Ambition (Private 7)

wondered what he had said. But then the door behind him opened and out poured a few familiar people from school, all laughing and

carefree. "You have to go, Dash. Please," I begged. Dash glanced at the Easton crowd and rolled his shoulders back. "You're sure

you're okay?" "Yes. Just go." Reluctantly, he turned. My heart panged at the sight of his back, knowing I was letting one of my last

friends leave. "And Dash?" I said. He paused. "Good luck. With her, I mean," I said. His jaw clenched as he turned his head slightly

so that I could see his profile. "You too."

He ducked his head and hurried off down the sidewalk. A stiff wind nearly blew me over and I lifted the collar of my jacket. I

should have taken Dash's cab. Not that I would have known how to pay for it. I'd left my cash back at Easton, thinking I'd have no use

for it this weekend. Stupid, stupid, stupid. "Guess now you know how it feels." My blood curdled at the sound of Ivy's voice. I turned

around and found her standing behind me, bundled into a puffy white fur jacket. God, I could have strangled her. Could have just tak-

en out everything on that skinny neck of hers.

"How what feels?" I said through my teeth. "The dark side of Billings," she said with a knowing s

mile. Slowly, she walked toward

me, her high heels crunching on the sidewalk. "I know you've been asking around about me. Ever heard of the saying 'Curiosity killed

the cat'?" Suddenly a rush of realization warmed my face. Ivy had taken that video. I knew now for sure. She hadn't wanted me to at-

tend the Legacy, had been pissed when I'd let her know I was there. This was her revenge. It had to be. It had to have been her. Her

light blue eyes, so much like Ariana's, bored into mine and I was chilled to the core. What else was this girl capable of? And why did

the city street suddenly seem so very deserted?

"You want to know about me and Billings, Reed? Fine. I'll tell you about me and Billings," she said, placing her hands in her pock-

ets. "Back when we were sophomores, Cheyenne and I were best friends, had been since we were little--but you knew that already,

didn't you? Snoop that you are." My teeth clenched. I wanted to call her out so badly. How dare she act like my snooping was so of-

fensive when she'd been in my room half a dozen times? When she'd been stalking me, torturing me, making me feel trapped in my

own dorm. But I kept my mouth shut. I wanted to hear this. Had to hear this. "She knew she was getting into Billings as a legacy, and

even though I couldn't have cared less, when I got my invite she told me I had to join. We would room together, be Billings Girls to-

gether. She was so excited about it I couldn't say no." Ivy wandered over to an evergreen tree in a planter in front of the building and

reached out to toy with its needles.

"So I went through their stupid hazing rituals for her, stole tests and snuck into the guys' dorms and all that crap, all for her," she

continued, her eyes losing focus as she stared at the tree. "Back then one of their tasks was to break into a house and steal a pre-select-

ed artifact. Cheyenne was a legacy, so they gave her an easy task--go to her own house in Litchfield and bring back Rinnan's Golden

Globe. Simple. So we did it. All the sophomores together. Me and Cheyenne, Rose, Portia, Taylor, Kiran, et cetera, et cetera. We basi-

cally walked right in through the front door and when we came out the juniors and seniors were waiting to congratulate us. But my