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Their laughter mingled on the breeze as the gap between them and Ariana widened.
"Wait for me!" Allison shouted, jogging after them.
Brigit finally tripped her way out of the woods and came to stop at Ariana's side. Ariana was frozen in place, stunned by Kaitiynn's total disregard for everything, her own security included. What was she going to do, slit Ariana's throat in the middle of the night? Wouldn't the roommate be the obvious suspect in a crime like that?
But that was the problem. Kaitlynn was insane. There was no telling what she was capable of.
"Everything okay?" Brigit asked.
"Yeah . . . yes," Ariana said, waking herself up from her dark thoughts. "It will be."
Everything was going to be fine, as soon as Ariana arranged some insurance for herself. Something that would make it impossible for Kaitlynn to hurt her without hurting herself.
"Come on." She slung her arm through Brigit's just as Tahira had done with Kaidynn. "I think we deserve a celebratory dessert from the cafe."
"But my diet--"
"Forget your diet. We just got tapped. I say we let loose for one night," Ariana said. "Have you seen that triple--chocolate tart they have? I bet it's to die for."
&nbs
p; "Oh, I am so very in," Brigit said happily. "Just don't tell Soomie and Maria, okay? They'll torture me about it."
"Don't worry. I'm good at keeping secrets," Ariana said, watching Kaitlynn bound down the hill arm--in--arm with Tahira. "Very good."
74
THE WEAKEST LINK
"We are definitely going to be late for French," Soomie said, glancing at her BlackBerry on Wednesday morning."Yes, but it's so worth it," Ariana replied. Maria nodded her agreement.
They were kicked back on three of the cushy lounge chairs situated on the patio outside the Wolcott Hall cafe. The airy, flagstone square was dotted with planters full of brightly colored mums and flourishing Japanese maples, their deep red leaves backlit by the sunshine. There were a few students at the various tables, leafing through textbooks and indulging in croissants and scones. Behind them, down the hill from the house, the wide Potomac River burbled along peacefully. It was all so perfect it seemed impossible that it could be real.
And horrible to think that it could all be taken away. Ariana had been up all night, thinking about this whole sabotage idea, and she'd come up with one tiny problem: Presumably, the members of Stone
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and Grave were watching the potential members at all times. Which meant that if she sabotaged someone, they would see it. Wouldn't they sort of frown on the kind of behavior? If they were all about the brotherhood and mutual support, wouldn't sabotaging someone disqualify her?
"Where is that girl already?" Maria asked. "I need my caffeine."
"No, really?" Soomie joked, flicking her dark hair over her shoulder.
"What else is new?" Ariana added.
Having skipped breakfast that morning in favor of sleeping in, they had decided to grab coffee and pastries at the cafe before class. Or, rather, have others grab coffee and pastries for them. Lexa had been up at the crack of dawn for her daily run, and Brigit was on a phone call with the king and queen.
"Here you go, Ana. One iced skim latte with a dash of cinnamon."
Ariana looked up at Quinn, the sophomore who was on twenty--four--hour coffee duty for Lexa, Maria, Soomie, Brigit, and now Ariana. Lexa really had Atherton--Pryce Hall wired. Before the school year had even started she had locked down a whole troop of sophomores who were at the beck and call of her and her friends. Quinn and her counterparts, Melanie and Jessica, had all been on Team Gold and therefore all had access to Privilege House. Having them around was going to make everything that much easier. Noelle Lange would have been so impressed.
"Thanks, Quinn," Ariana said, taking the ice--cold plastic cup and
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sipping at the straw. She smiled happily, glad of one perk she didn't have to share with Kaitlynn. At least not yet.