mouth was a taut, distressed line. “I…uh…I just realized. I have to go.” He stood up sloppily, pulling his books into his chest.
“W-what? Why?” Aria cried.
Jason maneuvered around the benches, not answering. He bumped against Aria as he passed, upending her purse. “Oops,” she mumbled, wincing as a super-plus tampon and her lucky Beanie Baby cow spilled to the sticky concrete floor. “Sorry,” Jason muttered, pushing out the door to the parking lot.
Aria gazed after him, astonished. What the hell just happened? And why was Jason going back to his car …and not into the city?
Her cheeks burned with sudden awareness. Jason had probably realized how Aria felt about him. And maybe, because he didn’t mean to lead her on, he’d decided to drive into Philadelphia by himself instead of ride the train with her. How could she have been so stupid to think Jason was flirting? So what if he’d said she was the only one with substance, or that she looked cute in a skirt. So what that he’d given her Ali’s Time Capsule flag way back in the day. None of that necessarily meant anything. In the end, Aria was nothing more than one of the nameless Alis.
Humiliated, Aria slowly turned back to the TV. To her surprise, a news broadcast had interrupted Regis & Kelly . The headline caught Aria’s eye. Thomas’s Body a Hoax.
The blood drained from Aria’s face. She whirled around and scanned the line of cars in the parking lot. Or was this why Jason ran off so quickly?
On television, the Rosewood chief of police was speaking to a bevy of microphones. “We’ve been searching those woods for two days straight and can’t find a single trace of Mr. Thomas’s body,” he said. “Maybe we need to step back and consider other…possibilities.”
Aria frowned. What other possibilities?
The feed cut to Ian’s mother. A bunch of microphones were shoved under her chin. “Ian e-mailed us yesterday,” she said. “He didn’t say where he was, just that he was safe…and that he didn’t do it.” She paused to wipe her eyes. “We’re still verifying if it really was from him or not. I pray that it wasn’t someone using his account to play a trick on us.”
Then Officer Wilden popped onto the screen. “I wanted to believe the girls when they told me they saw Ian in the woods,” he said, looking contrite. “But even from the start, I wasn’t really sure. I had a terrible feeling this might be a ploy for our attention.”
Aria’s mouth dropped open. What?
And finally, the camera focused on a bearded man in thick glasses and a gray sweater. Dr. Henry Warren, Psychiatrist, Rosewood Hospital , the caption below him said. “Being the center of attention is an addictive feeling,” the doctor explained. “If the focus has been on someone for long enough, they begin to… crave it. Sometimes, people take any measure possible to keep all eyes on them, even if that means embellishing the truth. Making up false realities.”
An anchor came on again, saying they’d have more on this story at the top of the hour. As the broadcast broke for a commercial, Aria placed her palms flat on the bench and took heaping breaths. What. The. Hell?
Outside, the eastbound SEPTA roared into the station and screeched to a halt. Suddenly, Aria didn’t feel like going into Philly anymore. What was the point? No matter where she went, baggage from Rosewood would always follow her.
She walked back to the parking lot, scanning for Jason’s tall frame and blond hair. There wasn’t a person in sight. The road in front of the station was empty, too, the traffic lights silently swinging. For just a moment, Aria felt like she was the only human left in the world. She swallowed hard, a peculiar feeling creeping down her neck to her tailbone. Jason had been here just now, hadn’t he? And they had seen Ian’s body in the woods…right? For a moment, she felt like she really was going crazy, just like the psychiatrist had insinuated.
But she
“W-what? Why?” Aria cried.
Jason maneuvered around the benches, not answering. He bumped against Aria as he passed, upending her purse. “Oops,” she mumbled, wincing as a super-plus tampon and her lucky Beanie Baby cow spilled to the sticky concrete floor. “Sorry,” Jason muttered, pushing out the door to the parking lot.
Aria gazed after him, astonished. What the hell just happened? And why was Jason going back to his car …and not into the city?
Her cheeks burned with sudden awareness. Jason had probably realized how Aria felt about him. And maybe, because he didn’t mean to lead her on, he’d decided to drive into Philadelphia by himself instead of ride the train with her. How could she have been so stupid to think Jason was flirting? So what if he’d said she was the only one with substance, or that she looked cute in a skirt. So what that he’d given her Ali’s Time Capsule flag way back in the day. None of that necessarily meant anything. In the end, Aria was nothing more than one of the nameless Alis.
Humiliated, Aria slowly turned back to the TV. To her surprise, a news broadcast had interrupted Regis & Kelly . The headline caught Aria’s eye. Thomas’s Body a Hoax.
The blood drained from Aria’s face. She whirled around and scanned the line of cars in the parking lot. Or was this why Jason ran off so quickly?
On television, the Rosewood chief of police was speaking to a bevy of microphones. “We’ve been searching those woods for two days straight and can’t find a single trace of Mr. Thomas’s body,” he said. “Maybe we need to step back and consider other…possibilities.”
Aria frowned. What other possibilities?
The feed cut to Ian’s mother. A bunch of microphones were shoved under her chin. “Ian e-mailed us yesterday,” she said. “He didn’t say where he was, just that he was safe…and that he didn’t do it.” She paused to wipe her eyes. “We’re still verifying if it really was from him or not. I pray that it wasn’t someone using his account to play a trick on us.”
Then Officer Wilden popped onto the screen. “I wanted to believe the girls when they told me they saw Ian in the woods,” he said, looking contrite. “But even from the start, I wasn’t really sure. I had a terrible feeling this might be a ploy for our attention.”
Aria’s mouth dropped open. What?
And finally, the camera focused on a bearded man in thick glasses and a gray sweater. Dr. Henry Warren, Psychiatrist, Rosewood Hospital , the caption below him said. “Being the center of attention is an addictive feeling,” the doctor explained. “If the focus has been on someone for long enough, they begin to… crave it. Sometimes, people take any measure possible to keep all eyes on them, even if that means embellishing the truth. Making up false realities.”
An anchor came on again, saying they’d have more on this story at the top of the hour. As the broadcast broke for a commercial, Aria placed her palms flat on the bench and took heaping breaths. What. The. Hell?
Outside, the eastbound SEPTA roared into the station and screeched to a halt. Suddenly, Aria didn’t feel like going into Philly anymore. What was the point? No matter where she went, baggage from Rosewood would always follow her.
She walked back to the parking lot, scanning for Jason’s tall frame and blond hair. There wasn’t a person in sight. The road in front of the station was empty, too, the traffic lights silently swinging. For just a moment, Aria felt like she was the only human left in the world. She swallowed hard, a peculiar feeling creeping down her neck to her tailbone. Jason had been here just now, hadn’t he? And they had seen Ian’s body in the woods…right? For a moment, she felt like she really was going crazy, just like the psychiatrist had insinuated.
But she
Similar Books
