Flawless by Sara Shepard Read Free Book Online Page B

Wharton School of Business. They’d never do anything like that for Spencer.
    Mrs. Hastings leaned in to see. “Lovely.”
    “Really nice,” Ian agreed.
    A disbelieving laugh escaped from Spencer’s mouth. Alison DiLaurentis’s memorial service was today, and all they could think to talk about was paint colors?
    Melissa turned to Spencer. “What was that?”
    “Well…I mean…” Spencer stuttered. Melissa looked offended, as if Spencer had just said something really rude. She nervously twirled her fork. “Forget it.”
    There was another silence. Even Ian seemed to be wary of her now. Her dad took a hearty sip of wine. “Veronica, did you see Liz there?”
    “Yes, I spoke with her for a while,” said Spencer’s mother. “I thought she looked fantastic…considering.” By Liz, Spencer assumed they meant Elizabeth DiLaurentis, Ali’s youngish aunt who lived in the area.
    “It must be awful for her,” Melissa said solemnly. “I can’t imagine.”
    Ian made an empathetic mmm . Spencer felt her lower lip quiver. Hello, what about me? she wanted to scream. Don’t you guys remember? I was Ali’s best friend!
    With every minute of silence, Spencer felt more unwelcome. She waited for someone to ask how she was holding up, offer her a piece of fried tempura, or at least to say, Bless you , when she sneezed. But they were still punishing her for kissing Wren. Even though today was… today .
    A lump formed in her throat. She was used to being everyone’s favorite: her teachers’, her hockey coaches’, her yearbook editor’s. Even her colorist, Uri, said she was his favorite client because her hair took color so nicely. She’d won tons of school awards and had 370 MySpace friends, not counting bands. And while she might not ever be her parents’ favorite—it was impossible to eclipse Melissa—she couldn’t bear them hating her. Especially not now, when everything else in her life was so unstable.
    When Ian got up and excused himself to make a phone call, Spencer took a deep breath. “Melissa?” Her voice cracked.
    Melissa looked up, then went back to pushing her pad Thai around her plate.
    Spencer cleared her throat. “Will you please talk to me?”
    Melissa barely shrugged.
    “I mean, I can’t…I can’t have you hate me. You were completely right. About…you know.” Her hands shook so badly, she kept them wedged under her thighs. Apologizing made her nervous.
    Melissa folded her hands over her magazines. “Sorry,” she said. “I think that’s out of the question.” She stood and carried her plate to the sink.
    “But…” Spencer was shocked. She looked to her parents. “I’m really sorry, guys….” She felt tears brimmingat her eyes.
    Her father’s face bore the tiniest glimmer of sympathy, but he quickly looked away. Her mother spooned the remaining lemongrass chicken into a Tupperware container. She shrugged. “You made your bed, Spencer,” she said, rising and carrying the leftovers to the massive stainless-steel fridge.
    “But—”
    “Spencer.” Mr. Hastings used his stop talking voice.
    Spencer clamped her mouth shut. Ian loped back into the room, a big, stupid grin on his face. He sensed the tension and his smile wilted.
    “Come on.” Melissa stood and took his arm. “Let’s go out for dessert.”
    “Sure.” Ian clapped a hand on Spencer’s shoulder. “Spence? Want to come?”
    Spencer didn’t really want to—and by the way Melissa nudged him, it seemed she didn’t want her to, either, but she didn’t have the chance to respond. Mrs. Hastings quickly said, “No, Ian, Spencer is not getting dessert.” Her tone of voice was the same one she used when reprimanding the dogs.
    “Thanks anyway,” Spencer said, biting back tears. To steel herself, she shoved an enormous bite of mango curry into her mouth. But it slid down her throat before she could swallow, the thick sauce burning as it went down. Finally, after making a series of horrible noises, Spencer spit it