Sweet Deceit (Privilege 4)

,” Kaitlynn said. “Why would I do that? I thought we were supposed to be friends.”

Ariana perked up slightly. No threats? Really? “True,” she said.

“So, friend,” Kaitlynn said, bouncing down onto the bed next to Ariana and slinging her arm over her shoulders. “Tell me all about your date! Where did he take you? What did you do? Did you two hook up or what?”

Ariana took a deep breath, knowing that she was going to have to spill. But suddenly she felt melancholy and nostalgic. Nostalgic for Noelle Lange, her former roommate and best friend at Easton Academy. If Noelle were here, Ariana would tell her all about the awkward way in which the date had ended. Would ask for her advice about what to do next. How to make it all go away. And Noelle would know what to do. She always knew.

“Well, he took me to his favorite place in DC,” Ariana began, folding her legs under her story-style and turning to face Kaitlynn on the bed. “The steps of the Lincoln Memorial.”

Kaitlynn’s face fell. “Really? Connected millionaire boy took you to a free tourist attraction?”

Ariana tried not to grimace. Leave it to Kaitlynn to disparage the best part of the night. “No! It was romantic, really.”

Then she sat back in her hands and gushed all about the picnic and the sunset and the conversation, feeling dirty all the while. These were the kind of details that should have been saved for a real best friend, not wasted on Kaitlynn Nottingham.

But it was all for the greater good. Every moment with Kaitlynn had its purpose. And sooner or later, even this would prove to be worth it.

I NEVER

“The whole point of the I Never task is for you to get to know each other better,” Conrad said, placing a full bottle of vodka on the floor in front of each of the taps. “So be creative.”

Ariana looked around the circle at the other four taps on Wednesday night. They were once again wearing their itchy burlap robes, and they were seated on the cold concrete floor of the Tombs, their thighs bare against the hard, frigid surface. Ariana eyed the bottle of vodka with apprehension and revulsion. Losing control had never been her favorite thing, so she’d never been a big drinker. Back at Easton, when her friends had gotten together the occasional game of I Never, she had almost always cheated and lied, claiming not to have done things she had, in fact, done. Like the time Taylor Bell had said she’d never broken into a faculty member’s room, and Ariana hadn’t taken a drink, even though she had done that before—with Thomas Pearson. But she couldn’t share that story with her friends. They had never even known that she and Thomas were friendly, let alone breaking -and-entering-together friendly.

But lying to Stone and Grave was a whole other level of complicated, because she was supposed to be Briana Leigh, and she had no idea what Briana Leigh had never done. What if they knew the things Briana Leigh had and hadn’t done—Lexa had gone to camp with Briana Leigh—and she got it wrong?

Suddenly, Ariana’s underarms started to prickle. A sensation she detested almost as much as the foggy, light-headed feeling she got from drinking too much.

“The rules, just so we’re clear, are simple,” Conrad explained. “When it’s your turn, you are to tell us something you’ve never done. Anyone in the circle who has done this thing is to take a drink. If you haven’t, you can leave your bottle on the floor in front of you. That’s it. So. Who will volunteer to start?” Conrad asked, stepping back and crossing his arms over his broad chest.

“I’ll go, Brother Lear,” Jasper said, lifting a finger as if he was summoning a waiter.

“Thank you, tap,” Conrad said. He stepped back toward the group of brothers and sisters, standing between Lexa and April, both of whom grinned giddily. “Go ahead.”

Ariana felt a shift in the crowd around her, a shimmer of excited anticipation, and she felt a sour burning in her chest. This wasn’t about them getting to know each other better. They were playing this game for the entertainment of the membership. Hazing at its finest.

“I never kissed a guy,” Jasper said with a smirk.

Tahira rolled her eyes, opened her bottle, and took a swig. Kaitlynn did the same. Ariana touched the bottle to her lips and tried not to wince as the alcohol burned its way down her throat. Then Landon grabbed his bottle and took a drink. A few people in the crowd laughed and whispered.

“What?” he said, drawing the back of his arm across his glistening lips. “I’m a rock star.”

“Try pop star,” Rob corrected, standing on his toes to be seen. His comment earned another round of derisive laughter. Landon blushed but smiled. The guys often ribbed him about his pretty-boy pop persona, but he never seemed to mind. Probably because that pretty-boy pop persona had already netted him millions and taken him around the world, where he’d played sold-out concerts and met hordes of screaming, worshipping fans.

“Next?” Conrad intoned, looking down his nose at Ariana.

Ariana took a deep breath. It was her turn. Which meant, at least, she wouldn’t have to drink this time. “Okay. I’ve never kissed a girl,” she said.

Everyone except Kaitlynn drank. All eyes went to Tahira.

“What?” she said in the exact same tone as Landon. “I’m a slut.”

Everyone laughed and Ariana’s shoulders started to relax. At least no one was taking this all that seriously. Games of I Never with Noelle Lange and Gage Coolidge were seriously stressful, since they both seemed to know everyone’s secrets and took pride in outing them. Not that Ariana hadn’t come up with a few fabulous I Nevers in her day, perfectly crafted to humiliate or expose her friends. But the stakes in this game were much higher, and laying low seemed the better tack.

Tahira was up next. She leaned back on her hands and looked right at Ariana. Ariana’s eyes narrowed and all the tiny hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. What was the girl up to?

“I’ve never stolen anything . . . ,” she said in a leading way.

Ariana stopped breathing. She wasn’t. She couldn’t. Was she really going to try to call out Ariana for those thefts she’d committed at the beginning of the year? Her eyes darted around at the membership, finding Christian in the crowd, thinking of his Rolex, which she’d lifted from the boathouse that day during welcome week. Oh God. They were definitely going to ask for an explanation and then she’d have to come up with some kind of cover story on the fly. But what? How could she, millionaire orphan Briana Leigh Covington, explain stealing thousands of dollars worth of jewelry and iPods and random paraphernalia from her classmates? Ariana’s stomach twisted dangerously and her vision started to prickle over with gray spots. This was all Kaitlynn’s fault. If Kaitlynn hadn’t blackmailed her, she wouldn’t have had to steal those things.