Perfect: A Pretty Little Liars Novel

“You’ll have to try harder than that to make it better,” Maya said seductively, lowering her green-yellow
catlike eyes and reaching for Emily.
They had decided to try this: sitting together, hanging out whenever they could, touching, kissing. As
much as Emily tried to edit Maya from her life, she couldn’t. Maya was wonderful, nothing like Em’s last
boyfriend, Ben—nothing, in fact, like any boy she’d ever gone out with. There was something so
comforting about being here at the creek side by side. They weren’t just together—they were also best
friends. This was how coupledom should feel.
When they pulled away, Maya slid off a sneaker and dipped her toe into the creek. “So we moved back
into our house yesterday.”
Emily drew in her breath. After the workers had found Ali’s body in Maya’s new backyard, the St.
Germains had moved to a hotel to escape the media. “Is it…weird?”
“It’s okay.” Maya shrugged. “Oh, but get this. There’s a stalker on the loose.”
“What?”
“Yeah, a neighbor was telling my mom about it this morning. Someone’s running around through
people’s
yards, peeping into windows.”
Emily’s stomach began to hurt. This, too, reminded her of Toby: back when they were in sixth grade, he
was the creepy kid who peeked into everyone’s windows, especially Ali’s. “Guy? Girl?”
Maya shook her head. “I don’t know.” She blew her curly bangs up into the air. “This town, I swear to
God. Weirdest place on earth.”
“You must miss California,” Emily said softly, pausing to watch a bunch of birds lift off from a nearby oak
tree.
“Not at all, actually.” Maya touched Emily’s wrist.
“There are no Emilys in California.”
Emily leaned forward and kissed Maya softly on her lips. They held their lips together for five long
seconds. She kissed Maya’s earlobe. Then Maya kissed her bottom lip. They pulled away and smiled,