Private (Private 1)

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foyer was large yet cozy, with high ceilings crisscrossed by wooden

“I kinda doubt she cares.” Kiran scoffed as she shrugged out of beams. A stone fireplace took up one wall and the floor was hard-her velvet jacket. “I was hoping that living with her would make wood, covered by a gorgeous handwoven rug. Framed photographs

some of it transfer by osmosis, but so far, no luck.” She took the of Billings girls through the ages adorned the walls. In these photos pins out of her bun and let her long hair tumble over her shoulders.

I recognized a couple of politicians, one famous news anchor, and

“Make yourself comfortable. I need to use the facilities.”

at least two groundbreaking authors. I would have studied them all She walked past Taylor’s bed and opened the door to what I had

more closely if I hadn’t thought it would make me look too eager.

thought was a closet.

Upstairs was all plush carpeting, bronze wall sconces, and artis-

“Less than point-zero-five percent,” Taylor whispered proudly

tic photos of the Easton grounds. I could hear music playing

as soon as Kiran was gone. “Though some scientists maintain that it through someone’s wall. When we walked into the room Taylor and doesn’t actually exist.”

Kiran shared, Taylor was hanging backward off the end of her bed

“Ah,” I said distractedly. I was too busy staring after Kiran. “Is reading one of her romance novels upside down.

that a bathroom?” I whispered.

“Hi, Reed!” she said, flipping over. She closed her eyes against

“I know,” Taylor said, folding over the page on her book and

a head rush, then smiled.

tossing it on her desk. “This place is sick. Everyone wants to get in

“Do you ever study?” I asked her.

here. It’s the best dorm on campus.”

“She doesn’t have to. She just picks up her A’s like she’s picking Yeah. No kidding. I was about to ask Taylor how exactly one

up mail,” Kiran said, slinging her bag onto her own bed. “It’s so wrangled an invite to Billings, but there was a flush and Kiran annoying.”

reemerged.

Their room was huge. Kiran’s bed, covered in a hundred shades of

“So, you ready to get to work?”

purple in satins and silk, stood near the bay window. Taylor’s, covered My heart fell. Work? Did they have another task for me? Was

in red and pink, sat clear on the other side of the room with a dance that why I was really there?

floor’s worth of space in between. They also had their own fireplace, in At that moment the door opened and in walked Noelle and