Ariana smiled sadly, wishing he could see her real hair. "Thanks."
She gazed down at Teo and Briana Leigh, who were slow dancing together toward the back of the crowd, even though the band was
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playing a frantic rock song. Kaitlynn was wearing a buttery tan leather jacket--a piece of clothing that Ariana actually would have worn herself--and with her new short blond hair, she actually looked sophisticated for once. It was Briana Leigh and Teo's last night together before Teo left for Ibiza, and clearly, they were making each moment count. In a few days Briana Leigh would be joining him there. Grandma C. would be escorting her granddaughter, along with Emma Walsh, to the airport, where they would board the Covingtons' private jet to Washington, D.C. Atherton-Pryce's school year didn't begin for another few weeks, so Briana Leigh had asked her grandmother if she could leave early to go stay with Emma's family, who were vacationing in Virginia, until term started. Grandma C. liked Emma Walsh so much that she hadn't even blinked before saying yes.
It was amazing how someone so shrewd could be so gullible. But, as Ariana had learned, it was all about what a person wanted to believe.
"What do you think of Briana Leigh's new look?" Ariana asked Hudson.
Hudson stood on his toes to see over the low wall to the floor below. "Eh. I've never been much for blondes."
A thump of dread shook Ariana's chest, until she realized she was no longer a blonde. She couldn't feel offended.
"Good," she said with a smile. She turned around in his grasp and wrapped one arm around his neck. With her free hand, she combed through the blond hair at his temple. "But I happen to like them."
Hudson grinned. "Good."
Ariana's eyes fluttered closed and their lips met. She had never
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enjoyed grungy clubs or loud, ear-splitting music, but this particular place was rapidly growing on her. Hudson took her hand and led her over to the creaky wooden bench along the wall, choosing a nice, dark corner. As he sat down, he pulled her right onto his lap and Ariana felt a thrill of excitement through her entire body. Before she could overthink anything, she was deep in a kiss that would have made her cluck her tongue and turn away if she had been on the outside looking in. But on the inside, all she could think about was Hudson. The minty taste of his mouth, the rough calluses on his fingers as they ran up her back under her shirt, the strength of his arms as he pulled her into him. So close she could feel the frenetic pounding of his heart.
Before long the band was playing their last, raucous note and shouting their good-byes to the cheering crowd. Before long, the patrons had filled the benches around them with drinks and loud chatter. Ariana felt a hand on her shoulder and turned, bleary-eyed, to find Briana Leigh laughing down at her.
"Time to go, sluts," she said.
Ariana's face burned. Her legs were wrapped around Hudson's waist and all their clothes were askew. The punk types next to her cackled and raised their plastic cups of beer in admiration. She glanced at Hudson and, feeling suddenly shy and embarrassed, slipped off his lap and straightened her skirt.
"Guess we should go then," he said, looking like he'd just woken up from a seriously long but satisfying nap.
All the way back to the ranch, Hudson held Ariana's hand in the backseat of Teo's Hummer. He ran his thumb back and forth over
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hers, sending pleasant tingles up her arm. But that was where they died. Because there was nothing pleasant about the feeling in her heart. She knew he was looking at her, but all she could do was stare out the window and grow more and more depressed.
"What are you thinking about?" he asked her quietly.
"Nothing," she lied. "What are you thinking about?"
She hazarded a glance at him and he gave her a sweet smile. "I was thinking about all the weekends I'm going to visit you down at Easton. Wondering where on campus you guys go when you want to be alone."
Ariana's stomach twisted for a million different reasons. Because this was exactly her fear--that Hudson was expecting more. Because she would never actually see Easton again. Because the last person she had sought out secluded campus spots with was dead. And because of what she was going to have to do.
Teo pulled up behind the Jeep Hudson had rented for the summer and killed the engine. Outside the car Ariana clutched Hudson's hand and held him back from following the others inside. He glanced back at her, a question in his eyes.
"We'll catch up," Ariana called after Briana Leigh.
Hudson turned on his heel on the drive, a quizzical look on his face. Ariana looked down at his shoes--perfectly buffed brown loafers--and her heart broke. Could he be any more perfect? Hudson must have sensed what was coming, because he removed his hand from hers. She automatically shoved her fingers under her arms, as if that would somehow replace the warmth of his skin.
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"Hudson, you can't come visit me at Easton," she said, her eyes still trained on the ground.
He shifted his weight. "Why not?"
Ariana made herself look at him. He deserved that much. She forced herself to say the only thing she could think to say. The only thing that might actually keep him away. "Because I have a boyfriend."
Hudson took a step back and bent over slightly, as if he'd been punched in the stomach. His mouth curled into a stunned smile. Like he wanted to laugh at how stupid he felt. "You what?"
"I'm sorry, I... This was just a fling for me," Ariana said, feeling desperate. Feeling as if the lie were the truth. Suddenly, surprisingly, a picture of Daniel Ryan, her sophomore and junior-year boyfriend, flashed through her mind, as if he were the one waiting for her back in Connecticut. Weird. But it made it easier to feel as if she was talking about someone real. "We're actually very serious and I just... I need to end this. Now. Tonight."
Hudson pushed one hand into his hair and looked away, off toward the darkened tennis courts. His expression was incredulous, and Ariana could practically hear his heart breaking. She hated that she had to do this to him and cursed fate for bringing him into her life now. Now, at the one point when she couldn't do this. When she couldn't be with anyone. When she wasn't even anyone.
But she couldn't think about that now. She had one purpose and that was her future. And Hudson could not be part of it. In a few days Emma Walsh as he knew her would cease to exist and she would become Briana Leigh Covington.
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There was simply no good way to explain that to him.
"I don't believe this," Hudson said finally.
Smart guy, Ariana thought."I'm sorry," she said again.
He turned his back to her and she waited, listening to a coyote howling in the distance. The sound reminded her of their night under the stars and her heart clenched painfully. She waited for him to turn on her in anger. To tell her what a bitch she was. To call her a liar and a whore and whatever other choice words he could come up with. To glare at her with betrayed eyes.
But when he looked at her again, her breath caught. The only emotions in his eyes were sadness and longing. He took a step toward her and she didn't even flinch.
"This guy," he said, looking directly into her eyes, "this guy had better be worthy of you."
Ariana was so stunned she couldn't even formulate a thought. Hudson turned and got into his car and drove away, but she just stood there, in the exact same pose, her nails digging into her skin.
You have to start over. You have to start over, she reminded herself as a warm breeze tousled her long hair. But in that brief moment, the idea of starting over totally and completely sucked.
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PURE EVIL
Ariana stood behind Briana Leigh on the tarmac at Love Field Airport as Briana Leigh said good-bye to her grandmother. Ariana wore a black strapless sundress with huge, colorful flowers all over the skirt, her extensions piled up under a floppy straw hat. Neither she nor Briana Leigh wanted Grandma Covington to notice her new hair. Not that the old bat could see three feet in front of he
r, but still. With so much at stake, extra precautions were necessary."Bye, Grandma," Briana Leigh said, bending down to hug the old woman. "You were so right to make me go to school. I don't know what I was thinking. Thank you so much for caring."
Behind her wide sunglasses, Ariana rolled her eyes. Briana Leigh was laying it on a tad thick. Grandma C. was old, but not at all stupid. The matriarch's mouth was twisted into a suspicious frown when Briana Leigh leaned back again.
"What are you up to?" she asked in her raspy voice.
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Briana Leigh hesitated, than laughed, spreading her arms wide. "Nothing! Honestly. I just wanted to thank you."
The woman tilted her face back a bit to look Briana Leigh squarely in the eye. "Well, we'll see how much you're thanking me once I get those progress reports. I'd better see serious improvements in your grades, Briana Leigh."
Ariana tried not to smirk. The woman had no idea the number of As and excellents that were coming her way.
"Don't worry," Briana Leigh said, leaning down to give her grandmother a peck on the cheek. "I think you're going to be very proud of me this year."
"We'll see," Grandma C. said. "And don't go spending all the money I gave you on clothes and nights on the town. That money is for emergencies."
Briana Leigh's smile widened and Ariana hid a grin behind her hand. Her friend actually planned to use the fifteen thousand dollars her grandmother had given her to pay for a small oceanside wedding once she got to Ibiza. Ariana had hoped that Briana Leigh would give her some of the cash as well, but instead Briana Leigh had emptied the twenty-four hundred dollars from her checking account and given that to Ariana to use for incidentals. It was a start. And soon Grandma Covington would begin sending Briana Leigh's monthly allowance to her mailbox at Atherton-Pryce. All in all, Ariana would have more than enough money to live on.
Everything was working out as planned. Both Ariana and Briana Leigh were going to have the lives they wanted.
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As the Covingtons said their last good-byes and Briana Leigh boarded the plane, Ariana stepped forward. She clutched the new Louis Vuitton travel case Briana Leigh had purchased for her in both hands.
"I just wanted to say thank you for letting me stay with you, and for letting me fly back east on your private jet. It's very generous of you, Mrs. Covington," she said. "I can't thank you enough."
Especially considering you're going to be paying my way for the next two years, she thought, biting back a Cheshire-cat grin. Of course, when it came to Princeton, she was going to have to figure out a brand-new plan, but she had two whole years to work on it, and she wasn't worried. Look what she had accomplished during sixteen months in prison."Miss Walsh, you seem like a very nice girl," the woman said, squinting.
"Thank you," Ariana said, pleased.
"Let me give you a piece of advice," Grandma Covington said, lifting a gnarled hand as if to point at Ariana. "Once my granddaughter is situated on campus, stay as far away from her as possible. That girl is a bad seed. Plain and simple."
Ariana's heart automatically thumped with foreboding.
"Let's go, Jonathan," Mrs. Covington said to the chauffeur standing at her side. "I want out of this sun."
The chauffeur grasped the handles on the back of her wheelchair and turned her until her back was to Ariana. She wished she could think of something to say in parting, but nothing came to mind.
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Then the plane's engines whirred to life behind her and she realized that anything she said would have been lost in the noise anyway.
When she turned around, Briana Leigh stood at the top of the gangway stairs, waving at her to hurry up. Ariana wondered what, exactly, Grandma Covington had meant. Was it just because the two of them didn't get along, or did Grandma C. really sense something dark in her granddaughter? What, exactly, did the old matriarch think had actually happened the day her son was murdered? As much as she was dying to run after the woman and ask, Ariana knew that she couldn't. It was not her place. Mrs. Covington's thoughts on her son's death and her obviously complex feelings for Kaitlynn and Briana Leigh would have to remain a mystery.
Ariana rolled her shoulders back, placed her hand atop her hat to keep it from blowing off in the wind, and strode toward the family plane. As close as she had become with Briana Leigh over the past week, she was starting to feel that parting ways with her and her dysfunctional past was going to be a good thing.
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PURGED
"How many of those have you had?" Ariana asked as Briana Leigh attempted to place an empty vodka and cranberry on the table between their two facing leather seats. She kept missing the edge of the table, so Ariana finally leaned forward, took the glass from the girl's hand, and put it down. Briana Leigh was sloshed and getting seriously messy. Ariana wrinkled her nose as Briana Leigh wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.
The new Briana Leigh Covington is going to have much better manners, Ariana vowed."I want to drink enough to be passed out on the plane to Ibiza," Briana Leigh explained, closing her eyes and tipping her head back.
Ariana tried not to sigh as she turned the page of that day's Washington Post. She had gone this long without criticizing Briana Leigh's habits. Why start now? Especially when Briana Leigh was giving her the biggest gift Ariana could have ever asked for: her life.
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"What's with you and that newspaper?" Briana Leigh asked, sitting up again. She leaned her arm heavily on the armrest and snapped her fingers for the flight attendant, who immediately started mixing another drink. "You're so serious all of a sudden."
"Just want to know what's going on in the world," Ariana replied lightly, trying not to betray the pounding of her heart.
She turned the pages slowly, even though all she wanted to do was tear through the thing in search of any mention of her name. The moment she had seen the paper folded neatly on one of the airplane's tables along with the New York Times and USA Today, her pulse had started to race, but she had forced herself not to pick it up until now, when there was only an hour of flight time left in their flight. Otherwise, if the news was bad, she might have spent the whole flight obsessing and feeling ill.
The stewardess delivered another vodka and cranberry. Ariana turned to the last page of the local section and froze. There was the headline.
LATEST DREDGING OF LAKE PAGE INCONCLUSIVE AUTHORITIES STEP UP HUNT FOR FUGITIVE TEEN
Ariana leaned forward, grabbed the glass from Briana Leigh's hand before it could reach her mouth, and took a swig. The alcohol burned its way down her throat and she winced.
"Hello, rude!" Briana Leigh snapped. She wagged her fingers at the stewardess impatiently. "If you wanted one, you could have just asked."
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Ariana ignored her. She placed the drink down on the table and read the piece with dread in her heart. She learned that Dr. Meloni was still working at the Brenda T.--the investigation into the comments he had allegedly made about her suicide were unsubstantiated. Ariana hadn't mentioned him in her note, so there was no proof that his lack of professionalism had pushed Ariana to take her own life. He had been issued a warning by the warden, but that was all. Lucky bastard. He deserved to rot.
Meanwhile, Lake Page had now been dredged three times. Residents with homes on the lake were growing impatient, concerned about health issues. No one wanted their kids swimming in a lake that harbored a rotting corpse. The manager of the Philmore Hotel had reported several cancellations and suffering profits. Meanwhile, authorities were beginning to grow skeptical that such a corpse actually existed.
"We want visitors to the area to know that our lake is perfectly safe," said Christopher Hamm, PR director for the Philmore Family of Luxury Hotels. "At this point, all experts agree that if no body has been found, there is no body to be found. "
Ariana's stomach was twisted like ten thousand pretzels. Her hand trembled as she reached for the drink again. Why wouldn't they just give up? Why were they so determi
ned to find her body? And, honestly, so what if she had escaped rather than died? She wasn't going to hurt anyone. All she wanted was to start over. All she wanted was to be left alone. Why couldn't they just leave her alone?
"Did I mention the airport we're flying into is within miles of
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Kaitlynn's prison?" Briana Leigh said, swigging from her new drink and looking out the window.
"Oh?" Terrified heat prickled Ariana's skin. Her hands were so sweaty the newsprint was coming off on her palms. What was she thinking, flying back to D.C, enrolling in Atherton? She should have been on a plane to Australia by now, not careening right into the belly of the beast. She reached back to pull her extensions off her shoulders and fan her neck with the newspaper.
And then she paused, all that new hair clutched in her fist. Suddenly an icy calm came over her. It didn't matter that she was going to be landing so close to the Brenda T. She had new hair, new clothes, new eyes. She had even managed a hint of a tan after spending every moment she could out by the pool. Every day Ariana looked more like Briana Leigh and less like herself. Plus, it wasn't as if she was going to go anywhere near the prison. No one was going to recognize her at Atherton-Pryce Hall. There was no reason for any of those people to suspect a thing.
Briana Leigh slipped her sunglasses on as she gazed out the window and Ariana smirked. The girl sitting across from her could have been the old her. Maybe the police would spot Briana Leigh at Dulles Airport and arrest her instead.
Amused by this mental image, Ariana felt her blood cool considerably. It was going to be fine. Everything was going to be fine. Even if the authorities did "step up the search," they would never look for her at Atherton-Pryce. There was simply no reason for them to go there.