Last Christmas (Private 0.60)

PROLOGUE OCTOBER OF SENIOR YEAR

***White headlights severed the darkness as Ariana Osgood veered from the two-lane highway onto an

overgrown road near the outskirts of Easton, Connecticut. She gripped the steering wheel with one hand and

adjusted the rearview mirror with the other, glancing nervously into it. Calm down, Ariana. Just calm down.

She hadn't been followed; she knew that. No one had seen her slip away from Billings House in Josh Hollis's

Range Rover. No one knew that she was retracing the route she'd taken just an hour ago with Noelle Lange,

Kiran Hayes, and Taylor Bell. That she was coming back for Thomas. And no one knew why she needed to

find him. Her secrets-their secrets-were safe. Rocks and chunks of hardened earth popped underneath the

Range Rover's tires as she jerked the car off the road, cutting through the grassy field. She leaned forward and

squinted into the blackness.

He was somewhere out there. She just had to find him, talk to him. And once she did, he would understand

everything. Understand that he was wasting his time with Reed Brennan, that she was nothing but a novelty.

A terrible mistake. Understand that he was meant to be with Ariana. Suddenly her headlights caught

something. Someone. Someone slumping limply from a pole. Thomas. "No!" She slammed on the brake pedal

and swerved violently, barely missing him. Hands shaking, Ariana fumbled with the lock and opened the

door, leaving the car's headlights on. "Thomas!" Her voice sounded small in the open, deserted expanse

around them. Thomas's head lolled forward, his chin grazing his chest. He groaned and mumbled something

Ariana couldn't understand. Panic bubbled in her throat as she stared in disbelief at the figure in front of her,

as if she was seeing him like this for the first time. Had they really left him in this condition? His arms and

legs were tied to the pole with thick rope, and a black mesh bag was draped over his head. His chest and torso

were covered with scratches from where her friends had jabbed him with tree branches. Dried blood encrusted

a cut on his shoulder. The shirt he'd been wearing was on the ground, next to the baseball bat Noelle had

forgotten to take with her when they'd left not even an hour ago.

Ariana's heart twisted painfully in her chest. How could she have let this happen? She'd never meant to hurt

him, had only gone along with Noelle's plan so she wouldn't suspect anything. "Thomas." The second her

fingers grazed his clammy skin, he flinched, recoiling from the contact. From her. "Thomas, it's me," she

choked, ripping the bag off his head. She had to cover her mouth to keep from vomiting. Thomas looked