Last Christmas (Private 0.60)

"That freak? What'd he do now?" Daniel snapped. "Nothing," Ariana replied. "We just happened to be in the

same store at the same time." The explanation seemed to satisfy Daniel. He picked a grape out of Ariana's

fruit cup and slumped back in his chair, brooding as he chewed. Clearly he was still annoyed about Ariana's

announcement, but at l

east he knew nothing about Thomas. "So what time are you leaving, Noelle?" Isobel

asked. Ariana buttered her toast and let the conversation wash over her. She noticed Thomas sitting a few

tables over, shaking his head at Gage, who was doubled over in laughter. A few tables down from them was

Sergei sitting alone, wearing his trademark argyle sweater and glasses, hunched over a book. Ariana didn't

know why the sight of him make her heart ping in her chest. She shouldn't feel sorry for him. He was creepy

and possibly stalking her. But she couldn't help but feel like she understood him a little. Because even though

she had friends, had Billings, she could relate to his loneliness. No one really knew her, either.

Daniel touched her arm. Swallowing the gigantic lump that was now hovering in her throat, Ariana tuned

back into the conversation. When she looked into his eyes, she could see that he'd decided to forgive her. She

felt her shoulders relax.

"Is there anything I can do?" he offered, smoothing his green khakis over his knees. "Make it easier for you to

get out of here on time?" "Like what?" Ariana asked as Paige speared a piece of grapefruit with a butter knife.

An acidic drop landed on Ariana's cheek. Paige smirked a halfhearted apology and went back to her

grapefruit. "Write a few pages while you pack?" Daniel offered. "You haven't even read the book!" Ariana

laughed. "Doesn't matter," Dash said over a mouthful of bagel. "Dude can pull any assignment out of his ass.

He wrote Gage's Western civ term paper in an hour and a half last year and he got an A- minus." Ariana

glanced quizzically at Daniel, and he shrugged. "Lost a bet," he explained.

"Thanks," Ariana smiled, happy that, for the moment, things seemed back to normal. "But I have to finish this

on my own. If you want to help, you can take my bags up to Vermont so I don't have to deal with them on the

train." "You got it. Anything else?" "You can try on your present," she said playfully. She grabbed the fleece

hat off the table and tugged it over his head. Daniel pulled that hat down over his eyes, then pushed it up

again so that it was just above his brow. He smiled adorably at Ariana. "What do you think?" he asked.

"Very sexy," she replied with a laugh.

Noelle rolled her eyes and took a sip of her coffee. Daniel tugged the hat off and stuffed it in his backpack. "I

love it. Thanks. Really." "You're-" The sound of Ariana's cell vibrating on the table cut her off. It buzzed

loudly, vibrating slowly across the table. Isobel and Paige watched as Ariana reached out and picked it up.