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"Miss Hastings?" said a brisk voice when Spencer answered "We haven’t ia Price I’m on the admissions board at Princeton University"

"Uh huh" Spencer’s hands were shaking so badly she could barely hold the phone She could just iret to inforer candidate

"I ondering if you were still planning on joining us for the early adh

Spencer frowned "Pardon?"

Georgia repeated herself Spencer laughed confusedly "I-I thought you were still reviewing"Uhno I don’t think so It says here we accepted you six weeks ago Congratulations again This was a tough ads?" Spencer said "The boy with ot a letter that some of the ad ere the saia sounded appalled "Miss Hastings, ould never do so like that Your application is reviewed by five different rounds of readers Discussed in committees Approved by the dean himself I assure you that we don’t make mistakes e admit We are very, very careful"

Spencer stared at her reflection in the large mirror in the hall Her hair ild around her face There was a wrinkle in the ot when she was utterly confused

Georgia told Spencer the details about theup Afterward, Spencer sat back on the couch, blinking hard What the hell had just happened?

And then, it came to her She rose and padded across the hall to her dad’s old office, which still contained a bunch of co onto the Internet, and another five to call up Facebook With shaking hands, she typed in Spencer F’s nas profiles appeared, but none were for the golden boy from Darien, Connecticut, Spencer had stalked days before

She pictured the letter from Princeton in her hands Come to think of it, the seal had looked crooked And it was suspicious that Kelsey had known Spencer had gotten into Princeton

Of course Kelsey had written the letter She’d created Spencer F’s profile, too, to mess with her head Spencer F didn’t exist It was all a ame

Spencer shut her eyes, embarrassed that she’d been so naïve "Good one, Kelsey," she said into the silent room She had to hand it to her old friend: It was classic A, through and through

Chapter 37

FACE-TO-FACE WITH THE ENEMY

Dread filled Hanna as she walked into the sleek lobby of the Preserve at Addison-Stevens Mental Wellness and Rehab facility on Monday after school All of a sudden, she was reliving the events of last year: how her dad had shoved her through the revolving doors, certain she needed help for her panic attacks How Mike had walked with her through the lobby, saying, "Well, this doesn’t look so bad!" Yeah, the lobby wasn’t bad at all It was the rest of the place that was a nightmare

Next to her, Aria squinted at a tall potted cactus in the corner Soreen body "Where have I seen that before?"

Spencer glanced at it and shook her head Hanna shrugged So did Eray skirt and a slightly too-small white sweater She turned and nervously watched a worried-looking couple with a thin, hollow-eyed boy lean their elbows on the check-in desk "It’s so weird to think Ali was here," she whispered

"Seriously," Hanna said Ali’s fa on her They’d assu her pleas that she really was the Real Ali That was probably enough to make anyone lose her mind

Spencer approached the check-in desk and told an attendant that they were here to visit Kelsey Pierce "Right this way," the attendant said briskly, giving the girls a circulance Because a patient here tried to kill us, Hanna wanted to say Really, it was a wonder the Preserve hadn’t been shut down by ashe ell, and she’d gone on to murder a bunch of innocent people

They entered an airy room with round tables There was a water dispenser in the corner, a coffeesayings written on yellow oaktag on the walls: YOU ARE UNIQUE! REACH FOR THE STARS! Gag

Hanna recognized the black-and-white photo of the spiral staircase; apparently, some Preserve alum had taken it once he’d recovered The room had a view to the facility hallway, and she couldn’t help but glance at sonize so Or Tara, who had those huge boobs Or Iris, who Hanna had thought was A--and who’d also roomed with Real Ali But even the nurses looked unfaone And there was no sign of Dr Felicia, who’d led the torturous group therapy sessions

After a moment, the door from the hallway creaked open, and a stout nurse with a hairy irl in pink hospital pajaht red hair and small, even features, but it still took Hanna a beat to realize that this was the same person she had briefly ure she’d seen on the cliff two nights ago There were circles under Kelsey’s eyes Her hair washeavy

Everyone stiffened as Kelsey pulled out a chair and quietly sat down She looked at the you here"

"Hello," Spencer answered She gestured at Hanna and the others "You reht? This is Hanna and Ariaand you know E, punishing silence Hanna stared at her hands in her lap, suddenly desperate to busy thearette She and her friends hadn’t exactly discussed what they were going to say to Kelsey once they got here They’d never been in this situation before: face-to-face with A, able to ask her why she was torturing thehed "So ize"

Hanna snuck a peek at Aria Apologize?

"I shouldn’t have dragged you out to that quarry" Kelsey looked at Eer"

Emily’s throat bobbed as she sed Wasn’t that the point? Hanna wanted to say