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clock, didn't like the pressure it created, but she was more determined than ever to see this plan through.
It wasn't just the right thing for her or for Kaitlynn anymore. Clearly, bringing Briana Leigh Covington to her knees was simply the right thing to do.
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* * *
EMBRACING THE NEW
As the car slid up to the curb in front of the historic Majestic Theater in downtown Dallas, Ariana glanced at her reflection in her Chanel compact. She was still surprised every time she saw the auburn hair framing her face, the green eyes staring back at her. A sour feeling of disappointment arose in her chest. Ariana had always been proud of her natural blond hair and her unusually light blue eyes. It was as if she had been stripped of her entire identity.But that was, of course, the point. It was better to have no identity than to have no future. Sooner or later, she was going to have to embrace the new her. And as she looked out the window at the hundreds of would-be partiers lined up behind velvet ropes outside the Majesties beautiful beveled doors, she felt a flutter of excitement. Maybe the embracing would start tonight.
"Let's do this," Briana Leigh said, sliding out onto the street.
Ariana carefully planted one high-heeled shoe on the pavement
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and rose from the car. It had been so long since she had walked in heels that she was afraid she might stumble, but the skill came right back to her. She saw a few guys on line check her out appreciatively and felt almost grateful. How could anyone like the way she looked in the tight, hot pink dress Briana Leigh had practically forced her to wear? At least Ariana had sneaked in a cropped white jacket that hid some of the ridiculous cleavage the dress's cinched bodice created. Wasn't anyone down with modesty anymore?
Briana Leigh strode right past the waiting hordes and sidled up to the larger-than-life bouncer, practically stepping on some poor girl in a white slip dress who had been about to walk through to the party.
"Hey, beyotch! Where do you think you're going?" A belligerent girl leaned over the ropes to shout at Briana Leigh. "We've been on line here for over an hour!"
"And with the look you're rocking, you'll be here for another," Briana Leigh said with a sneer. "We're on the list."
Ariana flinched as anyone within earshot reacted with offended groans and shouts.
"Briana Leigh Covington and guest. We're here with DJ Teo."
Again, Briana Leigh said this loud enough for all to hear. Showing off. Ariana lifted her chin and made sure not to meet anyone's gaze as Briana Leigh talked to the bouncer. Better to be aloof than crass. Aloof told the masses that she deserved to be where she was and that she wasn't about to apologize for it. The bouncer checked Teo's guest list and checked Briana Leigh's name.
"Enjoy, ladies," he said as he held the rope open for them.
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Ariana shoved through the wall-to-wall revelers jamming the lobby area. The conversation was so loud she could barely hear herself think. She clutched her borrowed Coach purse to her chest to protect the precious cash she had stashed inside along with the new disposable cell phone she had bought during a quick trip to the mall on the way to the party. Briana Leigh had insisted that she needed new Christian Louboutin shoes to go with her new dress, so while Briana Leigh abused the salespeople at the very Neiman's Ariana had stolen from, Ariana excused herself to hit a cell phone kiosk in the mall. Any normal person had a cell phone, and for the past twenty-four hours Ariana had felt like a poseur without one.
"There he is!" Briana Leigh shouted the moment they made it through the doors and into the theater.
She was pointing at the stage area, but how she could see anything through the constant rain of bubbles and confetti and ribbons was a mystery. Ariana squinted into the strobe lights and tried to focus as loud dance music assaulted her ears and partiers slammed into her from all sides. There was definitely someone spinning up on stage, but Ariana could make out nothing other than his sideways baseball cap. Her pulse was starting to pound dangerously.
Where was the air-conditioning? And didn't this place have some kind of maximum occupancy guideline?
"Can we move?" Ariana shouted. "We're right in traffic here!"
Briana Leigh nodded and grabbed Ariana's hand. As they slid along the wall in the right aisle, Ariana was appalled at the things she saw. Girls in stiletto heels dancing on velvet chairs. Couples making out
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on the floor between seat rows, letting their drinks spill everywhere. Bubbles popping on chandeliers and wall sconces. How could the historical society have allowed this to happen? Wasn't this place protected?
Money. It was all about money. Enough cash could buy anything, anyone. The realization both disgusted and heartened Ariana. Once she got her hands on Briana Leigh's money, she was going to be banking on this fact. Somehow, she was going to have to buy herself a new identity, so some shady counterfeiter out there was going to make a serious load of cash off her.
"You okay? You look sick," Briana Leigh said, pausing about halfway through the orchestra seating. The music was much louder here, pumping directly into Ariana's skull through huge speakers set up at the corners of the stage.
"M'fine," she mumbled.