Beautiful Disaster

by Kate Brian

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  the weather turns on us," Lexa replied. Lexa was, of course, wearing a perfectly

  weather-appropriate sundress in a stunning shade of blue. It made her eyes look like round sapphires.

  "Hi, Ana. Hi, Lexa." Quinn, the sophomore on coffee duty, appeared at the end of their aisle. She and her friend were toting trays of iced coffees, and Quinn handed one to Lexa. "How was Italy?"

  "Fantdstico" Lexa said with a bright smile. "Did you guys have fun in Ireland?"

  Quinn's grin widened as she handed Ariana her iced cappuccino, the drink order she'd passed along to the sophomore during dinner the night before. "I can't believe you remembered! It was incredible. We hiked everywhere and stayed in these amazing little inns."

  "I'd love to see the pictures," Lexa said kindly. She looked at Quinn's friend. "You can leave the other drinks here. They're running late."

  "Okay," Quinn said, taking this as her cue to leave. She grabbed the tray from the other girl and placed it on the empty seat next to Ariana. "Let us know if you need anything else!"

  "Thanks!" Ariana called after them.

  She glanced at Lexa, who was sipping her drink as she watched Quinn and her friend scurry off, her expression completely normal. She wasn't feeling self-satisfied or cocky over having errand girls at her beck and call. It was as if nothing out of the ordinary had just happened. As if this was her birthright rather than some kind of power trip. Ariana thought of Noelle and her imperious stares, how she got off on ordering people around.

  Lexa seemed like her complete opposite.

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  While Noelle was a ruthless dictator, Lexa was a benevolent ruler. It was odd, intriguing, and almost refreshing.

  "Do you want to go back and change?" Lexa asked. "I'll hold your seat for you."

  "No, thanks. I'm fine," Ariana replied, trying her best to look cool and poised.

  It took all her willpower not to hold her cold drink cup against the back of her neck. The scrapes on her skin stung from the sweat. She should have just told Kaitlynn to piss off. She should have walked out. Better yet, she should have never shown up there. Kaitlynn wouldn't really make good on her threat to expose Ariana, would she? What could she possibly have to gain from seeing Ariana get hauled back to jail? Kaitlynn wouldn't have even been free right now if it wasn't for Ariana. Didn't that gain her any leeway here?

  Ariana gripped her coffee cup. She knew the answer was "no." Kaitlynn would turn her in just for the sheer pleasure of watching the newsfeeds and seeing Ariana, as she so eloquently put it, "fry." The girl was going to ruin Ariana if she didn't get what she wanted. The problem was, Ariana had absolutely no chance of getting her hands on a million dollars. Kaitlynn might as well have asked for a billion. She might as well have asked for her own personal space shuttle with a five-star chef, a water bed, and a flight plan to Jupiter.

  I should have killed her. I should have just ended her right there."We missed you at breakfast," Lexa said, ruffling her own bangs with her fingertips to make them fuller. "Soomie went over the entire

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  debate from the con side. I thought Maria was going to spear her with her fork. I swear it was touch and go there for a while."

  Ariana glanced at Lexa, alarmed at the mention of forks and spearing. "What?"

  "I'm just kidding," Lexa said with a laugh. She sipped her coffee and glanced up as the debate teams made their way to their chairs behind the podiums. "So, where were you?"

  "Oh, I. . ." What did people do in the mornings that would make sense? She didn't want to tell the girl she had been retaking her English entrance exam. It was a secret only Palmer knew about, and with him she had been able to use it to her advantage, but the fewer people who knew about it, the better. It would definitely raise too many questions. Especially from Brigit. Ariana saw a guy walk by in athletic shorts and the lightbulb went off. "I went for a run."

  Lexa's face lit up. "You run? Me too! We should go together sometime. There's a great jogging path down by the river."

  Ariana's fake smile was so stiff it actually hurt. "Great."

  "Hey," Maria greeted them, grabbing her coffee from the tray before settling in next to Lexa. "Did we miss anything?"

  "Nope," Lexa replied.

  "Here, Ana!" Brigit handed Ariana a white waxed paper bag as she walked by. "It's a raspberry muffin. My favorite. Not that I can eat them anymore. I wasn't sure if you liked raspberries, but I figured you'd be hungry since you missed breakfast. Do you like raspberries? What's your favorite fruit?"

  "Can we twenty-questions her later?" Soomie asked, slipping past

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  Ariana to sit at Lexa's other side. "A) I'm sure she's not in the mood, and B) the debate is about to start."

  "Thanks, Brigit," Ariana said, touched by the gesture. "And I love raspberries."

  Brigit grinned happily and sat back in her chair.

  "Hey, ladies."

  Palmer picked up the empty coffee tray and dropped into the seat next to Ariana's, wearing a dark teal Izod polo and light shorts and looking country club perfect. He stashed the tray under his chair and grinned at Lexa. Ariana instantly stiffened and turned her knees away from him.

  "Hey! Just in time!" Lexa whispered back.

  "The party never starts till I get there anyway," Palmer joked. "Hey, Ana."

  Ariana turned further away from him and nudged Lexa. "Do you want to switch with me?"

  "Oh, that's okay," Lexa replied.

  "No. Go ahead. Sit next to your boyfriend," Ariana said, emphasizing the word boyfriend a bit so that Palmer would definitely hear.

  Lexa tilted her head. "Okay. Thanks."

  The two of them got up and slid past each other, exchanging seats. As soon as Ariana was seated between Lexa and Maria, Palmer shot her a bemused look. She completely ignored it, focusing instead on her raspberry muffin, which was way too delicious to have been made by a school cafeteria staff.

  As Headmaster Jansen got up to call the crowd to attention, a cloud

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  slid over the sun, giving Ariana a moment's relief from the torturous heat. She glanced up, looked around at all the bright, expectant faces, the green lawn, the happily burbling fountain. The buildings were stately, the skies blue, the trees flowering. To the left was the administration building where she had aced the crap out of that English exam that morning. She should be excited about these things--these friends, these surroundings, the new academic year. But she wasn't. She was pissed. And scared. And helpless. As Soomie would say, the facts were these: A) There was no way she could pay Kaitlynn off, and B) if she didn't pay Kaitlynn off, all of this was going to be taken away from her.

  There was only one thing Ariana could do. She had to kill Kaitlynn. Not just fantasize about it, but actually do it. It was the only way to be free of her. It was the only way to protect her new life. It wasn't the best-case scenario, of course. It would be risky and messy and could land her right back in prison, but it was her only chance. The only chance she had of preserving what she had worked so hard to achieve. It was Kaitlynn's own fault, really. She was forcing Ariana's hand. And if anyone deserved to die, it was her.

  "And now, let the debate begin!" Headmaster Jansen announced.

  "Let's go, gold!" Brigit and Soomie shouted as Maria and Lexa applauded.

  A slight breeze kicked up, cooling the back of Ariana's neck, and she took a deep, cleansing breath. Suddenly, her heart felt as light as air. Simply making the decision, coming up with a proactive solution to the problem, had completely shifted her mood.

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  "Go, gold!" Ariana put in.

  "That feels so much better," Lexa said, commenting on the breeze.

  "Doesn't it, though?" Ariana replied. She sipped her iced coffee, tore off a piece of muffin and popped it into her mouth, then sighed contentedly. Everything was going to be fine. She was back in control.

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  THE CHOSEN ONE

  "Three cheers for Sumit Me
dha!" Palmer shouted, lifting his cup of lemonade."Hip hip, hooray!"

  The celebratory crowd broke up, half of the people surging forward to slap Sumit on the back, the other half dispersing toward the food and drink tables. Gold had won the debate competition, which meant all the team had to do to secure Privilege House was win one of the next two competitions. And with Tahira in charge of the fund-raising event, everyone seemed about ready to start repacking their things for the move. Ariana sipped her lemonade and glanced back at the two towers of Wolcott Hall. Which room would be hers? She hoped it would have a view. And a much better roommate than Allison.

  "I didn't think anyone hip-hip-hoorayed anymore," she said to Maria as they turned their steps toward the water. The celebratory picnic was being held at the edge of a quaint little pond on the outskirts

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  of campus. A pond that was mercifully surrounded by huge maple trees offering lots of comforting shade.

  "Oh, there are a lot of things done around here that you wouldn't think were done anywhere anymore," Maria replied. She paused and blinked. "Did that make any sense?"

  "Strangely, yes," Ariana replied. Maria gave her a rare, tight smile. Progress. Maria tossed her empty iced-coffee cup--her fourth of the day--into a garbage can, and together they strolled toward the edge of the pond, where Tahira was calling a klatch of people to order.

  "If you want to be involved in the fund-raiser, please, get your butts down here," Tahira called out at the top of her voice. "I've got a lot of info for you and not a lot of time!"

  "So, Maria, what do you think of--"

  "You should really be paying attention to this," Maria told her. "You have to sign up for something, and it's obviously not going to be crew."

  Ariana's mouth snapped shut. So much for progress. Why was Maria so curt with her? Had she done something to offend the girl? She held her tongue and turned her attention to the Dubai princess, who was obviously enjoying the spotlight.

  "I have the most fabulous fund-raising event planned. More fabulous than anything Welcome Week has ever seen," she began, sliding her eyes along the crowd to make sure everyone was properly rapt with attention. "Friday night, we will be holding a gala event at the American Museum of Pop Culture."

  There were a few gasps, some impressed murmurs, and a spattering

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  of applause. Ariana was duly impressed. This was one new development she had read about inside the Brenda T.--the opening of the fabulously hip museum, backed by some of the biggest directors, actors, and producers in film and television, plus a couple of magazine magnates and a few aging rock stars. It was jam-packed with memorabilia and exhibits from all forms of pop culture and was the place to hold parties in D.C. these days.

  "Thanks to Kassie Sharpe, whose father is curator of the museum, we will have full access to all the galleries," Tahira continued. "And thanks to Micah Granger--our resident heir to the Jagermeister throne--"

  Here she paused for the predictable hoots and hollers of the male population.

  "We will have an open bar, stocked with all the finest spirits from around the world," Tahira continued. "But the main attraction will be our very own Landon Jacobs!" she announced, raising her arms over her head to applaud.

  Landon bounded out of the crowd to stand at Tahira's side. He shoved his hands into the back pockets of his jeans and flipped his long bangs off his forehead with a twitch of his chin. Somehow, Ariana had the feeling that he adopted this pose often.

  "I don't get it," Maria said, loud enough for only Ariana to hear.

  "Landon has graciously agreed to be the centerpiece of the fundraiser," Tahira continued. "We will hold a silent auction where the sole prize will be a date with Landon to the New York premiere of his movie, First Son."

  There was some happy, surprised, and approving chatter.

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  "Dude. We are so going to win," Tahira's boyfriend Rob said loudly.

  "Not only that, but attendees will be able to pay ten dollars for an autograph or twenty-five dollars for a photograph with our little superstar," Tahira continued. "The night will be capped off by an acoustic performance by Landon himself."

  Now the crowd really let out a cheer. Landon blushed under his shaggy hair and appeared to be struggling to hold back a smile. Apparently, smiling was uncool for a pop star.

  "The museum is already promoting the event, and they have fielded thousands of calls from local schools, children's groups, and parents, asking how they can get their daughters in. Every tween within a two-hundred-mile radius is going to show up with their allowance money, not to mention their parents, who will probably be in serious need of an expensive drink once they've been exposed to all the swooning and screaming."

  Everyone laughed. Everyone but Maria, who held her hand to her forehead and looked at the ground. "Oh my God. Why don't they just dip him in gold and mount him already?"

  "What?" Ariana asked.

  Maria sighed as the crowd cheered for Landon and he raised his arms and grinned, nodding in acknowledgment. "Nothing."

  Ariana felt a surge of nervousness, the kind she always felt at the doorstep of an opportunity. She wasn't sure how Maria would respond, but she had to try. She had to get this girl to soften toward her at some point.

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  "Maria ... is something going on with you and Landon?" Ariana whispered, turning her back to the crowd in an attempt to be discreet.

  Maria's eyes flashed with surprise and what Ariana could have sworn was a twinge of fear. "What? No. Are you kidding me?"

  Her reaction only solidified Arianas suspicions. Her lie was written all over her face. "Sorry, it's just. .. you seem to get kind of emotional when the subject comes up."

  Maria laughed, a short, uncomfortable laugh. "Well, clearly perceptiveness isn't your thing," she said blithely. She glanced over at Tahira and Landon, who were fielding questions from the masses. "I'm so over this party. Tell Lexa I went back."

  Then she turned and slipped her sunglasses from her head over her eyes as she strolled elegantly away. Ariana eyed Landon, who was now waving his hands, trying to quiet the adoring crowd. She was more certain than ever that there was something going on between these two, but what was it? Unrequited love? A secret affair? Or perhaps just a shared secret. Whatever it was, she wanted to know.

  "Hey," Palmer greeted her, stepping up from behind. "How's my favorite transfer?"

  Annoyingly, Ariana's heart rate quickened. She took a sip of her lemonade and, much as it pained her, trained her attention on Tahira, who was now going on about e-mail blasts, flyers, and mailers.

  "Okay. I get it. You're not talking to me," Palmer said.

  Ariana sighed as she checked her watch. Her entire body throbbed,

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  thanks to its proximity to Palmer, and she wanted to burn all her skin off in punishment. She was not going to be attracted to him anymore. She couldn't be. He was Lexa's. Lexa's, Lexa's, Lexa's.

  "We'll also need plenty of people to work the tables at the event, so if you're interested, please see me!" Tahira shouted as the crowd started to descend into conversation.

  "What I don't get is why," Palmer added.

  Ariana looked at him, stunned. She couldn't help herself. "You know why," she said.

  Palmer's forehead creased in concern. "No. I really don't. I'm sorry if you misunderstood something here, but..."

  His expression was one of complete innocence, his eyes imploring. As if he truly wanted to make sure she wasn't upset over some fictional wrong. Ariana wondered again if Palmer really was innocent. If she really had misunderstood him. But the longer they stood there, color started to rise in his cheeks, and he pulled his baseball out of his pocket to fidget with it. He definitely felt guilty about something.

  "Hey, guys. What's up?" Lexa asked, joining them.

  "Nothing," Ariana answered automatically, looking away from Palmer. Her face was burning with frustration and unanswered questions, and she wanted to get ou
t of there before either of them could notice. "I think I'm going to go talk to Tahira about working those tables."

  "Wait. You don't have to do that," Palmer said. "Not if you're going to be the coxswain for the crew race."

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  "What?" Ariana and Lexa said in unison.

  "What?" Palmer replied, sliding his hands into the pockets of his shorts. "You are going to do it, right? The team needs you."

  Ariana blinked and looked at Lexa. This was the first time she had heard about this. What game was Palmer playing exactly?

  "But... I thought I was going to be the cox," Lexa said, her sweet brow furrowing. "We talked about it over the summer. . . ."

  Palmer reached for Lexa's hand and squeezed it. "I know, Lex, but Ana is just . . . smaller. And have you seen how the other teams are stacked? We need every advantage we can get."

  Lexa's pretty face turned the color of marinara sauce. She extracted her hand from Palmer's and tucked it under her elbow. "Smaller? What are you trying to say? You think I'm fat?"

  Ariana almost laughed at the total mortification on Palmer's face. "No! Of course not. No," he protested. "But you're supermodel tall. Ana is just a lot more . . . petite." He reached for Lexa, but she turned aside, avoiding his touch.

  "Whatever," she said. "If I'm so huge, that's fine. I don't want to sink your boat."

  "Real nice, Palmer," Ariana put in.

  "Oh, come on. Don't be like that, Lex," Palmer said, stepping forward and wrapping his arms around Lexa. "It's really just that Ana here is freakishly short."

  He looked past Lexa's shoulder at Ariana and smiled, telling her he was just kidding. Ariana rolled her eyes, but her lips twitched. She covered it with her hand, but it was too late. Palmer had seen, and

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  now he was grinning as well. He leaned back, straightened his face, and looked at Lexa.

  "Look, Ana has to contribute to the competition in some way, and are you really going to relegate her to the Dubai princess's slave squad?" he asked. "She'll transfer out before you even get a chance to give her one of your patented pedicures."

  Lexa finally broke down and smiled. She glanced over at Ariana. "I do give excellent pedicures." She heaved a sigh and ran her hands down Palmer's chest, a gesture that made Ariana's own palms itch with longing. "Okay, fine. But you do realize that means I have to be Tahira's slave girl instead."