Last Christmas (Private 0.60)

to you soon, sweetheart." "Okay. Love you, Mom. And congratulations on going home. Wish I could be there

with you to celebrate." "Love you too, baby." Her eyes still closed, Ariana held the phone to her ear long after

the line went dead.

DISCRETION

***"How is it always colder in here than it is outside?" Ariana murmured as she followed Paige, Isobel, and

Noelle through the arched doors of Easton's chapel the next morning. A shiver ran down her spine, and she

tightened the sash on her white wool coat. Growing up in Georgia, she had never experienced the kind of cold

that dominated the school year in Connecticut. It was a biting, relentless cold that seeped straight through to

the bone and held on tight. No matter how many scarves and hats and coats Ariana acquired, she had yet to

find a way to protect herself from it.

"I don't have time for this," Paige snapped. "My Louis Vuittons aren't going to pack themselves."

"Don't worry. It should be a short one," Isobel assured Paige, shaking out her glossy black hair after

removing her wool slouch hat. "You'll be back to Louis before he has time to miss you."

Headmaster Cox had called the special morning assembly to discuss campus protocol during winter break.

Unlike Paige, Ariana was grateful for the distraction. She needed a break from looking at her blank laptop

screen and worrying about her mom. Her mom, who would be home alone in just a matter of hours.

It was dark inside the chapel, thanks to the stained glass, which let in only a smidgen of the gray sky outside.

The lamps that flickered around the lectern were the only sources of light in the room. Ariana hugged herself

as she followed Noelle to the junior pews near the center of the chapel, parting ways with Isobel and Paige,

who, as seniors and Billings Girls, took seats of privilege in the very last row. Easton was riddled with such

small reminders of rank. Rituals that kept everything, everyone, in the appropriate place. Ariana slid into a

seat next to two other Billings Girls in her class, Leanne Shore and Natasha Crenshaw, shooting them both a

quick smile of greeting.

"Here. Take these," Noelle said, handing over her wool-and-cashmere gloves as Ariana blew on her hands.

"Your fingers are turning purple." "Thanks," Ariana said. She felt ten times better as she pulled the gloves on.

It was nice, the way Noelle was always taking care of her. "All I want for Christmas is a good pair of gloves,"

she joked. "I'll be sure to tell Daniel that. Nothing says romance like a big old pair of wool mittens." Noelle

rolled her eyes.

"Attention, students." The chapel went deathly silent as Headmaster Cox spoke into the microphone at the

lectern. His voice echoed around the chapel, bouncing from the rafters to the stained glass. "Welcome. My