Ariana started to smile. "Do you really think we could pull it off?"
198
"Why not? And this way you don't have to go to some crap-ass public school and I don't have to leave Teo! It's a win-win!"
Slowly, Ariana lowered herself onto the bed. She looked up at Briana Leigh, chagrined. "I can't believe you would do this for me. After the way I've lied to you..."
Briana Leigh sat down next to Ariana and gave her an "oh, please" look. "Forget about it. You've been through almost as much as I have," she said. "How could I not understand?"
"To pull this off, we can't tell anyone. Not even Teo," Ariana warned.
"Duh!" Briana Leigh poked Ariana in the shoulder. "It'll be our little secret."
Ariana smiled. She was about to get everything she wanted. And maybe, just maybe, she had made a new friend in the process. Kaitlynn could rot in prison forever for all she cared. Briana Leigh was the victim here. Briana Leigh was the one who needed her help. And by assuming her identity, Ariana really would be helping her new friend. They would both be able to live the lives they'd always wanted.
"So, what do you think?" Briana Leigh asked, tossing her hair back. "Tomorrow we go to the DMV and get you your very first license as Briana Leigh Covington."
Ariana's smile lit her entire face. "Sounds like an amazing plan."
199
TOO FAST
Atherton-Pryce Hall. I'm going to Atherton-Pryce Hall.Noelle would be so, so jealous.
Ariana imagined her old friend's face if she were to hear that Ariana was strolling the hallowed grounds of A.P.H. For once Noelle's legendary composure would crack. Her brown eyes would go wide. Her jaw would drop. She would, for once, be jealous of Ariana.
Why? Because the perfect, indomitable Noelle Lange had actually been rejected from Atherton-Pryce Hall. It was a little-known secret she had confessed to Ariana one drunken night during their hazing period at Billings House. She had been rejected, and, try as he might, not even her daddy, with all his money and connections, could get her in.
And now Ariana Osgood would be going there.
She was too giddy to sleep, thinking about the classic uniforms, the ancient library, the fresh-faced students, the cozy dorm rooms.
200
Ariana could picture them all as if she was already there. She imagined herself sitting on a beautiful lawn, reading Walden in the autumn sun, surrounded by friends....
Friends. Kaitlynn's pretty face suddenly swam before her eyes, and Ariana's heart grew sour and black. Lying there in bed, she felt the deep humiliation of Kaitlynn's duplicity all over again.
"That bitch. That lying, psychotic bitch," she said through her teeth, flushing red hot from head to toe.
The anger grew so fierce she started to tremble. Clinging to a pillow, Ariana forced herself to breathe.
In, one... two... three...
Out, one... two... three...
Think about Atherton-Pryce. The future. The future is all that matters.
Gradually Ariana's pulse relaxed and she was back in her daydream. Floating on a sea of plaid wool skirts and falling leaves and thick textbooks. Lost as she was in her thoughts, it took a good few minutes for the music to seep into her consciousness. Once she heard it, she realized it had been playing for a good while. She sat up in her bed, her pulse skipping ahead. It was a violin. Almost eerie in its solitary beauty.
Ariana slipped out of bed and walked over to her bedroom door. When she cracked it open, the music didn't grow any louder. Not inside the house. Which had to mean...
A thrill ran down her spine as she turned toward the veranda. She tiptoed quickly over to the sliding glass doors and looked out. Her
201
heart stopped beating. Hudson was standing beneath her window, wearing a white button-down shirt and jeans, serenading her with his violin.