Page 86 of Revelation (Private 8)
The campus was cold, gray, and mostly deserted, the once pristine snow now decimated by a
thousand muddy footprints. I passed by Mr. Cross on his morning stroll and slipped into Mitchell
Hall. My heart bounced around in my chest as I approached the conservatory and I took a deep
breath, endeavoring to compose myself. Noelle could not see me looking anxious or tentative. I
had to appear in control. Confident.
"I'm thinking color. Lots of garish, over-the-top color," Noelle was saying as I entered the room.
Her voice echoed in the high-ceilinged space as Amberly and the party planner followed her along
the window wall. She wore a black knit dress, black tights, and black boots, while Amberly wore a
very similar outfit, but in white. With the blue scarf, of course. "I'm sick of white twinkle lights.
Enough
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already. Let's get hot pink and red and purple. Let's make it a sultry, glam Christmas thing."
"Brilliant," the party planner said, making a note on her clipboard. She was a tall, lithe woman with
shorn red hair and tiny square glasses. Her kelly-green wide-leg pants were beyond trendy, and
they made her waist look like it had the same circumference as a soda can. "Simply brilliant."
"Everyone's just going to die," Amberly gushed.
Noelle shot her a brief look of scorn, and I knew exactly what she was thinking--so gauche. Hadn't
someone already died? So apparently, Amberly wasn't totally perfect in Noelle's eyes. The thought
awoke a warm, fuzzy feeling in my chest.
At the Coffee Carma counter someone fired up the foam maker and the noise caught the
threesome's attention. They all turned and spotted me hovering.
"Oh, look," Noelle said, looking down her nose at me. "It's my stalker."
The party planner's eyes widened in alarm. Her trembling hand went right to the oversize beaded
necklace at her throat. Clearly Easton's reputation as the murder capital of the private school
world had gotten around. And I guess I did look a little wild-eyed, considering what I was about to
do.
"Seriously, Reed. It's getting a tad pathetic," Amberly added with a sniff. "And if you're looking for
an invite, keep looking."
Noelle and Amberly both laughed and turned back to the window. The party planner followed suit,
pointing out the challenges of the
