Everyone looked at me. It was as if Noelle was asking me to the prom in front of all our friends and everyone watching was on the edge of their seats, wondering if I was going to break her heart. While I doubted that Noelle had anything emotionally invested in what I was going to say next, I felt suddenly nervous.
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"Um, okay," I said.
"Cool!" Amberly blurted, then turned beet red.
Everyone laughed. Clearly she wanted to room with me about as much as I wanted to room with her. Suddenly I found myself looking forward to getting back to school. I couldn't wait to move back to Billings, to settle in with Noelle. Living with her was going to be amazing. I just knew it. And even if it wasn't, it couldn't be worse than living in that crappy single in Pemberly.
"Then it's settled. But I get the bed by the window," Noelle said, lifting a finger.
"Of course you do," Kiran replied with a touch of sarcasm.
"Oh, turn this up! I love this song!" Amberly gushed, waving a hand at the iPod.
Kiran got up and strolled over to the dock, cranking up the volume. It was some doofy pop song I couldn't believe Noelle had downloaded, but before I could make a crack about it, Amberly was singing along, bopping her head to the music as she filed Tiffany's nails. Soon the rest of us were watching her, trying not to burst out laughing so she would continue obliviously, amusing us for as long as possible. Finally she must have realized how quiet we had all become, because she looked up at us and turned pink all over again.
"What? I'magood singer!"
We all burst out laughing, and Kiran tossed me a piece of chocolate. As I sat back to enjoy my pedicure, I looked around at my friends and realized this was the last time we'd all be together for a long time-maybe even forever. For a split second it felt like old times. Like the
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days when Ariana was my friend--before I knew what she had done to Thomas, before she had threatened my life. It felt like those rare nights when we were all hanging out, letting go, keeping the outside world at bay.
I missed those times. But maybe I could have them again. Not with the same people, of course, but still. I was headed back to school. Back to Billings. And while a lot of my relationships there needed some serious repairing, after everything I'd been through on this trip, the fact that my Billings sisters had wrongfully ousted me no longer seemed like the biggest deal.
Soon I would be home. I'd be back with my friends. With no one stalking me or trying to kill me or playing stupid pranks on me. My life had been saved on that island, and this was why. So that I could go back. So that I could go back to where I belonged.
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NEW STUDENTS
Once again, my bags were piled by the door, but this time they were joined by Noelle's, tripling the size of the pile. We were going home this afternoon. Finally. When I had first arrived on St. Barths I couldn't imagine ever wanting to leave. Now every inch of my body itched for the door, the car, the plane. I just wanted to get back to normal.
Then Upton squeezed my hand. I looked at him and my heart contracted. "Can I take you with me?" I whispered.
"I wish I could come," he replied. "But I promise I'll visit you soon."
"No whispering at the table," Noelle interjected. "You two lovebirds are so rude."
I blushed and glanced around at the parents on the other side of the brunch table, all of whom were now looking at us either with amusement or approbation. Noelle was obviously kidding, but it was still embarrassing.
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"Reed, could you pass the fruit, please?" Sawyer asked, breaking the silence and giving me something to do. I released Upton's hand and passed Sawyer the big frosted-glass bowl.
"Thanks," he said, looking me in the eye.
I smiled back gratefully. "Thankyou."
Mr. Lange cleared his throat and stood up from his seat at the end of the table. He was wearing a pink oxford shirt tucked into perfectly pressed chinos, looking every bit the casual businessman. As he stood, he lifted his mimosa glass at his side.
"Everyone, if I could have your attention for a brief moment, I have an announcement to make," he said.
I glanced past Upton at Noelle, who lifted one shoulder in bemusement. What was all this about?
"These last two weeks--the last few months, really--have been a trying time for all of us," Mr. Lange began, glancing in my direction. "But with a new year comes a fresh start, and the board of directors at Easton Academy has made a move that I believe will help usher in a whole new era at our beloved school."
Across the table from Graham and Sawyer, Mr. Hathaway was touching his napkin to his lips, clearly trying to hide behind it.
"I'm happy that you will all be the first to know that Spencer Hathaway has accepted the position of headmaster of Easton Academy," Mr. Lange announced. "And that his two fine boys will be the newest additions to the student body."
"Noway," I blurted, looking at Sawyer. "You're going to Easton?"
Sawyer nodded, pushing his hands into the napkin across his lap.
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The Langes and the Gileses applauded, and Upton got up to congratulate Mr. Hathaway. Noelle went over and gave Mr. Hathaway a kiss on the cheek, then paused by Graham's chair on the way back.
"You two sure you can hang with us?" she joked.
"I think we can handle it," Graham said, taking a bite of his bacon.
Sawyer didn't look quite as confident, though.
"What's wrong? Nervous about starting a new school?" I asked.
"I guess," he said, looking down at his plate. "It sucks, switching over midyear."
"Well, don't worry about it. You already have friends there, so that's a good thing," I said, glancing at Noelle. "And I'm sure with your dad as the headmaster, you guys will get placed in one of the good dorms."
"Which ones are the good ones?" Graham asked, on the edge of his seat.
Noelle lowered herself into Upton's now vacant chair to be closer to us. "Well, for guys it's Ketlar. You definitely want to be in Ketlar. If anyone utters the word Drake, run in the opposite direction."
"What's wrong with Drake? " Sawyer asked.
"Nothing," I said, rolling my eyes. "Everyone just thinks there is."
"Whatever," Noelle said. "Little Miss Brightside here likes to believe everyone is created equal. You'd think she'd be over that by now."
"What dorm are you guys in?" Graham asked, turning sideways in his chair, his sport jacket falling open to reveal his somewhat wrinkled white shirt.
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"Billings House," I replied.
"The best house on campus. We'll introduce you to our housemates. We have a few single girls on the prowl," Noelle added with a wink, taking a sip of her mimosa.
"Noelle? Could I see you for a moment, please?" Mrs. Lange asked from the other side of the table. Her cell phone was open and she held her hand over the receiver. "I'm on with Bliss and they need to update your information."
"Coming, Mother," Noelle replied.
I watched her go, wondering for the millionth time at the oddities of Mrs. Lange's behavior. Here she was, hosting a brunch--a celebratory brunch, as it turned out--and everyone was busy chatting up the guest of honor while she was on the phone booking spa appointments.
"You know, Noelle's dad and my dad were talking about Billings last night," Sawyer said, pushing his eggs around with his fork. "They were in my dad's office on the phone with someone on speaker. I could only hear one end of the conversation because the volume wasn't cranked up that loud, but the word Billings definitely came up a few times."
"What were they saying?" I asked.
"I don't know, but it didn't sound good," Sawyer replied, glancing warily at his dad and Mr. Lange. "Noelle's dad seemed pissed and my father kept trying to calm him down."
Suddenly my heart felt like it was shrinking inside of me, bouncing around like a Ping-Pong ball. What could this possibly
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mean? I leaned closer to the tabl
e and Sawyer, and kept my voice down.
"Can you remember anything specific? Were they talking about splitting us up?" I asked, my hand flat on the table, my palm sweating. Sawyer's eyes darted around, like he was suddenly nervous. My tension was rubbing off.
"I don't know. My dad kept saying, 'We understand,' over and over again. And there was something about a media crisis. . . ." He shrugged, but then his face lit up. "And oh yeah," he whispered. "Toward the end I definitely heard Noelle's dad agree it was for the good of the school. Although he didn't seem that happy about whatever it was."
I swallowed hard. Usually "for the good of the school" was not a good sign for the Billings Girls. I looked up at Noelle, who was chatting merrily with her mother, and a chill went through me. What had her dad and Mr. Hathaway decided with whoever was on the phone? And did she know about it?
I decided right then and there that I was not going to ask. If she didn't know about it, she would grill me for information I didn't have. It would be better to just wait until we were back at Easton. I was sure that whatever it was, we would find a way to fix it. We'd have to. There was no way I was going back to Pemberly. Not now.
Besides, maybe Sawyer had misheard. Or I was misinterpreting. Anything was possible. And it wasn't worth getting all stressed over without knowing the details.
"Hey."
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Upton's warm hand touched the back of my neck and his other hand clasped Sawyer's shoulder.
"Mind if I steal her away?" Upton asked.
Sawyer turned back to his plate, his spine curling forward slightly under Upton's grip. "Go ahead."
"Thanks, mate." He slapped Sawyer once on the back. "Let's go for a walk," he said, offering me his hand now. "It's gorgeous out, and I want you all to myself for a little while before you leave."
I took a deep breath and exhaled, blowing out all the stress about Billings and Easton. There was nothing I could do about it now, and I wasn't going to let potentially imaginary drama ruin my last couple of hours with Upton.
"Sounds perfect," I said, taking his hand.
I gave Sawyer a smile as we walked away, but he was looking in the other direction.
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GOOD- BYE FOR NOW
I gazed across the aqua-blue ocean, watching the waves as they lapped at the white sand. Upton's arms were wrapped around me from behind, his chin resting on my shoulder. My heart felt heavy and full. I took a deep breath and let it go, just to see if I could lessen its load, but somehow it felt even heavier.
"What are you thinking?" Upton asked quietly.
"I'm thinking that I'm really going to miss you."
He chuckled, sending a pleasant shiver through my chest. "You sound surprised."
I smiled and sighed again. In a way, I was surprised. I couldn't believe that, in such a short time, everything about him had become so familiar to me. The warmth of his skin, the roughness of his cheek on the mornings he didn't shave, the crisp scent of his clothing, the sexy lilt of his accent. And I was going to miss every last bit of it. Every last bit of him.
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In a little while, we were going to jet off in different directions, for distant corners of the world. And as much as I knew that saying good-bye was going to hurt, I had to wonder . . . did I really want to be tethered to someone? Did I want to go back to Easton as Upton's girlfriend and have to second-guess myself every time I flirted or needed a date for a party or met a guy I really liked? It kind of went against the whole carpe diem lifestyle I'd promised myself I'd have back when I was on the island.
I had to say something. I had to be honest with him. And I had to get it over with before my heart burst.
"Upton, about this whole long-distance thing," I said, turning to face him. He kept his arms around my waist so that our faces were extremely close.
"You're goingto get all practical on me now, aren't you?" he asked, giving me a quick kiss.
"It's just..." I took a deep breath and fiddled with the buttons on his white linen shirt. "It doesn't seem all that realistic."
"I know," he said.
I glanced up at him, feeling both hopeful and disappointed at the same time. Is it wrong that part of me wanted him to fight me on this? "You do?"
"Well, I can't expect a girl like you to just cloister yourself away, can I?" he said with a smirk. He tucked my hair behind my ear, then ran his hand down the length of it.
"It's not that I don't care about you ... I mean, I do," I said in a rush. "It's just, I've got this whole new seize-the-day thing going on and--"
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"After three near-death experiences and six days trapped on a deserted island byyourself, I supposed that's to be expected," he said with a shrug.
I laughed. "So you understand?"
"Of course," he replied. "But does this mean it's over and done? No more Reed at all? I've got to quit you full stop? No calls or texts or anything? Because I don't think I'm ready for that."
My smile brightened. "I don't think we have to be that drastic," I said, pulling him closer. "What if we say we'll stay in touch and just.. . see what happens? "
"And maybe see each other over spring break? I mean, if neither of us is with anyone else," he clarified quickly. "Because my parents have this villa in southern Italy that you would just adore."
"Southern Italy? I think I could handle that," I said, resting my cheek against his chest. "They don't have deserted islands there, do they?"
"None that I'm aware of. But if they do, I promise to have them populated before March," he joked, holding me tightly.
"I would appreciate that," I replied.
We stood like that for a while, for what seemed like a very long time, until the tide started to come in and the cool water lapped at our feet.
"Reed! They're loadingup the car. We've gotta go!" Noelle shouted from the patio outside her house.
"I suppose we should get this over with," Upton said finally.
My heart dropped. "Do we have to?"
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He glanced over his shoulder at Noelle, who was giving us a no-nonsense stare from above. "Unless we want to die a slow death at the hands of Noelle Lange," Upton said.
I giggled. "I'll be right there!" I shouted to her.
She rolled her eyes, groaned, and went back inside. Upton smiled down at me, his arms draped around my waist. "So, this is goodbye?"
"Good-bye for now," I clarified.
"All right then." He reached up and cupped one hand around the back of my neck, his thumb caressing the supersensitive skin below my ear. Shiver city. "Good-bye for now, Reed Brennan."
Then he kissed me and kissed me and kissed me, until our feet had sunk into the wet sand, and my lips went from tingling to numb, and I had memorized exactly how perfect I felt in his arms.
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THE GREAT AND POWERFUL OZ
I stared out the window as the private jet lifted from the ground, tugging us smoothly into the clear blue sky. The island dropped away beneath me, and I felt the weight of everything that had happened there falling away with it. A new year, a fresh start. That was what Mr. Lange had said. I was definitely down with that.
"Some vacation, huh? " Noelle said, leaning her head back against the leather seat.
We were sitting across from each other, the only passengers on the plane aside from her mother, who was seated near the back with a sleeping mask covering her eyes. Tiffany and Amberly had left earlier that morning, so this time we had the comfy jet all to ourselves.
"It was definitely exciting," I said wryly.
"Putting a positive spin on things," Noelle said with a smile. "I like it."
My iPhone beeped and I lifted it from my lap. Upton had been
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texting me ever since I left him on the beach that morning, with funny little updates on what he was doing. This one read, simply:
Up and away. U?
I quickly texted back.
Me too.
"God. Who knew Upton
could be so clingy?" Noelle joked.
"It's not clingy. It's cute," I replied. The phone beeped again.
Damn. UR getting further away. I can feel it.
My grin widened. I texted back.
Toughen up or its gonna b a long 2 months!
I hit send, then silenced my phone, tucking it back into my bag. When Upton and I had kissed good-bye on the beach, I had told myself that it was our last kiss. That I had to go back to Easton and live my life as if Upton and I had never happened. That was how I had decided it should be. Besides, Upton had always been a player. Whatever we had been through together, no matter how much he swore he wanted to keep in touch, I had to be realistic. I knew there was a good chance he was going to forget all about me the second I walked away.
But apparently that was not the case. And it felt nice.
"So, your parents are meetingyou in New York?" Noelle asked.
"And my brother, Scott," I said, a thrill of anticipation running through me at the thought of actually being with my entire family at the same time. I only had one day before I had to be back at Easton for second term--not enough time to go all the way back to Pennsylvania. So my family had decided to drive out to New York, and Mr. Lange had offered to put them up in a hotel for a couple of nights so we could all
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hang out. I had been hoping they could all meet, considering everything Noelle's dad had done for me on the island, but he was on his way to California for some business meeting. It seemed like no one I knew was ever in the same place with their parents for very long.
"Mmmm. I finally get to meet Scott Brennan," Noelle said, actually licking her top lip.
"Ew. No. I think you two should stay very far away from each other," I said.