"With the door open of course," Palmer added in a flat tone.
Boos rang out, and Headmaster Jansen glared sternly at her students.
"So now that we all understand the Welcome Week competition and what's at stake, we will open our envelopes together on the count of three," Palmer instructed.
Ariana squeezed her eyes shut, holding fast to a mental image of Palmer and that incredible smile. Please let it be gold, please let it be gold, please let it be gold.
"One . . . two . . . three!"
She tore into her envelope and opened her eyes. In her hand was her golden ticket. Literally.
"Yes!" she cried as everyone around her squealed and hugged and checked each other's cards. On the top step, Palmer held his own gold card above his head, laughing as he took in the chaos from above.
"You got gold too!" Brigit cried, grabbing Ariana's hand and jumping up and down. "We're all on the same team!"
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Ariana looked around at Maria, Soomie, and Brigit. She'd been so entranced by Palmer, she'd practically forgotten they were there. But they were, in fact, each clutching a gold card. On the same Welcome Week team as Palmer Liriano and her three new friends. Or, at least, the girls she planned to win over as soon as she found a way. The universe, clearly, was smiling on her. And suddenly she knew with absolute certainty: This new
life of hers was going to be perfect.
28
BOYS OF CONSEQUENCE
"I can't believe we're all on gold," Ariana said as she squeezed between a rack of white blouses and a wall display of striped APH ties, monogrammed scarves, preppy ribbon belts, and argyle socks in the school store. She picked up a few shirts in her size, adding them to the two plaid skirts and two gray skirts on her arm, and turned around to select some accessories. "What are the chances?""Sometimes things just work out," Maria said, sliding a gray and blue tie through her fingers. She exchanged a brief look with Soomie. They quickly dropped their eyes when they saw Ariana watching. Ariana's heart contracted as she realized that, once again, there was something unspoken going on between them. Something she wasn't supposed to know. "You should definitely get the gold accessories. They'll make your hair pop."
Ariana almost contradicted her. She had always found that darker colors like black or navy blue really accentuated her blond hair. But
29
then she remembered she no longer had blond hair. She was an auburn girl now. Feeling the burn of her near mistake, she gripped her arm with her fingers under the bundle of clothes and stepped over to the gold and blue ties.
"So true," she said, pretending to be distracted by the ties while she let her pulse slow. The store was jam-packed with students stocking up on supplies and new uniform pieces. Everyone around Ariana was comparing Welcome Week team colors and trash-talking over which team was going to kick which other team's ass. She tried to let the merry conversation soothe her.
It was just one near mistake. It won't happen again. Get a grip. You're home. This is home now."So, Ana. Where're you from? Your accent is so exotic," Brigit said, flipping through a rack of skirts.
"Yeah, but you're from Norway. You think nachos with cheese are exotic," Soomie pointed out, flicking her straight hair over her shoulder with a manicured fingernail.
"Okay. Now I'm hungry," Brigit said with a pout, glancing toward the counter at the front of the sunlit store. "Who wants a candy bar?"
"Not you. Remember? Chocolate is not your friend," Maria said, dropping the tie and moving on to a blue baseball cap with APH embroidered on the front. She tried it on and checked every angle of her face in a nearby mirror, sucking in her perfectly defined cheeks.
"Right." Brigit looked down at her slightly doughy stomach. "The diet."
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"We're just trying to help," Soomie told her, checking her Black-Berry. "You told us you wanted us to help."
"I know, I know. And I do!" Brigit suddenly brightened again. "I'm going to lose ten pounds," she told Ariana. "Have you ever been on a diet?"
"No. Not really," Ariana replied.
Unless one were to count those few days after breaking out of prison when she'd been on a lack-of-money-induced fast. But she wasn't thinking about that now. Never again.
"Dammit. This thing keeps freezing up and I have to restart it every time," Soomie said, pressing down hard on the off key on her PDA.
"Maybe that's because you're asking it to do way too much," Maria suggested.