She added this last bit just to distract Briana Leigh from prodding her further about her education. And it worked.
"I'll drink to that!" Briana Leigh said, lifting her glass to Ariana's. "Screw Atherton-Pryce Hall!"
"Screw Atherton-Pryce Hall!" Ariana echoed. Then she pretended to take a swig of her drink.
"What was that?" Briana Leigh said, narrowing her eyes. "Take a real drink."
"I did!" Ariana protested.
"Oh, please. You've barely had anything to drink since we got here," Briana Leigh said, waving a hand at Ariana. "Have you not noticed we're at a party?"
"This is my third martini!" Ariana lied, her eyes wide.
Briana Leigh rolled her eyes and trained her attention on the stage, crossing her slim, tan legs at the knee. The truth was that since Ariana and Briana Leigh had arrived at their VIP section--basically a roped-off set of ten seats in the balcony--Ariana had been nursing the same iridescent martini. The last thing she needed, given her precarious situation, was to have her logic impaired. Briana Leigh, of course, harbored no such qualms. Which was surprising. After all, Briana Leigh had some pretty dark secrets to protect.
Ariana glanced sideways at her benefactress. The girl could barely hold herself upright in the theater seat, and had to keep resting her
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cheek on her hand. Was she wasted enough to share a little info about her bank accounts? Subtlety, Ariana decided, was key.
"So, Briana Leigh, if all your friends are away, why didn't you go with them? I mean you obviously have the money to--"
"Teo!"
Briana Leigh jumped out of her seat so fast she almost tipped forward and plunged over the edge of the balcony. Heart in her throat, Ariana lunged from her chair and grabbed the girl's arm, pulling her upright. Briana Leigh laughed as she righted herself and Ariana rolled her eyes. She turned to find DJ Teo jogging down the steps toward the front row, girls on all sides checking him out and whispering to each other as he moved along. Ariana had to admit that, in an empiric sense, Teo was not unattractive. He was on the shorter side--maybe five-foot-eight--but had broad shoulders and large hands. With olive skin, dark hair shorn close to his head, and gleaming black eyes, he definitely had the exotic thing going for him. Plus, there was an easy confidence about him as he slapped hands with fans and signed autographs and smiled for photos, which Ariana admired.
Still, he was not her type. Ariana had always been into the more mysterious, tall, slender guys. She didn't do stocky and charismatic. Plus, his sneakers were way too tattered for her taste.
"Teo! Teo! Over here! Will you take a picture with me?"
A buxom blond girl who was falling out of her blouse grabbed Teo and shoved her camera at her friend. As the two of them posed, the girl made sure to press her ample breasts up against Teo's chest and pull his cheek to hers. Next to Ariana, Briana Leigh bristled.
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"Hey! Get your own man, slut!" she shouted, leaning into the seat.
The girl didn't even hear Briana Leigh, what with the deafening music and the fact that she was a few yards off, but the people closer to their section laughed and pointed. Ariana cursed under her breath and pulled Briana Leigh back.
"Calm down. You're making a scene," Ariana whispered to her, almost feeling embarrassed on her behalf.
Briana Leigh huffed but didn't argue. She crossed her arms over her chest and waited with a pout until Teo was finally finished greeting his public.
"Hey, baby," he said, sliding his hand under the thick blanket of Briana Leigh's hair. He went in for a kiss, but Briana Leigh turned her face.
"What was that?" she demanded.
"What?" Teo said with a satisfied smile that told Ariana he knew exactly what Briana was talking about.
"That!" Briana Leigh flung an arm toward the fan who was sitting a few rows back, checking out the pics on the camera screen. "You were all over her!"
Teo slipped both hands around Briana Leigh's neck and tickled her cheekbones with his thumbs. He clucked his tongue and tilted his head as he looked into her eyes. "Aw, baby, come on. You know you're the only woman for me."
Briana Leigh's pout quickly turned into a smile, and then Teo pulled her to him and stuck his tongue right down her throat. Ariana looked away. Too disgusting for public viewing.
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"Teo, this is Emma Walsh," Briana Leigh said, breaking away for a moment.