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Noelle asked, flinging her coat over the back of her chair. The Billings Girls who were already seated with their meals-- Sabine, Tiff,
Rose, Kiki, Astrid, and others--all exchanged nervous looks. Like there was something they didn't want to tell us. Then Amberly
Carmichael scurried over with her two sentries in tow. She grabbed my forearm with one hand and Noelle's with the other. "You guys,
I just want you to know, I don't believe a word of it," she said, her eyes wide and earnest.
"A word of what?" I asked, removing her hand from my arm. At that moment Missy arrived, dropped her tray on the next table,
and turned around, her arms crossed under her sizable chest. "You guys should know that everyone's talking about how you conspired
to murder Cheyenne," she said bluntly, looking at me and Noelle. I grabbed onto the back of the nearest chair to steady myself.
"What?" Noelle blurted, loud enough that most of the conversation in the airy room screeched to a halt. "Like I said. Not a word,"
Amberly repeated. Like it was so important to us that she trusted us. Please. My life was flashing before my eyes over here. "No one
believes a word of it, right, girls? It's crazy talk," Tiffany said, looking around the table. Everyone murmured their agreement. "I don't
understand. How did this whole thing get started?" Noelle asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
Everyone at the Billings tables looked around at everyone else. Again, no one wanted to answer. Finally Missy stepped closer to us
and lowered her voice. There's a rumor going around that the police questioned someone from school last night," she said. "That
they're going to reinvestigate Cheyenne's death." What? How could anyone know that? "Now everyone's saying that you got Reed to
off Cheyenne so that there would be a vacancy in Billings," Missy added. Noelle scoffed. "Total fiction. Honestly. Who comes up
with this crap?" "Exactly," Portia added as all our friends nodded and murmured their agreement.
"Everyone's just jealous of you guys. That's why they want to tear you down," Vienna said sagely. "It's always lonely at the top,"
Shelby agreed. "Too true," Noelle said. She looked around the room, taking in the silence and the stares. "Well, this is unacceptable."
She stepped out into the center of the aisle and shook her head incredulously. "So, you all think Reed and I pulled off a murderous
coup at Billings, huh? Do you even hear how ridiculous that sounds?" she announced in a loud voice. "Who would kill someone for a
spot in a dorm? Even if it is Billings? Are you guys that hard up for scandal that you're going to believe something like that? I thought
that only smart people were admitted to Easton."
There was laughter all around. Her announcement had the desired effect. People went back to their food, and I even caught a few of
them rolling their eyes like it really was ridiculous. Rumor squelched, just like that. Damn, this girl had power. I wondered if everyone
would have believed me if I had said the same thing, but now I'd never get the chance to find out. "See? I told you," Amberly said to
her cohorts before ushering them away. "You do have to admit, the timing was a tad suspect," Missy said casually. "Cheyenne dies
and you show up the following week. And after everything that happened last year, people around here think you guys are capable of
pretty much anything. You can't really blame them for being suspicious." "You're going to want to stop talking now," Noelle snapped.
Missy did, and took her seat at the next table. She tried and failed to hide a smile behind a cough. The girl was loving every minute of
this.
