Privilege 4 - Sweet Deceit (2 page)

The senator cleared his throat. "I have to be on a plane to Boston in an hour. But I'll see you when I get back?"

"Of course," Lexa said with a forced smile. "Thanks for coming."

"Y know I'm always here for you," he said. Then, after another stiff, awkward hug and a few more flash pops, he was gone. Keiko scurried off

ou after her boss but turned around briefly and touched her fingers to her lips in a good-bye for Lexa. The two men who were lying in wait quickly fell into step with the senator as well.

Maria turned to Lexa, her hands in her pockets. "Since when does your dad crash funerals?"

"Since my parents are living in separate houses and his family-values supporters are freaking out." Lexa rolled her eyes. "He's all about his image right now. Thus the photographer. I'm sure those pictures will be in the Boston Globe tomorrow."

"I'm sorry," Kaitlynn said.

Soomie rubbed Lexa's back. "I'm sure Brigit's laughing about it right now--her memorial service being turned into a photo-op."

Lexa sighed sadly, looking down at the green bangle bracelet she wore on her right wrist.

Ariana looked down at her own bracelet--just like Lexa's, but in red. Soomie had one as well, in blue; Maria's was orange; and Kaitlynn--much to Ariana's revulsion--wore a purple one. The colorful set of bracelets had been Brigit's favorite accessory. So when Brigit's maid had come to take her things home, Lexa had asked if it would be all right for her and her friends to have the bracelets to remember her by.

"Life is so insane," Kaitlynn mused, looking down at her bracelet as well. "Just a week ago, Brigit was wearing these . . . alive and well. . . ."

Ariana bit down on her tongue so hard she tasted blood. Kaitlynn took a deep breath and looked around at the group. Her eyes were full of bittersweet nostalgia. Fake. All of it fake.

"I think she'd be happy to know that we're all going to carry a piece of her with us . . . forever."

As the other girls nodded and sighed, Ariana grabbed her forearm and dug her fingers into the sleeve of her coat, trying to breathe. In, one . . . two . . . three . . .

Out, one . . . two . . . three . . .

In, one . . . two . . . three . . .

Out, one . . . two . . . three . . .

It was the only way she could keep herself from reaching out and strangling Kaitlynn Nottingham right then and there.

All in good time, Ariana, she told herself. You'll figure out a way. You always do. She looked up at Brigit's photo one last time and clenched her jaw. I'm going to make this right, Brigit. I promise. I'm going to do whatever it takes to make this right. A TRUE FRIEND

Ariana dressed quickly the following morning, hoping to slip out while Kaitlynn was in the shower. When Ariana's welcome week team had won the three-part competition and earned the right to live in Privilege House, the plushest dorm on campus, she'd gotten a private bathroom to share only with her roommate. Unfortunately, that roommate had turned out to be Kaitlynn. None of the Privilege House boons could cancel out the nightmare of once again living with her worst enemy.

After Lexa's impromptu soiree the night before, Ariana had gone to bed early, only to spend the entire night wide-awake and tense, her heart pounding with ire as she listened to the steady cadence of Kaitlynn's quiet snore in the next bed. That Kaitlynn was allowed to remain alive and well and was sleeping peacefully while Brigit was rotting in the ground somewhere was so abysmally wrong, it was all Ariana could do to keep from jumping the girl and slitting her throat as she slept.

But that, of course, would have been messy.

The water in their private bathroom stopped running. Ariana quickly fastened her pearl earrings into her ears and reached for Brigit's red bangle. She had just slipped it onto her wrist when Kaitlynn emerged from the bathroom, wrapping a towel around her slim body. The very sight of her made Ariana's blood burn.

"Hey," Kaitlynn said, glancing over Ariana's outfit. "Wait up. We can walk over together."

Ariana laughed bitterly. "You can't be serious."

Kaitlynn paused in front of her walk-in closet.

"Kaitlynn, you killed one of my best friends," Ariana said, grabbing her book bag and slinging it over her shoulder. "The fact that I'm even talking to you right now is making me physically ill."

Kaitlynn rubbed a towel over her short blond hair, still wet from the shower. "We were best friends once too, you know."

Ariana paused with her hand on the doorknob. Against her better judgment, she looked at her roommate, and for a split second she saw that old vulnerability in Kaitlynn's wide green eyes--that craving to be accepted and loved, which had sucked Ariana in during their time at the Brenda T.

But then Kaitlynn blinked, clenched her jaw, and turned away.

"Not really," Ariana said, her skin prickling with heat over having almost let her guard down. "You were lying to me the entire time."

Kaitlynn yanked a shirt off a hanger, then went to her dresser for a bra and underwear. "Like you never lied to me."

Ariana released the doorknob and turned toward Kaitlynn. "I didn't," she said, crossing her arms over her chest.

Kaitlynn dressed quickly, her back to Ariana, shaking her head as she buttoned up her white uniform shirt. "Right. So all that stuff about hating your life and being glad you never had to see any of those people again. How I was a better friend than they ever were. All that was true?" she asked, turning to glare at Ariana.

Instantly, Ariana's skin warmed and her eyes stung. Images of her former friends from Easton Academy--Noelle Lange, Kiran Hayes, and Taylor Bell--flitted through her mind. She vividly recalled how her heart used to leap whenever the guards announced that she had a visitor. How she used to stand outside the door to the visiting room while it was being unlocked, nearly giddy with hope, envisioning Noelle sitting at the metal table with her dark sunglasses on, or Kiran perched with a pile of fashion magazines, or Taylor offering a sweet smile. But it was always her lawyer or her father or some reporter hoping for a story. None of the Billings girls had ever come. Their rejection stung, even now.

"Y eah. That's what I thought," Kaitlynn said, stepping into a blue pleated skirt and fastening it around her slim waist. "They couldn't have cared less. But me? I was always there for you."

"Y had to be," Ariana replied. "We were stuck in the same room." Just like we are now, she added silently. Although back then it had been

ou different. Back then, Ariana had thought that Kaitlynn was sweet, innocent, and wrongfully accused.

"Well, just so you know, it wasn't all lies." Kaitlynn sat down on her bed and jammed her feet into knee-high socks.

"That doesn't change the fact that you used me," Ariana said quietly.

Kaitlynn sighed. "Maybe," she said, standing. "But would you have broken out if I told you the truth? Would either of us be here now?"

Ariana took a deep breath. Kaitlynn never tired of reminding her that she was the one who had led her to Briana Leigh. That without Kaitlynn, Ariana never would have met the girl and never would have had the chance to assume her identity and start a new life. And Ariana, as always, had to admit that it was true.

"But if neither of us were here now, Brigit would still be alive."

She turned, but Kaitlynn stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. "Wait."

Ariana swallowed against a dry throat.

"I know you're pissed off that Brigit isn't here anymore, but I had to do it," Kaitlynn said. "If anyone should understand that, you should. Y got rid

ou of Briana Leigh because she was standing in your way. Well, that's all I did. Brigit was in the way of me having the life I want. It was simple math. There were four spots in Stone and Grave and five people to fill them. All I did was help us both out."

Ariana looked into Kaitlynn's eyes, so calm and guileless, and her heart thumped. Because she realized that what Kaitlynn was saying made sense. Kaitlynn's entire life was at stake here. She needed Stone and Grave to survive. And survival was what it was all about.

"Think of it this way . . . you're lucky," Kaitlynn said, withdrawing her hand from Ariana's shoulder and giving a shrug. "It could have just as easily been you."

Ariana blinked, her heart dropping into her toes. A cold icicle of fear drove its way directly into her heart, and her knees started to tremble beneath her.

It could have just as easily been you.

Everyone was expendable to Kaitlynn. Everyone.

Kaitlynn turned away, humming as she slipped her APH blazer on over her white turtleneck. Like nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Like she hadn't just offhandedly threatened Ariana's life.

Taking a deep breath, Ariana steadied herself, quelled the bristles of fear prickling along her spine, and kept the hot tears threatening in her eyes at bay.

"You know what? I can wait a few minutes for you to get ready," she said, placing her bag on the floor.

Kaitlynn's eyes narrowed. "Yeah?"

"Yeah," Ariana said. "Go ahead and get dressed. We'll walk over together."

"Okay." Kaitlynn looked her up and down, surprised, maybe even wary. "I'll be ready in five." Then she slipped past Ariana into the bathroom and turned on the hair dryer. Ariana gave her weakened knees a rest, dropping down onto her perfectly made bed. She wrapped her fingers around her forearm and squeezed, watching the door of the bathroom and waiting for her roommate, thinking ahead to the mindless chitchat she would make as they crossed the campus together.

After all, it was all about survival. And now Ariana knew exactly what she had to do to stay alive. THE GAME IS AFOOT

The large, white-washed dining hall was filled with hushed conversation, the sounds of clinking silverware, and the scent of frying bacon. Ariana walked in with Kaitlynn at her side and turned toward her usual table, which she shared with Lexa, Soomie, Maria, Landon, Adam, Conrad, and sometimes Palmer--who would have been a sight for sore eyes right about then.

Lexa looked up, caught Ariana's eye, smiled, and waved her over. Ariana waved back. Hanging out with a real friend like Lexa right now would be a relief after a morning chock-full of Kaitlynn.

"Wait. We should sit with Allison and Tahira," Kaitlynn said, touching Ariana's arm.

Kaitlynn tilted her head toward the two girls, who were sitting at a small table near the door. Ariana hesitated, but she knew Kaitlynn was right. If anyone from Stone and Grave was watching--and Ariana knew that they always were--they would appreciate her and Kaitlynn sitting with the rest of their tap class. Ariana sighed and resigned herself to unpleasant company. Impressing Stone and Grave was worth a painful meal or two.

"Okay," she said. As she walked ahead of Kaitlynn, she saw her roommate's look of bemusement over having been agreed with so easily.

"Hey," Ariana said, sliding into the empty seat next to Allison. The girl's tall frame was slumped in her chair, and her blue-and-gold APH tie was loosely knotted over her light blue shirt. Her short blond curls were tucked behind her ears in a careless way, and her fingernails had been bitten down to nubs. Still, she was one of the more stunning girls in the room.

Allison and Tahira shot each other an intrigued look as Kaitlynn took the chair next to Tahira.

"Ladies," Kaitlynn said by way of greeting.

"How are you?" Tahira asked Ariana with surprisingly genuine interest. Her appearance was also surprisingly understated. Normally the girl managed to make her APH uniform as skimpy as possible, but today her shirt had only two buttons undone and she wore less eye makeup than usual.

"Okay, I guess. Not great," Ariana replied, lifting a shoulder. "You?"

"It's really weird around here without her," Tahira said, her dark eyes guarded. "Who am I going to spar with from now on?"

Even though Tahira and Allison hadn't liked Brigit much, Ariana knew they had been affected by her tragic death. Everyone had.

The waiter approached and took their breakfast order, scribbling down Tahira's very specific dietary instructions and raising an eyebrow when Ariana asked for extra butter and syrup with her pancakes. Now was definitely the time to indulge in comfort food.

"So," Ariana said, folding her arms on the table as the waiter scurried off.

"So," Tahira replied, taking a breath.

They all looked at one another as if they didn't know where or how to start having a normal conversation.

Across the room, Quinn, a pretty, preppy sophomore, approached, and her two friends, Jessica and Melanie, delivered steaming lattes to Lexa, Soomie, and Maria. At the beginning of the year Ariana had thought the sophomores' constant errand running was just general cool-senior worship, but now she realized that Quinn and the other girls were probably also gunning for spots in Stone and Grave next year--trying to impress the girls whom they assumed were members.

"What do we think about Hell Week?" Ariana asked quietly, deciding to go with the one topic they all had in common. She glanced around to make sure no one was listening. At the next table, a pair of boys intensely scribbled out their calculus homework, and behind Ariana a group of freshman girls gabbed about Halloween costumes. "I assumed it was going to start the night of the NoBash, since we were all supposed to have our tasks completed by then, but then . . ."

"Do you think they're still going to have it?" Allison shifted in her seat. "I mean, considering?" She cast a brief look toward Ariana's usual table and Ariana automatically followed suit. Soomie picked at her food while Lexa and Maria watched the taps with interest. Snagged, Maria looked away, but Lexa simply lifted her fingers in a wave, not at all embarrassed about being caught.

"Of course they are," Tahira whispered. "This is Stone and Grave. Hundreds of years of tradition can't just be ignored because of one--"

She stopped there and blushed as she looked down at her untouched silverware. For a moment, no one spoke. Ariana wondered if the sickened feeling in her heart would ever go away.

"So, Tahira . . . did you ever complete your task?" Ariana asked. Each pledge had been assigned a task to complete by the NoBash.