Beautiful Disaster (Privilege 2)

"Hey! Just in time!" Lexa whispered back.

"The party never starts till I get there anyway," Palmer joked. "Hey, Ana."

Ariana turned further away from him and nudged Lexa. "Do you want to switch with me?"

"Oh, that's okay," Lexa replied.

"No. Go ahead. Sit next to your boyfriend," Ariana said, emphasizing the word boyfriend a bit so that Palmer would definitely hear.

Lexa tilted her head. "Okay. Thanks."

The two of them got up and slid past each other, exchanging seats. As soon as Ariana was seated between Lexa and Maria, Palmer shot her a bemused look. She completely ignored it, focusing instead on her raspberry muffin, which was way too delicious to have been made by a school cafeteria staff.

As Headmaster Jansen got up to call the crowd to attention, a cloud

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slid over the sun, giving Ariana a moment's relief from the torturous heat. She glanced up, looked around at all the bright, expectant faces, the green lawn, the happily burbling fountain. The buildings were stately, the skies blue, the trees flowering. To the left was the administration building where she had aced the crap out of that English exam that morning. She should be excited about these things--these friends, these surroundings, the new academic year. But she wasn't. She was pissed. And scared. And helpless. As Soomie would say, the facts were these: A) There was no way she could pay Kaitlynn off, and B) if she didn't pay Kaitlynn off, all of this was going to be taken away from her.

There was only one thing Ariana could do. She had to kill Kaitlynn. Not just fantasize about it, but actually do it. It was the only way to be free of her. It was the only way to protect her new life. It wasn't the best-case scenario, of course. It would be risky and messy and could land her right back in prison, but it was her only chance. The only chance she had of preserving what she had worked so hard to achieve. It was Kaitlynn's own fault, really. She was forcing Ariana's hand. And if anyone deserved to die, it was her.

"And now, let the debate begin!" Headmaster Jansen announced.

"Let's go, gold!" Brigit and Soomie shouted as Maria and Lexa applauded.

A slight breeze kicked up, cooling the back of Ariana's neck, and she took a deep, cleansing breath. Suddenly, her heart felt as light as air. Simply making the decision, coming up with a proactive solution to the problem, had completely shifted her mood.

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"Go, gold!" Ariana put in.

"That feels so much better," Lexa said, commenting on the breeze.

"Doesn't it, though?" Ariana replied. She sipped her iced coffee, tore off a piece of muffin and popped it into her mouth, then sighed contentedly. Everything was going to be fine. She was back in control.

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THE CHOSEN ONE

"Three cheers for Sumit Me

dha!" Palmer shouted, lifting his cup of lemonade."Hip hip, hooray!"

The celebratory crowd broke up, half of the people surging forward to slap Sumit on the back, the other half dispersing toward the food and drink tables. Gold had won the debate competition, which meant all the team had to do to secure Privilege House was win one of the next two competitions. And with Tahira in charge of the fund-raising event, everyone seemed about ready to start repacking their things for the move. Ariana sipped her lemonade and glanced back at the two towers of Wolcott Hall. Which room would be hers? She hoped it would have a view. And a much better roommate than Allison.

"I didn't think anyone hip-hip-hoorayed anymore," she said to Maria as they turned their steps toward the water. The celebratory picnic was being held at the edge of a quaint little pond on the outskirts

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of campus. A pond that was mercifully surrounded by huge maple trees offering lots of comforting shade.

"Oh, there are a lot of things done around here that you wouldn't think were done anywhere anymore," Maria replied. She paused and blinked. "Did that make any sense?"

"Strangely, yes," Ariana replied. Maria gave her a rare, tight smile. Progress. Maria tossed her empty iced-coffee cup--her fourth of the day--into a garbage can, and together they strolled toward the edge of the pond, where Tahira was calling a klatch of people to order.

"If you want to be involved in the fund-raiser, please, get your butts down here," Tahira called out at the top of her voice. "I've got a lot of info for you and not a lot of time!"

"So, Maria, what do you think of--"