Perfect Mistake (Privilege 3)

"No," Ariana said truthfully. He hadn't, in fact, even mentioned Lexa while he'd been flirting with Ariana.

"Then I don't get it," Lexa said, throwing up her hands. "I thought everything was fine."

"What did he say when he broke up with you?" Brigit asked. "Did he give you a reason?"

"No." Lexa shook her head and shrugged. "That's just it. Not a good one anyway. He said something about the two of us growing apart. He definitely didn't seem that distant the other night when we sneaked down to the boathouse together."

Ariana tasted bile in the back of her throat.

"I can't believe all the things I said to him." Lexa sniffled and looked up at the ceiling. "How much I missed him and how I couldn't wait to see him . . ." She started to cry in earnest. "I feel so stupid."

Ariana's heart went out to Lexa as a pair of sexy, teasing blue eyes flitted through her mind. She knew how it felt to be intimate with a guy one night and be completely dropped by him the next. To have your heart torn out. And Lexa was feeling that way now. It didn't matter that the boy who had hurt her was the boy Ariana wanted. What mattered was that her friend was in pain.

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Maybe she could help. Maybe, if she played it right, she could help heal Lexa's broken heart, help her forget about the guy who'd hurt her. Which would mean she wouldn't care when Palmer moved on to someone else--namely, Ariana.

"Don't feel stupid, Lexa," Ariana said in a soothing voice. "If anything, he's the idiot. You don't need to be with a guy who doesn't appreciate you."

"She's right, Lexa. Boys suck," Brigit said, pulling Lexa into a hug.

Lexa pressed her face into Brigit's shoulder, wrapping her arms around her back. "They so do."

Ariana placed her hand on Lexa's back and moved it around in what she hoped was a comforting way.

"Don't worry. We're here for you," Ariana said. "We'll help you avoid him or trash his room or hook up with his best friend or do whatever it is you want to do to get back at him."

Lexa laughed. She turned her face so that she could see Ariana. " There's the Briana Leigh I know and love."

Ariana blinked. She wasn't quite sure how to take that. "What do you mean?"

"Nothing . . . just . . . back when we were little you were always the instigator. The plots, the pranks, the raiding the boys' dorms," Lexa said, grabbing another tissue and giving her nose a quick wipe. "I don't know. You just seem . . . different. Less . . . crazy. Not that that's a bad thing," she added quickly. "It's just something I noticed."

Ariana's whole body tensed. Damn tliat Briana Leigh and her over--the--top personality. And damn Lexa for being here and knowing that

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Briana Leigh had that personality. If Lexa hadn't been at APH, Ariana could have just been herself and no one would have known the difference.

"I guess that's what losing both parents will do to you," Ariana said in a flat voice, going for the guilt, figuring it would change the subject.

"Your parents are both . . . ?" Brigit's eyes were wide with pity. Ariana looked away.

"Omigod, I'm so sorry. I'd heard about that, but I.. ." Lexa trailed off. "I'm such an idiot. Forget I said anything."

"It's fine." Ariana gave her a small smile as Lexa took a deep breath and moved to the sink to splash her face with water. Her fingers were balled into fists, which she quickly released. "I guess I could loosen up some."

But how the hell was she supposed to do that when she was in love with a guy who basically belonged to Lexa? When she was living in the same room as a manipulative, murderous wench? Before Ariana knew it, her fingernails were digging into her forearm.

"Ana? You okay?" Lexa asked, glancing at Ariana's arm in the mirror.

Ariana cleared her throat and quickly tucked her arms behind her back. "I'm fine," she said. "Loosening up even as we speak."

Liar. But you'd better figure out a way to chill, Ariana, she told herself. Before Lexa starts to get suspicious.

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