“What is that infernal noise?” Noelle asked, staring up at the sky.
Ariana blinked rapidly, squinting up into the now-blinding sun. A rhythmic, persistent beeping noise filled the sky, the air, the world. She blinked harder, trying to see past the light. Trying to see Thomas. She had to make sure he was okay. In less than twenty-four hours they would graduate from Easton, have their picture taken as class couple, run off to Europe together for the summer and then to Princeton in the fall. It was just as she had always dreamed. She couldn’t let go of it now. She refused to let go.
And then, suddenly, she took in a painful, gasping breath and her eyes popped open wide. She wasn’t at Easton at all. And she wasn’t blinking at the sun. She was staring up into the intense white light of an operating lamp. And someone was squeezing her hand.
“Ana? Ana? Oh my God. You’re awake!”
“Jasper?” she croaked. She tried to focus on his face, his mouth, his eyes, but everything was blurry.
“Her name’s not Ana,” Noelle’s voice said from somewhere at the foot of the bed. “Why do you keep calling her that?”
“Noelle? Noelle! You’re here,” Ariana cried, a tear slipping down her temple.
“Try not to move, hon,” a gruff voice ordered, shoving her shoulder down.
“Ana, I was there. I was at the airport waiting for you. I … I saw you on the news and came right over,” Jasper rambled. “You’re gonna be fine, okay? You’re going to be fine.”
But the grim face of the doctor hovering at the other side of the bed said otherwise. What was wrong with her? Ariana did a mental scan of her body and realized she couldn’t feel a thing. No aches, no pains, nothing. Nothing but cold.
Cold, just like Thomas. Cold like Kiran. She had just been with them. They had been right here. Ariana blinked against her stinging eyes, trying to reconcile the happy, vivid memory of where she’d just been with this harsh, unrelenting reality.
“And then I tried to call the police, and that was when … when she lunged at me. And I just fired.”
Ariana’s blood curdled. Reed Brennan. That was Reed Brennan’s voice. She turned her head ever so slightly and saw her, standing in the hallway just outside the room, perfectly alive and well, giving her statement to a blue-clad officer. Suddenly it all came back to Ariana in a rush. Following Reed back to her room. Strangling the life out of her. Being kicked in the gut. And the gun. Oh, God. The gun.
“Noelle?” Ariana asked. “Noelle, please, I—”
Jasper released her hand. Noelle stepped over to the bed and looked down at Ariana. Her brown hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail and her face was grim, her eyes hard. Ariana swallowed, her throat so dry she almost choked.
“She’s not your friend. Look what she … she … she tried to kill me. You can’t be friends with her. You can’t. I’m your best friend, right? We were always … always … together…. Best friends forever, right?”
Noelle’s eyes flicked to something or someone across the room. Her skin looked green under the lights. She pressed her lips together. Gritted her teeth. And then, she smiled.
“Of course, Ariana. You’ll always be my best friend.”
Ariana let out a choked sob of happiness and reached for Noelle’s hand, but Noelle’s fingers jerked away. Ariana blinked, but before she could ask what was wrong, a loud, long, wailing tone filled the air. Ariana felt her heart stop beating. Her chest tightened unbearably. Her vision grayed just as Reed came into the room and stood next to Noelle.
No. I won’t let go, Ariana thought. I won’t. I’m in control here. I am in control.
But the breath refused to come. Her heart refused to respond. The last thing she saw as she closed her eyes was Reed Brennan—her awful face, those hated brown eyes staring down at her—as Noelle Lange held her close to her side.
Dear Maria, Soomie, and Tahira,
I know this is going to come as a surprise to all of you, but I’m leaving APH. I wish that I had the time to say good-bye, but sometimes, when you make a decision like this, you have to go through with it as soon as possible, before you lose your nerve. Besides, I know that if I had tried to look you guys in the eye and explain, I never would have had the strength to leave, and I need to do this. I need to go. It’s simply the best thing for me right now.
One of my biggest regrets, aside from the sad fact that I won’t be hanging out with the three of you every day, is leaving Stone and Grave without a leader. That’s why I’d also like to use this note as my official endorsement of Soomie Ahn as my successor. Hopefully the other members will honor my wishes and elect you, Soomie, to this position—an esteemed position that I believe whole-heartedly you deserve.
Thank you so much, Tahira and Maria, for the incredible party. I fully enjoyed it for the short time that I was there. I don’t want any of you to worry about me. Where I’m going next … it’s where I belong. And I know in my heart of hearts that I will be happy there.
All my love,
Briana Leigh Covington
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
If someone had told me five years ago that I would write an entire series about a psychotic murderess teenager, I would never have believed it. If they’d told me how much I would end up enjoying it, I would have rolled on the floor laughing. But in the end, Ariana was one of the most inspiring, enjoyable characters to write. What that says about me, I don’t even want to contemplate, but I know I’m going to miss her. Therefore I must give special thanks to those who convinced me that Ariana was, in fact, the Private character who deserved her own spin-off, and who were there with me every step of the way.
Josh Bank, Lanie Davis, and Emily Meehan, thanks for convincing me to keep Ariana around. Thanks also to Sara Shandler, Julia Maguire, and Courtney Bongiolatti for all your ideas and inspiration. And, as ever, thanks to my personal support team: my agent, Sarah Burnes, and my family and friends, especially Matt, Brady, Mom, Erin, Wendy, Shira, and Ally. Thanks to Sharren, the one friend who read them all, and to all the other fans who rooted for Ariana and let me know about your devotion on Twitter, Facebook, and on and on. I hope you stick with me for my next crazy ride!