Kaitlynn shook her head, amused. "Do you really have to ask?"
Brigit chose that moment to bounce over to them like a bunny on Red Bull.
"Hey guys! Christian's setting up Rock Band over by the chapel steps. He's on guitar and I'm on drums, but we need a singer. Landon's being all prima donna about it. You in?"
"I don't sing," Ariana replied flatly, forgetting for the moment that she was supposed to be ingratiating herself to these people. She was too busy trying not to explode.
"Seriously? Lexa said you guys used to duet for all the talent shows at camp," Brigit said, her brow creasing.
Ariana cursed her bad luck. Of course Briana Leigh sang in talent shows. The girl was the biggest exhibitionist Ariana had ever known, aside, perhaps, from Kiran Hayes, her former friend from her former life at Easton Academy.
Kaitlynn's brows arched at this news. "Do you have an old friend who goes here, Briana Leigh?" she said, clearly amused.
"Lexa Greene. They went to equestrian camp together back in the day," Brigit supplied helpfully.
9
Kaitlynn's grin widened. "How . . . nice for you, Ana."
Ariana bristled. She and Kaitlynn both knew that having someone at APH that knew the now--deceased Briana Leigh Covington was anything but nice.
"You have no idea," Ariana said, forcing a chipper tone. "It was amazing to see her, and now it's like we've never been apart," she added pointedly. Just so Kaitlynn would know that she had everything under control. "But I don't really sing anymore," she told Brigit.
Brigit frowned, fiddling with the colorful plastic bracelet that encircled her wrist. "Okay. What about you, Lillian?"
Kaitlynn shrugged, still holding Ariana's gaze. "I can carry a tune." She released Ariana and placed her heaping plate of food down on the table, hardly touched. "See you later, Ana!"
She twiddled her fingers as she turned and dove into the crowd with Brigit. Soon Landon and Adam had joined them and then, inevitably, Palmer gravitated over as well. Maria, Lexa, and Soomie Ahn were off somewhere, dealing with Lexa and Palmer's breakup. But if they had been there, Ariana was sure the three of them would have been holding court with Kaitlynn as well. Kaitlynn was just that pretty, just that magnetic, just that interesting.
And, infuriatingly, just that difficult to ditch.
10
ROOMIES
In the dark of night, dozens of students poured from various dorms and picked their way to the center of campus with their suitcases and trunks and backpacks. Atherton--Pryce Hall was constructed in a series of circles. The innermost green contained a bubbling fountain and was conscribed by class buildings, the offices, and the chapel. The next ring housed the dorms, and on the outskirts stood the liberal arts buildings, gymnasium, and playing fields.Ariana joined the mass of students gathered around the fountain, an excited buzz filling the air. The giddy atmosphere filled Ariana with a sense of extreme satisfaction. They were all here because of her. Because she had sabotaged the other crew teams that morning. Not that she could ever tell anyone that. But still. She was their benefactor, and the thought made her feel all fizzy inside.
As she wove around the groups of gossiping girls, texting and talking at the same time, the smattering of boys laughing and conspiring
11
and checking out the girls, she searched the shadowy faces of the crowd for Lexa, Maria, Soomie, and Brigit. But she kept an eye out for Kaitlynn as well. She wanted to find her friends before Kaitlynn found her.
"Ana! Over here!" Lexa called out.
Ariana's relieved smile lasted but a brief moment. Standing in a klatch near the wide stone rim of the burbling fountain were the four girls Ariana had come to call her friends over the past week--and Kaitlynn Nottingham. The girl was simply everywhere.
Gripping the handle on her trunk a bit tighter, Ariana slowly made her way over. Everyone was dressed down in baggy sweats and T--shirts, ready for the move and some all--night socializing in their new rooms. Even Soomie, who was always perfectly pressed and coiffed, had her glossy dark hair tied into two haphazard braids and wore a navy blue APH sweatshirt over jeans. Brigit was sipping some kind of smoothie, her short blond hair dancing in the breeze, and Maria was looking around distractedly, her light brown hair back in a messy bun, her Juilliard sweatshirt two sizes too big for her slight frame.
"Hi, ladies," Ariana said, plastering an excited grin to her face, even though all she wanted to do was tear Kaitlynn's hair from her scalp. Just then, Tahira Al Mahmood and Allison Rothaus, Ariana's other two least favorite people at APH, walked by, chatting obnoxiously on their cell phones as they tugged their huge trunks behind them. Ariana's shoulder muscles curled. It seemed like the enemies were proliferating. At least Tahira and Allison's third BFF, Zuri Tavengua, had been on Team Gray and would not moving into Privilege House.
12
"Hey, Ana, have you met Lily?" Maria
asked, taking a break from nail chewing long enough to gesture at Kaitlynn. "She just transferred in too."
Ariana's smile stiffened. She did not turn to look at Kaitlynn. "We've met."