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like, I tried, so I smiled gratefully back at her. "At least someone's attempting to think of something," I said. Clearly Sabine had spo-
ken up solely to save me from the awkward silence. "Come on, you guys. Anything?" After another thirty minutes of quiet, broken oc-
casionally by lame ideas, I finally closed out the brainstorming portion of the meeting. It was both exhausting and depressing. "Let's
talk about some logistical stuff," I suggested. "What else do we need to do?" "We need a guest list," Kiki announced, popping her
gum. "Right. Good. Everyone come up with at least twenty people to invite before we meet next," I said, happy to be able to assign a
task that could actually be accomplished. "What else?"
"We'll need to get passes from Cromwell for next weekend," Noelle reminded me. "Right. He's not going to like that," I said.
"Please. Once we remind him there's a cool five mil involved, he'll have no problem writing them out," Noelle replied. "Good point," I
said. "Okay, until we figure out exactly what this event is going to be, I guess there's not much else we can do. Everyone think about it
and let me know if you have any huge epiphanies." The room filled with chatter as everyone stood and gathered their things. Why
they couldn't have been that talkative ten minutes ago, I had no idea. But one thing was certain--someone around here needed to have
a flash of brilliance soon, or we were going to be in serious trouble. If Ivy had sat in on this meeting, she would have been happier
than Vienna and London at a Calvin Klein sample sale. Ivy. Right. Noelle was just tucking her iPhone away and getting up to go when
my conversation with the witch crossed my thoughts. Noelle had been here longer than anyone--and always seemed to know what was
going on with everyone around her. She had to have some kind of insight on Ivy. "Noelle, I have a question," I said, standing. "And I
have an answer," she replied, pausing with her hand on the back of her chair. Typical confidence. But then, she usually did have an
answer. "What is up with Ivy Slade and Billings?" I asked. Noelle blinked. "What do you mean?" I shoved my notebook in my bag
and shouldered it, standing across the way from Noelle. "At the beginning of the year, Portia and Rose wanted to, quote, 're-extend'
Ivy's invite to Billings, but Cheyenne shot the idea down. Was she supposed to be here last year?"
Noelle lifted one shoulder. "Depends on how you look at it. She was extended an invitation at the end of her sophomore year, but
she opted to decline. End of story." Opted to decline? Who the hell declined Billings? "But that doesn't make sense," I said, crossing
my arms over my chest. "Why does she hate us so much if she decided not to live here?" Noelle shrugged again and came around the
chair. "Sorry, Reed," she said as she reached me. "I can't say I'm intimately aware of the inner workings of Ivy Slade's brain. Thank
God." She started past me and something inside of me clicked. I
knew that dismissive tone. There was something Noelle wasn't telling
me. Like I wasn't worthy of knowing. I couldn't let her keep me in the dark again. Not like last year. We were equals now. It was time
to remind her of that. And there were things I knew too. "Did you know that Ivy and Cheyenne were once best friends?" I asked, turn-
ing toward the door. Noelle stopped in her tracks. I had startled her. Ah, sweet satisfaction.
"Who told you that?" she asked, swinging her thick hair back as she turned to face me. I shrugged. "Just something I heard." "Well,
you heard about ancient history," she replied with a condescending smirk. "Whoever your informant is, she should update her
