by Kate Brian
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"Whatever." Briana Leigh rolled her eyes. "Let's go."
Twenty minutes later Ariana found herself standing in a dressing room in a small, chic boutique, loaded down with the most hideous collection of garments she had ever seen--all florals and plaids and stripes in bright, offensive colors. It wasn't as if the store didn't carry some tasteful things. There were several, actually. But every time Ariana tried to sneak in a simple jacket or a straight skirt or a white top, Briana Leigh caught her and tossed the garment aside.
"Which one are you trying on?" Briana Leigh asked from outside the dressing room door.
"A Calvin Klein," Ariana replied, sliding her arms into the three-quarter sleeves of a gray shirtdress.
"What Calvin Klein? I didn't pick out any Calvin Klein."
Ariana gritted her teeth. "So have you and Teo set a date yet?" she asked, hoping to divert her. Briana Leigh had talked of nothing but her engagement for the past two days.
"Not yet," Briana Leigh replied. "I still can't even believe we're engaged. I'm going to have kids right away."
Ariana blinked. Briana Leigh was only sixteen. How could she be thinking about having children. "Really?"
"I always wanted a big family," Briana Leigh said, her tone wistful. "I never had any brothers or sisters... not really, anyway."
Ariana's heart skipped a beat. Was Briana Leigh thinking about Kaitlynn?
"And with my parents gone... I just want to start over," Briana Leigh finished.
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Slowly, Ariana buttoned up the dress. It was the first time that Briana Leigh had sounded genuine. Hopeful. Not at all bitchy. It was as if she had just let her guard down, right there in broad daylight and without the help of alcohol. The girl actually had dreams.
There was a long moment of silence and then Briana Leigh suddenly rapped on the door. "I'm getting wrinkles out here! Let's see!"
And then the bitch was back. Ariana tied the ribbon belt on the dress and opened the door. Briana Leigh's face screwed up in disgust.
"What are you going for? Lame librarian?"
Ariana turned to look at herself. She liked the dress. It showed off her slim waist and toned calves and made her new hair color pop. Plus, it was totally her style. Understated. Refined. Definitely not lame librarian. But still, she couldn't contradict Briana Leigh. Ariana had searched the house twice since finding Briana Leigh's secondary checking account but had found nothing. She needed to keep staying at the mansion, meaning she needed to stay on Briana Leigh's good side, even if it meant being the second-worst-dressed person below the Mason-Dixon Line.
"You're right," she said, tugging at the ribbon belt. "I don't know what I was thinking."
Briana Leigh made a snorting noise of agreement. "Here. Take that off and put this on."
She shoved a pink-and-yellow Betsey Johnson frock at Ariana and slammed the dressing room door shut. Ariana sat down on the bench in her cubicle and looked into her eyes in the mirror.
"It's just temporary," she whispered. "When this is all over, you can
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come back here and buy anything you want. Better yet, you can go to Milan and buy anything you want."
Comforted by the thought of herself and Kaitlynn strolling past Milan's gleaming flagship stores loaded down with glossy designer bags, Ariana was buoyed enough to continue with her freak fashion show. As she slid the Betsey Johnson over her head, she mapped out her next search in her mind. She'd already ransacked the basement and Briana Leigh's parents' old bedroom, so tonight she was going to try the computer in Mr. Covington's office again. There had to be another bank, some other account she hadn't seen. Kaitlynn had said Briana Leigh had gotten everything when her dad died. There just had to be something Ariana was missing.
Ariana zipped up the dress and looked at her reflection. The frock was one-shouldered, tightly ruched, and way too short. Grimacing, she turned and opened the door of the dressing room. Briana Leigh's eyes widened in delight.
"What do you think?" Ariana asked, afraid of the answer.
"Now that is a dress!" Briana Leigh cried. "You should totally wear that out of here," Briana Leigh decided, standing next to Ariana to view the reflection in the mirror.
"Actually, I think I'll change back into the--"
"Shut up. You're wearing it." Briana Leigh ripped the tag off the dress to bring it up to the counter. "Get the rest of that stuff and let's go pay."
Biting down hard on her tongue, Ariana pushed her toes into her borrowed red sandals and gathered up the other garments Briana Leigh
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had chosen for her. As she placed them down on the counter, the older woman behind the cash register raised her glasses to her eyes.
"You've chosen some lovely things," she said to Ariana with a smile.
Right. If you want to walk around looking like a carnival nightmare, Ariana thought.
"I know," Briana Leigh replied haughtily.
Ariana smiled her thanks and reached for her purse. There was nothing inside but a lip balm and some other cosmetics.
"Oh my God. I'm such an idiot," she said, pretending to root through her bag.
"What?" Briana Leigh asked as the saleswoman paused in her ringing up.
"I must have locked my wallet in with the other things," Ariana said. "I thought this bag felt light."
Briana Leigh stared at Ariana, her eyes blank and hard. For a moment, Ariana felt the slightest twinge of fear.
"What kind of moron goes shopping without her wallet?" Briana Leigh asked, leaning her hand on the counter.
Ariana swallowed hard. This was not good. The girl was going to drag her back to the car to get her wallet. Ariana was going to have to use that credit card she'd swiped and just hope the old woman had yet to realize it was missing. Hope that she had enough credit to pay for hundreds of dollars' worth of hideous clothing.
"I'm sorry," Ariana said, glancing in embarrassment at the sales clerk. "I don't know what I was thinking. I guess I'll go change back."
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She started to turn, but Briana Leigh's hand gripped her forearm. "Stop. You're not going anywhere."
Her back to Briana Leigh, Ariana closed her eyes and said a quick prayer. That the girl hadn't figured out that Ariana was freeloading. That she wasn't about to snap. That she wasn't going to kill Ariana too, the first chance she got. When Ariana turned around again, Briana Leigh was reaching into her own purse and pulling out her wallet.
"I've got this."
She slapped her American Express Black down on the counter and pushed it over with her fingertips.
Ariana flooded with relief. "Briana Leigh, you don't have to do that."
"Whatever," Briana Leigh said, brushing her off. "It's either this or I keep walking around with you in last year's collections. Talk about embarrassing."
Ariana controlled her humiliated blush and glanced back toward the dressing rooms, where a floor clerk was just removing the Calvin Klein from the hook where she'd left it.
Soon, she told herself, narrowing her eyes at Briana Leigh. Soon you'll be free to do whatever you want.
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OVER
Ariana awoke early Thursday morning to the sound of a screaming wail and for a split second fully believed she was back in her cell at the Brenda T. She clutched the silky covers to her chest for a good long moment, waiting for her breath to return to normal. For her to realize that she was awake, alive, and still in Texas. Slowly, her mind focused on the noise. On the actual screaming, crying words."You have these people going through my things?" Briana Leigh wailed. "How could you?"
There was a response, but it was calm and even and at a much lower volume. Ariana jumped out of bed, grabbed a flowered silk robe from the closet, and slipped it on as she raced out of her room. In the hallway the commotion was much louder, and Ariana realized that Briana Leigh and her tormentor were standing in the great room downstairs. She paused at the end of the hallway where it opened up like a loft o
ver the cavernous room below, and peeked around the corner.
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The calm voice belonged to Grandma Covington. Ariana hadn't seen her in a couple of days--she'd been holed up in the guesthouse, nursing a cold. But she appeared to be better now. Sitting up in her wheelchair, Grandma C. was the picture of strength. She glared up at Briana Leigh with smoldering fury, as if she was facing off with the devil herself.
"Just tell me why!" Briana Leigh wailed, still wearing her flimsy nightgown, pushing her hands into her hair as she cried.
"It's for your own good," her grandmother said through her teeth. "And thank God I do it! Otherwise I never would have known that my only granddaughter planned on marrying before she even graduates high school!"
"But I love him!" Briana Leigh cried.
Ariana heard the anguish in Briana Leigh's voice and thought of that moment at the boutique the day before. How much Briana Leigh was looking forward to the future, to finally having a family. It made her heart ache for the girl.
Stop it. You're not supposed to feel sorry for her, she reminded herself."He's not appropriate," her grandmother replied, clucking her tongue. "And that is neither here nor there, because you will not be marrying anyone. You will go to Atherton-Pryce Hall and you will graduate on time. I have already phoned the headmaster, and he has agreed to give you the special attention you need. He will personally be sending me your report cards, as well as a weekly progress report."
"Great! You're going to have the headmaster spying on me too?" Briana Leigh cried.
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"Yes. And come August, I'll be taking you to the plane myself so that we don't have another Paris incident," her grandmother said.
Paris incident? I wonder what happened there, Ariana thought.
"You can't do this to me," Briana Leigh said, trying to hold her quivering chin up. "You can't."
"You've brought this upon yourself," Grandma Covington said. "Ever since your mother died, your behavior has been deplorable. Your father may have tolerated it because he felt sorry for you, but it's about time you grew up and realized that you have responsibilities."
She flicked her wrist and something small and sparkling pinged against the tile floor, bounced a few times, and landed at Briana Leigh's feet. Ariana held her hand over her mouth when she realized it was Briana Leigh's engagement ring. So that was how her grandmother had found out. One of the help had snooped and uncovered the ring.
"May as well give that back to him," Grandma Covington said, using the controls on her wheelchair to reverse. The chair made a soft whirring sound as it worked. "I'm sure he can find some other willing girl to give it to."
Briana Leigh clutched her stomach and doubled over, sobbing. Ariana's heart automatically went out to her again. Her grandmother was so awful to her. This woman in no way meshed with the image of the sweet old lady Kaitlynn had painted for her. Had Grandma C. changed in the years since Kaitlynn had been imprisoned, or had the old lady favored Kaitlynn for some reason? As Ariana considered this, Grandma C. turned her chair and, without looking back, navigated
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her way across the great room and out the open back door. Briana Leigh picked up the ring in her trembling fingers and continued bawling, looking broken and pathetic. After she finally got hold of herself and dried her eyes, she lifted her head slowly and glared at the door through which her grandmother had gone. Then she slipped the ring back onto her left ring finger.
Good for you, Ariana thought. In that moment she couldn't help respecting the girl. She pushed herself away from the wall as Briana Leigh came barreling up the stairs. The girl stopped in her tracks when she saw Ariana.
"I heard the shouting... ," Ariana said with an apologetic shrug.
Briana Leigh sniffed and raised her chin. "Well, then you know I'm screwed."
"Why?" Ariana asked as Briana Leigh breezed right by her. She followed the girl into her room and stood in the center of the hardwood floor as Briana Leigh flung herself dramatically onto her unmade bed.
"Because! I have to go to Atherton! I can't marry Teo. She'll throw me out on the street! She'll disinherit me!" Briana Leigh said, sitting up straight and turning her palms out.
Ariana bit her tongue and cinched the belt on her robe. "So what?" she asked, sitting down on the edge of Briana Leigh's bed. "Let her disinherit you. You can take care of yourself."
Briana Leigh stared at her blankly. Ariana felt a flutter of uncertainty in her heart. For some reason the figure $2401.56 flashed through her mind.
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"You do have your own money don't you?" Ariana asked, her voice sounding strained. "Your inheritance. From your parents."
Briana Leigh rolled her eyes and she fell onto her back again. "Uh, no"
Ariana felt as if the bright sun outside was mocking her. As if the four posts around the bed were tilting in around her, getting ready to clamp her down to the mattress and swallow her through the floor and into hell. So powerful, that one word.
No.
"What do you mean?" Ariana asked, fighting to keep her voice even. "Your parents didn't leave you anything?"
"Oh, no. They left me everything," Briana Leigh said in a bitter, sarcastic tone. "They just made sure that I wouldn't get any of it until I was twenty-five. It's held in a trust, and my grandmother controls it all."
"What?" Ariana breathed.
Suddenly she saw her whole world collapse around her. All her plans, her dreams, her future. Everything had hinged on coming here, gaining Briana Leigh's trust, and getting her inheritance. Ariana needed that money. But there was no inheritance. There wouldn't be one for another nine years.
Ariana's mind started to whirl, trying to find some logic. Something to latch onto. She had thought that Briana Leigh had murdered her father to get the cash. That was what Kaitlynn had always said. Had Kaitlynn been somehow misled? Or was it Briana Leigh who had been duped? Maybe she hadn't known about the trust clause until after her father was dead.
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God, that must have sucked. Murder your own father and then find out it was all for nothing? Ariana knew the feeling, at least in a way. She had let Sergei die on that awful day nearly three years ago, had held him under the freezing water until he went limp, and had then learned that he was perfectly innocent. Ariana could only imagine Briana Leigh's face when the will had been read. It must have been classic. Suddenly she wasn't sure whether to laugh at Briana Leigh's misfortune or cry for her own.
"Yep. Until then all I get is a monthly allowance," Briana Leigh said, raising her hand to look at her sparkling diamond ring. She sighed and buried her face in a down pillow.
Ariana felt suddenly weak. She turned and lay back on Briana Leigh's bed, Briana Leigh's feet uncomfortably close to her cheek. Still, she didn't move. Couldn't have done so if she tried.
It was over. All over. There would be no starting fresh. No living the dream. What was she going to do now? Where was she going to go? She had no one. Nothing. Not a friend in the world.
Ariana's fingers closed around her forearm and squeezed.
In, one... two... three...
Out, one... two... three...
The breathing wasn't working. Ariana was starting to panic. Her vision spotted over and she felt sweat pricking under her arms, at the small of her back, along her temples. She had lost control of the situation. There was nothing she could do. Nothing at all.
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REALITY
The sky outside Ariana's windows was just starting to turn pink, but she had yet to close her eyes. Sleepless nights had been a regular thing for her inside the Brenda T, but since she had been out, she had been so exhausted from the activity, the acting, the hope for the future, that she'd slept like a rock the whole week she'd been in Dallas.Not this night, however. This night had been one of the worst she had ever experienced.
Letting out a deep sigh, Ariana rolled onto her back and stared at the revolting chandelier above her bed. What the hell was she doing here? Why
was she torturing herself with Briana Leigh's company, bending backward to please her and her horrible fashion sense, if the girl didn't have any money? And what the hell was she going to do next? Where was she going to go?
All night long she had been asking herself these questions, and she had yet to devise an answer. Because there was nowhere. The moment
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she stepped off this compound, she'd be nothing but a fugitive with a crappy cell phone and less than three hundred dollars to her name. She supposed she could steal some of Briana Leigh's couture and a few pieces of jewelry and hock them, but that money would only last so long. She could go back to her parents, but if she did that, it would only be a matter of time before she was caught. It was simply too dangerous.
She needed Briana Leigh's millions. Needed the money so that she and Kaitlynn could truly disappear and start over. The thought of that money was all that had kept her going those last few months on the inside. It was completely inconceivable that she might leave here without it.
There was only one answer. All night long Ariana had kept returning to the obvious, but all night long she had shoved the thought into the back of her mind. She couldn't go there. She wouldn't. There had to be another way.
But now, in the dim light of dawn, she was starting to realize there was not. If she wanted her new life, she was going to have to make this sacrifice.
Taking a deep breath, Ariana let the cold hardness of the truth settle over her. Felt the weight of it in her veins. Let the reality seep into her mind. First she had to accept it. Only then would she be able to do what she had to do.
A moment later she shoved the covers aside, grabbed her robe, and was gone.
She walked calmly down the stairs and crossed the great room with
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a swiftness born of necessity. The back door slid open soundlessly and she was outside, crossing the stone patio in her bare feet. The air was already warm, and somewhere on the grounds a lawnmower roared. Ariana looked around to make sure none of the staff were in sight. She was alone.
The sliding backdoor of Grandma Covington's small bungalow was, thankfully, unlocked. Ariana opened it a few inches and turned sideways to slip inside, closing the door behind her with the tiniest of clicks. The cozy kitchen gleamed in the gathering morning sunshine, everything in its place. On her way through Ariana spotted a pill bottle and paused, snatching it up in curiosity.
