Ariana sighed. This should be a platinum night for her. But instead, she was dealing with Kaitlynn's psychosis. Again. She glanced over her shoulder to make sure no one could hear them. The others were so far behind now that she could barely hear them, let alone see them.
"I'm not dropping out," she said flatly.
"Okay then, plan B. Who should we bump off?" Kaitlynn said, pushing a thick branch aside and letting it snap back in Ariana's face. The pain was sharp but fleeting. Ariana spit a few pine needles off her lips as she rushed to catch up.
"Bump off?" Ariana hissed. "Are you serious?"
Kaitlynn gave a look that told Ariana that she was, in fact, very serious.
"I'm not going to kill anyone," Ariana replied.
"Okay, then maybe I'll just kill you," Kaitlynn said with a shrug. Ariana's heart caught, and she misstepped, tripping forward and almost falling flat on her face. Annoyingly, she had to grab on to Kaitlynn, the very person who'd just threatened her life, to keep from going down.
"Watch it. There's a bit of a hill here," Kaitlynn said, a laugh in her voice.
Sure enough, the ground was dropping away beneath them, and their steps naturally quickened. If she shoved Kaitlynn as hard as she could right now, no one would see it. But Kaitlynn would have to fall just so in order to break her neck, and if she didn't, she would certainly tell everyone how she'd been pushed.
Why couldn't they just stumble upon a nice, convenient cliff?
71
"You do realize that if something happens to me, they're going to find you out," Ariana hissed, her heart pounding.
"Maybe," Kaitlynn replied, glancing back as the footsteps behind them--and Tahira's cursing under her breath--grew closer. "But killing you could get me everything I want. Then again, if I don't kill you and I don't get into Stone and Grave, in two years, I'm out on the street with nothing."
It was amazing to Ariana how cavalierly she spoke about murder. And to the very person whose life she was planning on ending.
"Why does everything come back to murder with you?" Ariana whispered, her feet pounding the ground. Her ankle twisted slightly as she stepped on a rock, but this time she bit her lip and found her own balance, not wanting to rely on Kaitlynn again. "Maybe one of them will screw up their task or not perform it with enough flair. You heard what Miss Temple said. That would mean an automatic blackball."
"Yes, but I can't count on that," Kaitlynn said. "I'd much rather have the guarantee of an open spot. Then as long as I do what I need to do, I'll get in."
"Okay, then why not just sabotage someone? Screw up their chances. You don't have to kill everyone."
"Look who's talking," Kaitlynn said with a knowing smile. "But you make a good point. Sabotaging someone would work. So get on that, will you?" she said, slapping Ariana on the shoulder.
"What happened to 'we'?" Ariana said, Not that she savored the thought of working side--by--side with Kaitlynn, but this was Kaitlynn's idea.
72
"Come on, A. I have so much to deal with right now," Kaitlynn said, holding a thick branch aside. "Making friends, taking placement exams, getting caught up in class, and now I have some crazy task to complete. Help a friend out."
Her tone was so faux--sweet it made Ariana's teeth hurt.
"I'll see what I can do," Ariana said grudgingly.
"Good. And no pressure. I mean, if the sabotage thing doesn't work out, I can always just get rid of you ... or maybe one of your little friends. Then I'll be a shoo--in," Kaitlynn said brightly.
"Leave my friends out of this," Ariana said, her fists clenching defensively. "Besides, you don't know if any of them are in Stone and Grave."
"Oh, I'm sure I'll be able to figure it out," Kaitlynn singsonged. "In case you haven't noticed, Ana, I'm kind of a genius when it comes to people."
She paused as they came to a clearing at the edge of the woods. Before them, the hill dropped down toward the merrily twinkling lights of the campus below.
"Oh, look," Kaitlynn said, lifting a hand. "I got us home."
"Nice work, Lily," Tahira said happily, emerging from the woods and wrapping her arm through Kaitlynn's. Clearly she had forgotten all about her earlier grumblings. "Let's go grab a midnight snack. I'm all about chocolate at this hour--how about you?"
"Definitely," Kaitlynn replied as the two of them traipsed down the hill. "It's going to be so much fun when we're in Stone and Grave together," Kaitlynn said. "You and I are going to just take over."