Page 123 of Revelation (Private 8)
I tore into the envelope and extracted a square white card. An invitation. To Noelle and Amberly's
pre-Kiran's-birthday party the following night. My heart expanded so fast I thought I was going to
burst.
"She just gave it to me and said to find you," Constance explained, coming over to my side so she
could read the invite over my shoulder. "You did it, Reed. You're so back in!"
My fingers trembled as I looked at the card in disbelief. "Wait, did she always have my name, or
did she trade with someone after she heard my speech?"
"Who cares?" Constance blurted happily. "You're coming to the party. We're all going to Kiran's
together. Who cares how it happened?"
The girl had a point. I looked up, scanning the room for Noelle, and found her chatting with some
of the Billings Girls over near their table. She glanced over at me as if she knew I was looking, and I
held the card up and smiled. In return, she granted me a quick nod of acknowledgment, then
refocused on her conversation.
It wasn't much, but it was something.
"I'm so happy for you!" Constance cried, grabbing me up in a hug.
"Me too," I replied with a smile.
Now if I could just find Josh, just hear what he had to say... maybe all my Christmas wishes would
come true.
206
A NEW CURVE
Shane had received a huge, glossy, hardcover book on the history of Hollywood as her gift, which
turned out to be lucky for all of us because it gave us something to block the wind with on the way
back to Pemberly. It whipped around us like a cyclone, knocking us one way and then the other as
we staggered toward the dorm."What is this, Kansas?" Diana joked, holding her hat down with
both hands.
"Yeah. Arctic Kansas," Sonal added, cracking the others up.
I smiled and clutched the invitation from Noelle inside my coat pocket. I couldn't wait to get
upstairs and look it over again. Make sure it wasn't written in disappearing ink or something. Make
sure it was real.
A few yards from the back door of our dorm, we all noticed a tall, burly police officer standing just
