Beautiful Disaster (Privilege 2)

"One hundred and eight, actually ... if you count the freshmen, which I rarely do," he joked, finally turning to walk beside her. He produced a worn baseball from his pocket and rolled it between his palms. She noticed his hands were large and powerful, with long fingers. "I got the numbers from admissions. Rosie loves me, so she gives me pretty much anything I want."

"Rosie the receptionist, I presume," Ariana said with a smile.

"Yep. Actually, I'm pretty sure all the receptionists on campus love

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me," he said, tilting his head. "Maybe I have a receptionist-targeted pheromone."

He had pheromones all right, but they affected more than just receptionists. Ariana was about to shoot back a flirtatious remark when a cold wave of dread hit her in the face and snaked right down her spine. She was so startled she stopped walking and it took Palmer a few steps to realize she was no longer with him.

Palmer had texted the number he'd gotten from admissions. That would be Briana Leigh's old phone, not Ariana's current one. The phone which had been stolen along with all Briana Leigh's things on the night Briana Leigh had been murdered.

Stolen by Kaitlynn Nottingham. Kaitlynn, Ariana's completely psychotic former roommate from the Brenda T. The girl who had no idea of Ariana's plans to assume Briana Leigh's identity and attend Atherton-Pryce.

Arianas vision started to prickle over with gray spots as panic seized her heart.

But wait, you canceled the phone, you moron, a little voice in her mind reminded her. Calm down. It's all good. You took care of it."Are you all right?" Palmer asked.

Breathe, Ariana. Just breathe. . . .

In, one. . . two. . . three. . .

Out, one. . . two. . . three. . .

"Ana?"

"I'm fine," Ariana said.

Her vision cleared and there was Palmer. Handsome, concerned

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Palmer, looking down at her with those earnest brown eyes, probably ready to whip her over his shoulder and fireman-carry her to the infirmary if she needed it.

"Fine. I'm fine," Ariana said shakily. "I just. . . thought I forgot to do something. But it's okay."

"Okay, good. For a second there I thought you were going to pass out on me," Palmer said with a grin that made her heart tap-dance. "Not that girls haven't had that reaction in the past."

Ariana smiled. "You're kind of full of yourself. Anyone ever tell you that?"

Palmer blinked, tossed his baseball up, and caught it. "Not in those words, no. You're the first."

The first. It was always nice to be the first something in someone's life.

"So, you never told me which classes you were taking," Palmer said, strolling along.

Right. That old question. Ariana thought back to her conversation with Mr. Pitt and how impressed he'd been by her dedication to her future. Was it possible that Palmer, with the importance he placed on school, would find it impressive as well?

"Actually, that's not quite clear at the moment," she said, eliciting a confused glance. She tilted her head and said with chagrin, "I'm retaking my entrance exams."

"Really?" Palmer said, pausing again.

"I had kind

of a bad day the first time I took them," she said. "Let's just say my scores were not up to my usual standard."

"Which is?" Palmer asked.