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NEW FRIENDS

"Hi, I'ood stood before the trio of girls in the center of the sunlit campus of Atherton-Pryce Hall and held her breath She felt the weight of this moment in every bone, every muscle, every tendon of her body The very first moment of her brand-new life

It seeet to this place The stark h--the months and months locked up at the Brenda T Trumbull Correctional Facility for Wo her escape, the days on the road, wending her est froes and e to overwhelet here, to earn a new chance at life She had cheated, stolen, even killed her friend, Briana Leigh Covington, so she could assuirl's identity and be truly and utterly free And now she was finally here

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"Did you say 'Briana Leigh Covington'?" the tall, y girl asked As if she had heard the nairl know Briana Leigh? Ariana had just arrived at this hallowed private school for the ridiculously overprivileged Just stepped onto this gorgeous, perfectlycouldn't possibly be up that fast

"Yes," she said fir trunk a bit tighter, but not so tightly that anyone would notice "But I prefer to be called Ana"

The girl's hazel eyes quickly flicked over Ariana's outfit, her tasteful chocolate brown Theory dress and Gucci slingbacks They assessed her set of Louis Vuitton luggage with a glance, then slid back up to her face, lingering for a , auburn hair, which had been dyed to hout this ever-so-brief process, Ariana grew increasingly warm, but she didn'ther people A girl had the right to take a er standing before her

"Interesting," the assessor said finally, noncolanced at each of her two friends, the iht, and the chunky-jewelry-loving blonde to her left The blonde sirl suddenly became very interested in her BlackBerry Ariana had the uncoht to her face Soirl, but which had never been done to her

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"I' a step forward and offering her hand She had a hint of a Norwegian accent and the healthiest glow Ariana had ever seen "This is Soomie Ahn and Maria Stanzini"

Ariana shook Brigit's hand and nodded as the other two girls said hello For the first ti time, she had no idea what to say next What did a person say to the people whoher? She had no idea, and she detested the feeling A group of younger girls walked by and called out hellos to the trio, which Maria and the others acknowledged with brief nods and vague ss that nevertheless elicited proud grins from those upon whom they were bestowed Clearly, Ariana had chosen wisely These were the girls whoirls looked up to The ones who could not be approached without an invitation But she had approached She had shown that she believed herself to be equal to their stature That had to count for so

"What year are you?" Brigit adjusted the strap on her ether

"I'h she had been a junior three years ago Briana Leigh would have been a junior, so a junior she would be "What y--"

"Really? Us too! Well, it asked