Suddenly, Ariana's phone vibrated. Startled, she glanced at Mr. Halloran, but he didn't seem to have heard. Ariana grappled in her bag for the phone. On the screen was a text from Lexa.
OMG th
is class SO boring. Will never make it thru this yr.
R U liking ur first day?
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Ariana smiled, pleased that Lexa was checking in on her. She texted back quickly.
Actually having fun. C U @ lunch!
She sent the text and slipped her phone back into her bag. When she looked up at Conrad again, he smiled adorably.
"Getting texts during class, Miss Covington? For shame," he joked. "Who was it?"
"Lexa Greene. Do you know her?" Ariana asked.
"Lexa? Not well, but yeah. Everyone knows Lexa Greene." And then he blushed slightly, looking down at his notebook. Arianas heart skipped a thousand beats.
That's it.
The easiest way to get over a guy was to find a better one. Why hadn't she thought of this before? Lexa had said it herself in the bathroom last night--"Who's better?" Well, why not Conrad Royce? He was intelligent. Definitely handsome. And a runner, just like Lexa. Plus that voice could melt steel, let alone a broken heart.
"So, Conrad, what did you do this summer?" she asked, leaning her chin on her hand. "Aside from all this reading? Anything interesting?"
As Conrad launched into the story of his summer learning the ins and outs of his family's winery business in Northern California, Ariana smiled to herself. She couldn't wait to tell Maria about the plan. If she had her way, Lexa would have a new boyfriend before the NoBash, and Ariana and Palmer would be free to be together.
54
FEAR
The homework list was brutal, but not half as brutal as the list of goals Ariana constructed for herself after the first day of classes was complete. Throughout the day she had come to realize that she was at a serious disadvantage. The instructors at Atherton--Pryce Hall were far more intense than most of those at Easton. Each of them had launched into lessons with gusto, presuming their students could simply pick up from where they'd left off the year before. Which, Ariana had learned with awe, all of them could. She, however, hadn't been inside a classroom in over two years, and as intelligent as she was, she couldn't remember every little fact she'd learned back at Easton. She had a lot of catching up to do.Which was why she was the last person to leave the Jonathan Hayes Memorial Library that night. When she'd first arrived after dinner, the place had been humming with activity, computer screens glowing, book pages flipping, soda cans popping open. By the time she left--
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just after ten o'clock--it was as quiet as a tomb, and the middle--aged librarian had been forced to roust her from her study carrel and usher her out through the darkened stacks.
"I'm so sorry," Ariana said as the woman held open the heavy oak door for her. "I had no idea it had gotten so late."
"It's all right, Miss Covington," the woman said with a genuine smile. "It's nice to see such dedication on the first day. I'm going to keep my eye on you. I have a feeling you're going to go far."
From your lips to God's ears, Ariana thought. It was one of her mother's favorite phrases, and her heart panged as she recalled the southern lilt of her mom's voice.
"Thanks," she said. "I'm sure I'll be seeing you tomorrow."
Ariana rushed down the steps to the cobblestone pathway that ran along the inner circle of campus. All the iron street lamps were aglow, and the benches and trees threw oddly shaped shadows across the grass. There wasn't another soul on the otherwise dark circle; the burbling fountain at the center of campus was the only source of sound. A breeze tickled the back of Ariana's neck and she felt an inexplicable finger of fear slide down her spine. She quickened her steps.
"Privilege House may have its perks, but it's definitely not conveniently located," she said aloud, hoping the sound of her own voice would soothe her nerves.
Suddenly, footsteps scuffled on the path behind her. Ariana's heart constricted as she whirled around, ready to face down Kaitlynn or Tahira or whoever else might be stalking her . . . but there was no one there. Another breeze tossed her long auburn hair back from her
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face. Ariana squinted into the relative darkness. Nothing. No moving shadows. Just the merrily bubbling fountain.
Ariana's phone beeped, scaring her heart into her throat. She whipped it out of her bag. There was a text from Lexa.