His friends started to ignore him, girls began to laugh at him, and a rampant rumor that he was a hermaphrodite swirled. Hanna couldnt believe her luck, but she secretly wondered if hed gone from popular to a loser all because hed decided to like her. Even if she was Ali Ds friend, she was still a fat, dorky, clumsy loser. When he sent her the candy, Hanna hid it in her locker and didnt thank him.
Whats up? Hanna asked blandly. Lucas had pretty much stayed a loser. Not much, Lucas responded eagerly. Whats up with you?
Hanna rolled her eyes. She hadnt meant to start a conversation. I have to go, she said, looking toward the courtyard. My friends are waiting for me.
Actually... Lucas followed her toward the exit, your friends forgot to pay the bill. He whipped out a leather booklet. Unless, um, you were getting it this time.
Oh. Hanna cleared her throat. Nice of Mona to mention it. No problem.
Lucas swiped her AmEx and gave her the bill to sign, and Hanna strode out of Rive Gauche without adding a tipor telling Lucas good-bye. The more she thought about it, she was excited that Naomi and Riley were part of Monas court. Around Rosewood, party court girls competed over who could get the birthday girl the most glamorous gift. A day pass to the Blue Springs Spa or a Prada gift card didnt cut it, eitherthe winning gift had to be totally over the top. Julia Rubensteins best friend had hired male strippers to perform at an after-party for a select fewand theyd been hot strippers, not muscle-heads. And Sarah Davies had convinced her dad to hire BeyoncŽ to sing Happy Birthday to the girl-of-honor. Thankfully, Naomi and Riley were about as creative as the newborn panda at the Philadelphia Zoo. Hanna could out-glam them on her worst day.
She heard her BlackBerry humming in her bag and pulled it out. There were two messages in her mailbox. The first, from Mona, had come in six minutes ago.
Where R U, bee-yotch? If youre any later, the tailors going to get pissed. Mon
But the second text, which had arrived two minutes later, was from a blocked number. That could only be one person.
Dear Hanna, We may not be friends, but we have the same enemies. So here are two tips: One of your old friends is hiding something from you. Something big. And Mona? Shes not your friend, either. So watch your back.