Ambition (Private 7)

you would ever have the balls to actually do anything," she added. "Neither one of you is that stupid."

Implication? If we had "done something," she would have made us pay. So she didn't know every move he made. She didn't know

what had happened at the Legacy. As relief flooded through me, so did an intense desire to tell her everything we had done--to wipe

that superior certainty off her condescending face and show her that she did not know everything. But I bit my tongue. Even in all the

trauma of the moment, my self-preservation instinct kicked in. Leave well enough alone. "Let's get back to the point," Noelle directed,

walking over to my desk. She picked up my plastic box of paper clips and toyed with it, dumping the contents back and forth slowly,

like a rattle. "You wanted to get rid of Cheyenne, so tell me... what did you do?" "I wanted to get her expelled, not killed," I replied,

turning my palms out at my sides. "She was out of control... treating the new girls like dirt... trying to get them thrown out of school. I

was actually e-mailing Dash to see if he could get in touch with you for help. Since you--"

I paused, not wanting to dredge up any more unpleasant memories. Noelle's brown eyes lit with understanding. "Since I got Leanne

expelled last year," Noelle finished, placing the box down again. "That was really more Ariana's thing." "I know, but Noelle..." I

gazed at her, on the verge of desperate tears. "Honestly, did you really think I could ever kill someone? I mean, you know me." She

glanced at me out of the corner of her eye. "I knew Ariana too," she said. "Or so I thought. I'm not making that blind-trust mistake

again." Okay. She had a point. But it wasn't fair that Ariana's insanity should prejudice Noelle against me. I hadn't done anything

wrong. Well, not anything that could get me arrested, anyway.

"Cheyenne and I were not getting along toward the end. Everyone knows this," I told her. "But I had nothing to do with her death. I

mean, just look at it logically. The girl was out. She was expelled. I was never going to have to see her again. Why would I kill her? "

Noelle turned to face me fully and studied my face for a long moment. I couldn't believe she was still doubting me. Me. Her best

friend. "Noelle, please. You have to believe me," I said, my voice cracking. "I can't lose you, too." Finally, Noelle rolled her eyes and

gave me a genuine smile. "Aw, Glass-Licker, you're such a sap," she said, tilting her head to the side. "Could you please stop calling

me Glass-Licker?" I asked, grasping at levity. "No," she replied. "You flirted with my boyfriend. I get to call you whatever I want for

as long as I want."

Right. I guess I couldn't argue with that. "But we're okay?" I asked uncertainly. "We're okay," she replied. "Let's go back down-

stairs before those girls decide on a slumber party theme without our direction." "Good idea." She walked ahead of me out of my

room and I paused for a moment to collect myself. My heart was racing, my mind felt numb, and there was a cool sheen of sweat all

over my skin. The only question in my mind right then was how long we would be okay. How long could a person like Noelle Lange

be kept in the dark about what really happened at the Legacy? And how long would I survive if she ever found out?

THANK NOELLE

I had to focus on the task at hand. Focus. Not on Josh, not on Noelle, not on the Cheyenne investigation. On the fund-raiser. Focus

on the fund-raiser. It was about all I could do to keep myself sane. So after English lit class on Tuesday, Sabine and I speed-walked to