They filed onto the escalators and peered at their reflections in the mirrored walls. Ali was wearing skinny jeans and a flowing hot-pink top she’d seen on the cover of Teen Vogue. Aria had put a blue streak in her hair and wore a silver sequined shirt, blue flare-leg jeans, and clunky wedges. Hanna had on a beautiful French Connection mini-dress that was, unfortunately, way too small on her. Spencer looked superpreppy in a Lacoste tennis dress and Tory Burch flats, and Emily wore her uniform of baggy jeans and a plain blue T-shirt. Ali made a mental note to persuade her to buy something cute today.
As they got off at Contemporary, Ali spied a skinny ice-blonde by the dresses and froze. It was Iris, her sister’s old roommate at the Preserve. She was with two other girls her own age, and when she saw Ali, a malicious smile spread across her face. She waggled her fingers in a taunting wave.
Emily frowned. “Do you know her?”
“No,” Ali said, guiding her friends across the sales floor, far, far away.
She took deep breaths as they headed toward the jeans. It doesn’t matter that she’s here, she told herself. She won’t say anything about the Preserve. She probably doesn’t want the girls she’s with to know she was committed.
She stared intensely at the rack of jeans, pretending Iris wasn’t there. Aria, Emily, and Spencer drifted over as well, and soon, all five of them were at the jeans wall, pulling out their sizes in skinny-legs and bootcut, dark wash and light. Then they trooped for the dressing rooms, squeezing into one together before the salesgirl yelled, “Only one girl per room, please.”
Halfway through her massive pile of clothes to try, Ali spun around in the three-way-mirror; then noticed Emily sitting on the couch at the end of the dressing room hall with a wistful, faraway look on her face. She stopped. “Why aren’t you trying anything on, Em?”
Emily shook her head. “This stuff is way too expensive. My parents would die if they saw the prices.”
“We’ll chip in and buy you something,” Ali offered.
But Emily seemed in her own world, simply offering Ali a vague smile and a shrug. “I’ll just watch you try stuff on. I don’t mind.”
Suddenly, Ali perked up, a thought forming in her head. She perched on the edge of the couch. “Did something happen between you and that guy?” she asked excitedly.
Emily frowned. “What guy?”
Ali cuffed her gently. “You know! Your crush, silly!”
“Oh.” Emily’s mouth twitched. “No. Nothing has happened with that.”
“Are you going to tell me who he is yet?” Ali asked.
“Who who is?” Aria asked, bursting out of another dressing room in a pair of skinny corduroys. “Do you like someone, Em? Who?”
Emily looked back and forth, a panicked expression rolling across her features. She suddenly reminded Ali of the cat, Kiki, her family had when she still lived at home—whenever they tried to corner Kiki to take her to the vet, she’d arch her back and widen her eyes just like Emily was doing now. “Um . . .”
“Is it that guy from swimming?” Spencer asked. “What was his name . . . Ben? He’s so cute.”
“I think she should like Kenneth Griggs in my art class,” Aria said.
“He’s gorgeous!” Hanna stepped out of a dressing room, too. “You guys would look amazing together!”
“It’s not Ben,” Emily said in a small voice. “Or Kenneth.”
Suddenly Ali knew what she had to do. “Guys, if Em doesn’t want to tell us quite yet, then we need to give her some space.”
The girls nodded and stepped inside their dressing rooms once more. After the doors closed Ali grabbed Emily’s hand and pulled her into the shoe area. “Sorry they overheard. But you can tell me, right?”
Emily looked like she really, really had to pee but was trying to hold it in. “I don’t think so.”
A wave of hurt coursed through Ali. Why wasn’t she good enough to tell? She disguised it with a frown of disgust. “I don’t understand. Why is it such a big deal?”
Emily paused and stared at the Kate Spade pumps on the wall. As Ali waited, she felt the distinct sense that someone was staring at her. Across the room, Iris had reappeared, leaning against a rack of blazers, her gaze on Ali, a strange smile on her face. Ali swallowed a lump in her throat and turned away.
“Please, Em?” Ali said softly. “Maybe I can help. Is it someone your parents wouldn’t approve of? Someone older?”
Emily’s big, freckly face reddened. She shook her head.
Annoyed, Ali tried a last-ditch effort. “You know my friend Cassie? She asked me to be her BFF. And I’m thinking about it.”
Emily blinked with this change of subject. “Really?” She sounded crushed.
“I wasn’t going to be, but if you won’t trust me, then maybe we’re not as close as I thought,” Ali said.
Emily’s eyes were wet with tears. “I can’t,” she whispered. And then, swallowing hard, she ducked around a rack of Jimmy Choos and ran.
“Emily!” Ali cried, running after her.
Emily darted into the skin-cream section, but Ali lost her near the makeup. She searched for the strawberry-blond head in Accessories and Men’s, but Emily was nowhere. Then she spied a small, discreet sign for a women’s bathroom a few paces down and jogged over to it.
Classical music tinkled inside. The room smelled like roses and had a small basket on the sink containing hair spray, gel, spray-on deodorant, tampons, and butterscotch candies. The towel girl, who was leaning against the sink and tapping on her cell phone, smiled at Ali. One pair of sneakers was visible under the stall door. They were Emily’s.