Private 8 - Revelation by Private 8 Revelation Read Free Book Online Page B

tight feeling around my heart. The one I get whenever everyone knows something I don't.

    "Heard what?" I asked.

    "Everyone's been talking about it since yesterday morning, "Diana said, taking a bite of her bagel. "They're looking for someone to--" She stopped midsentence and looked at me guiltily. I felt as if someone had just yanked my chair out from under my butt.

    "Someone to replace me," I finished. Slowly, I pushed my tray of pancakes away, no longer hungry.

    "I'm sorry. I still can't believe they threw you out," Sonal said, her eyes wide but her voice quiet. "I mean, you were the president!"

    "Yeah...," I said. There was a lump lodged in my windpipe, even though I'd yet to eat a thing. "So...why aren't you all over there trying to bribe your way in?" I asked, trying to lighten the mood. "Don't you guys want to be in Billings?"

    "Not really," Diana said, scrunching her nose.

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    I stared at her. Aside from Ivy, I'd never heard of a girl at Easton not wanting to be in Billings.

    "Why not?" I asked.

    Diana looked around at her friends and shrugged. "We kind of like it where we are. It may seem boring to you guys, but at least we don't have to deal with all the drama."

    "We have other priorities," Shane added with a sniff. "Like, other than shopping."

    Okay, ouch. This one at least had the requisite Billings bitchiness down. "But that doesn't mean we're not curious about it," Sonal said, wiping her fingers on her napkin. "So. Tell us. If you didn't kill Cheyenne, then who do you think did?"

    "Sonal!" Diana scolded again.

    That was about as much as I could take. I pushed myself up from my chair.

    "I have to go," I said.

    "Reed, I'm sorry. You don't have to--"

    "No. It's cool. Thanks, Diana," I said. "I'll see you in class."

    I grabbed my coat and bag and turned around, looking forward to a speedy exit into the cold air outside. Just as I was about to push through the back door of the caf, I almost walked into Amberly Carmichael for the second time in as many days. For once she was making an appearance sans her normally hovering friends. Her wavy blond hair was back in a velvet headband and she wore a long tweed skirt over black leather boots. In her arms was a Tiffany box

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    that was half the size of a cafeteria table, a box she'd come close to dropping during our near collision.

    "Hey!" she snapped loudly, looking me up and down. "You break it, you buy it."

    "Sorry," I said, not meaning it. She sighed, rolling her big blue eyes, and placed the box down on the empty table next to us.

    "Actually, I'm glad you almost bumped into me," she said loudly, tugging her leather gloves off finger by finger. "I'll be needing that Carma Card back."

    Half the cafeteria fell silent, all the better to eavesdrop. I looked around, my face turning ten shades of red. From the corner of my eye, I saw Portia and Shelby craning their necks to better see the proceedings. Noelle was looking on, amused. Clearly Amberly was performing for them. This little twit who had been kowtowing to me since the beginning of the year. The girl who would have jumped off a bridge if I'd asked her to a week ago. Now she was treating me like the hired help. Or worse. Could this be any more humiliating?

    Yes, I realized, it could. If I gave the stupid piece of plastic back to her.

    "Right. Like that's gonna happen," I said, tilting my head and trying for my best superior Billings Girl tone. I started by her, but she quickly stepped in front of me.

    "You're not keeping it," she said with a condescending laugh. "I gave it to you. I can take it back."

    All the guys sitting two tables down were watching me mirthfully,

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    waiting for my breakdown. And why not? What formerly powerful junior wouldn't break down in the face of defiance from a scrawny freshman? In fact, most of the people in the room were watching me with that anticipation in their eyes. I felt myself start to crumble as giggles and snickers surrounded me, but then I saw Josh