Privilege 4 - Sweet Deceit (3 page)

"Why? Are you suddenly concerned I won't get in?" Tahira asked facetiously. Of course, both Tahira and Ariana knew why Ariana was really asking. Tahira's task was to humiliate a donor, and she'd threatened to humiliate Ariana. Briana Leigh's family had donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to the school to get her in.

"Just curious," Ariana said, casually lifting her shoulders as their food arrived. Her plate of pancakes was steaming hot and smelled deliciously buttery. Ariana's stomach grumbled for the first time in more than a week. Mourning for Brigit had pretty much destroyed her appetite, but now that she had a plan in mind, she was more than ready to make up for lost time. "Did you find a donor to humiliate?"

Tahira daintily speared a grape with her fork. "Yes, I did."

"You told her what your task was?" Allison gasped, leaning forward. "You wouldn't even tell me!"

"Calm it, Al," Tahira said tersely. "I had my reasons."

Allison dropped back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest to mope.

"Well? What'd you do?" Kaitlynn asked, leaning an elbow on the table. She'd ordered a bagel and lox, which so far had gone untouched. "Who'd you humiliate?"

"Well, you know Malaya was at the NoBash?" Tahira said, placing her fork down. "She was talking to all of these dignitaries and gurus and whatnot, so I went over and started asking her really specific questions about Buddhism, since that's supposed to be her new big obsession and everything," she said, waving a hand around dismissively.

"I thought she was into kabbalah." Allison took a large bite of her English muffin.

"Y eah. That was during her last world tour," Tahira said, rolling her eyes. "Anyway, of course she didn't actually know anything about Buddhism even though she's been quoted as saying it changed her life and all that crap," Tahira said. "She was so embarrassed, she faked a phone call from one of her kids and left the party."

Kaitlynn and Allison laughed.

"Well, good. I'm glad you got it done in time," Ariana said.

"Uh, thanks?" Tahira replied dubiously. "I just hope someone from Stone and Grave was paying attention," she whispered, reaching for her coffee cup. "It all happened right before . . ." "Right before they found Brigit?" Kaitlynn said.

Ariana took a deep breath and reached for the juice. She couldn't let Kaitlynn see how much just talking about Brigit affected her.

"I don't even know if our tasks are going to matter anymore," Kaitlynn said, slathering cream cheese on her bagel.

"What? Why wouldn't they?" Allison asked.

Kaitlynn shrugged as she chewed and wiped a bit of cheese from her fingers onto her linen napkin.

"Well, I mean, they said there were four open spots . . . ," she said, keeping her voice down. She said it as if it had just occurred to her recently-- as if she was thinking out loud--when, in fact, she had already killed someone based on her logic.

Tahira swallowed so hard that Ariana heard the gulp. "And now there are four of us."

Allison and Tahira looked at one another, then at Ariana, who found herself liking them for the first time since she'd met them more than a month ago. At least they had the decency to appear scandalized and depressed over what Kaitlynn had just said, while Kaitlynn sipped her orange juice and looked to be about three seconds away from humming a jaunty tune.

"Well, I for one will be happy if we do all get in," Ariana said, forcing a chipper tone into her voice.

"You will?" Kaitlynn said, clearly surprised.

"Y Ariana replied. "I mean, after everything that's happened . . . it would be nice if something positive came out of it. Who knows? Maybe Hell

es," Week will bond us somehow. Maybe, by the end of it, we'll all be friends."

Tahira and Allison glanced at each another.

"I think Brigit would have liked that," Ariana added, looking at Kaitlynn.

For the first time in a long time, Kaitlynn seemed to be at a loss, like she had no idea what game Ariana was playing.

Which was just the way Ariana liked it. LIFE IS CRAZY

Late Monday evening, Ariana held a tennis ball in her right hand. She thought of Brigit and squeezed. She thought of Kaitlynn and squeezed even harder, gritting her teeth, holding her breath, clenching her arm muscles. She thought of Brigit falling, Brigit screaming, Brigit's neck breaking as she hit the cold, hard floor, and she reached back and hurled the tennis ball at the wall of her dorm room. It smacked into the Monet poster Kaitlynn had hung over her bed, causing a slight tear in one of the center flowers before ricocheting across the room and taking out the perfume bottles atop Ariana's dresser. As a few more items crashed to the floor, Ariana grabbed another ball from her tennis bag and hurled it, widening the tear.

If only she had walked in on Brigit and Kaitlynn before it had happened. Ariana was sure she could have stopped it.

She hurled another ball. It missed the poster completely, bounced wide, and came to rest just inside Kaitlynn's open closet.

She could have overpowered Kaitlynn and then it would have been Kaitlynn's body that was found at the foot of the stairs, not Brigit's.

Another ball. The tear reached the top of the poster.

Ariana reached for a fifth, but there were none left. She closed her eyes, leaned back in her desk chair, and breathed.

She imagined her and Brigit clinging to each other after Kaitlynn's fall, still scared by the confrontation--the near miss--but grateful to be alive. Imagined telling the Norwegian guard what had happened--that "Lillian" had tried to kill the princess and "Ana" had saved the day.

But the fantasy stopped there. Ariana blinked and sat up straight. If Kaitlynn had died that night, in such a public way, it would have taken about five seconds for the authorities to find out that she wasn't a girl named Lillian Oswald at all--that she was in fact Kaitlynn Nottingham, escaped convict. And if they figured that out, it would have taken them about five more seconds to ID Ariana. Okay, maybe ten, but still. Even if Brigit were alive and Kaitlynn were dead, it would have been all over for Ariana.

Ariana turned toward her desk and slammed her heavy U.S. government book shut, cursing under her breath. It seemed as if she wouldn't be getting any studying done tonight, which sucked considering Kaitlynn was going to be out at an away soccer game all evening. Ariana hadn't even known Kaitlynn played soccer until she joined the team as her mandatory APH sport, but apparently the girl was good. She'd already been named a starter. Ariana wondered how many other secrets Kaitlynn was hiding, whether banal or harrowing.

She clutched her forearm in her fingers and squeezed, holding her breath as a hot wave of fury crashed through her.

Control, Ariana . . . control.

She closed her eyes and started to breathe.

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

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

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

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

There was a sudden knock at the door. With one last breath to steady her quaking nerves, Ariana got up. As soon as she opened the door, Palmer Liriano cupped her face in his hands and brought his full lips down on hers, backing her into the room again and slamming the door with a backward kick of his foot. Ariana giggled, the sound almost foreign to her own ears, and tripped backward, letting him lower her down onto her bed and settle in next to her, kissing her the entire time.

A few weeks ago, Palmer had broken up with Lexa so that he could go out with Ariana, but Ariana had insisted on keeping their relationship secret--at least until she could be certain that her new friend Lexa was truly over Palmer. On the night of the NoBash, Palmer had challenged Ariana about taking their relationship public, but he hadn't mentioned it since. So for the past week the two of them had been sneaking around as usual, stealing moments together after class or during study hours. These moments were Ariana's refuge and she cherished them like they were gold.

"Hello," Palmer said, finally parting his lips from hers.

He was so insanely handsome, with his jet-black hair and warm brown eyes, his tanned skin and easy smile, that sometimes it was almost impossible to tear her eyes off him.

"Hey," she replied with a grin. He trailed kisses down her neck and she placed her hand against his chest, feeling his muscles through the soft cotton of his T-shirt. "What would you have done if Lillian were here?"

Palmer's brow knit. "Kicked her out on her ass, of course," he said. "Nothing keeps me from you."

Ariana laughed at the visual. "How very chivalrous of you."

"I'm a chivalrous guy," he said jokingly. He ran a fingertip down her cheek, sending pleasant flutters through her chest. "So, what were you doing when I rudely interrupted?" Palmer leaned on his side and crooked his elbow under his head.

"Trying to study for our government quiz," Ariana replied, sitting up and gesturing at the book. It looked so massive and foreboding just sitting there.

"Trying?" he asked.

"Having a hard time concentrating," Ariana admitted, averting her eyes.

"Oh."

Palmer swung his legs over the side of the bed and got up. He leaned over her open laptop and scrolled through what few notes she had taken. "I can e-mail you my notes, if you want."

"Y eah?" Ariana said, standing up to face him. "That would be amazing." She reached for his hand and took it lightly in hers, toying with his fingers. "But . . . haven't you been distracted too? With the whole Brigit thing?"

A shadow passed over Palmer's handsome features. "Y eah, but that just means my notes are even better than usual. That's how I deal. By staying busy."

Ariana used to be that way too. Back at Easton Academy, whenever something bad happened, her grades only went up and her extracurriculars became her solace. What had changed? Why was she different now? Maybe it was because back then the bad things that had happened had seemed manageable. But now . . .

"Hey. Are you okay?" Palmer asked, reaching for her hand. "You just got sad."

Ariana attempted to smile. "Yeah. I just--"

There was a quick rap at the door and then Lexa walked in. Ariana dropped Palmer's hand, but stopped herself from springing away from him. She froze instead, gripping the back of the desk chair, realizing that moving away from Lexa's ex would just make her look even more guilty than she already did. Still, Lexa's eyes darted between Palmer and Ariana. Ariana's fingers tingled. Had she been too slow? Had Lexa seen? "Hey, Lexa," Palmer said smoothly. "What's up?"

Lexa looked from Palmer to Ariana and back again. "Nothing . . . What's up with you?" She glanced around the room suspiciously. Her eyes paused briefly on Kaitlynn's torn poster.

"Not much." Palmer turned to Ariana. "So you'll e-mail me those notes, right?" he said, backing toward the door.

"Sure," Ariana said. "No problem. Glad I could help."

Palmer winked and smiled at Ariana as he slipped into the hallway and closed the door behind him. Ariana's heart fluttered around in her chest like a caged bird. If possible, she loved him even more for being so suave under pressure.

"Notes?" Lexa asked, raising her perfect eyebrows.

"Y eah. We have a quiz this week," Ariana said, closing her laptop so Lexa wouldn't see that her notes document was practically empty. "We figure between the two of us we may have absorbed most of the information."

Lexa nodded and took a couple of steps toward Kaitlynn's bed. "What happened?" she asked, gesturing at the poster. "Were you guys wrestling in here?" She laughed, but her eyes were flat and dead serious.

Ariana blushed. "Uh, no," she said lightly, rolling her eyes. "It was like that when I got here. I guess Lillian doesn't like that one anymore." She added a shrug for good measure, but silently cursed her own carelessness. Now she was going to have to run to the student store and replace the poster before Kaitlynn got home.

"Weird." Lexa sat down on the edge of Ariana's bed and Ariana perched on her desk chair, finally feeling the residual blush from her encounter with Palmer fading from her cheeks.

"So, what's up?" Ariana asked.

Lexa blew out a sigh. "I just needed to vent," she said finally. "I mean, if you've got a minute."

"That's what I'm here for," Ariana said with a smile, even though every cell in her body became tense. What, exactly, did Lexa want to vent about? Did it have to do with her and Palmer?

"It's my parents," Lexa said. Ariana's shoulders relaxed. She even felt a thrill over the fact that Lexa had come to her and not Maria or Soomie-- over the proof of just how close she and Lexa had grown. "I just got off a conference call with Keiko and my mom's new assistant, Cassandra, trying to plan a time that all three of us can get together and have brunch. It was like a meeting of the U.N. Security Council or something. Just to have brunch with the folks."

"Well . . . it's good that they want to get together at all, right?" Ariana said, trying to find the positive angle.

"I guess." Lexa studied her nails. "Whatever. I'm sure they'll both have their own photographers present. Maybe I should hire one too." Then her eyes lit up and she sat up straight again. "You want to do it? It could be fun. You could be my very own paparazzo."

Ariana laughed. "Thanks for the offer, but I suck with a camera. Not to mention I'm not much of a stalker."

"Oh well. It was worth a try," Lexa joked. She looked Ariana in the eye, her smile softening. "Thanks."

"For what?" Ariana asked.

"Listening. I'm sure you don't want to hear about my family crap." Lexa averted her eyes and smoothed out one of the wrinkles in Ariana's bedspread.

Ariana swallowed hard, hoping Lexa couldn't somehow divine that Palmer had made those wrinkles. "Of course I do. That's what friends are for."

Lexa blushed and her smile widened. "Is it? I keep forgetting," she joked.

Ariana laughed.

"Anyway, there are other way more fun things to talk about," Lexa said, her green eyes sparkling.

"Like what?" Ariana asked.

"Like Halloween. Conrad came up with the best idea for our costume," Lexa said. "We're going as Heidi Klum and Seal."