"Besides, Tahira and Allison are probably going to be in Stone and Grave with me," she said, lifting a shoulder. "We're going to be friends anyway."
It didn't escape Ariana's attention that she had been left out of that equation. What Kaitlynn didn't know was that Allison was never going to get into Stone and Grave. Not if she had her way.
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"The others are in already, aren't they?" Kaitlynn asked, glancing at Ariana in the mirror. "Every one of them but Brigit."
"I don't know," Ariana said.
"Oh, please." Kaitlynn's eyes danced. "You spend all that time with them and you don't know? Or maybe you just don't want to tell me because you're afraid of what I might do."
Ariana's hand closed around her forearm and squeezed. It was all she could do to keep from backhanding the girl across the cheek. Kaitlynn turned around to face her.
"Let me ask you this ... if one of them had to die, which one would you prefer?" she asked, her eyes dancing merrily. "Soomie, I bet, right? The smarty--pants. It'd make it a lot easier for you to graduate number one in our class," she said, looking Ariana up and down derisively, as if wanting to be valedictorian was somehow lame.
"None of them is going to have to die," Ariana told Kaitlynn firmly. "I have the situation under control."
Kaitlynn smiled slowly. Her eyes took on a predatory gleam that made Ariana's blood run cold. "I do hope so, A. Otherwise things are going to get very messy around here."
As if things weren't already messy, what with the nails and the hair everywhere. But if all went as it should, it would be over by Monday afternoon.
Kaitlynn walked over to her closet, stepped into a pair of black pumps, and grabbed a clutch purse, which she stocked with lip gloss, an atomizer, and some cash.
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"Tahira and Rob are setting me up with some guy from GW tonight. How do I look?" she asked.
"Like a poisonous snake," Ariana replied.
"Perfect," Kaitlynn replied.
There was a quick rap on the door and Tahira waltzed right in, wearing a high--necked, sleeveless dress in a horribly bright fuchsia.
"Let's get a move on, beyotch," she said fondly, double air--kissing Kaitlynn. "Don't want to keep the men waiting."
"Heaven forbid," Kaitlynn said with a laugh. Then she turned to Ariana and gave her a pointed smile. "How do I look?" she asked again. She was testing Ariana. Seeing if she would be rude to her in front of someone else. Seeing if Ariana would risk Kaitlynns ire.
"Like a slutty beyotch," Ariana said with a grin, mimicking Tahira's tone. Tahira giggled, clearly taking Ariana's insult as a friendly joke. Kaitlynn's smile faltered, and Ariana cocked a triumphant brow.
After a moment Kaitlynn notched her smile back up to full wattage. "Thanks, A! Have a good night! Hope you don't get to bored sitting here twiddling your thumbs!"
She and Tahira both laughed, looping their arms together as they waltzed out. Ariana slammed the door behind them and clenched her fists, annoyed that Kaitlynn had managed to get the last laugh. But at least she had gotten the last slam.
That had to count for something.
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VERY RIGHT
Saturday night. Saturday night and Ariana was sitting alone in her dorm room, staring out the window at the winking lights of the APH campus. Brigit was having dinner with Adam. Maria had gone out with some friends from the Washington Ballet. Soomie had tagged along with Landon to some awful--sounding album--signing thing in the city. Lexa was taking in the opera with Conrad. Even Kaitlynn was out on a date. Ariana should have been out on a date as well. But she couldn't be. Because the boy she liked was still Lexas territory, and would be until Lexa and Conrad were officially together.But was that even true? Ariana wondered. What was the appropriate hands--off time before a girl could move in on her friend's ex even if the girl had a new boyfriend? Were she and Palmer going to have to continue sneaking around until they were off at Princeton together?
Just thinking about Palmer made Ariana groan with longing. She crossed her arms on her desk and put her head down. This was so
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unfair. Why did she have to fall for Palmer, of all people? She wondered where he was right then. Was he out having fun as well? Or was he, perhaps, somewhere inside the dorm? Somewhere alone, thinking about her as well.
Every inch of Ariana's body tingled. Screw this. Lexa was out on a date, for God's sake. With an incredible, hot guy. She pushed herself up, got halfway to her door, then hesitated. Lexa would die if she found out about Ariana and Palmer. But she wanted to go find him so badly her fingertips hurt.
Lexa would just have to not find out.
Ariana opened the door and strode out into the hallway. She took the elevator down to the first floor, walked over to the Alpha tower elevator, and took it all the way back up to the top, where Palmer's room was located. Just yanking open the heavy door that separated the boys' rooms from their common area made her feel powerful and free. She heard the sound of raucous boy laughter coming from one of the rooms. A bunch of guys playing video games, no doubt. Ariana hoped Palmer wasn't with them. Drawing him away from a pack of guys would be awkward, not to mention very public.
She walked over to the closed door at the end of the hallway and knocked. Seconds later, it opened. Palmer stood there in a black T--shirt and gray shorts. He smiled.
"I thought you'd never get here."
He opened the door wider and Ariana slipped inside. "How did you know I was coming?"
"I didn't. But I was hoping," Palmer said.
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Then he closed the door behind them. Ariana's heart caught.
"Isn't that against the rules?" she asked, her heart fluttering in her throat.
Palmer pulled her to him. His body felt hard and strong against hers. "Do you really care about the rules right now?" he asked gently.
Ariana just smiled.
"Yeah. That's what I figured," Palmer said.
And then his lips were on hers and she was lying back on his bed and he was tugging off her shirt and she was sliding her hands over his chest and the lights were off and the sheets were soft and his body was perfect and she knew this was right. . . and Ariana simply let go. Because right then, nothing else mattered.
Not Lexa, not Stone and Grave, not Kaitlynn, not her future, not anything.
Nothing, nothing, nothing . . . but how very right this was.
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COMING TOGETHER
Ariana sat at her desk on Sunday morning with Allison's handwriting sample in front of her, meticulously re--creating the girl's slanty print in a new, clean notebook. Brigit had somehow managed to tear a page out of Allison's chem notebook, which was a stroke of genius. Without it, Ariana wouldn't have known that Allison slanted her "equals" signs down or that she used a small circle in place of an x when multiplying. Any other writing sample would have been useless.Brigit was the goods.
And it was no wonder Allison was failing chem. A ton of her compounds were wrong. She had written down glucose as C9H12O9 instead of C6H1206. Ariana shook her head and started correcting the errors. A cheat sheet would look totally bogus if it was wrong.
Suddenly memories of last night rushed upon her unbidden and she blushed from head to toe. Her fingers trembled and she set her pen down, taking a deep breath.
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She was not thinking about Palmer now. This morning, in the light of day, her priorities were clear again. She had to get Allison disqualified from the running for Stone and Grave. She had to save her friends, save herself. Whatever she had with Palmer, it wouldn't matter if she was dead.
But this was going to work. It had to. Ariana picked up her pen again and got back to work.
Earlier, when Tahira and Allison had stopped by to grab Kaitlynn and go to breakfast, it had been all Ariana could do to keep from laughing in Allison's haughty face. The girl was going down and she didn't even suspect it. Ariana couldn't wait to see her crumble when her chemistry teacher found
the cheat sheet.
She took a deep breath and glanced at the garbage can, in which lay her latest warning from Kaitlynn, hidden underneath a slew of crumpled tissues. Today she'd simply left Ariana a photo of Lexa, Soomie, Maria, and Brigit, printed off one of their Facebook pages, with a sloppy red line slashed across each of their necks. On the bottom was written:
EENE, MEANE, MINEY, MO... YOU HAVE SIX DAYS!
As far as Ariana knew, no one else had received any ominous gifties. Apparently Kaitlynn had been too drunk last night after her double date to attempt anything more intricate. Thank goodness. If she'd tried, Ariana was sure she would have woken up without a nose or a foot.
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There was a quick knock at her door and then it opened. Ariana quickly slid Allison's page under the notebook and turned to a clean one.
"Whatcha doing?" Lexa asked, all smiles. She wore a pair of blue linen shorts, a short--sleeved white blouse with eyelet detailing, and tall espadrilles with thick laces crisscrossing her ankles.
Ariana felt guilty at the very sight of her, knowing that she had betrayed Lexa so very deeply the night before. It didn't matter that Lexa had been out on a date with Conrad, as Ariana had so lamely rationalized last night. She still had feelings for Palmer, and Ariana had made a mockery of those feelings.
She would not do it again. Palmer would simply have to wait until Ariana was sure Lexa was over him.
"Just jotting down some thoughts for the Ash meeting on Monday," Ariana replied, turning in her seat. "I want to make sure I'm prepared."
"Oh, April's going to love you," Lexa said with a wave of her hand. She jumped onto Ariana's bed, landing on her knees and bouncing once. "Don't worry about that."
"You're in a good mood," Ariana noted.
Lexa blushed and swung her legs around so that she was sitting on the edge of the bed.
"Well, first of all, there were no pink jewelry boxes lying around this morning, so either the Fellows got bored or they figured out we're on to them," she said. "And Conrad and I are spending the whole day together. He's taking me out on his uncle's boat."
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"Wow," Ariana said, impressed. "A whole day together. Sounds like you two are going places."
Lexa grinned and toyed with the fringe that was attached to the zipper on her sporty bag. "We may be going to the NoBash together, if today goes well."
Ariana's heart did a series of manic somersaults. This was all so very good. So good that it even eased her guilt, just a bit.
"That's incredible, Lexa. I'm so happy for you," Ariana said.
Lexa got up and put her arms out at her sides. "Palmer who, right?"
"Right." Ariana got up and gave her friend a hug. "Good luck today. I'm sure it's going to be incredible."
"Thanks, Ana," Lexa said with a smile. "And don't think I don't know you had something to do with this."
Ariana's heart skipped a beat. "What do you mean?"
"Inviting Connie to lunch, having him meet up with us everywhere," Lexa said, giving Ariana a sly look. "You're a little matchmaker, aren't you?"
A blush crept up Ariana's neck and onto her cheeks. "You're not mad, are you?"
"Are you kidding? I always knew Connie, but I never really knew him," Lexa said. "If it weren't for you, I never would have found out that the perfect guy was jogging past me every morning on the cross country trail."
"Well then, I'm glad I could help," Ariana replied. "Have fun today."
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"I will! See you after dinner!"
Lexa practically spun out of the room, closing the door behind her. When Ariana was sure she was gone, she allowed herself a guilt--free moment of happy dancing in the center of the hardwood floor. Everything was coming together. Today Lexa would ask Conrad to the NoBash, officially freeing up Palmer to be Ariana's date. The girl couldn't expect Palmer to be dateless for the biggest party of the season, especially when she already had someone, right? Tomorrow, Allison would be caught cheating on her chemistry test, and the resulting scandal would get her booted from the running for Stone and Grave. Now all Ariana had to do was secure that NoBash invite for Kaitlynn and all would be right with the world.
Well, that and make a spectacle of herself. But she had an idea--a rather terrifying idea--of how she might be able to accomplish that. She was planning to head into the city later that day to secure the necessary materials. But that was later. For now, she had some handwriting to perfect.
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COLLATERAL DAMAGE
The white tile was so cold Ariana could feel it through the fabric of her short--sleeved blue uniform shirt. She shivered slightly but didn't move. She was leaning back against the wall of the bathroom, which was positioned conveniently across the hallway from the classroom in which Allison was currently taking her chemistry exam. If someone walked in, Ariana wanted to appear casually aloof, but she also wanted to keep her position directly across from the door, so that she could be through it the second the tone sounded. Which was also why she had faked stomach cramps to get out of French class early. It pained her to think that her fellow students might think she had IBS or something, but these were necessary sacrifices.At least Kaitlynn's midnight rampages seemed to be over. Once again, Ariana and her floormates had woken up intact, no random body parts on their bedside tables.
And now Ariana could just focus on the plan. Allison's fake cheat
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sheet was pinned between Ariana's hip and the outside of her bag. Everything was in place. This was going to work. No one had to die to ensure that Kaitlynn would get into Stone and Grave. A little scandal would suffice.
The tone sounded. Ariana held her bag firmly against her hip and walked out. Tahira was outside the chem room door, obviously waiting for Allison, which gave Ariana a moment's pause. But Tahira's back was to her for the moment, and besides, she couldn't let a tiny hiccup like this stop her. Mr. Chen, the chemistry teacher, opened the door and stood back to let his students out. A few guys rushed out and jogged down the hallway as if they didn't want to miss a moment of free time in the sun. Then Ariana heard Allison's horse laugh, and she took a few steps forward, gaining momentum. The second Allison stepped through the doorway, Ariana took one giant step and slammed into a poor, unsuspecting sophomore girl who was walking in the other direction. The girl pinballed off Ariana and careened into Allison before hitting the floor herself. Allison dropped two notebooks, her chem text, and a pencil on the ground. Ariana shifted her bag and the cheat sheet fluttered down, coming to rest just to the left of the notebooks. Perfection. Then she quickly moved down the hall to watch the action unfold from afar.
"What the hell?" Tahira said, steadying Allison before she could go over as well.
"Are you all right?" the sophomore's friend asked, helping her up.
The girl looked more humiliated than hurt as she scurried to her feet, her dark eyes avoiding everyone else's. Collateral damage. Sometimes it was necessary. "M'fine," she said, scurrying off.
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"I'm not," Allison called after the girl, holding on to her arm. "Thanks a lot. That's gonna bruise."
"Do you need to see the nurse, Miss Rothaus?" Mr. Chen asked, pushing his glasses up on his nose with his forefinger.
"No. I'm all right," Allison replied grouchily, rubbing her arm.
Tahira crouched to pick up Allison's stuff. Ariana saw her do a double take when she picked up the cheat sheet. She moved to hide it, but it was too late. Mr. Chen had noticed it too.
"What's this?" Mr. Chen asked, plucking the index card from Tahira's fingers. His glance flitted over the card. Then he fixed Allison with a stern look. "Miss Rothaus?"
Down the hallway, Ariana hid a smile behind her hand. Mr. Chen was playing his part so spot--on she could have written it for him.
"That's not mine," Allison said, her blond curls trembling.
"It certainly looks like your handwriting," Mr. Chen said.
Allison glanced at Tahira, who shrugged an apology
. Clearly she believed it was Allison's cheat sheet. The small crowd around them grew, sensing impending fodder for gossip.
"I know, but it's not mine," Allison protested. "Honestly, Mr. Chen. I studied my butt off for this test. I didn't need to cheat."
"Nevertheless, the evidence suggests otherwise," Mr. Chen said, fluttering the index card like a taunt. "Come along, Miss Rothaus. I'm afraid we're going to have to have a conversation with the headmaster about this."
Allison's mouth set in a tight white line. "Fine," she said.
Just then Brigit turned the corner and locked eyes with Ariana,
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giving her a giddy thumbs--up before walking along as if nothing had happened.
Ariana waited while Mr. Chen shut the lights in his classroom and closed the door, then followed him out down the hallway, admirably keeping her head held high. It wasn't until the heavy door slammed behind her that Ariana allowed herself one small, triumphant laugh, which was drowned out by the twittering gossip and speculation that filled the hallway around them.
It was almost too easy.
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RETALIATION
"I'm so glad you came to the meeting tonight, Ana," April Corrigan said in her slight Irish accent as she turned out the lights in the multimedia room that evening and ushered Ariana out. "I liked your idea about theming each issue of The Ash after the season in which it's published.""Well, nothing too on the nose," Ariana said, tilting her chin. Up ahead, the dozen other members of the literary magazine's staff pushed through the double doors of the building. "I'm thinking maybe coming--of--age for fall, death for winter . . . celebration for spring. Just brainstorming here."
April nodded enthusiastically, checking messages on her iPhone while she adjusted the stack of notebooks and back issues of The Ash in her arms.
"We should definitely do it," April said, shoving her square glasses up into her hair to hold her curls back from her face. "Remind me
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at the next meeting and we can all ruminate on the exact themes together." She fished out a few copies of The Ash and handed them to Ariana as they walked out. "In the meantime, why don't you look these over? I'd love to hear your thoughts."