holding one hand over my mouth to keep the sobs in check. As I stumbled into the hallway, I nearly took out Ivy Slade in her white-

and-black plaid cape. Perfect. She was so the person I wanted to see right now. Her blue eyes like ice, Ivy shot me a derisive look,

then peered past me through the glass pane in the classroom door. Her thin, dark eyebrows arched and she crossed her slim arms over

her chest. Her dangling silver earrings swung, catching on strands of her sleek, black hair. "Trouble in paradise?" she asked. "Just

think, if you hadn't crashed my party last night, none of this would have happened."

Her party. As if the Legacy belonged to her. It was an ages-old tradition, and she had tried to claim it as her own, changing the

rules and ostracizing all the Easton Academy legacies. Maybe I had crashed it, but I'd only done it because I was trying to help my fel-

low Easton students get what was rightfully theirs. And, okay, I was also trying to have a little fun. That, of course, had not happened.

At least not after the first couple hours of drinking and dancing. After that, it had all gone to hell. "Haven't you ever heard that it's in-

advisable to have major relationship status conversations after chugging several fuzzy navels?" she asked slyly. She was taking plea-

sure in this, and she wasn't even trying to hide it. "How do you know what I was drinking?" I demanded. "Oh, I make a habit of keep-

ing an eye on party crashers, just i

n case they decide to cause trouble," Ivy said, tilting her head. "Luckily, you only caused trouble for

yourself." She placed a hand on the doorknob behind her. Josh was in there. She was about to join Josh. My heart skipped a nervous,

covetous beat.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I demanded. "Working on my senior project." She glanced over her shoulder again, smoothing

her shiny hair with her long, pale fingers. "I'll be spending a lot of time in the studio this year," she added pointedly. Implication?

With Josh. I'll be spending a lot of time in the studio this year with Josh. She was just like Cheyenne with her "seniors stick together"

routine. All to spend time with Josh. And just like that, I remembered. Ivy's room last night. That bizarre collage. The pictures of her

and Cheyenne being BFFs on beaches and boats and tennis courts. Ivy and Cheyenne, who were supposed to hate each other. Why had

they hidden their friendship from the world? And what else was Ivy hiding?

"Well, I should go. Let you get back to your little fund-raising project," Ivy said. "It's good to have a distraction at a trying time

like this, Reed. Doctor Phil would be proud." She gave my shoulder a quick squeeze with faux sympathy, then turned and walked into

the room where Josh sat. Her red lips stretched into a mocking grin right before she slammed the heavy door in my face. The tears

burst forth all over again. I ran down the hall toward the exit, but before I could get through the door, it was opening. I slammed into

someone so hard he was knocked off his feet and his stuff scattered everywhere. Who knew the J.A.M. Building was so heavily traf-

ficked on Monday evenings? "Dammit," I said, automatically crouching to the ground. Tears streaked down my nose, mingling with

snot. I wiped my hand across my face, not even sure whether it made a difference. "I'm so sorry." "No. It's my fault," my victim

replied, gathering his bag and notebook. "I never look where I'm going. Hey, are you okay?" I looked in his face for the first time.

Light brown skin, dark, floppy hair, concerned brown eyes. Light brown eyes. Odd. Nice.

Tags: Kate Brian Private
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