Cruel Love (Privilege 6)

“A lot’s changed since you last saw me, Ariana,” Reed snapped, her voice hoarse. “And just so we’re clear, your whole life sucks because you’re a sorry-ass excuse for a human being.”

No. No, no, no. This was not the way this was supposed to happen. Ariana was supposed to see Reed die. She was supposed to take Reed’s life. Reed Brennan had taken every last thing from her. She could not let her take this, too.

She must die … she must die … she must die …

I am in control here, Ariana thought desperately. I am in control.

“Now, why don’t you just stay over there against the wall while I call the police?” Reed suggested haughtily, taking one hand off the gun to reach for her phone.

Ariana flinched, seeing her opportunity. She let out a screech from the bottom of her lungs that held within it every last ounce of fury she had inside of her and lunged for Reed. A shot went off, ringing in her ears, deafening her to everything else. She saw Reed staring down at her in shock and disgust as blood seeped from her chest. Then she hit the floor at Reed Brennan’s feet, and everything went black.

GRADUATION

“I can’t believe we’re graduating tomorrow,” Ariana said, cuddling deep into her boyfriend’s arms. The verdant branches overhead swayed lazily in the breeze as Thomas Pearson leaned back against the oak tree’s thick trunk. All across the Easton Academy quad, students lazed about, chatted on cell phones, and tipped their faces toward the early summer sun.

“I can’t believe I’m sleeping with the valedictorian,” Thomas replied, his blue eyes mischievous.

“Thomas!” Ariana protested, her jaw dropping in mock offense even as she grinned.

“Okay, ew,” Kiran Hayes said, throwing a bit of bagel at Thomas’s head. “It’s too early in the morning for that visual.”

“Just showing off,” Thomas replied with a shrug. He nuzzled Ariana’s neck and she closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath—drinking in the warm, musky smell of him.

“What else is new?” Dash McCafferty asked, nudging the back of Thomas’s shoulder with his knee as he and Noelle Lange rounded the tree.

Noelle tucked her flouncy skirt bene

ath her as she sat on the picnic blanket laid out under the tree and lifted her thick, dark hair over her shoulder. She looked around, her expression typically irked as she reached for a bagel.

“Where is the coffee?” she groused. “I need coffee.”

“As always, your wish is my command,” Taylor Bell called out, arriving with two trays of iced drinks. She placed them down in front of Noelle and stood up straight, shaking her blond curls back from her face.

“Were you going to join us, or were you just going to hover?” Noelle asked, taking a sip of her latte.

Taylor narrowed her blue eyes. “I don’t know. Something feels off today, doesn’t it?”

“Off?” Ariana asked, tucking her long blond hair behind her ear as she reached for a coffee. “It’s June, the sun is shining, we’re all here together. This is the perfect day.”

She took a sip of her coffee, then offered the straw to Thomas. He gave her a sly smile, one that sent shivers of happiness all through her body, as he leaned in and took a sip. But when he sat back again, his face looked suddenly pale. Almost gray.

“Thomas?” Ariana said, concerned. “Are you all right?”

“I don’t know,” he said, clearing his throat. “Does anyone else feel cold?”

“I’m freezing,” Kiran replied, tugging a leather jacket around her slim shoulders.

Ariana glanced up at the bright sun, the gorgeous blue sky, but suddenly the sun seemed too bright, the sky far too vivid a blue, and her heart skipped a frightened beat. When she looked down again, it took a moment for her vision to clear of the floating, purple spots caused by the sun’s glare. When she could finally focus again, she saw that Kiran’s skin had gone waxy. She looked positively ill. Halfway dead, really.

“What the hell?” Dash said suddenly, his cheek full of unchewed bagel. “Thomas. You’re bleeding.”

Thomas was white as snow now. He lifted his hand to his head and his fingers came back caked with blood. A single rivulet of dark red blood seeped past his ear and dripped off his chin. “What?”

“Oh my God, Thomas!” Ariana cried, recoiling. “What happened?”

“I … I don’t know,” he stammered, his eyes full of betrayal, full of sadness. “I … I thought you loved me.”

“But I did!” Ariana cried. “I do! I love you more than anything. I don’t understand. I don’t understand what’s happening.”