wasn't going to affect me.

Besides, I wanted to keep an eye on Ivy whenever I could. Who knew when she might trip up and

give something away? I wanted to be there when it happened.

Of course, when I emerged from the breakfast line on Tuesday

51

morning I immediately doubted the sagacity of my plan. My eyes instinctively darted to the Billings

tables and I felt such an instant and intense longing I almost fell over. There they were. My old

friends. Looking as beautiful and untouchable as ever. They laughed and chatted and passed

around holiday catalogs and checked out one another's notes for class. Somehow, they seemed

even more stylish and alluring and perfect than usual. Like when Josh had miraculously woken up

even hotter the day after we'd broken up.

I forced myself to look at the other tables and seek out some new place to sit. But only wary,

suspicious faces greeted me.

What was I thinking? This was never going to work. There was nowhere for me to go.

"Hey, Reed."

I flinched, startled that someone was actually talking to me. When I turned around I found Diana

Waters, Kiki's roommate in Bradwell last year, hovering behind me. Behind her were two of her

friends from Pemberly--Sonal Shah and Shane Freundel, people I knew vaguely from class. I had

noticed Diana hanging out with them ever since Kiki had been invited to live in Billings.

"Hi, Diana," I said. "Hey," I added to the girls behind her. They gaped at me as if amazed I

possessed the ability to speak.

"You can sit with us, if you want," Diana offered, a smile lighting up her pretty, makeup-free face.

She pushed a blond wave off her shoulder.

I was so relieved I could have hugged her, but at the same time

52

some shallow part of my inner being felt exactly how far I had fallen. A couple of weeks ago I had

basically been the queen of this place. I'd had the most sought-after guys falling all over each

other to ask me out and all the most elite girls at Easton hanging on my every word. Now a group

of lowly Pemberly juniors in jeans, hoodies, and sneakers were extending a pity invite to their

breakfast table. I could only imagine the giggles Noelle would get out of this.

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