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"In the dark?" Ariana asked.
"Yeah. It's actually kind of fun," Landon replied, looking her up and down.
"Sounds needlessly difficult to me," Ariana replied, sipping her iced tea.
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Adam took a bite of a chocolate chip cookie and spoke with his mouth full. "I'll second that." Ariana tried not to cringe at his lack of manners. He was Palmer's friend, after all.
"So, Ana, did you listen to those songs yet?" Landon asked, grabbing some more popcorn.
"Not yet," Ariana said. She had seen them sitting in her in-box, but downloading them hadn't exactly been a priority with everything else going on. Landon put his popcorn-filled fists to his heart as if she'd just speared him, and Ariana laughed. "I will, I will. I should have a little more time on my hands now."
"Now," Landon said dubiously. "Now that classes are gonna start you'll have more time."
Ariana shrugged. "It's been a busy week."
"Seriously. And I still can't believe we won today," Adam said. "How is that possible?"
"Maybe Ana, here, is just good at her job," Landon said, nudging Ariana with his elbow before tossing and catching another kernel. "Dude, I'm so glad Palmer picked you instead of Lexa. Girl's probably never raised her voice in her life."
"Looks like she's doing that right now," Adam put in, lifting his chin.
Ariana glanced across the dance floor and saw Lexa and Palmer engaged in a heated conversation on the outskirts of the party. Maria and Soomie stood a few feet off to the side, looking tense and uncomfortable. Ariana's heart skipped ten thousand beats. Apparently, Palmer had intercepted Lexa on her way back from the bathroom, but what was
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he saying to her? Was he accusing her? Were they breaking up? Why, why, why had Ariana turned down their invite to the bathroom? She should be over there with them right now, overhearing every word.
"Uh-oh," Landon said, crunching away. "Looks like APH's numero uno couple have uncoupled."
Sure enough, Lexa was rushing off in tears, Soomie and Maria trailing behind her. Ariana took a step to follow, but stopped the second Palmer turned around. He looked right at her with an expression so full of meaning it made her feel weightless.
He had done this for her. He had broken up with Lexa to be with her.
Slowly, Palmer broke eye contact and returned to Robert and Christian. Ariana got it. He couldn't come right over to her after breaking Lexa's heart. That would be too gauche. In fact, for the next few days at least, they would probably need to steer clear of each other. Until Lexa got over him. Until the appropriate mourning period had passed. But as soon as that happened, Palmer would be hers.
Ariana felt as if she had just been granted her every wish. Kaitlynn was well on her way to Australia, Palmer was single, she had her dream schedule, and she would be living in Privilege House as of tonight. Yes, Lexa was upset, but she would get over it. People broke up all the time. Soon everything would be fine. Perfect, actually.
"Ana! Hey!" Brigit grabbed Ariana's arm and spun her around.
"Hey, where have you been?" Ariana asked Brigit. "Everyone's been looking for you."
"I know. I was at the student affairs office. The headmaster asked
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me to welcome a new transfer," Brigit said, all excited. "She seems pretty cool, so I thought maybe you guys could bond, since both of you are new and all."
She looked over her shoulder and Ariana followed her gaze. A tall girl in a pink
cable-knit sweater and khaki shorts was making her way through the crowd, drawing the interested glances of the students as she passed by. Christian stopped her to introduce himself and her face was in shadow, but Ariana saw that her brown hair was cut short in a preppy do. Ariana was just about to plaster on her best welcoming smile when the girl looked up and caught her eye.
Ariana's heart completely stopped.
"Hi! I'm Lillian Oswald," the girl announced, stepping forward. "You must be Ana. Brigit already told me all about you. We are going to have so much fun this year!"
Then she reached out her arms and, much to Brigit's obvious delight, pulled Ariana toward her. Every inch of Ariana's body wanted to recoil in horror, but she couldn't. Not with Brigit right there and all these people around. All she could do was close her eyes, grit her teeth, and allow herself to be embraced by the girl she hated most in the world.
