“You schedule calls with your grandmother?” Lexa asked flatly, looking up at Ariana through her fake blond bangs.
“You schedule calls with your parents,” Ariana shot back.
“She makes a good point,” Maria said to Lexa, picking up her white coat. “But doesn’t old lady Covington realize it’s Halloween?”
“She’s in her eighties,” Ariana replied. “She doesn’t even know it’s October.”
The others laughed and finished gathering their things.
“But how will you get there?” Lexa asked, lifting the hair of her wig out from under the collar of her black coat.
“Don’t worry about me. I’ll just take a cab,” Ariana said, walking them out and down the hall toward the elevators. She paused in front of the door to her room. “See you there.”
The girls air-kissed her and waved as they made their way to the elevators. Ariana slipped into her room and closed the door behind her, her nerves jittery. She needed a few moments to herself to go over the plan. To make sure everything was in place. Her whole future, her very life, all hinged on tonight’s events. Everything had to go perfectly.
Tugging her phone out of her bag, she entered in Dove’s number and saved it into her contacts under “John Smith.” Then she went to her desk and opened the top drawer. Sitting atop her pens and pencils was a long, brown envelope, inside of which was the compromising photo of Palmer. Ariana clenched her teeth as she stared down at it, then plucked it up and shoved it into her bag. She wasn’t planning on using it—if all went well tonight, she wouldn’t have to—but it was always good to be prepared.
Taking a deep breath, Ariana sat on the edge of her bed, closed her eyes, and took herself through the plan step by step by step, looking for any flaws—any potential hiccups. Finally satisfied, she opened her eyes again and looked around the room in satisfaction.
It was going to work. It had to. Her entire future depended on it.
HUSBAND AND WIFE
“Welcome to my haunted row house!” Soomie shouted, opening the door for Ariana. She had a huge smile on her face and some kind of black drink in one hand. Her eyes were unfocused, as if she’d already downed a few of those drinks, even though the party started just a half hour ago. Conversation and laughter gurgled out into the night air as Soomie grabbed Ariana’s wrist and tugged her inside. “Where’ve you been?”
Ariana could smell the alcohol on her breath and tried not to scrunch her nose. Soomie was in a good mood for the first time in weeks. She didn’t want to do anything to put a damper on it.
“I had to make a call.” Ariana touched the skirt of her frayed dress. “What do you think?”
She struck a pose, tilting her head back so that her extremely tall and heavy gray and white wig almost took her down. She flashed her long black fake nails.
“Appropriately spooky,” Soomie said. “What do you think of mine?”
Ariana looked Soomie up and down. She wore a light pink gown with delicate spaghetti straps, and a gorgeous, sparkling tiara. Her makeup was colorful and bright, and there were glittery stars pasted around her eyes.
“I like it. But I thought you were going goth,” Ariana said.
Soomie sipped her drink and swallowed. “I changed my mind. This is my homage to Princess Brigit.”
She reached down and tugged up the hem of the wide skirt. On her feet she wore a pair of pink sequined flats. The sight of them brought tears to Ariana’s eyes. Brigit never wore heels—was never able to walk in them—until the night she died. The night that Kaitlynn and the rest of her friends convinced her it was time to try.
“That’s really sweet, Soomie,” Ariana said, her heart heavy.
“Don’t look so sad,” Soomie said, gripping Ariana’s arm. “She’s looking down on us right now and smiling. And besides, it’s a party!”
She hooked her arm around Ariana’s back and led her into the house. The place was small—thin and long, like any historical row house—but poshly decorated. The walls of the living room were painted a deep violet, and the fireplace was tiled in dark reds and ambers. Not that it was easy to take in the details. Soomie had gone all out with the Halloween decorations. Everything was covered with cobwebs, fake spiders, wispy ghosts, and leering monster masks. The bay window at the front of the house held ten expertly carved jack-o’-lanterns, each one more elaborately terrifying than the last.
“Okay, the first floor is for eating, drinking, conversation, and general merriment,” Soomie said, sliding sideways to get through the crowd and dragging Ariana with her. “Upstairs, in the dining area, is the dance floor. I had the table and chairs moved to make room,” she explained, pointing at the staircase. “On the third floor are the two bedrooms. You can imagine what they’re being used for,” she said. “But on the roof is the real fun.”
“The real fun?” Ariana asked.
“Pumpkin carving, bobbing for apples, crap like that,” Soomie said, waving her drink around.
“Really?” Ariana said, amused.
“Brigit lived for that stuff, so I figured, why not?” Soomie said. “And believe it or not, that’s where almost everyone is. They think they’re sophisticated and above it all, but they’re so not.”
Ariana laughed. “Okay. I’ll go up and check it out.”