Allison checked her watch. “Where are Landon and Adam? I’m starting to freeze.”
Then, as if on cue, Ariana saw Landon running toward them from the direction of the boathouse. At the same time, Adam appeared from behind the dining hall, sprinting as if his life depended on it.
Ariana’s heart was in her throat as the two boys streaked toward the chapel, wondering who was going to make it there first, and what would happen to the other. Landon’s foot hit the bottom stair three seconds before Adam’s. The difference was so negligible, Ariana was certain it wouldn’t matter. They handed their cameras over, and April and Conrad scrolled through the photos. Both breathless, Landon and Adam joined the other pledges at the base of the steps.
“Good work,” Conrad said, looking up. “Each of you has completed your scavenger hunt lists.”
Ariana looked at the others and grinned. Their relief was palpable.
“Unfortunately, Adam, you were the last to return with your camera,” April said.
The smile dropped from Adam’s face, his chest still heaving up and down from the run. Conrad walked slowly down the steps and stood in front of him, looking down his nose at the far smaller boy. Ariana held her breath, as did everyone around h
er.
“You’re out,” Conrad said.
“What?” Adam squeaked.
“I’m sorry. You are no longer a candidate for membership,” Conrad said. “Leave. Now.”
Ariana’s mind whirled. She couldn’t believe that Conrad—jovial, devil-may-care Conrad—could be so blunt and cruel. Adam didn’t move. It was like he was waiting for the punch line. Conrad took a step closer so that Adam’s nose was practically buried in his shoulder.
“Now,” he repeated.
Ariana flinched. Adam glanced uncertainly at the other taps, as if he thought one of them might speak up for him. When no one did, he took a shaky step back.
“Fine,” he said with a tense laugh. “I don’t need this crap anyway.”
Then he turned his back on their silence and walked away quickly, his head held high as he disappeared into the night. April picked up a stack of packages wrapped in plain brown paper, which hadn’t been there when the scavenger hunt began. She descended the stairs lightly, as if nothing out of the ordinary had just happened, but Ariana knew the other pledges felt as thrown off as she did. How could the Stone and Grave eliminate Adam so cavalierly? He was a nice guy—smart, athletic, promising. And now he was out just because he was three seconds slower at a sprint than Landon?
“These are your Stone and Grave handbooks,” April explained, handing one package to each of them. The crisp, brown wrapping paper crackled as Ariana’s fingers gripped the book. “Inside you will find vital information on Atherton-Pryce Hall and its current students and faculty. Your job is to memorize every fact within its pages,” April instructed. “Starting tomorrow, you may be quizzed at any given moment by any member of Stone and Grave, and I urge you to be ready with the correct answers, or the results will not be pretty.”
She stepped up next to Conrad.
“I suggest you not test us on this,” she said. “As I believe we’ve just proven, everyone is expendable.”
Ariana blinked. April said those awful words so sweetly—the same words Ariana had heard in Kaitlynn’s veiled threat—it somehow made the threat that much more real.
“You are dismissed,” Conrad said.
Ariana turned on shaky knees and fell into step with Kaitlynn. “Well. That was harsh.”
Kaitlynn said nothing. She tucked her package under her folded arms and quickened her steps.
“So, want to stay up together and study this?” Ariana said, lifting her own package. “We can quiz each other.”
“I can’t believe they just did that,” Kaitlynn muttered, staring straight ahead. “I can’t believe they just booted Adam like that. They didn’t even give him a chance.”
“Right. Which is all the more reason for us to study together,” Ariana said, struggling to keep pace with her roommate. “Two heads are better than one and all that.”
“Whatever,” Kaitlynn said under her breath. “Right now I’m thinking it’s every man for himself.”
Ariana stopped in her tracks, stunned. Did Kaitlynn not realize that she wouldn’t have finished three-quarters of her scavenger hunt list if not for Ariana’s help? Where was her thank-you? Where was the acknowledgment of her friendship? Kaitlynn speed-walked ahead so that soon the chasm between them was too wide to cross. It was all Ariana could do to keep from hurling her handbook at the girl’s retreating head.
“She’s an interesting one.”
Ariana looked up to find Jasper pausing next to her. He narrowed his blue eyes at her and offered his hand. “Jasper Montgomery,” he said. “Of the Louisiana Montgomerys.”