too proud. Too afraid to let her know there was a chink in my armor. And look where that attitude
had gotten me.
I should have been in my comfy bed in Billings right then, snoozing my cares away. I should have
been the one throwing parties with Noelle and shopping for extravagant gifts and planning my
Christmas vacation to St. Bart's.
Instead I was lying in my tiny room all alone, with Josh's lame-ass Christmas gift leaning up against
the far wall, listening to Ivy as she giggled on the phone, while I was stuck looking forward to yet
another gray holiday in dreary Croton, Pennsylvania. And, oh, yeah, I was potentially living next
door to a killer. The same girl who was, right now, flirting with the love of my life right on the
other side of this crappy wall. The same girl who was potentially plotting my former best friend's
murder.
At least as long as she was in there flirting, she wasn't out there killing anybody. I supposed there
was always a bright side.
159
I rolled over onto my side and groaned, balling the sheet up in my hand. How could I get Noelle's
attention? How could I get her to take me seriously again? How could I make it all up to her?
Everything hinged on that. If I could only get back in with Noelle, I could not only have my life
back, but I could protect--even save--hers.
I had to do something. But what? How could I show Noelle how much she meant to me? Thanks to
me and my seven minutes in heaven with Dash, she had been publicly humiliated. How did a
person make up for that?
Suddenly, I sat up straight in bed, so excited I almost choked on my own breath. The answer was
so obvious, so blatantly obvious, I couldn't believe I hadn't thought of it before.
I threw my covers aside and jumped out of bed to power up my computer. I finally had a plan. And
this was going to work. It had to.
160
ROSE AND IVY
Thursday morning I was exhausted and foggy and out of it. Even after my Noelle epiphany, I hadn't
been able to do anything but obsess all night long. I couldn't even fathom making small talk, so at
breakfast I decided to sit alone. I dragged my butt over to one of the smaller tables near the wall