Paradise Lost (Private 9)

West grinned, and I exchanged looks with Kiran and Taylor again. This new relationship just did not compute. Noelle and West had known each other their entire lives and had never shown an interest before. Now we were suddenly supposed to believe they were a hand-holding couple?

"So, Noelle, what's up with your dad and the Hathaways?" Kiran asked, leaning back in an elegant pose, her legs crossed and one arm casually slung over the back of her chair. "Is he sharing stock tips, or something?"

"Actually, he's trying to convince Mr. Hathaway to take the headmaster job at Easton," Noelle said, closing her menu with a slap. "He has this rep for turning around troubled institutions, so Daddy and the Board think he'd be a perfect fit for Easton." She signaled for the waiter.

I looked across the patio at Mr. Hathaway. Compared to the Crom or Dean Marcus, he was so young. So . . . un-intimidating. Slight of build like his sons, with jet-black hair, tan skin, and nary a wrinkle on his handsome, boyish face. Were the students of Easton really going to respond to such a man? As I looked away, my eye caught Sawyer's,

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and he quickly glanced back down at his book. I felt a weird rush of uncertainty. I hoped he didn't think I was checking out his dad. Ew.

"Where's Jen, anyway?" Taylor asked as West placed his order with the waiter. "I haven't seen her."

"Taylor! Shhh," Noelle scolded, lowering her voice as her gaze slid around to the nearby tables. "Jen Hathaway passed away last summer."

"What?" Taylor and Kiran said breathlessly.

"How?" West asked, clearly disturbed. "Why hasn't anyone said anything?"

Noelle leaned in to the table. We all did the same, knowing she was about to say something not for public consumption. "Because she--"

That was all she got out, because at that moment, Dash McCafferty walked out onto the patio. Noelle visibly paled at the sight of him, but she seemed to recover instantly. She sat up straight and pretended to be riveted by the surf crashing against the sand on the beach below. Dash found us with his eyes, and his handsome face registered about ten different emotions in as many seconds. Excitement to see Noelle. Then trepidation. Then confusion over seeing me with her. Then dread. Then recognition of Kiran and Taylor. Then, finally, shock. Because he'd finally noticed Noelle's and West's hands entwined on the table. He froze, and for a second I thought he was just going to bolt. I tensed up, deciding to rank this moment as one of the most excruciatingly uncomfortable of my life. And then, salvation came . . . in the unlikely form of Gage Coolidge. He ambled up behind Dash and slapped his hands down on Dash's broad shoulders.

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"Dash, my man! You made it! We thought you were going to let the whole Brennan Sex Tape Scandal keep you away!"

Okay, so it wasn't perfect salvation.

Behind Gage was the rest of the crew. Poppy, Paige, Daniel, Sienna, and Amberly crowded in around Dash, all pausing to kiss him hello or to slap his hand. Before long, Marquis seated them at a table in the center of the restaurant, where they set up a loud, raucous camp. I had no idea which person's presence to focus on first. Dash, who was going to make these next couple of weeks a lot more complicated. Amberly, who had somehow gotten in with Paige and her crew in less than twenty-four hours. Or Paige and Sienna, who were basically trying to annihilate me with their glares from across the patio.

It was odd that Paige and Sienna were the ones so openly hating me, and not Poppy. Was it possible that Paige had told Sienna and not Poppy that I had hooked up with Upton before Poppy had arrived on the island? It hardly seemed possible. Girls like Paige lived to gossip, backstab, and sabotage. But then why wasn't Poppy staring me down? Did she not care? Or did she not feel threatened because her relationship with Upton was, in her mind, secure?

I let out a sigh. Maybe West was right. Maybe girls were addicted to drama.

"Hey, you wankers! Come over and join us!" Poppy shouted at our table, waving her hand over her head. Apparently she hadn't been clued in about Noelle and Dash's breakup. Or perhaps she was too flighty to think about it. Everyone in the restaurant smiled and shook

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their heads, like her behavior was just so endearing. It seemed they didn't mind Poppy's shrill in public.

"There's no room," West replied quickly. "We'll catch up with you guys later."

Poppy made a loud scoffing noise, like we were incurable losers, then turned to Daniel, who edged his chair as close to hers as it could get. He put his elbow on the armrest and leaned toward her, completely rapt with attention, as she spoke.

"Looks like Daniel isn't quite over Poppy just yet," Kiran pointed out, choosing wisely to ignore Dash's appearance on the scene.

"What do you mean?" I

asked.

"Oh, Daniel and Poppy had this huge thing last Christmas," Kiran said, leaning back as our food arrived. "He was totally head over heels for her, and they spent the entire two weeks holed up in her penthouse doing God knows what. Then, on New Year's Eve, they finally came out and she dumped him in front of everyone. It was not pretty. He had one of his patented Daniel Ryan freak-outs."

West laughed and reached for the salt and pepper. "Oh, yeah. The rowboat. I forgot about that one."

"Daniel's freak-outs usually include destruction of personal property," Taylor explained, noting my confusion. "Or destruction of the face of whomever pissed him off."

"He couldn't exactly kick the crap out of the girl he loved, so he went after some poor fisherman's rowboat instead," Kiran said. "With an ax."