Revelation (Private 8)

her coat to the floor. I pressed my lips together to keep from laughing and glanced over at Rose

and Kiki, who along with Missy, Lorna, and Portia were

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hovering around Amberly. Rose and Kiki both glanced away. Of course.

"Sorry," I said with a shrug.

"You are so paying for the dry cleaning," Amberly said, slapping the cup down on a nearby table

and grabbing some napkins. "This coat is one-of-a-kind."

She wasn't yelling, just fuming. Fuming and trembling. As I watched her long, pale fingers work at

dabbing the stain, I felt this eerie sense of deja vu, but try as I might, I couldn't place where it was

coming from.

"I'm not paying for anything," I told her, shouldering my bag. "It was an accident."

"Oh, you so are," Amberly said, glaring at me. Her blue eyes pierced right through me like ice picks.

Clearly just a few days in Billings had taught her how to intimidate and awe. "And it's not going to

be cheap," she said, looking me up and down with a sneer. "Better start saving your pennies now."

Forget queen bee. Try queen bitch.

Missy, Lorna, and Portia laughed and my skin burned. I even saw a smile playing on Rose's lips for

the briefest second and felt as if I had just been stabbed through the gut Caesar-style, betrayed by

the people who were supposed to have my back. Kiki was the only one who didn't react, but

maybe her iPod was turned up so loud she couldn't hear what was going on.

"Don't hold your breath," I said through my teeth.

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"I'll be wanting the Carma Card back," Amberly replied. "And I will get my money."

"Yeah. Good luck with that," I said with a scoff.

Then I shot my former friends a scathing look before striding out.

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TWO LISTS

I spent Saturday afternoon in the library. Everyone around me was studying. Pencils scratched in

notebooks. Whispered debates were being held on everything from the feminist movement of the

early 1900s to the history of space travel to the merits of Monet and Manet. At the other

computers, coffees were sipped as fingers tapped away crazily at keyboards. I could practically