Ali and Chloe Revisted (Book 2)

Chapter 7: Text Messages From A Dead Girl

Tuesday afternoon, Chloe walked across her enormous front yard. She'd just left her friend, Molly Anderson's house to meet with her sisters and her friends.

Just as she was about to ring the bell, her iPhone beeped. It had beeped earlier that day, but Chloe chose to ignore it, not wanting anything to interrupt her spending time with Molly. She pulled her iPhone out of her burgundy-colored tote and looked at the screen. It was a text from Courtney. Hey, Chloe. Don't forget about Chem Hill tomorrow!

Last night, as the fundraiser was coming to an end, Courtney and Spencer suggested that Chloe come with them to a big hill behind the chemistry building at Hollis. She'd gone sledding at Hollis Hill with Courtney and the four girls plenty of times. But they hadn't done it in years, mainly because they all lost interest in it. Chloe never had, though. So when Courtney and Spencer asked her to go with them, she'd been more than happy to say yes to them.

A branch cracked nearby, and Chloe looked down her front walk to the dark, quiet street. The air smelled cold, like nothing. A thick coating of ice had turned the Cavanaugh mailbox flag from red to white. Down the street was the Vanderwaals', eerily unoccupied—Mona's family had disappeared from town after she died a few months ago. Then a shiver ran up Chloe's spine as she gazed at her old house next door. No one lived there anymore. After Chloe managed to get herself and Courtney emancipated from their parents, they'd moved in with Spencer into the Hastings' house. Jessica and Kenneth moved to Maryland a year later, and the house remained unoccupied.

Shuddering, Chloe dropped her phone back into her tote and pressed the front bell. There were footsteps, and then Spencer flung open the door, her dirty-blond hair spilling down her shoulders. "We're back in the media room," she mumbled. "And you don't have to ring the doorbell. You live her.

"It's an old habit," Chloe said.

The smell of butter permeated the air, and Aria and Hanna were perched on the edge of the couch, picking at a big plastic bowl of microwave popcorn. Emily and Courtney were sitting on the floor, cuddling with each other. The TV was tuned to The Hills, the sound on mute. "So," Chloe said, flopping onto the chaise. "What exactly are we doing here?"

Spencer shrugged. "We're just hanging out. I invited everyone to come over and just...talk."

They all looked around at one another, silent.

"So, girls, are we all doing our chants?" Hanna said in a fake-concerned voice.

"Ommmm," Aria hummed, erupting into giggles.

Chloe smoothed out her navy blue Rosewood Day blazer. She thought Marion's ways were strange, but she knew Marion was trying to help. She gazed around the room, noticing something propped up against the base of a large wire sculpture of the Eiffel Tower. It was the black-and-white photograph of Ali standing in front of the Rosewood Day bike racks, her school blazer slung over her arm.

Chloe studied the candid. There was something very sharp and realistic about it. She could practically feel the crisp autumn air and smell the crabapple trees on Rosewood Day's front lawn. Ali was staring at the camera dead-on, her mouth open in laughter. There was a piece of paper in her right hand. Emily squinted at the words. Time Capsule Starts Tomorrow! Get Ready!

Chloe held back a snicker. That smile had disappeared off Ali's face very quickly when Chloe stole the flyer later that day. It had been funny to watch Ali ransack the entire house, searching everywhere for it. She could practically see Ali panicking as she crawled around on her bedroom floor, hoping to find the flyer somewhere in her room.

Chloe leapt up from the chaise and held up the photo for others to see. Aria read the flyer and widened her eyes. "I remember this day," Chloe said. "Ali had announced she was going to find one of the pieces of the flag."