Untouchable (Private 3)

And, okay, if I was being honest, one day to figure out what the hell there was between us.

"Okay," I said finally, lifting my shoulders. "Sure. Why not?" Josh grinned and my heart stopped. Just like that. Good decision, Reed. Good decision.

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* * *

There were no lights on in the chapel. The November sun cast a dull glow on the room, and all the faces appeared muted and blurred at the edges, like an impressionist painting come to life. I slid into the pew and sat between Constance and Diana. The moment my butt hit the hard wood, the back doors closed. Darker still.

"What's going on?" I asked. A sliver of irrational fear raced down my spine.

"It's firsts," Diana whispered, as the entire room hushed.

"Guess not even a murder investigation can stop them from whipping out the jackets," someone behind me muttered bitterly.

Okay. That sentence made zero sense. "What's 'firsts'?"

"Shhhhh!"

Just like on the very first day of school, two freshmen boys stepped out from the shadows and lit the lanterns at the front of the chapel. We were all bathed in their warm, cozy, glow. Dean Marcus rose from his chair and stood at the podium. He looked around at all of us in an appraising way.

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"Tradition, honor, excellence," he intoned.

"Tradition, honor, excellence," we all echoed.

"Students, today is a day of celebration," the dean announced, his strong, weighty voice echoing off the stone walls. "We here at this hallowed academy will not allow recent events, as terrible as they may be, to deter us from our ultimate goal. We will continue to strive for excellence in every facet of our lives. Today I have the pleasure of announcing to you the names of those students who have achieved first honors for the first semester of our academic year."

"Here, here!" one of the professors cheered with a raised fist, earning a round of applause from the hall.

"As always, I will start with the freshman class. When I call your name, please come up and receive your founders' jacket," the dean said. For the first time in days, I saw a hint of a smile on his face. The man vibed on tradition. "From the freshman class, the students who have received the highest all-around marks this first semester are . . . April Park and Carson Levere."

As everyone around me applauded, I leaned toward Diana's ear. "Founders' jacket?"

"The guy and the girl from each class who get the highest GPA get to wear founders' jackets all day," Diana said as she clapped. Onstage, the dean was lifting a blue blazer with the Easton crest on the pocket onto April Park's shoulders. "It's this huge honor. People around here would kill to wear that jacket."

Sure enough, April's face shone and her eyes brimmed with

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tears. She touched the sleeve of her jacket with her fingertips as if it were made from spun gold. You could tell she was just aching to call her parents right then and there. Maybe they'd give her a pony. A quick survey of the room revealed that almost every student of any merit was sitting forward in his or her seat, salivating. This was serious business.

April and Carson stood aside. Instantly, the applause halted.

"From the sophomore class," Dean Marcus continued, glancing at a page on the podium. Suddenly I wished I had opened my mailbox and gotten my grades. Not that I had any sort of shot at this, but I would have loved to have known for sure that there was zero chance my name would be called. "Kiki Rosen and Corey Snow."

"Omigod! Kiki!" Diana exclaimed, elbowing her roommate.

At first I thought Kiki hadn't heard, that her music was deafening her as always. But then she calmly removed her earbuds and stood up, looking totally and completely unaffected. It wasn't until the jacket was safely on her body that she finally busted out in a grin. Honestly, in that moment, I was jealous. And in the next I marveled at how quickly something like that could take hold. And the next, how I was actually thinking about something other than Thomas.

Amazing, the power Easton could have.

"Did you know she was that smart?" Constance asked us.

"No! Maybe she has our lessons on constant loop on her iPod," Diana said, baffled.

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